Water cooling my SF201K Case?

Skippman · Post by **Skippman** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:01 am

I'd like to start this post off with stating I know the theory behind water cooling, but have absolutely no experience with it personally. I have built aquariums in the past and done plumbing work so actually building it souldn't be to difficult for me, I just need to know what parts to use and how to design the system for optimum flow.

I'm currently using a SuperFlower Melody case. Extensive photo's of said case can be found on this review article. Although for the record my case is black, not silver as pictured. I'm willing to mod the case within reason but I've not found a case who's looks I like better so I'd prefer to keep with this case.

My systems specs are listed in my banner at the bottom of this post. I'd prefer to water cool just the proc and motherboard for now and leave the GPU's air cooled.

My original plan was to mount a dual 80mm radiator in back interior of the case. To that end I purchased a Danger Den Black Ice radiator. Unfortunatly it will not fit. So my next plan of action is to mod the case top and mount a dual 120mm radiator there, putting the resivour in a 5 1/2" bay. I've looked at the Swift Tech 5 1/2" bay that includes the pump but I don't know if this would be sufficent.

Any input? Would I be better with a prebuilt kit?

Post by **Apoptosis** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:17 am

how big is your budget?

Skippman · Post by **Skippman** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:20 am

Well, I did just drop $1K on the rig in the last week.

Lets say $250?

<so much for the turbo kit this spring>

Post by **Apoptosis** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:42 am

just to give you an idea...

Black Ice GTX240 - $99.95

This is a nice dual 120mm radiator - The Black IceÂ® GTX240 raises the bar on performance on the GTX platform by offering a dual 120mm fan configuration. The GTX240 utilizes the same radically optimized Black Ice GTX dual core design maximizing heat exchange, coolant flow, and stealth silent operation.

Danger Den - DDC-12V REV2 "PLUS" Pump - $74.95

Apogee GT Water Block - $49.95

All that will set you back $225 and the rest you can spend on Tygon tubing, fittings, 120mm fans and so on. Something like this should be able to meet your $250 budget...

As for fitting this in your case dunno... but for $250 I'd do something along the lines of that.

Bio-Hazard · Post by **Bio-Hazard** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 9:55 am

Just get the Swiftech Apex "Ultra", works great and comes complete with everything you need except the water. It's basicly a como of all Swiftechs top performing parts in a single package. You can find it online for well under MSRP, I've seen it as low as $200 or so.

http://www.swiftnets.com/products/H20-220-APEX.asp

Here you go, $220 out the door ready to rock and roll..........;)

http://www.jab-tech.com/Swiftech-Apex-U ... -3198.html

Skippman · Post by **Skippman** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 10:04 am

Hmm... food for thought. So get that and mount it to the back of the case then? I like that the newer kit includes the chipset cooler as well as that's where the majority of my heat comes from.

What concerns me is if I bolt it to the back of the case I'm going to be dumping the exhaust of two 80 mm case fans and two X1900's onto the radiator. I'm assuming the 120mm's that are bolted to the radiator blow into the radiatior, not pull through?

Post by **Apoptosis** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 10:05 am

very true... forgot about those

Bio-Hazard · Post by **Bio-Hazard** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 10:12 am

Mounting the radiator on the rear is just a option, as is the position of the fans. Swiftech has just pre built it that way to make things quick and easy for the folks new to water cooling. If you want to mount the system in any other configuration, fell free to do so. I'm useing the older version of the very same kit in my UFO right now, although it may not look like...............

Basicly I'm useing 2 complete Swiftech kits, the 220 and a 120 kit.......

Bio-Hazard · Post by **Bio-Hazard** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 10:19 am

Skippman, you're here in the St Louis area right, I can hook you up with just about everything you need cheap, except the pump. I only have the older D4 pumps extra at the moment, but by the end of the week I should have a couple of extra radiators (I just ordered a Thermochill 120.3 for mine), I've got a extra standard APOGEE and a old style 5.25 bay rez and most if not all the hardware.

Skippman · Post by **Skippman** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 10:23 am

Well, ok how about this.

Can't I just reverse the fans on the back of the radiator and have them such as opposed to blow? I admit it probably wouldn't be as efficent but it should work right?

The other option is to cut a hole at the top of the case and attempt to mount it up there ala a Koolance case and have the fans blow up though it.

Bio-Hazard · Post by **Bio-Hazard** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 10:28 am

The fans work just about the same in either direction, when I reviewed the kit, I tested in both directions. Sadly the review isn't around anymore as System Cooling is long gone.

Skippman · Post by **Skippman** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 10:34 am

But would pulling the warm exhaust of the case and GPU's through the radiator decrease it's cooling potential. I'm inclined to believe it would.

Bio-Hazard · Post by **Bio-Hazard** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 10:39 am

It will to a point, but the fans and radiator are back spaced from the rear of the case several inches. You would get a little better performance if the radiator was in a different location. The problem is with smaller mid-towers, there's not a lot of other options out there without a lot of modding.

Skippman · Post by **Skippman** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 10:46 am

At least the materials in the kit closely match my case's looks. What about those spare parts you have? I PM'd you.

Skippman · Post by **Skippman** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 8:38 am

My other option is to purchase a new case. Superflower makes one that has a 120mm fan on the back end. Thier SF-461BK case. I'm wondering if my case door panels would fit so I could keep my windows.

The Antec 900 would be a VERY strong contender if the interior were painted/annodized.

Skippman · Post by **Skippman** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 11:56 am

What about dropping a Koolance unit into the top of my existing case? Could that work?

Skippman · Post by **Skippman** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 11:00 am

I hate to keep replying to my own thread but I'm not really getting any feedback here.

I measured and unfortunatly I cannot use the Swiftech MCR220 even with the RadBox on the back of my case. The dongle for the Crossfire connections would be in the way. This leaves the case top as the only viable solution if I want to use that setup.

Altrenativly I could use a Cooler Master AQUAGATE Mini R80 to cool the CPU and a Cooler Master Aquagate Duo Viva to cool my GPU's. The downsides to this are that it eats a PCI slot, and I'd not be able to cool my chipset.

Bio-Hazard · Post by **Bio-Hazard** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 11:56 am

Out of the ones that you mentioned, the Koolance would be about the best option performance wize, but thay do cost a bit more than most others. But they are very well built units and fairly easy to install. The pumps used in these systems are basicly Lane/Swiftech DDC-1's if I remember right, the only thing I don't care for is that Koolance temds to use full aluminum radiators in their units, so you have t use a fairly high percentage of anti-freeze to stop corrision.

Skippman · Post by **Skippman** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 11:58 am

Wish I new someone with access to a CnC Mill. I'd have a shroud cut to bolt one to the top of my case. I already have someone who can get stuff annodized.

Bio-Hazard · Post by **Bio-Hazard** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 12:04 pm

Any good sheet metal shop should be able to make a shroud for you with welded corners and then finish it off how you like. I just last month sold 4 steel shrouds to a guy up in Canada that might have worked well for what you need.