cyrixMII300

Let me make it clear here that I dont favour any particular brand over the other and so will not be making any recommendations as such.

You would need among others the following:

An off the shelf radiator for which the minimum size should be 120mm x 120mm
When you buy a radiator, pay special attention to the number of fins available for heat dissipation or the thermal rating of the radiator. I would personally recommend a heating or cooling coil from the local garage. Another point to note is that you should either get a slimmer but wider radiator with several low CFM fans or a thicker radiator with high CFM fan. This is because the total duty (amount of heat transferred from the heat exchanger to the ambient air) is highly dependent on the surface area, the number of passes and the heat transfer rate. A slimmer but wider radiator usually has more number of passes and more residence time than a thicker one. What this means is that you can actually install several smaller CFM fans which would be less noisy and get the same performance as of the thicker radiator. Finally, if it is possible check to see if the radiator has a specification for effective heat transfer area in either square feet or square meters. The higher the value of the effective heat transfer are the more cooling effect that you will have. Note that I mentioned EFFECTIVE heat transfer area and not total heat transfer area. It is extremely true that the effective heat transfer area is always smaller than the total heat transfer area. So whenever you buy a radiator, buy it based on the effective heat transfer area and not on total heat transfer area.

A good water pump
Currently there are some models available in the market which are able to provide up to 450 gph (gallons per hour) or 1700 l/hr (liters per hour) of flow but its too much so just get something in the range of 100 to 180 gph or 680 l/hr. But make sure that any pump that you get is a centrifugal type pump since these are the best pumps for the application as any competent engineer will tell you. Believe me, spending good money on the pump is as worth while as getting a very high end radiator.

Cooling fans
You must get at least two identical high flow fans with fan shrouds (minimum flow should be 90 cfm (cubic feet per minute)). I will explain why later. Remember if you are procuring the used heating or cooling coil, you might need to obtain more fans.

2 mm thick tubings
Get a 3 feet or 1 metre of this since you will have to ensure that when you install it doesnt produce any kinks on the tubes. Otherwise you will end up with very expensive useless junk considering the high flow pump.

Waterblock
When you purchase a water block there are 3 very important things to consider. All explanations will be given below.
1) Type of material and finish
You have to make sure that the material of construction is primarily copper and that the finish is close to mirror finish.
2) Thickness of the bottom of block
You have to make sure that the bottom thickness of the block is as small as possible without compromising the strength of the block
3) Number of passes
Find a waterblock with the maximum number of passes. The number of passes will determine the amount of turbulence (disturbance) created and therefore heat transfer from block to water. Look for serations and such inside the block thats intentionally built into the block

Coolant
Utilize a non-conducting coolant but if I remember well Ethylene Glycol (EG) makes a very good heat transfer fluid with higher heat transfer capacity (but its lots more expensive than distilled water and more dangerous, but then if you are willing to work with LN then EG should not be too bad).

Installation Procedure
When installing the water cooling system there are several important considerations to consider. First off dont install the radiator on the back of the case where its the hottest. The best position for the radiator would be the top of the case with free air flow path on the front and the back of radiator. If this is not possible then install the radiator on the side panel (too much hassle).

Second important factor to consider is the flow of liquid. You should always pump the water from the reservoir into the pump then into the radiator and then into the waterblock and finally back to the reservoir. Why? It's naturally because the water is coolest after the radiator and the water has some residence time inside the reservoir to allow natural heat loss. You could also try to by using a "Y" divider to split some water direct from radiator into the reservoir. This way you would be able to maintain the average temp of the water lower, especially if the reservoir is also equipped with a low speed, low cfm fan. The fan will assist in heat dissipation, but be warned it will also cause water loss and so you have to ensure sufficient levels of water.

You must install the 2 high cfm fans on the radiator. One should be blowing in air into the radiator fins, and the other sucking it out. Make sure the fan shrouds are well installed. The reason why you need identical fans is simply this - you must have approximately the same amount of air intake as the discharge. If there is too much difference between the two, not only will you risk the failure of the slower fan over time but more importantly you will end up with hot air pockets within the fins of the radiator, which will result in bad heat transfer and higher average water temperature. This is also the reason why you would need the fan shrouds. The shrouds will assist in a turbulent flow when installed against the radiator fins. This turbulence will assist in heat loss from the fins to the surrounding air which means more heat is lost from the water to the fins.

Why would I need such a big pump? Well its basically because the equation of heat transfer is basically dependent on heat transfer coefficient, flowrate, and temperature difference (in layman terms). To obtain a really efficient system, you need fluids with very good heat transfer coefficient and a high flowrate of the fluid to allow better heat removal. But of course too much of a good thing would still cause problems as in no heat will be removed. Here in comes the number of passes. The more number of passes you have the more times the water flows over the block and more heat is removed. The same way the more serration on the inside of the block the more turbulence created and hence better heat transfer.

Moving on to the bottom thickness of block. The thicker the block, the more heat that is retained inside the block and therefore on the CPU. The water that is flowing only removes heat from the top of the block closest to it and not completely from the CPU. When you get a thinner block, you obtain higher efficiency of transfer in the way of less heat retainment. As for mirror finish of the block, it's common knowledge that the better the finish of the block the more contact it will have with the CPU and therefore the better the heat transfer from CPU to block.

I think this should do it, but as soon as I am able to, I will include a picture of the complete setup as proposed above.

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cyrixMII300

yippeee!!!! got my own FAQ... Thank you Mr.T!!! :D :D :D you have made my day

edit:
I am just wondering. I have seen that lots of people have looked at this FAQ but not a single person commented. What gives? I mean if there is something lacking I can improve it but I need input to do that. So can someone comment?

thank you

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Watercooling FAQ
http://www.overclock.net/faqs/70838-...m-how-can.html

Air Cooling & Casing Fan Arrangement
http://www.overclock.net/faqs/71307-...need-know.html

PhireX

Nice FAQ, Thanks! (from a newbie watercooler....wont be building my own, but it's definately something to consider down the track, maybe not on my main system just yet.. =))

TeleFragX

very nice FAQ - keep it up REP has been rewarded as a thanks :)

InTheFlow

I'm new to this and in "learning mode". I found your FAQ helpful. Thank you for making it.

uTunes

will this be cheaper than buying a retail one

rc11

Buying a retail kit will probably be cheaper considering which one you wanna get.

Custom WC can get you lower temps though, at a quarter/half of the price more. It all depends on how much you wanna spend for performance.