Home Made PC water cooling

One of the most enjoyable things to do in your spare time is to make gadgets and mods to your computer. This DIY project shows how you can add an efficient water cooling system to your computer using affordable stuff and with lots of fun.

 

Step 1: Tools

You will need the following:
1.A drill.
2.A normal CPU heat sink.
3.A copper tube. (like the one used in refrigerators)
4.A plastic tube.
5.An aquarium pump.
6.A glass or plastic Jar.
7.Distilled water.
8.Epoxy - Plasticsteel

 

Comments

[twitsl]

This system would work if you have a low power system and just want quiet. Don't wreck up a 1000$ gaming machine trying this. It would be better to get a more squarish heatsink drill holes all the way through it's sides and feed lengths copper tubing through and solder them together at the ends so you have the water passing through all of them. You'll probably also want to somehow solder the copper tubing to the heatsink. But if you're looking for a cooling system for a high end machine just by one from newegg.com you'll get better performance without wrecking up your computer. Although the blacklight and whatever is in the water that responds to it was a nice touch.

[ianmcmill]

this step needs definitly more pictures.

does this heat sink have a solid core ? your are just drilling in two holes that connect inside the core to let the water flow ?

[helios5993]

I guess thats what it must be done, maybe like a "V" inside the heatsink. That seems pretty dificult...

[Sky Graham]

People keep asking bout anti-freeze.
Anti-freeze has a lower boiling point than water under pressure.
If the pressure is removed both will boil very rapidly.
So if your vehicle has a vacuum leak, and air gets into the system, both the water and antifreeze will boil rapidly, the radiator fan wont be able to cool it down, and then your engine will overheat and explode/die.

This is not a radiator under high pressure with high temperature water, so the anti-freeze is not going to help in that respect.

Anti-freeze is poisonous, it also smells sweet and tastes like sugar, one or two tablespoons will kill your dog/turtle.

If you want it to look cool, toss a highlighter into the blender with water and use a black light.

[glacier24]

what pump should i use?

air pump or water pump?

[glacier24]

what inside the plastic jar?

and hot do i drill the heatsink??

[Graffstar]

i still cannot understand how to drill holes in the heatsink and how to pass water though it...... Can anybody help me ??

[Minifig666]

Is there any way to find the CPU temperature on the phoenix BIOS, or from my OS (Vista)?

[kedwa30]

I like Speccy. But if your hardware isn't designed to find out, the best way is with a candy thermometer. :-)

[knex hitman gill]

try speedfan

[B.F.L.M]

Just for clarification: The purpose of the 'radiator+fan' is to circulate cool air inside the machine? (would increasing the # of coils cool the air faster?) and the 'water block' is to keep the cpu cool?

[kedwa30]

I think it works best to put the coil and fan outside of the case. The water block transfers heat to the water so that heat is move away from the cpu quickly. Water can absorb and carry more heat because it is denser than air. The coil is where the heat dissipates, aided by the fan blowing air over the coil that is cooler than the water. The flexible clear tube does not transfer heat as well as the copper tube, otherwise you could do without the copper tube and just run a long enough stretch of tube to allow the heat to dissipate. If you wanted to, you could run the tube through a refrigerator. Just keep in mind that the longer the tube, the more friction there will be and thus the stronger the pump you will need. Another improvement might be to solder copper tube to the heat sink rather than drilling a hole in it. Ultimately you want to move the heat out of the case rather than allow it to accumulate.

[rahimosahra]

oh gosh!!! I made it but .. how can i make the lighting water? please show the way to do it!!

[kedwa30]

He is using a fluorescent black light which makes the tubing glow because the tubing he used will fluoresce under a black light. There is no need to add dye to the water in this case.

[dog digger]

You fill the coolant with a florescent dye to achieve that effect

[timator6]

Can it run crisis?

[_Scratch_]

Crysis isnt really the best test for computers anymore, I can run it max detail with my AMD Athlon 64 x2 5000+, 4gb ddr2 400mhz ram, and a Nvidia GTS 450. It runs at an average 30fps id say

[snowluck2345]

I''m just going to call BUL L SHI T. Unless your resolution is 800x600, there is no way you had it maxed out.

[_Scratch_]

Actually, I have a widescreen 1440x900 19", it's an old game, considering the best graphics card then was a geforce 9000 series, I think my 400s series wins out.

[asmith433]

I think the gxt 7800 sires is the best it can run minecraft peace o cake

[snowluck2345]

no.

[_Scratch_]

I do get some fps spikes when it loads a new area, but after it loads, it runs on very high at 30-45FPS

[snowluck2345]

I'm pretty sure an 8000s series was the highest. The 9000 series was not more powerful than an 8800GTX or Ultra. Also, people, were running 3 of those in sli and still not maxing out the game. A GTS 450 realy isn't that powerful. Your graphics card is considered similiar in its processing ability to a 8800 Ultra or GTX. Even though it is many years newer, it is a lower model, so it doesn't compare favorable to an older model card that is higher on the heichary chart. I bet that my computer would still outperform yours even if I switched in my old 8800GT. The important specs are 2x2.8ghz Nehalem quadcores, 10gb ram, a ATI/AMD 5870, a 500gb and 2tb hardrive.

[_Scratch_]

Also, the 5870 can be outperformed by a gtx460 and mine comes pretty close to that. A 500gb/2TB hard drive isn't important for playing games, unless it has a higher read speed.

[_Scratch_]

And i know someone will say "well just becasue its overclocked doesnt make it equal to a 460" benchmarking-wise, its pretty close, off by maybe 5FPS on a game, not too noticeable.

[snowluck2345]

460's are not outperforming 5870s in any common games or benchmarks

[snowluck2345]

It takes alot of overclocking to make them similiar, and the reason I don't overclock is because of the amount powerconsumption increases in relation to your speed increase, its insane. Also, the hardrive arrangement does matter when you put them in stripping raid/raid 0. I added a second 500gb and they are running in raid 0, so speed is increased.

[_Scratch_]

For loading the games....

[snowluck2345]

what else would it improve?

[snowluck2345]

but those are just storage now, I have dual 256gb ssds now. My dad gave them to me bcause his old laptop, a sony z series, was by a sony technition twice, so sony refunded his money and let him keep the broken laptop. So I got its ssds. Needless to say, I was very happy.

[asmith433]

very nice have you thought about making the cooper tubing go around the CPUs heat sink it might improve the cooling performance but very nice set up. I would not recommended using a RAID controller because if the RAID gets wet bye bye computer. (past experience) :)

[mayur.phadte]

I think ur motherboard looks very small for your case

[Ragenule]

Looks like he is using a Micro-ATX form factor Mainboard in a case capable of ATX form factor.

[bellezaa]

Thank.

[SamuraiGoose]

How do you fix the tubes into the block? I think that is the most important step and you miss it. Nice instructable anyway.

[copin123]

that's the exact reason I'm trolling the comments.

[rimar2000]

Seems easy, simple, fast and cheap. I will do it, thanks. Maybe I'll do some reform, such as encapsulating the heat sink and make the water flow within the capsule. I think too it is a good idea to use antifreeze liquid.

[legless]

Using antifreeze is a bit unnecessary if the liquid is never likely to freeze. Chances are it won't happen inside a house. If your house is that cold then you probably aren't going to have much problem keeping your PC cool.

You could maybe replace the water with something like mineral oil as long as the pump could handle it.

I guess one could "gut" a bar fridge and use the mechanicals to cool the PC.

[snowluck2345]

not enogh wattage. A fridge isn't meant to take that kind of load. Use an ac unit or a dehumidifier.

[username299]

antifreeze doesn't just stop the water freezing, it will improve heat transfer and most importantly stop corrosion of any reactive metals in your project, avoiding particles which damage the pump.