I'm bored....

[clocker]

Got a gripload of new (well, used, but new to me) cooling stuff coming, but won't see any of it till later next week (strange how folks want to get paid immediately but will delay shipping till it's convenient for them...).

The G5 project is making baby steps towards completion.
I have an Innovatec Convect-o-Matic (http://www.frozencpu.com/ex-rad-50.html) passive rad as well as the Ehiem pump (http://www.frozencpu.com/ex-pmp-09.html)/Tank-o-Matic (http://www.frozencpu.com/ex-res-07.html) reservoir on the way, along with some AquaComputer blocks.
The look seemed right for the Apple case and I wanted to try a low-flow, small bore system anyway.
Still looking for suitable innards for this case, mainly mobo and CPU.
A small nf4, s939, non-SLI board would be ideal...I'm open to suggestions.
Probably plug a 3000 Venice into it with maybe a 6600/6800GT vid card.
I'd like to keep my current board/chip/RAM combo intact (cause they seem to work together so well) and just have a whole 'nother PC to play with.

For Sprocket's current Stacker I have a BIX3 radiator (http://www.frozencpu.com/ex-rad-45.html) on the way.
Total overkill, but it was a sweet deal and I need to get the 302 HC I'm currently using out of the Stacker anyway.

I've sold the Silverstone TJ06 case complete with a pre-installed waterloop (which is why I need the 302 heatercore- the case was cut to fit it specifically). So far only the case and rad have been finalized but I'm hopeful that the PolarFlo pump and CPU block will also be included (almost certainly the pump will go but he may insist on the DangerDen TDX CPU block instead).

I also have a buyer lined up for the Stacker (just the case, sadly) in the event that the TJ07 really does become a "must have" item.
Won't really know that till after Christmas though.

So I'm bored.
Sprocket is running great, I have no new hardware to tinker with and it's too cold outside to play croquet.
Entertain me.

[suprafreak6]

well hmm i could say something like wow or eat me but im saying, im bored too and i have to study for finals

[clocker]

Good thing you didn't respond with "Eat me".

I might have been provoked into saying something nasty about Hermione.

[Seedler]

ferk u and ur fancy water/exotic cooling...air cooling should more than suffice for 99% of the population. Oh wait, that still leave 1% of cooling extremists like you.

Check this out: LIQUID NITROGEN COOLING!!!
http://www.hardwareasylum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=901

Kinc is my idol

[S!X]

Good thing you didn't respond with "Eat me".

I might have been provoked into saying something nasty about Hermione.

:lol: :lol: @Seedler, dont "feck" clocker.... he's 1337.

[fkdup74]

Check this out: LIQUID NITROGEN COOLING!!!
http://www.hardwareasylum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=901

ummm......no fuckin way.

ice crystals on the GPUs?
what happens to ice when it thaws?
water.
what happens when you mix electricity and water?
zap. waste of prolly $2000 USD
-171 C?
wouldn't the components be brittle enough to just fuckin shatter if bumped?

has to either be a gag or someone has more money than brains,
or am I missing something?

[clocker]

You are missing something.

Extreme overclocking is a "sport" that begins and ends with liquid nitrogen.
All of the PCBs and associated parts are sprayed with a conformal (i.e. "waterproof") coating and sealed with dielectric grease.
The rig is turned off long before the ice has a chance to melt, so I'd guess it survives most of the time.

Clearly, this is the extreme end of the cooling spectrum with few participants and no pretense of anything save breaking records.
Back it down a notch and you come to the phase-change crowd who are essentially using refridgeration units to operate in the -30 to -50c range constantly.
The Vapochill series is probably the most popular unit and they show up in the classifieds for around $400-600 depending on the spec.

Condensation does become a real problem for this group as they are running the units much longer than the nitrogen guys.
The cooling socket is sealed to the motherboard with foam and grease and the backside of the motherboard is heated to prevent water from condensing. It's pretty common to see highly clocked chips running at -40c for days on end with these rigs.

And you thought I was nuts.

[Seedler]

You are missing something.

Extreme overclocking is a "sport" that begins and ends with liquid nitrogen.
All of the PCBs and associated parts are sprayed with a conformal (i.e. "waterproof") coating and sealed with dielectric grease.
The rig is turned off long before the ice has a chance to melt, so I'd guess it survives most of the time.

Clearly, this is the extreme end of the cooling spectrum with few participants and no pretense of anything save breaking records.
Back it down a notch and you come to the phase-change crowd who are essentially using refridgeration units to operate in the -30 to -50c range constantly.
The Vapochill series is probably the most popular unit and they show up in the classifieds for around $400-600 depending on the spec.

Condensation does become a real problem for this group as they are running the units much longer than the nitrogen guys.
The cooling socket is sealed to the motherboard with foam and grease and the backside of the motherboard is heated to prevent water from condensing. It's pretty common to see highly clocked chips running at -40c for days on end with these rigs.

And you thought I was nuts.

Yeppers, but the life span of these parts can't be very long at all...

[clocker]

Why not?
As long as condensation is held at bay the CPU should be lovin the low temps.

[fkdup74]

You are missing something.

All of the PCBs and associated parts are sprayed with a conformal (i.e. "waterproof") coating and sealed with dielectric grease.

ok, so they're not like me, get a bright idea and just say to hell with precautions? :01:


And you thought I was nuts.
you said it, not me :P

[clocker]

I've heard the whispers.

[lynx]

One thing always puzzles me about the people who use these phase change cooling systems. Why do they always operate with open cases?

There's a very simple way to prevent condensation - seal the case (with external cooling there's no reason not to) and fill it with dried gas, usually nitrogen. With a small silica gel pack for security there's no reason why condensation should be a problem.

[clocker]

One thing always puzzles me about the people who use these phase change cooling systems. Why do they always operate with open cases?

There's a very simple way to prevent condensation - seal the case (with external cooling there's no reason not to) and fill it with dried gas, usually nitrogen. With a small silica gel pack for security there's no reason why condensation should be a problem.
Easier said than done methinks.
Realistically, you'd have to isolate the motherboard from everything else and concentrate on sealing it. Could be done, but a real PITA I'd guess.

How about running the board submerged totally...we've all seen the rigs in aquariums filled with various liquids (mineral oils, Flourinert?). They use a large volume because the liquid is also the coolant but in our case it wouldn't be so the enclosure could be relatively small.

Although I easily overcame the aversion to watercooling ( The very first thing most people say is "Eeeew, water INSIDE a computer?") even the next baby step up to TECs has halted me. That is where condensation enters into play and the substantially greater risk doesn't offset the ability to get sub-ambient IMO.

I am always reminded of the fundamental silliness of my cooling adventures when I see my Mom's eMachine. That poor little thing runs 12 hours a day crammed under a desk (and till just recently, Folding for team FST constantly).
One fan, if I remember right.
Never seen the low side of 55c, yet works perfectly after 5 years.

And here I sit, watching my temps like a hawk and obsessing over why Sprocket has heated all the way up to 24c- Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!

[clocker]

Ah, just got the tracking # for the BIX radiator and should get it on Thursday.
Shipping info for the Innovatek stuff should come today also.

I know ya'll don't care but I'm still bored.

[ApacNTS]

actually i rather enjoy hearing how ur computer is progressing. should be great to actually see what u have been tinkering with as pics are rare and far between. thursday huh, well that's much better than a week i will say, im sure the anticapation is maddening. i do have a question if you would oblige, im contemplating going wireless with a mouse and keyboard, do u yourself think it's a better option? 2ndly(i know i said only one, cant help it) would u consider this LCD (http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/ProductDetail.aspx?sku=E1763YR&c=us&cat=snp&category_id=210&cs=19&l=en&Page=productlisting.aspx) to be a decent monitor? i really dont think i'll go above 1064x768 in resolution as everything becomes microscopic by 1200x1000 or w/e it is. thanks as always.

[clocker]

I've had two wireless mice (MS Intellimouse and Logitech MX-1000) and much prefer them to corded ones.
My current keyboard is wired but that never seems to be an issue, after all it's not like you move the keyboard around,eh?

Dell makes nice displays.
I'm lusting after a 2405 myself.

1280x 1024 might seem great now (that's what mine runs) but the extra resolution is nice for movies/games and I wish I had waited to get a better LCD.

[suprafreak6]

i need a 19 inch monitor for like 200 if you wnana help

[clocker]

The only way to get a half decent 19" for $200 is to buy one used.
Try the [H]forum classifieds or eBay or something.

[silent h3ro]

Dell makes nice displays.
I'm lusting after a 2405 myself. I've been watching the prices of that monitor for a while now. Still about $400 over my monitor budget. :lol: I got this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824001194) monitor myself and is much better than 1024x1280. I once thought it couldn't get better than 1024x1280 now I can't stand any resolutions under 1600x1200. In games I'm still at 1024x768 most of the time tho because of my shitty 6600gt which is soon going to be replaced by a 7800gtx. :)

[suprafreak6]

i wish i had a job

[clocker]

i wish i had a job
Only people who don't have them wish that.

I wish I'd win the lottery.

[silent h3ro]

i wish i had a job
Only people who don't have them wish that.

I wish I'd win the lottery.:lol: That's really true but I still like my job. :P

[clocker]

My BlackIceExtreme 3 radiator showed up yesterday.
Damaged.
Although advertised as "perfect" it arrived with one fan (which, for some bizarre reason, he left attached to the rad) broken and the mount on the rad dented and (potentially) unusable. The broken piece is not in the box so I suspect this was damaged before it was packed.
No barbs were included (they were in the picture though) and the whole assembly (including the fans!) was wet with undrained coolant.
I have contacted the seller but no response as yet.

I'm pissed.
In 30 trades/deals through forum classifieds this is only the third time I've been unhappy...once I got outright screwed on a Raptor, once I got humourously (and cheaply) taken on a set of molex tools, now this.
To be fair, the seller will get a day to respond to my complaint, after that we'll see.

I think the rad would be useable with a bit of tweaking but I'm not touching it till we resolve the problems.

This is even more irritating since I have to pull Sprocket's current heatercore out immediately as it goes into the Silverstone case I've sold and I won't screw that buyer over because of my misfortune. I do have other rads I can cobble in but it's a real PITA to make and break a waterloop more often than necessary.

*sigh*
:sick:

[clocker]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/mini-P1010120.jpg:shutup:

[Virtualbody1234]

I hope you get at least part of your money back.

Then you can fix it. :D

[clocker]

The seller has offered a substantial refund...essentially I'm just paying for shipping now. I'm pretty sure that the damage is only cosmetic and can be acceptably repaired.
I already ordered a new Thermochill PA 120.3 rad anyway.
Jointly designed by Marci and Cathar, it is specifically designed for use with low-CFM (hence, quiet) fans in mind and theoretically provides superior performance over previous PC rads.
We'll see.

On a happier note, my Innovatek kit arrived yesterday.
Properly packaged and undamaged thankfully.
Here are the three main components...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/P1010121.jpg
The reservoir plugs directly onto the intake of the Ehiem 1048 pump.
The rad is meant to run passively and is the main reason I bought this...it should integrate with the g5 case very nicely.

Now I just need to spec out some internals for the Apple project and get going...

[clocker]

And yet more crap...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/DD_AquaDrive_01.jpg
Stop me!
This is a sickness.

This last buy is sorta weird.
A week ago I entered into a discussion at bit-tech (http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=103569) about HDD watercooling.
If you read it you'll note that I was playing Devil's advocate re the efficacy of doing such a setup, but really, none of us had any real data to support our theories.
So I opened a thread at ProCooling (http://forums.procooling.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=12544) to see if the gurus there had anything of real substance to offer. Not really, as it turns out.
Then, completely out of the blue, this DD setup shows up on the [H]classifieds and I figured, why not?
Two IMs worth of bargaining and viola! it's mine.

Since I've narrowed my focus to cooling over the past two years or so I've noticed a real dearth of useable, practical information about the subject.
Obviously, it difficult to make sweeping generalizations as every PC presents unique conditions/opportunities so I've been forced to explore on my own with only general guidelines as a reference. That's why I favor pictures as the preferred method of communication- it's a lot easier to see similarities and improvements visually than from a bewildering mass of numbers.
Just try to figure out anything from the ivory tower debates at ProCooling and you'll see what I mean.

Fortunately, the TJ06 sale gave me some extra disposable income at a very propitious time.
Forum classifieds abound with great deals as folks try to hustle some Christmas cash and for a change, I'm ready to jump on them.

I'm going to make a prediction now....
Rumor has it that the next major platform shift will be AMD's switch to sAM2 this spring.
Around June or so I'll bet that all sorts of killer deals on s939 CPUs, motherboards and DDR ram (sAM2 uses DDR2) will flood the market as the rabid "early adopter" crowd jumps off the cliff onto the new platform.
If you are considering an upgrade this might be the timeframe to consider.

You read it here first...:naughty:

[Virtualbody1234]

...Stop me!
This is a sickness...
I can't do much but the only solution would be complete abstinence. One day at a time.

[clocker]

What, no 12 steps?

Just stop?

I don't think so.

[ApacNTS]

I'm going to make a prediction now....
Rumor has it that the next major platform shift will be AMD's switch to sAM2 this spring.
Around June or so I'll bet that all sorts of killer deals on s939 CPUs, motherboards and DDR ram (sAM2 uses DDR2) will flood the market as the rabid "early adopter" crowd jumps off the cliff onto the new platform.
If you are considering an upgrade this might be the timeframe to consider.

You read it here first...:naughty:

well thank u for some good news, the 3000 and 3200 both jumped back up in price on newegg. of course it only furthers my wish to get a 3500 or maybe even a dual core(friend of mine made that a new thought). hope ur "prediction" is true and i snag a nice deal as the taxman comes knocking with my money!

[Virtualbody1234]

Ok if you need 12 steps. Looks like you've already done the first one.

1. Admitted that you're powerless over cooling components... That your life has become unmanageable.