Wasmachineman's Water Cooling Adventures

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Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
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Later this year or so, i'll be going open loop on my main system. Money's a bit tight now.
 

Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
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So here's how the final build in my old system looks like:


Some time in the future i'll probably buy a 5950X for my main system and move the 3950X to the old system. Going open loop in the main system is priority #1 though, the pump on the 6900XT Toxic is loud as hell.
 

Keith Myers

Active Member
Oct 10, 2020
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Just for S&G's, rotate the case so that the pump/block gets oriented top to bottom on the loop. One common source of noise in the pump is an entrained air bubble in the rotor cavity. See if the noise gets louder or quieter in the various positions.
 

edge

Active Member
Apr 22, 2013
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If you want no air in your loop, have a tee at the top of the loop and don't have your reservoir low. I always put a quick connect on the top of the case for the high end of the tee. I also put a quick connect out the back of the case below the rest of the loop. Makes fluid replacement much easier. To drain, put system on desk, put bucket or pot big enough to hold all the fluid below the desk, quick connect a drain tube to the bucket and the let air in the top with a quick connect.

Frankly, with a moderately large top tee, there is no need for a reservoir. I happily ran without a reservoir with my configuration. The trick is when you fill: you fill from the drain tube - I have a half gallon plastic pitcher with a tube from it's bottom to a quick connect. I set it on top of the case and pour in distilled water until I see the water nearing the top of the tee tube. Maintenance done.

I do not mix metals in the blocks. Go all copper or all aluminum. Distilled water only, additives are asking for corrosion or biotics.

All this said, I learned this on water cooling dual athlons as that system was painfully loud air cooled given the stated of air cooling at the time, and this configuration still works.

Air cool first, water if it is too loud. Loud is relative: I suffer severe tinnitus due to working in data centers in the 90's and the 00's, so any white noise is too much.
 
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Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
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hoh jesus I got myself a Reserator XT :^) thing need(ed) a flush with some fresh distilled water but it's somewhat clean now. Why I bought it, idk, shit's 'n giggles I guess.

Even came with two S775 waterblocks which I don't have any use for. (my PCIe GPU testing rig possibly? even though a E8600 doesn't run hot at all)
 
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Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
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Needed a flush? How about three. Jesus christ, the amount of crap coming out of the Reserator is insane. Black crud from the rads, blue bits from old coolant...

Ordered some PrimoChill System Reboot as I needed a drain valve and loop temperature sensor from HF anyways, should be arriving tomorrow.
 

Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
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Ran System Reboot and it removed some more black crud that was stuck in the loop.

And I broke one of the QDCs on the bleeding hose :( Not that it matters, a waterblock works just fine.
 

Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
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If i'm going to seriously use this thing i'm going to order some Koolance QD3's, like this Russian madman did:
 

Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
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I spoke to Tech Cemetery on stream last night and spoke about him about my 6900XT Toxic's loud pump. He suggested flipping the AIO rad upside down so the hoses are upwards. I did, and it seems my pump has become quieter (????) somehow.
 

Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
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And because why not, here's the final build. Shortened said too long hose and moved the temperature sensor to the inlet of the res for better hose routing:
 

Keith Myers

Active Member
Oct 10, 2020
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I looked at your previous system pic and the latest looks the same. You want any air bubbles entrained in the loop to go the highest point in the system, preferably the radiator end bells where they do no harm. The noise from the pump was likely the continuing movement of entrained air moving past the impeller.

[Edit] I just realized you have not shown any picture of a Hybrid AIO gpu yet.
 

Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
1,871
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I looked at your previous system pic and the latest looks the same. You want any air bubbles entrained in the loop to go the highest point in the system, preferably the radiator end bells where they do no harm. The noise from the pump was likely the continuing movement of entrained air moving past the impeller.

[Edit] I just realized you have not shown any picture of a Hybrid AIO gpu yet.
Because that's my old system. The pic a few posts back was with the temp sensor on the res outlet instead of the inlet and with the top rad-front rad hose being far too long. And if you want a pic of the mess that's my main system, I'll make one later as the 6900XT's pump seems to be cavitating again. DAMNIT
 
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Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
1,871
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I decided to screw around with placing rads, long story short: the loop idea I had isn't going to work. AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Anyway @Keith Myers

And I got most of the air out of the old system. Back to the drawing board for the new system though.

Fun fact: the 6900XT Toxic EE has a RGB header on the front. And I screwed around a bit with WattMan, got it stable at 2.8 GHz/1.2V, now that's what I call EXTREME EDITION

Next step: waterblock and 2.9 GHz!
 
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Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
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A question regarding the AC High Flow Next: where do I connect it? To the D5 Next pump, or to my mobo?
 

Keith Myers

Active Member
Oct 10, 2020
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I decided to screw around with placing rads, long story short: the loop idea I had isn't going to work. AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Anyway @Keith Myers

And I got most of the air out of the old system. Back to the drawing board for the new system though.

Fun fact: the 6900XT Toxic EE has a RGB header on the front. And I screwed around a bit with WattMan, got it stable at 2.8 GHz/1.2V, now that's what I call EXTREME EDITION

Next step: waterblock and 2.9 GHz!
The pump in the gpu is in a no-no position where it is higher than the radiator. Since air rises to the highest point in the loop, that puts the air bubble in the impeller cavity. You would be advised to simply change the radiator position to the middle fan or top fan position and rotate the radiator 90° to clear the hoses on the radiator end bell. That would move the air bubble about even or above the pump.
 

Keith Myers

Active Member
Oct 10, 2020
146
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A question regarding the AC High Flow Next: where do I connect it? To the D5 Next pump, or to my mobo?
I don't have any experience with the AC Next series but I have read plenty of posts on the forums from users. I think that it is best to connect it to the D5 Next pump as long as you are using the AquaSuite software. The hardware also has direct support in HWinFo so the motherboard headers are an option also.
 

Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
1,871
617
113
The pump in the gpu is in a no-no position where it is higher than the radiator. Since air rises to the highest point in the loop, that puts the air bubble in the impeller cavity. You would be advised to simply change the radiator position to the middle fan or top fan position and rotate the radiator 90° to clear the hoses on the radiator end bell. That would move the air bubble about even or above the pump.
So the rad needs to be hoses up after all then?
 

Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
1,871
617
113
I don't have any experience with the AC Next series but I have read plenty of posts on the forums from users. I think that it is best to connect it to the D5 Next pump as long as you are using the AquaSuite software. The hardware also has direct support in HWinFo so the motherboard headers are an option also.
I don't want to use Aquasuite as I already have HWiNFO.

Gonna shelve the HFN for now then, might get one in the future.
 

Keith Myers

Active Member
Oct 10, 2020
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So the rad needs to be hoses up after all then?
Many tech YT videos explain the issue of having the pump higher than the rad. The AIO mfr's all recommend the rad hoses to be at the bottom when mounting the radiator in the case. You run the possibility of early pump failure from burning up the pump from cavitation of air in the impeller cavity. Also dramatically reduces your cooling capability as the flow rate plummets.

The nice thing about the hybrid gpus and AIO 120mm rads are that they fit in the same 120mm fan position as a fan, AS LONG as you rotate the radiator 90°'s so that the end bell hoses are side to side instead of vertical where the rad can only fit in the bottom or top position to clear the hoses.

I have two hybrid gpu rads in my front 360mm fan option location with the rads occupying the middle and top fan mount positions. Both put the rads above the pumps in the gpus. Good cooling and no noise from the pumps since the air is trapped in the radiators.

[Edit] Again lost track of just what hardware you have and was confused by your image until I just remembered that gpu is running a 360mm rad in the AIO. So your current position is what the mfr's recommend. Hoses in the down position. The air bubble rises to the top of the radiator and never gets sucked back in to the pump.
 
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