Watercooling Antec 900
- Thread starter Bungral
- Start date
Marcus - top mounting the Black Ice 240 rad is something I have in mind as well - did you mount it down from the top through that extremely thin sheet of metal?
Also how is the clearance between the top 5.25 drive bay and the rad? Does a normal size DVD drive fit or does one have to use a slimline and mod the front panel a bit?
And a general question - pump mounting: does the pump necessarily have to be mounted to the bottom of the case, in the bottom drive bays? My idea for my set up involves mounting the pump in the middle set of HD bays and using a good deal of rubber to keep vibrations down.
This is mainly because I'm putting a 3in2 SATA backplane in the bottom drive bays and modding a RAM cooler to fit into the other 5.25 bay (outer dimension) in that set. I like to hot swap my data HD for file sharing.
Will mounting the pump anywhere besides the bottom of the case make a difference? I'm looking at using an AquaStream pump, connected to the system PS.
Also how is the clearance between the top 5.25 drive bay and the rad? Does a normal size DVD drive fit or does one have to use a slimline and mod the front panel a bit?
And a general question - pump mounting: does the pump necessarily have to be mounted to the bottom of the case, in the bottom drive bays? My idea for my set up involves mounting the pump in the middle set of HD bays and using a good deal of rubber to keep vibrations down.
This is mainly because I'm putting a 3in2 SATA backplane in the bottom drive bays and modding a RAM cooler to fit into the other 5.25 bay (outer dimension) in that set. I like to hot swap my data HD for file sharing.
Will mounting the pump anywhere besides the bottom of the case make a difference? I'm looking at using an AquaStream pump, connected to the system PS.
And what about compression fittings - all the mods I've seen and even professional WC installations use perfect seal barbs and metal clamps. Is there some stigma against using compression fittings - I think that they look much cleaner.
Do they leak or are prone to leakage? Require constant tightening, etc. etc.?
And sorry for the multitude of questions - just want to have everything set before I buy the peices and build my rig.
BTW, here's my parts list:
Mobo: Nvidia 780i
CPU: Q8500 Wolfdale
GPU: 8800 GTS (single for now)
Athena Power SATA backplane
System HD: 2 74gb Raptors in RAID 0
Storage HD: Seagate 750gb in 3rd hot swap position
PSU: Ultra x3 1kW
Rad: Black Ice 240
Pump: Aquastream
Res: Aquatube w/jet and UV light
Block: D-Tek Fusion
GPU Block: D-Den IONE
and putting it all in an Antec 900....
Do they leak or are prone to leakage? Require constant tightening, etc. etc.?
And sorry for the multitude of questions - just want to have everything set before I buy the peices and build my rig.
BTW, here's my parts list:
Mobo: Nvidia 780i
CPU: Q8500 Wolfdale
GPU: 8800 GTS (single for now)
Athena Power SATA backplane
System HD: 2 74gb Raptors in RAID 0
Storage HD: Seagate 750gb in 3rd hot swap position
PSU: Ultra x3 1kW
Rad: Black Ice 240
Pump: Aquastream
Res: Aquatube w/jet and UV light
Block: D-Tek Fusion
GPU Block: D-Den IONE
and putting it all in an Antec 900....
From what I've seen compression fittings are very good and don't leak in general.. Obviously there are exceptions but if thats the way you choose to go then it would probably be fine for you. I've gone with the normal barb with jubilee clips as there are so many examples of it being proven not to leak if done correctly. As for the pump in your 900.. Well it depends on where you are putting your reservoir if your having one that is.
You happen to have made a lil diagram of your loop or can describe what you have planned for res?
This is what I did for mine but from what I gather your after going internal:
http://forum.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?t=20976&page=2
You happen to have made a lil diagram of your loop or can describe what you have planned for res?
This is what I did for mine but from what I gather your after going internal:
http://forum.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?t=20976&page=2
I don't have a diagram and my drawing skills are nil (I'm a quant) but I will explain it in great detail.
First, I'm going to mount a 240 Black Ice Stealth GT rad in the roof, under the 200mm fan with the in/out ports toward the front of the case.
In the top set of 3 5.25 bays, the top will be the dvd drive (slim-line if normal won't fit) and the second 2 will house the Aquatube resevior in the Aquabay set up (takes 2 5.25 drive bays).
The next set of three drive bays (HD cage no_1) will house the pump, which will be attached the that cage. I'm going to cut a hole in the top of that cage and run the res -> pump line in the middle of the drive cages (I think it will look cool).
In the bottom set of 3 5.25 drive bays (HD cage no_2) I will be removing the cage altogether, installing a 3in2 SATA backplane in the top 2 bays and modding a RAM cooler to fit in the bottom 5.25 bay slot (with the faceplate from one of the top 5.25 bays since they all attach the same). The RAM cooler is essentialy 3 40mm fans daisy chained together on a single power cable that attaches to a mobo fan connector (3pin).
The loop I am thinking of is going to be:
Pump -> Rad -> CPU -> GPU -> Res -> Pump
The whole case is going to be black (all the components and the case itself sprayed matte black) and I'll be using the Fesser black/UV blue fluid. By using the UV light attachment on the Aquatube, the whole loop will glow UV blue (cuz the fluid is reactive) without having to have anything else in the system be lit up.
Its not that long of a loop and I'm a fan of minimalism so I'm going to try to use either 1/4 or 3/8 ID tubing. I haven't found any barbs/fittings that will work with 1/4 ID tubing but then again I haven't looked all that hard.
Now that I talked it up so much I guess I have to go and build it!
First, I'm going to mount a 240 Black Ice Stealth GT rad in the roof, under the 200mm fan with the in/out ports toward the front of the case.
In the top set of 3 5.25 bays, the top will be the dvd drive (slim-line if normal won't fit) and the second 2 will house the Aquatube resevior in the Aquabay set up (takes 2 5.25 drive bays).
The next set of three drive bays (HD cage no_1) will house the pump, which will be attached the that cage. I'm going to cut a hole in the top of that cage and run the res -> pump line in the middle of the drive cages (I think it will look cool).
In the bottom set of 3 5.25 drive bays (HD cage no_2) I will be removing the cage altogether, installing a 3in2 SATA backplane in the top 2 bays and modding a RAM cooler to fit in the bottom 5.25 bay slot (with the faceplate from one of the top 5.25 bays since they all attach the same). The RAM cooler is essentialy 3 40mm fans daisy chained together on a single power cable that attaches to a mobo fan connector (3pin).
The loop I am thinking of is going to be:
Pump -> Rad -> CPU -> GPU -> Res -> Pump
The whole case is going to be black (all the components and the case itself sprayed matte black) and I'll be using the Fesser black/UV blue fluid. By using the UV light attachment on the Aquatube, the whole loop will glow UV blue (cuz the fluid is reactive) without having to have anything else in the system be lit up.
Its not that long of a loop and I'm a fan of minimalism so I'm going to try to use either 1/4 or 3/8 ID tubing. I haven't found any barbs/fittings that will work with 1/4 ID tubing but then again I haven't looked all that hard.
Now that I talked it up so much I guess I have to go and build it!
For my Antec 900 I have managed to cram alot of Thermaltake stuff in it, even though, lets be fair, the case in tiny! I had to remove the hard disk caddies and I just use a 5 1/4 drive for the HDD (using rubber converters). The 2x120 Rad is mounted on the sode of the case without the fan, and the 120 rad is on the rear outside, as it would just not fit inside, and when it was almost in place inside, it did not leave much room for anything else. I also added the M2 Aquabay, and had to make sure the 5 1/4 bay below was empy (or had a fan controller) as intake fans at the front conflicted with the new rad. Getting all the piping/tubing where you want without kinking was hard, so I had to use alot of springs but works likely, no pictures of it (well no good ones, I have plenty from my camera phone, but its hardly great). Also added a waterblock for my 8800GTS, so you CAN fit a fair amount in, if you are prepared to drill a few holes (to mount the pump on the floor, and mount a Rad on the side) and also dont mind looking alot of HDD caddies. One issue I have is the ASUS Maximus Formula and the Thermaltake CPU mounting bracket dont get on, hacksaw needed as the heatsinks stop the CPU being clamped on well.
