Shouldn't this be in the "Hardware" forum?

There's a Hardware Forum?

Sorry, you're right, of course, but I posted here because more people look at this forum and my question was broad and hypothetical enough that I'm willing to risk Esq's wrath on this one.

Well, the militant rabbit-thing might accept that excuse, but what's he going to do about it anyway? He has no power here. Plus, I haven't seen him around for a while. He's probably chewing a tangle out of his fur or something .

liquid cooling is an incredible thing, if done correctly. you can buy kits to do it yourself, but that's never as good as having it professionally done.

prob the best are Vapochill, very expensive but the cooling is the best you'll get commercially and is so efficient that you can crank everything in your pc up to ludicrous clock speeds - the sort of speeds that would normally mean you saying bye=bye to them forever.

Afaik you can either buy a ready-built system off Vapochill, or have one built by someone else to Vapochill spec and then it gets sent off to Vapochill to have their stuff put in. They're pretty fussy on what gets sent because it has to be a decent size (that might have changed, i think they do micro form factors now) and it has to be a sealed unit - because the Vapochill process doesn't just cool, it draws all the moisture out of the air in the unit.

the results are staggering and mean you get performance you only dreamt of previously, but it aint cheap and you can't use budget components, so expect to spend a lot of money, a couple of grand at least.

iirc Dark_Shadow has or had a Vapochill system Your Mullah once built his own derivative version using glycol as a coolant, but Mrs Taw didn't like the gurgling noises it made so it didn't last.

And yes, this should go in the hardware forum, which those of us with an interest in such things read regularly!

That VapoChill certainly looks interesting - and expensive - but I can't make much sense of their website. Could you give me a list of component types I'd need to form a complete system.

God, I just realised how utterly useless I am at this.

if you're serious about going down this route, then what I would suggest that you do is find a reputable pc builder who offers Vapochill-compatible high-end gaming systems, choose a system, and let them deal with the cooling installation (actually they send it off to Vapochill in Denmark iirc.)

Unless you are very confident in adapting computer hardware, which with all due respect I don't think you are, the above is the only realistic option available to you; unless you can find someone prepared to get the parts and do the work for you if they build a pc for you. But then, getting "someone " to do it means no warranty, at least if you fork out for Vapochill to do it, you're covered if anything should go wrong, although the very act of having Vapochill fitted will prob invalidate all the computer components' warranties anyway.

You can buy water-cooling kits too and fit them yourself, rather less mither than Vapochill which demands a sealed and almost airtight pc, obv the cooling performance is a lot less but it's better than fans. Although I've never gone down the water-colling route myself, several people I know say they're really pleased with it, although changing the water when it's got gunked up is a chore. That's why I opted for glycol way back when, but since that's highly toxic and tempting for animals and small children, it's not something one should really have lying around. Excellent cooler though, not quite as good as evaporation but far better than water or air colling.

You're quite right, of course. I suppose I should just go for a more practical option. Besides, I don't much fancy the idea of entrusting my computer to the postal services.

Could you perhaps suggest some kits I could install on my own? (... or, worst case scenario, I can take my PC down to the local shop and have them sort it out.)

Also, that glycol is intriguing. It sounds like an excellent deterrent from small children. Sure, the first two or three might die but the others would learn pretty quickly.

Most modern LCS kits i've seen use ethylene glycol in place of water as the coolant.

As for LCS Kits... I've found that Thermaltake has some of the best kits out there, including one case with the cooling system built right into it, not to mention the truly absurd number of extra components you can get for them (Flow rate indicators, liquid level tanks, Easy refill valves, liquid temperature sensors, UV-reactove coolant... the list goes on...)

i agree with Taw on the technical difficulty and risk,disagree on budgeting - i've seen great liquid cooling projects done on a tight budget, and its really a matter of knowledge. if you can machine a simple heat exchanging block from copper (simple with a mill... slow with a dremel but still doable) and locate a suitable pump and radiator you should be good to go....provided you seal everything tightly and actually manage to find room for it (even commercial solutions use a lot of room in the case)

some nuts have submerged their computers in mineral oil or pure rubbing alcohol with dry ice. the simple-cheapoest route of all though is to just take the smallest heat pump you can find and attach it to your case, with the cold end inside -> lowering case temperature is nearly as effective as better direct cooling, and it works for the entire board. it could be a small air conditioner, a mini-fridge, or even a high-precision low-noise stirling.... ha my mind is awhirl with possibilities of things i could do, with other people's computers

also you could just build a duct directly from the AC to your PC, and move the AC's temp sensor inside your case

but ya, if direct liquid cooling is what you want buying a kit is the way to go, since you don't want to worry about mounting the heatsink securely and safely, motor placement, current draw, stray magnetic fields from said motorized pump, etc etc.

TET said money was no object (in principle) - that's why I sent him down the Vapochill route, best but most expensive. Yes you can get relatively inexpensive kits but if you're not confident or are unwilling to fit it yourself and don't trust anyone enough to do it for you, then you're kind of in a bind.

TET however has the inestimable advantage of being geographically fairly close to our glorious Islamic People's Republic and thus providing he applies for the correct visas and permits with appropriate "fees" and "taxes" (I must make some new ones up!) then he will be able to trade directly with Tawakalnistan's primary technology vendors and can take advantage of the various liberated items that fall off the backs of lorries. And if he brought his mum I'd probably do it at a discount 'cos she's lovely.

I had a browse through Thermaltake as well as Koolance. Both companies look pretty good but I'm edging towards Koolance, if only because their site very kindly suggests to me which components work with my MB and GPU. It makes things so much easier to work out on paper.

Well if you are building this yourself , I wish you good luck and practice first to make sure you know how to make a leak-proof system, becuase leakage = fried computer.

I shall inevitably have a large supply of paper towels to prevent such an occurance.

Or, I could perhaps take it down to Tawakalnistan's Technology Department with copious bribes- err... goodwill gestures and see what can be done there. I doubt there's that much risk of leakage though. Provided I don't do anything completely stupid I should be fine.

The Mullah is very cheap. All you have to do is ply him with American chocolate bars and peanut butter chocolate cups.

It's easy peasy.

As for doing it yourself, there are varying degrees of doing it yourselfness if you are game.

What are you planning on cooling? Just the CPU or the whole schmear, as they say?