I'm still on a quest on how to best silence my two 3U Rackmount cases and leaning back towards Water Cooling.
But what to select for a 3U case is still a problem.
I'm thinking I need to keep this as an all-in-one solution in that I can't have non-attached radiator/pump/etc due to the case needing to slide on it's rackmount rails.
This keeps some of the radiators (like the Zalman Reserator series) out of the picture.
The 3U case has x2 5.25" half height bays and a x1 3.5" bay per side.
With two hard drives and a DVDR, it doesn't leave much room to put a radiator there either.
I've checked out this blog site, but still looks like they are using 4U cases and isn't clear if they are still able to slide the cases in/out without having to disconnect hoses, etc.
http://www.campbellassociates.ca/blog/C ... %20Cooling
Some of the setups there also look like a Holy Terror, but my hat's off to the guy for what he's done.
Any recommendations or further ideas on a solution for a 3U rackmount case?
Many Thanks.
3U Rackmount Case Solutions?
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
I got a Corsair Nautilus 500 to play with.
So far things are working out fine.
I chose this one primarily because the tank, pump, and radiator is an all in one external unit and included a slot spacer that allows the hoses and power to go through.
I didn't have to find room inside the 3U rackmount to put anything and it's only two hoses to connect.
It also offered an AMD 939 top bracket that allowed me to install the block using the stock AMD CPU HS bracket. No taking the motherboard out to install it.
Assembly went fine, however it's a bit tricky to get the water block on the way this 939 setup is. I'm still futzing with a more solid method to attach their custom brack.
While this isn't an overclockers dream of a water cooling solution, it's a start for me.
I mounted a half shelf in the rack above the systems to put the external unit. Looks like I can get a couple of them on there, however, you'll need a decent 3U of space for ventilation.
The hoses run down the side of the rack and to the back of the case. There's enough slack to slide the case out of the rack for maintenance.
I'm sure I'm going to out grow this quickly if and when I add a VGA and NB water block though (which I'll no doubt do as the VGA cooling and NB are the only fan noise I have now.
I'll see if I can get some pics up (now where's that darn camera!).
So far things are working out fine.
I chose this one primarily because the tank, pump, and radiator is an all in one external unit and included a slot spacer that allows the hoses and power to go through.
I didn't have to find room inside the 3U rackmount to put anything and it's only two hoses to connect.
It also offered an AMD 939 top bracket that allowed me to install the block using the stock AMD CPU HS bracket. No taking the motherboard out to install it.
Assembly went fine, however it's a bit tricky to get the water block on the way this 939 setup is. I'm still futzing with a more solid method to attach their custom brack.
While this isn't an overclockers dream of a water cooling solution, it's a start for me.
I mounted a half shelf in the rack above the systems to put the external unit. Looks like I can get a couple of them on there, however, you'll need a decent 3U of space for ventilation.
The hoses run down the side of the rack and to the back of the case. There's enough slack to slide the case out of the rack for maintenance.
I'm sure I'm going to out grow this quickly if and when I add a VGA and NB water block though (which I'll no doubt do as the VGA cooling and NB are the only fan noise I have now.
I'll see if I can get some pics up (now where's that darn camera!).
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dean.collins
- Posts: 53
- Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:38 am
rack mount
hi, I have a 48 ru 19" rack that I have 2 watercool pcs in, both are cooled by reserators at the moment, and yep it's a pita to get the servers in and out.
what I did was build quick release connectors at the back panel of the server so it's less of an issue now....however.... I still have 2 other servers that have fans and I am just about to buy one more so it's time for an upgrade (I'm also going to take advantage of replacing all of the power supplies with water cooled units as well).
http://www.collins.net.pr/links/watercooling
the plan is to build a large 5ft x 2ft x 1" (maybe 2" I'm concerned about weight) tank that will simply hang from the outside of my rack.
I was originally going to replace the entire side of the rack with a tank but am concerned about needing to replace a door etc should I change my mind/sell/build another etc.
Because of the construction of my rack the four upright vertical colums are open at the top and will work perfectly to hang the tank, clipping out when I need to modify it, empty etc.
There will then be 5 sets of holes drilled through from the outside rack side through to the inside where the 5 pumps will be located with quick release connections to the rear panel of each server.
At 1" thick the tank is approx 29 litres (or 10x a reserator) you can see why I'm thinking I wont need it 2" thick.
The internal side of the tank will be flat to sit against the external wall of the rack. But the external wall of the tank will be an extruded heatsink design that has 2.3" of depth.
Even with only 1 wall of the rack having this heatsink design it has the surface area of 6 reserators.
Whats super interesting is that I've been working on this idea getting quotes for fabrication, material etc for some time, only to just see that Zalman have recently changed the design of their model in the reserator 2 to a similar model.
Anyone interested in sharing costs for production and having 2 built email me
Unfortunately it will be manafactured in NJ so shipping might be a problem.
Dean
what I did was build quick release connectors at the back panel of the server so it's less of an issue now....however.... I still have 2 other servers that have fans and I am just about to buy one more so it's time for an upgrade (I'm also going to take advantage of replacing all of the power supplies with water cooled units as well).
http://www.collins.net.pr/links/watercooling
the plan is to build a large 5ft x 2ft x 1" (maybe 2" I'm concerned about weight) tank that will simply hang from the outside of my rack.
I was originally going to replace the entire side of the rack with a tank but am concerned about needing to replace a door etc should I change my mind/sell/build another etc.
Because of the construction of my rack the four upright vertical colums are open at the top and will work perfectly to hang the tank, clipping out when I need to modify it, empty etc.
There will then be 5 sets of holes drilled through from the outside rack side through to the inside where the 5 pumps will be located with quick release connections to the rear panel of each server.
At 1" thick the tank is approx 29 litres (or 10x a reserator) you can see why I'm thinking I wont need it 2" thick.
The internal side of the tank will be flat to sit against the external wall of the rack. But the external wall of the tank will be an extruded heatsink design that has 2.3" of depth.
Even with only 1 wall of the rack having this heatsink design it has the surface area of 6 reserators.
Whats super interesting is that I've been working on this idea getting quotes for fabrication, material etc for some time, only to just see that Zalman have recently changed the design of their model in the reserator 2 to a similar model.
Anyone interested in sharing costs for production and having 2 built email me
Unfortunately it will be manafactured in NJ so shipping might be a problem.
Dean
Last edited by dean.collins on Mon Sep 11, 2006 1:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Here are some thoughts:
-Swiftech nowadays has 1U version of their Apogee CPU block, that should fit any case
-If you have enough room in your chassis, 1-2 dual-80mm radiators might do it. Often rackmount chassises have number of 80mm fans in the middle; if you have room there, you could add radiators right before/after them and duck appropriately.
-As for pump, Laing DDC will surely fit there
-Swiftech nowadays has 1U version of their Apogee CPU block, that should fit any case
-If you have enough room in your chassis, 1-2 dual-80mm radiators might do it. Often rackmount chassises have number of 80mm fans in the middle; if you have room there, you could add radiators right before/after them and duck appropriately.
-As for pump, Laing DDC will surely fit there