PC water pump bit the dust

The water pump on my computer died last night during a storm outtage. It is a VIA Aqua 1800 and lasted about 3 years of service. I can't play Crysis or Crysis 2 until it's replaced. Well, idk, maybe I'll slap some stock HSF's on and downclock everything. We'll see.

I'm considering an OCZ pump with 80,000 MTBF right now.

Quote from "icomrade @ Sun Mar 28

recommend me on e please im interested in cpu water cooling i saw this i wanted to know if it was any good.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233011&cm_re=water_cooling-_-35-233-011-_-Product

It's better than an air cooler, but also could be less reliable than air cooling. You want a WC setup that draws the CPU heat out of the case. Otherwise, you may end up wasting money. Tioga knows this: It will not compare to a full water cooling setup.

If you want to trim cost and just make things easier for you, this might be good. It is a water block and water pump all-in-one. Then you would just need to choose a radiator, tubing, and accesories.
http://www.aerocooler.com/shop.cart?action=ITEM&prod_id=FANSWAPD350

Let me expand on this response in a bit.

Anyway, here are the basic components used in water cooling:
- water/CPU/GPU/etc block - directly contacts a PC component and transfers heat away and into the coolant
- pump - the thing that makes the coolant move through the system
- radiator - warmer coolant flows into the 'heat exchanger' and the heat is transferred from the coolant, through the metal exchange, and into the air. Fans aid in the transfer of heat from the metal exchanger to the air.
- tubing - keeps stuff dry. never buy tubing from a hardware store. use Tygon, Primoflex, or something else that is decent
- accessories - fittings, t-lines, adapters, reservoirs, fill ports, etc. You don't need a reservoir, but some people like to throw money away at things like that. Using a t-line serves as both a fill port and reservoir if it is placed at the right spot in the water 'loop'.

The tubing needs to be a specific size of your choice that matches the components and/or fittings you use. 3/8th's inch tubing would be fine for just about anything. The 3/8 is the ID (inside diameter), or how big the hole is. The OD (outside diameter) is how thick the tube is on the outside. I prefer thicker tubing with a fat side wall because it is less likely to kink. If you buy tubing with a 3/8" ID, you need fittings to match it. In some cases, you can use a 1/2" fitting with 3/8" tubing. But never, under any circumstances, will you use a 3/8" fitting with 1/2" tube because it will leak.

A basic cooling loop will need strategy and planning. You have to decide where things can fit on/in the case. Then, what order things will be placed. For example: pump -> radiator -> CPU block -> t-line or fill port or reservoir -> pump return
There is a high pressure side and a low pressure side. The high pressure side is between the pump and block. Since the block has more flow resistance than any other component. Everything after the block is considered the low pressure side.

...

I ordered an OCZ Hydropulse 500 pump and like 3-5 ft of Feser tubing (1/2"). From FrozenCPU
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9481/…?tl=g30c107s155

Now supposedly this OCZ pump was designed in the USofA, by Californians. I doubt it was made in America though. But still, it put me back about $60 with tubing and shipping.

The thing I like about water cooling is that it is quiet. I can have all the overclocking and cooling performance I want without noisy fans at max speed. I built my girlfriend a very mild gaming rig and it runs at 3.2Ghz but it's frickin noisy as hella when she is gaming. Mostly, it's the stock Intel cooler and the 60mm GPU fan that produce the noise.

I have a split loop water cooling setup. It runs like this:

pump -> 360mm radiator -> CPU -> (split) GPU and mobo chipset in parallel -> pump return

The tubing is 1/2" from the pump, radiator, and CPU. Then, at the splitter it is reduced to 3/8"(chipset) and 1/4"(GPU). Finally, the tubing goes back to 1/2" at the end of the split loop right before the pump return. Kind of complicated, but it's just the way I want it.

Tubing size should be based on how many 'things' you want to cool, and how powerful the pump is. If you have a single loop with three things in it, 1/4" tube is way too small. However, 1/4" tube would be fine for just a CPU. Or 1/4" would be fine for two loops that run parallel.