Debating about getting myself some watercooling this summer for when I'm at college; no AC in the dorms and noise is a big factor. Overclocking would be a plus.

I have a friend who does automotive work, he seems to be more than willing to help set up the watercooling with me. I think I have all the parts picked out (RBX + tygon tubing + heater core + custom res I make myself because I'm cool like that) except for the pump. I need a cheap and quiet DC pump that can still output a decent amount. Ideally, this will just run the chip and the northbridge, but I want enough pump action to include the vid card if I have to. I have a Blue water pump that's a beast, but is far too loud. Any recommendations?

Edit: I might go with an AquaGold block instead.... seeing as how I need to summon $13,000 a year for college price is a big issue.

Tell ya what, I too am looking for a pump. As for DC, that limits you quite a bit. There is an Eheim 1046 (it may be a 1048) that has been modded to run at 12v... You can see it on FrozenCPU.com, but you may want to look around for a better price...

Or, you could get a Danger Den 12v pump, it is apparently great except that it is quite LOUD...

Or, you could get a swiftech 600 pump, it's 12v and isn't as loud as the Danger Den pump. All three of these are kinda expensive though.

You could always make the pump run quieter by suspending it using elastic, or stretch magic, or rubber bands or something.

I suppose I could use an AC pump, it's just more work for me. I don't mind it, I suppose. No pain, no gain, and nothing gets done without sacrifice.

Quote: Originally Posted by DuplexEmotions I suppose I could use an AC pump, it's just more work for me. I don't mind it, I suppose. No pain, no gain, and nothing gets done without sacrifice.

Yeah, well, the more work you put into anything, the more pride you can have in it In terms of AC pumps, Eheim seem to be reliability leaders and they run quietly too, however, they vibrate pretty seriously, I guess...

I should preface this by saying that I don't own and have never used any of these pumps, I've just been researching for the last few weeks and this is what my impressions are.

If price is an issue, hydor L30 is affordable for the performance.

The pump thing is such a difficult decision for me, I've changed my own mind 3 times in the last week. So hard to balance the look I want with the performance I want and the fittings, etc etc. The thing about the eheim pump that concerns me is the barbs. I think you can change them, but I'm not sure--maybe you can only change one? I want barbs for 1/2 ID tubing--simplicity led me to the Swiftech pump, but then I became more concerned with silence than just about anything else.

I had a point, I did... but I've lost it somewhere in the post!
Bruce

I just changed my mind, again (and not to hijack your thread, but...)

I am trying to watercool for performance AND silence. I was thinking of suspending a 1046 pump in my case, but have read in different places that the MCP600 will yield a significantly cooler setup. My question is this: Just how much cooler do you all think the 600 would be, because it would take more work to silence that pump than a 1046. Any input?

Eheims are the quietest pumps I've heard so far and work great....and yes you can change the barbs. Most WCing retailers will give you an option of whether to equip it wih 3/8" or 1/2" adapters. Hydor, Swiftech, the one from Dangerden, Iwaki, and the Danner Mags are all fine. If you have an impingement block I'd suggest getting a pump with high head.

Now I've got a question about resivoirs, oddly enough. I have access to some sepherical plastic that'd work well for this aplication, I'm just curious as to the effectiveness. It'd be a ball-style resivoir, and if you kept it filled at only a certain level there would be a nice little splashing noise that'd either be very tranquil or make you have to take a wicked piss :: That said, here's my diagram.

edit: just noticed how fing big that picture was. resized it.

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i prefer the ac pumpw when u have that pci control card that danger den sells. they are powerful and allow you to run the pump when the system is not on to test and fill/bleed the system

Quote: Originally Posted by caxis0 Or, you could get a swiftech 600 pump, it's 12v and isn't as loud as the Danger Den pump. All three of these are kinda expensive though. You could always make the pump run quieter by suspending it using elastic, or stretch magic, or rubber bands or something.

My swifty was too loud for my tastes (or maybe the frequency of the sound was wrong. I could hear it clearly above the fans of my case 15 feet away). mounting in on a block of aluminum, on top of a bunch of foam, and sticking a rheostat on it helped.

I should have just gotten an eheim.

Live and learn.

my friend has the swiffy and its really quiet... i dunno whats up with yours

I think I'm going to go with this, no northbridge cooling just yet but I can get a little airflow going for now:

Eheim 1048 pump - $49
AquaGold with barbs - $30
Heater core (87 Chevette)- $22
Custom Resvoir - $30
Tygon tubing 1/2"ID - $30
Enermax 120mm fan - $15

total $176 + shipping

only problem I see is having to cut and weld new barbs on that heater core, but that shouldn't be a big issue. Anything else I have to deal with?

I'd rethink that reservoir design. It isn't very wise to have it splashing in there, as that will create bubbles in your coolant....and that's never a good thing. It also means the reservoir won't be the highest point in your loop, which means the air will rise into the tube feeding the reservoir and serve as an unintentional air trap.

Thanks, Anon... I was going to go with a box anyway after thinking about it a while. No space for a ball.

I've got an obligatory newb watercooling question...

I've seen some rads that're for 80mm.. 2 80mm on the rad ... um.. lemme find a link

Something like this: http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/fro...ex-rad-23.html

Are these a reasonable alternative to a 120mm radiator?

I'm just going to use a heater core. cheaper.

i saw the Via Aqua 1300 going for 11$ the other day (cant remember where , sorry) thats what i got, and it does a good job, only thing its kinda loud, but hell for 11$ u cant beat it with a stick

80 mm rads are weak. even a dual 80 is worse than a dual pass 120 like the black ice extreme

Yes but I can't think of a good way to mount a rad in my chieftec without mounting it as a blowhole, which puts it at the highest point in the system..