Maximum PC

I am looking for some help with water cooling a server I own. It has a Supermicro server mobo with 2 quad core Intel socket 771 xeon CPU's. This is an always on server and the noise that the stock CPU coolers make is intolerable and is the reason I wish to convert to water cooling. I have done some research on the subject but I need some expertise in a few areas. First, I am having trouble finding water blocks for the socket 771's and I find that some kits state that they are universal and will fit any socket and some that say they are universal and will work on 775 1155 1366 and so on but no mention of socket 771 so the question is will any of these so called universal blocks actually work for me or do I look for blocks that support the 771 specifically?

Another concern is that I like some of the kits available, one in particular is offered by Swiftech that allows for expansion and part replacement. Going the kit route would probably save some money and that is the attraction here. My main question however is this, if I buy a kit such as the one mentioned and add my own water blocks how should such an arrangment be plumbed for a dual CPU setup such as mine? In a loop? Use Y adapters at the radiator?

Would it be possible to include memory cooling along with this arrangement and how much benefit would it be if I do so?

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated!

Well first off, it would be kinda important to tell us what case you are running... or rack size. As well as which specific motherboard. The mount points for the 771 are not the same as the 775; they actually use the same mounts for the older 2nd gen xeon sockets, the 604.

HOWEVER, some boards would actually use 775 mounting holes instead. Intel & Tyan did this, but I'm not sure about Supermicro boards. Easy to tell.


Socket 775: 72mm x 72mm
Socket 771/xeon: 38.1mm x 81.3mm

If you want the full technical spec/socket layout of 771, look at the mechanical drawings from Intel (socket 771 PDF); page 36 has the info.

Also, I'm pretty sure most "universal" mounts that are made for the 775/1156/1155/1366 wouldn't include xeon 771. Although, it should be easy enough to modify coolers to use one. You should check on the Hard OCP forums since plenty of people discussed this back in the day. Overclock.net and tweaktown forums are another good source on trying to fit waterblocks on the 771.

Thanks for the info, yes, I should have indicated what mobo and case I am working with, sorry for the omission. The motherboard model is an X7DVL-E and the case is a Silverstone Temjin TJ-07. Plenty of room in the case for water cooling gear as it is a full size tower. After looking at your illustration I am inclined to think that cooler mount layout is that of the true 771 rather than the 775. I would have to measure the mount holes to be sure however and recently I moved to a new location and have yet to unpack the server and return it to service (it is/was used as a multimedia server) in a home entertainment system. Fortunately I will be able to locate this machine outside of the entertainment room itself but the machine will need to reside in my office space and thus I need to address the noise problem.

Looking at the illustration you provided it would appear that none of the current universal solutions available would work or could be modified to work, would you agree with that assessment? If however the mount layout is in fact that of the 775 then it would be possible to use a non-self contained kit and add the necessary additional hardware to complete the build I would think or, I could use this same kit replacing the existing water block with the appropriate hardware for my application and come up with a workable solution. This machine also uses FBDIMM memory and these modules run very hot as well. Would you think that I could add RAM cooling blocks into the loop and sufficiently cool both CPU's and the RAM? I have 4 RAM sticks installed on the machine with no plans to do more at this time. I suppose that effective/efficient cooling for what I am purposing would greatly depend on the size of the coolant reservoir which if going the kit route I would also need to add into the list of additional hardware needed.

I just discovered today that EK is now selling kits that are built with replaceable/upgradeable parts, do you know much about these kits and or would you recommend one as a solution?

Yup, your X7DVL-E uses the dreaded 771 mounting holes. (High res photo)

There are 771 water block solutions. The cheapest is Swiftech's Apogee GT with the AP-NC604 771 back plate adapter... provided they still sell them, can't even find them from any retailers; just on swiftech's website.

Swiftech Apogee GT $39.95 each
Swiftech AP-NC604 mounting kit for 771 $3 each

They also make their new line of XTL's that should be compatible with 771 with the updated bracket (AP-XT Mutli-mount HDP)

Swiftech Apogee XTL $59.95 each ($41.97 sale price - OOS)
Swiftech Multi-platform mounting kit $9.95 each

You can also look at XSPC Rasa with AM3 kit (supports socket 604 xeon; same as 771) and unlike the above solutions of the availability, this should be in stock from frozencpu retailer.

XSPC Rasa $49.99 each
XSPC Rasa AM3 Kit $7.99 each

As for ram, I wouldn't worry about them; They are suppose to work up to 85C.

Honestly, if you just keep the cpu's at stock speeds, you could just bypass the idea of using a coolant reservoir provided you use a decent radiator, good fans and a good pump. Any 2 fan 120/140mm radiator should easily dissipate 2 130w cpu's with little effort. Pair it with some quiet high CFM fans and your golden. Koolance, Swiftech, Black Ice and XSPC makes some good stuff for around $50-60. Swiftech makes some nice radiators that have built-in pumps that work pretty good... of what I've heard, but most will still tell you to separate the radiator and pump considering you don't exactly need to save the space in your case.

Everyone I know doesn't recommend EK blocks, they aren't as efficient or hit a good price/performance value. Unless you get a good price for them, stick with other good brands like I listed above, as well as danger den and Heatkiller products; they make some good shit.

Thanks JBaz, I will get to looking at your recommendations. My one thought in including a reservoir in the loop was that of convenience and of course keeping air bubbles out of the loop. I will asses this again however as it would save me some money to not do that. Thanks again for the input. MaximumPC readers rock!!!

The easiest way to not get bubbles is to use a Y adapter and use a fill port to preload the water. Anyhow, reservoirs aren't that expensive anyhow and it's still a good idea to add one to your setup.

It's not complicated and needs no pictures. If you want them both to be water cooled, you put them both under blocks. Done.

An 1156 owner is fine with a 1155 block; and may be just fine with a 1366 block. A 771 socket is not very odd when it comes to the cooler, but the mounting bolts in particular. If a s775 block is used, are the 771 holes too splayed out to make you feel comfortable with the block mounting? Shouldn't be.
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Hot Rods and building them use to be a direct connection to PC builders and modders. Now, just ask us what works as an expectation. Can I fit a 350 rotary in a 400 block...you sure as shit can. That's a high revving 377ci. Can I put a simple little water block on a 771 that was made for something else? Sure as shit can. Want me to do it for you?

Don't take offense to that. Just reflect on it. Do you really need us or do you really need the aftermarket to support you? Or do you really need to? I can make any block work with common tools...so should I give you a fish or teach you to fish?

Would a dually 771 watercooled 2P rack help or hurt? I've got 4 racks; and no one sold me 771 blocks.

Make sure you add cheese...

Also, I fish with dynamite... Makes a boring "sport" more fun when things go boom.

Good heat sinks with low DBA high CFM fans would be a cheaper route. Cougar makes awesome products. Sound dampening will also help with noise. Liquid cooling a server is a bit overkill in my opinion unless it is on a large scale.

NH-U12DX Amazon.com $68.49ea. x2 = $136.98

lol

Hi. Is it possible to have a water cool for a laptop?

Just a follow up with rehab101's question, how do you cool a laptop even if its possible?

I have never seen any watercooling anything for laptops. You'd have to make one yourself, and even then the "laptop" name gets thrown out the window.



Clean the heatsink, new thermal paste, buy a laptop cooler, that's about it.