Liquid Cooling, What Needs To be Cooled?

[amarkarian]

I am thinking of installing a simple liquid cooling system on my dell 8400 3.2 gig. My question is the liquid cooler i might buy only cools the processor, if i install it what fans can i remove safely without buring my system?

ty
Alex

[danrok]

Does your Dell look just like this one?

http://img.dell.com/images/global/pr...s_open_314.jpg

[amarkarian]

yep thats the one

[danrok]

I think you could safely remove the big shroud and fan which is fixed to the rear of it.

[amarkarian]

Thanks,
that would be the second fan from the top? and is there anything i can do about reducing the power supply noise?

ty
alex

[GrahamGarside]

Dell psu's a quite good units, I'd say doing something about that airflow restriction would help, I'd leave the square vents on the case in tact and cut out the grill on the psu it self.
If that doesn't have favorable results then replacing the fan or moving the temp sensro that controls it is the only other option, you would need to open it up which can be dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. The temp probe is usually stuck to one of the psu's heatinks, moving it away from it is usually enough to stop the fan speeding up as much, but this runs the risk that it may need to be that fast.

To be honest I'd recomend a whole new case as the airflow in that looks terrible. An Antec SLK3000B is cheap enough, and has a 120mm exhaust fan, perfect for mounting the radiator on, and the improved airflow should stop the psu fan speeding up as much.

[Lazgoat]

First things to consider first, Warranty! Do you have any left with Dell? If so keep it! I assume adding anthing to the PC voids your warranty, especially changing the CPU cooling.

From the few Dells I've seen/heard they tend to run very silent so going to water cooling for a quieter PC may not work out. Remember you will have the extra noise of a large 92mm or 120mm fanthe sound (and/or vibrations) of a water pump.

Most waterblocks mount using the 4 holes around the socket, does your Dell board have these holes? This will really influence/determine your WC setup. Some waterblocks are adapted to mounting directly to the socket so you may still get away with it if you dont have the holes.

Its expensive!

[amarkarian]

Trust me when i say my dell does not run silent. Ive noticed that 90% of the noise comes from the cpu cooler so liquid cooling is definately a option. My warranty will probaly be void after but i can live with that. I am pretty sure i have the holes,
can you recomend a liquid cooling system that is cheap?

[GrahamGarside]

Yeah those custom fancy boxes are far from silent, they use delta fans I believe (a traingle on the sticker on the back with a circle inside)
Cheap liquid cooling just isn't worth it, you will get much better results from air cooling if money is limitted, I'd recomend a case switch to an Antec SLK3000B, 2 quiet case fans, preferably yate loom or nexus, but papst or panaflo will do, a thermalright XP90-C and 92mm fan (same brand as the case fans) and either a Zalman VF700-Cu or Arctic Cooling VGA silencer for your vid, that little lot should be cheaper than a basic water cooling rig, quieter and as effective without the complications of water

[amarkarian]

What are my best options without switching cases?

[GrahamGarside]

Remove the shroud, replace the fan with one I recomended and replace the heatsink with an XP90-C and do something about the restrictive vents over the psu

[amarkarian]

Does The XP90-C need a fan?

[amarkarian]

Also The fan on the back of my computer, is it a 80mm or 120mm?

[GrahamGarside]

yeah it needs a 92mm fan.

I'm not sure, give it a measure, I think it's likely a 92mm fan, though it could be 80mm, doesn't look big enough to be a 120mm

[calgar]

Originally Posted by Lazgoat

First things to consider first, Warranty! Do you have any left with Dell? If so keep it! I assume adding anthing to the PC voids your warranty, especially changing the CPU cooling.

heh, if you read dell's T&Cs you will see that so much as breathing near your side panel will void your warrenty

anyhow, it looks like you should be able to get a radiator and a small resivour in there, you shouldnt have any problems a dremel and some hot glue cant sort out