(no subject)
So for the last few months my computer has been having some overheating issues. On some games with good graphics you could hear a fan in the computer speeding up to keep the chip cool (I was never sure if it was the CPU or the graphics chip, but whatever). And sometimes it just couldn't keep up and the computer would shut itself off. For the most part this would only happen on hot days.
Then a few weeks ago I bought Bioshock which, being a newer game, has better graphics than any of my current games. I found that I could play for a good while, but eventually I'd run into some fog or a bunch of action which would put stress on the card (heat stress; my framerate was just fine) and the computer couldn't take it and would shut down. So I opened the computer up and cleaned out all the dust I could. And I set bioshock to use all the lowest graphics settings. And everything worked fine.
Ok now just a couple weeks ago I bought the new Prince of Persia game. This one I could only play for a couple of minutes even at the lowest settings.
I decided to take the nuclear option. I was tired of having overheating issues, and I knew they'd only get worse as the weather (and therefore my loft) got warmer. So I decided I'd look into water cooling.
I read a lot of reviews of water cooling kits (which include all the parts needed to cool your cpu), but everything I read said that if you build a custom system it would be cheaper, more powerful, and quieter than a kit. So I started looking up componants, and eventally bought all the things I needed: a pump, a resevoir, a radiator, some fans, a cpu cooling block, a graphics cooling block, and all the tubes and fittings to go with them.
And here's the result:
(everything is actually running in these pictures; apparently my camera is fast enough to make it look like the fans aren't moving. they are)
I managed to put the whole thing together without breaking anything or dousing my computer. I had a couple little leaks on the resevoir because I hadn't tightened everything up properly, but since it was on the outside of the case it wasn't a big deal. At one point I also noticed that the tubing was putting pressure on my graphics card and bending it downward; thats the reason for those zip ties holding up some of the tubing. Other than that everything worked without a hitch.
The cooling is now more than adequate for my system. I played PoP for an hour and the water didn't even feel warm afterwards. Its a little on the loud side, but I'm going to see about turning the pump's power down (it has a little dial) and unplugging one or two of the fans on the radiator) and see if I can find a good balance between noise and cooling.
Then a few weeks ago I bought Bioshock which, being a newer game, has better graphics than any of my current games. I found that I could play for a good while, but eventually I'd run into some fog or a bunch of action which would put stress on the card (heat stress; my framerate was just fine) and the computer couldn't take it and would shut down. So I opened the computer up and cleaned out all the dust I could. And I set bioshock to use all the lowest graphics settings. And everything worked fine.
Ok now just a couple weeks ago I bought the new Prince of Persia game. This one I could only play for a couple of minutes even at the lowest settings.
I decided to take the nuclear option. I was tired of having overheating issues, and I knew they'd only get worse as the weather (and therefore my loft) got warmer. So I decided I'd look into water cooling.
I read a lot of reviews of water cooling kits (which include all the parts needed to cool your cpu), but everything I read said that if you build a custom system it would be cheaper, more powerful, and quieter than a kit. So I started looking up componants, and eventally bought all the things I needed: a pump, a resevoir, a radiator, some fans, a cpu cooling block, a graphics cooling block, and all the tubes and fittings to go with them.
And here's the result:
(everything is actually running in these pictures; apparently my camera is fast enough to make it look like the fans aren't moving. they are)
I managed to put the whole thing together without breaking anything or dousing my computer. I had a couple little leaks on the resevoir because I hadn't tightened everything up properly, but since it was on the outside of the case it wasn't a big deal. At one point I also noticed that the tubing was putting pressure on my graphics card and bending it downward; thats the reason for those zip ties holding up some of the tubing. Other than that everything worked without a hitch.
The cooling is now more than adequate for my system. I played PoP for an hour and the water didn't even feel warm afterwards. Its a little on the loud side, but I'm going to see about turning the pump's power down (it has a little dial) and unplugging one or two of the fans on the radiator) and see if I can find a good balance between noise and cooling.