Water Cooling UV Siamese (Need some advice)

[ricochet]

Well, I have gone completely nuts and have decided to mini-loop water cool my latest build UV Siamese... so UV Siamese 2 will involve the following upgrades:

Mini-Loop Water Cooling = <80 mm tall x <185 mm long x <40 mm wide radiator/fan system
PSU = Silverstone ST30SF SFX swapped out for HDPLEX DC-ATX Direct Plug and AC-DC Internal Adapter
CPU = Skylake G4400 Pentium swapped for Kaby Lake G4620 Pentium or i3-7100
Power Button = @iFreilicht 16 mm RGB Vandal Button
LED = one (1) additional 5" Darkside UV LED strip for the right side of the case (sorry, I can't help myself I am afflicted)

Questions:

1.) Radiator Size: Would a single 80 mm radiator w/ a 80 mm fan cool a sub 51W Pentium/i-3 adequately for a low-power user? Or should I be considering dual 40 mm fan models instead? I do need to watch the radiator length though as I am limited to 185 mm as my case is 205 mm and I want to put iFreilicht's vandal switch on the right side @ audio/usb I/O area. Another hurdle will be keeping the combined radiator and fan thickness sub 40 mm unless I use 40 mm wide radiator/fan setup, then I have some more wiggle room over 50 mm over the motherboard.

2.) Radiator Brands: Currently, I am considering Alphacool's NexXxos XT45 and Black Ice's Micro 2 models... are there some better options I should be considering? Maybe an AIO system per chance?

3.) Water Block/Pump Head: What water block/pump head would be best for a mini-loop cooling a low-power Pentium/i-3?

4.) Power Requirements: How many additional watts am I am looking at for a small water cooling system... 4-5 watts? I am still trying to figure out if I should use the 80W or 160W AC-DC adapter... I am a non-gaming; non-photo/video editing; low-power user requiring no dedicated GPU... pretty much just office work (word, powerpoint, and light excel), heavy browser usage, and HD video playback usage for this ole boy.

5.) PCIe Riser: My case (Silverstone ML06B-E) will require me to move my Asus Xonar DX sound card from the side LP expansion slot to the overhead single slot via a riser. This will allow maximum room for the radiator, fans, and tubing to the left side of the motherboard. Any recommendations on a short flexible PCI-e riser for what I want to do?

Really would appreciate any/all ideas, advice, and recommendations.

Respectfully requested; cheers.

 

[|||]

1 & 2: Try looking at HardwareLabs Nemesis Micro GTX rads for this. They claim a single 80mm rad (54mm thick) is good for 200W thermal dissipation (keep in mind that is under ideal conditions with large deltaT, meaning high loop temperatures).

3: You will be running such a small loop any will do. Space considerations may be a bigger concern...perhaps a Swiftech Apogee Drive 2 if you have room under the sound card?

4: The Apogee Drive 2 specs 18W, which is inline with small DDC pumps. Other pumps can go above 25W.

5: Lots of talk on this forum about riser quality...search around and you'll find some interesting threads

 

[ricochet]

1 & 2: Try looking at HardwareLabs Nemesis Micro GTX rads for this. They claim a single 80mm rad (54mm thick) is good for 200W thermal dissipation (keep in mind that is under ideal conditions with large deltaT, meaning high loop temperatures).

Really appreciate the reply. Yeah, I saw that and will consider it more seriously... with a 200W rating (radiator plus 80 mm fan) I might be able to run it passivelly (no fan) to cool a sub 54W CPU which would solve my limited space.

3: You will be running such a small loop any will do. Space considerations may be a bigger concern...perhaps a Swiftech Apogee Drive 2 if you have room under the sound card?

4: The Apogee Drive 2 specs 18W, which is inline with small DDC pumps. Other pumps can go above 25W.

Too bad it doesn't fit a 1151 socket :-(
Damn, I was well off on the power requirements... well that means I surely will need to use the 160W AC-DC then.

5: Lots of talk on this forum about riser quality...search around and you'll find some interesting threads

So any riser will work for my sound card?

 

[|||]

Really appreciate the reply. Yeah, I saw that and will consider more seriously... with a rated 200W radiator I might not even need a fan then to cool a sub 54W CPU which would solve my limited space.

No problem. You'll pretty much need a fan...convective cooling from these radiators won't be great. Perhaps a slim fan?

Too bad it doesn't fit a 1151 socket :-(

The 1155 bracket should work for 1150 and 1151, too. Here's a pic of one on an 1150

So any riser will work for my sound card?

It seems like some are better than others. 3M's are really good, but quite expensive. Other's vary in quality, with Li Heat, HDPlex, and perhaps others offering quality flexible risers.

 

[ricochet]

Just realized that with the sound card above the cpu I am limited to <60 mm so no way that integrated pump/water block could get in there plus the tubing. Unless I leave the sound card where it currently is at in the LP slot. That would give me the full 70 mm of overhead but I would then need to use a very narrow radiator/fan set-up as I am limited to 40 mm, not 50 mm, in combined radiator/fan thickness due to the motherboard... unless I use a 40 mm wide radiator which would miss the motherboard giving me 50+ mm to work with.

 

[ricochet]

After some deep thought I decided that moving my Asus Xonar DX sound card would only hinder my fitting an integrated pump/water block on my CPU due to headroom... plus, moving the sound card would require a 360+ mm long flexible riser due to the card's flipped orientation and location over the motherboard. So my sound card will remain at it's current location at the first LP expansion slot giving me a full 70 mm of headroom but only <40 mm of wiggle room from the side panel. For both a radiator and the required fans to fit into this space I am limited to a 25 mm thick radiator combined with either 80 mm x 15 mm or 40 mm x 10 mm fans.

This is my mini-loop water cooling solution thus far:

Integrated Pump/Water Block:

Swiftech Apogee Drive II; Height 61.5 mm (Power = 18W)
Alphacool Eisberg Solo; Height 55 mm (Power = 4W)​

Radiator:

MagiCool Extreme Slim Profile Dual 40 mm; 157 mm x 40 mm x 25 mm​

Fans (Two):

Silenx IXP-54-09/11/14 Ixtrema Pro (80 mm x 15 mm)
Noiseblocker Black Silent Pro PC-P PWM (80 mm x 15 mm)

Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX (40 mm x 10 mm)
Silenx IXP-11-14 Ixtrema Pro (40 mm x 10 mm)
Gelid Silent 4 (40 mm x 10 mm)
Fractal Design Silent R2/R3 (40 mm x 10 mm)​

Fan Cable:

Two-Way Split​

Questions:
Due to the pump's power requirement I may have no choice but to use a 160W AC-DC internal adapter now with HDPLEX's 160W DC-ATX Direct Plug as the 80W unit may not provide enough juice... what say you? If I use the Alphacool instead, rated at 4W, then the 80W AC-DC remains viable.

To keep under the available headroom over the CPU and M/B (<70 mm) would 45-degree connectors/fittings be doable with either of these integrated water blocks? Appears the Alphacool would allow 45-degree compression fittings no problem. The Swiftech may just be too tall and the fittings at too high of an angle for tubing to fit under 70 mm. Problem now though is the Eisberg is no longer made and the new model Eisbaer Solo is too tall at 68 mm!!!

Should 'radiator tasked' fans be in a push, pull, or push/pull configuration?

80 mm diameter fans would be easier to fasten to the case and they would cool the case and look better as they would fill the entire side panel but the radiator may be much easier to attach to 40 mm fans instead however 40 mm fans may be difficult to attach to the case side panel... also, due to the larger size of the 80 mm fans about half of the fan's outer edges, where most of the airflow and pressure is generated, will miss the radiator... good for the case but not so much for the radiator yes? Any thoughts on fan size and setup?

What type/diameter/brand of flexible tubing should I be considering for this mini-loop from the integrated pump/water block to the radiator?

 

[Sicaris]

Out of curiosity, what is the benefit of using water cooling on this system rather than air? It seems like a lot of extra effort. I've never worked with water cooling so I'm probably missing something important and thought I would ask.

 

[ricochet]

Simply for the fun of it.

 

[Sicaris]

That's a good enough reason for me!

 

[ricochet]

Oh my... I have huge headache now!!! See above post with yellow edits... hitting some major road blocks now. LOL.

 

[ricochet]

Considering these two options now...

Option A
Cannibalize a 4W Raijintek Triton AIO for the Pump/Water Block head which is only 39 mm tall and hook it up to the MagiCool Extreme Slim Profile Dual 40 mm Radiator.

Option B
Use a low-profile water block with the MagiCool Extreme Slim Profile Dual 40 mm radiator and then figure out a way to fit in a 6W XSPC Ion Pump/Reservoir in the right side of my case which will be empty once I replace the SFX PSU. The Ion, HDPLEX 80W AC-DC; 2.5 SSD; and all cables should just barely fit.

 

[ricochet]

Consolidated/Updated Questions:

1.) 40 or 80 mm diameter fans? 80 mm fans would be easier to fasten to the case (as it was designed for two (2) 80 mm fans) and they would cool the case more and look better as they would fill the entire side panel but, the radiator may be much easier to attach to 40 mm fans instead… however, 40 mm fans may be difficult to attach to the case side panel. Any solutions/ideas here?

2.) Due to the larger size of the 80 mm fans compared to the 40 mm radiator size about half of the 80 mm fan's outer edges, where most of the airflow and pressure is generated, will completely miss the radiator face... good for the case but not so much for the radiator cooling wise, yes?

3.) Should 'radiator tasked' fans be in a push, pull, or push/pull configuration?

4.) What type/diameter/brand of flexible tubing should I be considering for this mini-loop from the integrated pump/water block to the radiator or... from the low-profile water block to the pump/reservoir to the radiator depending on which option I choose?

 

[Ceros_X]

Consolidated/Updated Questions:

1.) 40 or 80 mm diameter fans? 80 mm fans would be easier to fasten to the case (as it was designed for two (2) 80 mm fans) and they would cool the case more and look better as they would fill the entire side panel but, the radiator may be much easier to attach to 40 mm fans instead… however, 40 mm fans may be difficult to attach to the case side panel. Any solutions/ideas here?

For 40MM, pick either "quiet and moves no air!" or "loud as shit and moves a shit ton of air". There is really no way for 40mm fans to get good CFM without being loud. If you're going to go with a watercooling setup, then the last thing you want is a setup that has to be louder than air cooling to work.

As for the effectiveness, look at the CFM of the 40mm fans you are looking at and then look at the CFM of the 80mm and divide by 2 perhaps?

The rest of your questions IDK, not a watercooling guy (although I've done a watercooling build once just to say I did it lol..)

 

[ricochet]

I have once again proved to myself that I can be a big dummy sometimes...

It just suddenly occurred to me that since I am not moving my sound card to the single expansion slot over the motherboard that I can now use the overhead ODD/HDD/CASE FAN bracket! This will allow me to put a larger diameter radiator (120 mm) with a thin 120 mm fan over a very low-profile water block with 45-degree fittings!!! A combined pump and reservoir could then sit in the space by the side panel (next to the sound card) allowing easy viewing of the coolant levels.

Low Profile Water Block:

Apogee LP IU or...
EK-Annihilator 1U or...
Innovatek XX-Flow rev 2.0 or...
XSPC Raystorm Pro / V3 or...
Alphacool NexXxos XP³ Light CPU
​

Pump + Reservoir:

XSPC Ion Pump/Reservoir (6W; 58 x 50 x 154 mm)
​

Radiator:

Glacial-EXM Dual Pass 120 (140 x 120 x 25 mm) or...
Black Ice Pro Compact 120 (157 x 133 x 25 mm)
​

Fan:

I need to figure out a very low profile water block, fitting, and tubing setup so that I can use either my Noctua NF-S12B redux 1200 PWM (120 mm x 25 mm) or my Silverstone Quiet APA-1215L Slim (120 mm x 15 mm) case fans as the static pressure is way too low to properly cool a radiator with most slim fan options I was considering before. Might have to go even thinner and use a Gelid Silent Slim PWM (120 mm x 10 mm) or the Scythe Slip Stream Slim (120 mm x 12 mm) to allow more space for tubing coming off the water block.​

 

[ricochet]

Edits above in red. Removed water blocks/fittings that will be too tall... and decided after getting some recommendations and reading some reviews to use a HWL Black Ice radiator. Removed some of the slim fan options as I will need more static pressure to properly cool the radiator.

 

[ricochet]

Received and installed my HDPLEX; please see here. Now just have to get a new CPU (Kaby Lake Pentium G4620) and wait for @iFreilicht's RGB Vandal Power Button. Still mulling over a micro water cooling system but no longer for this current case but my next case which will be sub-5L (either the Korkin, RSC, or the Lone 4).

 

[ricochet]

Please Review and Offer Any Advice... I am concerned about tubing/hose compatibility between the radiator and the water block/pump/reservoir. I have less than 48 mm from my sound card to the side panel to fit the radiator and two fans.

Low Profile CPU Water Block:
Swiftech Apogee LP IU (Height 31.2 mm with G1/4 fittings)

Pump + Reservoir:
XSPC Ion Pump/Reservoir (6W; 58 x 50 x 154 mm with G1/4 fittings)

Radiator:
MagiCool Extreme Slim Profile Dual 40 mm (157 mm x 40 mm x 25 mm with G3/8 fittings)

Tubing:
G3/8 = 7/9 (ID/OD) mm ??? (Should be smaller than G1/4 for proper fitting, correct?)

Fans (Two):
Noiseblocker Black Silent Pro PC-P PWM (80 mm x 15 mm; 4-30 CFM)

Fan Cable:
Two-Way Split