Watercooling Antec P180 for newb

unimatrix0 · Post by **unimatrix0** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 10:29 am

Zero3RD, that set up looks great, good taste. Love the blue coolant, is that from Swiftech or something else?

Regarding D5 vs DDC, the reason I'm suggesting D5 over DCC is for these reasons: 1. DDC with clear top is way more expensive (I love the looks, but hell expensive!) 2. It's noisier than the D5, someone also commented it's still noisy with the clear top, check the DDC thread's last post. 3. There is no potentiometer, and some have reported trouble with running it at lower voltages.

While itâ€™s possible to overcome some of these, there is definitely a lot of work involved, hardly recommendable for someone entering the WC world.

unimatrix0 · Post by **unimatrix0** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 11:18 am

double post *deleted

ZeroR3D · Post by **ZeroR3D** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 12:36 pm

unimatrix0 wrote:Zero3RD, that set up looks great, good taste. Love the blue coolant, is that from Swiftech or something else?

Regarding D5 vs DDC, the reason I'm suggesting D5 over DCC is for these reasons: 1. DDC with clear top is way more expensive (I love the looks, but hell expensive!) 2. It's noisier than the D5, someone also commented it's still noisy with the clear top, check the DDC thread's last post. 3. There is no potentiometer, and some have reported trouble with running it at lower voltages.

While itâ€™s possible to overcome some of these, there is definitely a lot of work involved, hardly recommendable for someone entering the WC world.

Thanks! It's my first custom WC setup so I'm pretty happy with it so far. The coolant is nice to look at but I have a feeling it's not as efficient as it could be. I started with a 90/10 mix of Pentosin G11 and distilled. In the bleeding process, I randomly added more antifreeze because the colour didn't seem right and because you should use a higher concentration with mixed metals. I'm estimating that it's cloer to 70/30 now.

I dunno about D5 vs DDC though, consensus really seems to be that DDC is by far the quieter option. I can definitely say I don't hear my buddy's modded DDC, but I can totally hear the impellor whine on my D5 (on max, open-case).

But you're right, the D5 is a pretty good starter pump with the potentiometer.

zds · Post by **zds** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 12:56 pm

BTW, if you haven't checked this company, check it: http://ekwaterblocks.com/shop/

It's one man company in Slovekia, I think, and the service, performance and quality has been high praised in bit-tech forums. It's in Europe, thou, which might be an advantage or disadvantage, depending on where you live.

But the blocks seem to be very good and prices are low for premium quality blocks.

(No, I do not have any relation to that company, just drooling those pieces of art ATM

)

ZeroR3D · Post by **ZeroR3D** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 1:32 pm

Yup Eddy is a legend over at XS. His full coverage blocks are damned well made (I dunno who makes the DD ones but their handiwork is rather on the low-quality side, my blocks came really rough and tarnished) and EK barbs apparently work wonders on the Storm.

HammerSandwich · Post by **HammerSandwich** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 3:07 pm

ZeroR3D wrote:I have an MCR220 mounted on the rear fan mount using a radbox.

Nice little loop you have there! A few notes & questions:

How long does it take to bleed? Adding a second tee in the line from CPU block to radiator will reduce fill/bleed time to almost nothing. Giving the air an exit helps a bunch.

Did you need the extra spacers between the radbox and case to clear your connections? If not, why?

Your picture massively exceeds forum rules.

ZeroR3D · Post by **ZeroR3D** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 7:39 pm

HammerSandwich wrote:
ZeroR3D wrote:I have an MCR220 mounted on the rear fan mount using a radbox.
Nice little loop you have there! A few notes & questions:

How long does it take to bleed? Adding a second tee in the line from CPU block to radiator will reduce fill/bleed time to almost nothing. Giving the air an exit helps a bunch.

Cool, I think my loop was mostly air-free within an hour or two, and completely air-free within a day. Does having a second T significantly affect flow though? I redoing my loop in a bit and was thinking of either that or a reservoir to ease the filling/bleeding process.

Did you need the extra spacers between the radbox and case to clear your connections? If not, why?

I did use a spacer, because it gives a bit more clearance to the right DVI connector. I was gonna use two spacers but couldn't find a matching set at the hardware store. This is only a problem if you need to run a DVI>VGA adaptor in addition to the VGA plug as well. With a new DVI-native LCD coming, this won't be a problem.

Your picture massively exceeds forum rules.

fixt. and really, aren't they just "guidelines"?

Mobius · Post by **Mobius** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 10:10 pm

ZeroR3D wrote:I have an MCR220 mounted on the rear fan mount using a radbox. Two 1" holes were required for hose pass-throughs. Here's a pic:

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/4434/img0017fq6.jpg

I'm not sure if you mean the bottom fan mount or the bottom front area. The bottom middle fan mount is a bad place for a rad because you'd be circulating heat into the case.

The bottom front area is also not ideal. Even with the weird bracket thing removed, a 25mm-thick fan will not fit there with the HD cage installed and the holes in the case don't line up properly with 120mm fan. It's definitely doable though if you don't put any HDs there and drill out your own holes or use some other method of mounting the rad (iirc someone has a 129mm externally mounted in the lower front intake, the door even closes properly).

Also, if you want to ditch the upper HD and floppy area, you can mount a PA160 by the front fan intake. Search for gocchin at xtremesystems for an example.[/url]

hmmm pa160, interesting doesnt look like hes got much space left inside, pump position looks awkward, think i'll look around abit more and get some more ideas

ZeroR3D · Post by **ZeroR3D** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 11:23 pm

To be honest, there's not that many places to fit a pump in the P180. The only spot I found that didn't block anything and would route properly with my tubing was on the "ceiling"...

killnine · Post by **killnine** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 5:06 pm

simply amazing looking ZeroR3d. Thats a solution anyone would love to see in their case. Pretty blue, too.

pkruger · Post by **pkruger** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 6:01 am

ZeroR3D wrote:I have an MCR220 mounted on the rear fan mount using a radbox. Two 1" holes were required for hose pass-throughs. Here's a pic:

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/4434/img0017fq6.jpg

Hi ZeroR3D!

How about a few more pics of your setup? I am also considering installing WCing in my P180 and would love to get some ideas as to placement of the different components

Thanx!

cciesquare · Post by **cciesquare** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 12:48 am

Seriously ZeroR3D, I love your set up.

You gotta post more pictures, I want to see how you ran the cables, the inside looks so neat.

Also I have a question regarding how you drilled the holes. How did you drill the wholes, and how were you able to get them drilled so nicely. I tried drilling on a similar case to practice, and lets just say luckily it was a case i was going to throw away.

Again you gotta post more picks.