DIY Watercooling Question

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StillwaterIT

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I built my own setup, but I'm stuck as to which pump I should get. My waterblock is a converted thermaltake 6cu+ that holds a large volume of water. It's all tig welded and pressure tested to 40psi (I'm sure 80psi would be no problem either) so I can push a large amount of water through there as fast as possible. I've fitted my resevoir with AN fittings and have AN braided metal fuel lines as the water tubes.

Any ideas on a high flow / high pressure pump?
 
yep, definantly the Laing D5.

Or one of those DDC+ with the plexi top, but I doubt petra sells them, as far as I recall he still doesn't.

-Jo.
 
Wow, the D5 looks awesome... Thanks!

I stopped by a hardware store and picked up some more aluminum and copper bar, I'm also going to try and make my own waterblock from scratch for a comparison.
 
Here's a question...

Thermal resistance is K*A*dT/L. Copper has a conductivity of 406 and Alum's is 265, a difference of ~50%. Assuming area is the same, why wouldn't an aluminum waterblock with a base that's 50% thinner than a copper waterblock base conduct just as much heat away from the processor and into the water? Also, why wouldn't companies want to use as thin a base as possible?
 
1st off, copper will conduct heat away faster regardless of thickness.

2nd, a thin base is alot easier to bend, or break, and there is a significant amount of pressure holdign the block to the cpu or gpu.
 
aspire.comptech said:
1st off, copper will conduct heat away faster regardless of thickness.

That's false, the thicker it is the more it insulates. If the aluminum and copper has a base thickness of 0.125 of inch the copper will perform better. But if the aluminum has the same thickness and the copper base is increased with every bit the aluminum will perform closer to the copper till a point where the aluminum passes it. BUt as long as the thickness is the same copper will win.


@ StillwaterIT, I would use which ever you want. But remember if you use aluminum in the loop, you will need to add more antifreeze which negatively effects the performance of the coolant since anything you add to water will lessen the thermal conductivity. I do understand that you're making your own blocks and copper isn't very fun to work with, so it's up to you. Just keep every aspect in mind and it will turn out great. Good Luck!
 
^^^ I agree, thickness is a major factor. Tonight I cut and ground the aluminum pieces out to make an ultra-thin all aluminum water block with a semi-large water cavity. It's going to be a basic square 2x2x1.5, a little smaller than my modified thermaltake, but it should actually be a little better given the thin base. I broke down and bought a couple cheap pumps tonight as Lowes for $18/each... 180gph @ 12" head. I'm going to use all 1/2" ID piping, so hopefully that'll lighten the load enough to still get some decent flow. If it doesn't D5 here we come
 
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