My Recent Pojects

My Water-cooled PC

I started this project in 2017 with one goal in mind: to maximize the performance without compromising acoustics. Now fast forward to 2025, with 3 iterations and 2 major upgrades, I can say that I have achieved my goal.

First lets talk about what I started with. I started with i7 8700k, 16GB DDR4 3200mhz, and a GTX 1080ti. At the time it was cooled by 2 radiators, one 360mm thick and one 360mm thin. The piping was done with PETG tubing and the pump was a D5 pump. The CPU waterblock was just a standard EKWB waterblock, nothing special. The GPU waterblock was from Gigabyte. I was able to overclock the CPU and GPU, the temperature was around 40 degrees Celsius under load.

After 3 years of use, I decided to upgrade my CPU to i9 9900k without having to change the motherboard since it used the same socket. I also upgraded the RAM to 32GB DDR4 3200mhz and the GPU to RTX 3090. My cooling system was still the same.

After about 6 months of use, I realized that the cooling system was not enough to cool the CPU and GPU while overclocking. Also the water temperature was around 60 degrees Celsius under load which was not ideal for PETG tubing. I was met with protential leaks and I had to change the tubing to acrylic tubing.

While I was changing the tubing to acrylic, I decided to delid the CPU and replace the thermal paste with liquid metal. This process effectively reduced the temperature by 10 degrees Celsius under load. I also added one more 360mm radiator to the system, now the system comprise of one 360mm thin, one 360mm medium, and one 360mm thick. I have also decided to add a rear exhaust fan to the system to help with the airflow. The water temperature was brought down to 40 degrees Celsius under load.

The photos below show the process of changing the tubing to acrylic, pressure testing, delidding the CPU, and adding the new radiator.

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