Hardware pr0n...w00t!

[Virtualbody1234]

Nice mod but isn't there a way to include the northbridge into you water cooling loop?

[clocker]

Not easily.

Outside of the fact that it would be tough to find a block that would physically fit, I don't think the added restriction in the loop would be good.

[S!X]

Ha, I knew that that crappy Northbridge heatsink was gonna come back to haunt you.

[clocker]

You did?
Why was I not informed?

I can't say I ever experienced a problem I could pin on high chipset temps...my major objections were mostly aesthetic and theoretical.
It always seemed to me that the board's designers had taken the easy way out and I could do better.

Then again, I tend to think that about a lot of things.

[lynx]

I remember LP mentioning that several times.

No, wait, I don't remember any such thing. Spooky, huh?

Then again, I tend to think that about a lot of things.

You probably just think too much.

I wonder if board clutter is Abit's reason for using heatpipe cooling on some of their new boards.

[clocker]

I wonder if board clutter is Abit's reason for using heatpipe cooling on some of their new boards.

Could very well be.
I was semi impressed by those solutions till I realized that they would be less than useless in a pseudo-BTX case like (both) mine are.

I had spent some time going through our pile of laptop carcases looking for a suitable setup...some actually came pretty close and I wouldn't be surprised to see a variation of the typical laptop integrated base/heatpipe/fan/radiator show up on full sized boards.

Anyway, layout should improve with the removal of IDE ports- they consume a lot of valuable real estate.

[clocker]

Tubing finally arrived and assembly is nearly finished.

If ever I had doubts about the value of Tygon 3603 tubing, they have been dispelled now.
It is the gold standard by which I shall judge all others in the future.
Remarkably soft, almost sticky Tygon will bend to incredible radii without kinking.
If you are considering watercooling, this stuff is highly recommended.

Pics later.

[clocker]

Better late than never.

Although, given my craptacular photography skills, that is debatable too.

Anyway...

Pretty standard stuff.
On the backplane there is now a 120mm fan at the bottom, pulling air past the newly mounted pump.
The front bezel is still a work in progress..not much to say about it right now.


Here is the whole enchilada.
Many changes in the upper bay area, mostly aimed at lowering HDD temps.
The radiator is obviously the biggest change of all, I'm very curious to see how it compares to the BIX I had mounted previously.

It just struck me that even though Sprocket is watercooled, she still sports six 120mm fans.
Wonder how quiet she'll be.

[clocker]

More changes coming,
New motherboard (DFI LanParty SLI),which I was saving for the Lian-li but decided to try now and the waterloop is being rearranged (decided to add the BIX to the loop...practicality be damned).

I'm not sure what will happen to the Lian-li project, so far, the Venice/San Diego releases don't seem like they are a quantum leap over my Winchester and the x2's are too expensive to contemplate.
I wanted to bump the performance AND the visuals on the next build, but the current version of Sprocket seems pretty acceptable, so maybe I just sit out for a while and wait to pick up a used 6800GT vid card and play with SLI for a while.

Oh boy.

[S!X]

Omg... Shoulda got a SLI in the first place.