How to mount liquid cooler

I bet you have wanted to upgrade your PC for a long time and, among the many ideas that floated in your head, emerged that you want to improve thermal performance by perhaps replacing the air cooling system with a liquid dissipation kit. So you have finally managed to buy your first cooling kit of this type capable of reflecting the technical characteristics of your case, but unfortunately you are not entirely sure if you will be able to proceed with its installation independently.

In order not to “mess things up”, you have decided to search for a detailed but simple guide that can provide you with the information clearly and correctly to proceed in complete safety. If that’s the case, I’ll be happy to help you out! The topic is much discussed on the Web and it is very easy to get confused, especially when it comes time to install your own liquid dissipation kit, but do not worry: in today’s guide you will find all the information you need to understand how to mount a liquid dissipator. with all the necessary precautions to obtain a satisfactory and safe result.

You will see that after reading my advice, you will have a clearer idea and you will be able to get away with it in the blink of an eye. So what do you think? The liquid dissipation kit is there, the PC case is there, the guide is there, you just need to take a few minutes of free time and dedicate yourself to reading the following chapters. You will notice that it will be easier to do than to say and I assure you it will be fun too! At this point, I wish you a good read and, above all, good luck upgrading your PC!

Index

• Fundamental requirements
• Where to mount liquid sink
• How to mount liquid cooler
• How to mount custom liquid cooler kit
• How to mount liquid heatsink fans

Fundamental requirements

Before proceeding with the installation of the new liquid cooling system, I suggest you check that you have all the basic requirements in order not to disassemble the computer in vain, risk damaging components or run into nasty surprises during the assembly phases.

Well, if you bought an all-in-one liquid cooling system, that is already assembled and loaded with coolant, you just have to make sure that the socket of the heatsink is compatible with the CPU socket of the motherboard: otherwise you would not have the right holes and threaded supports to mount the heatsink.

Next, check that the case frame has a properly sized perforated section for securing the radiator and that there is enough depth for the fans not to collide with other PC components, such as the video card or any cabling. Finally, check that you have the proper connectors or adapters to power the pump and manage it from the manufacturer’s software (if any).

If you have a custom liquid cooling kit, in addition to the valid assessments I wrote in the previous paragraph, I recommend that you make sure you have all the necessary components to correctly mount the system. Generally these kits are sold complete with everything you need, but if instead of a kit you have opted to buy the components individually to make a real custom liquid dissipation system then it is always better to do a checklist before proceeding.

• At least one liter of coolant.
• A reservoir(coolant container).
• At least 1.5 meters of flexible or rigid pipe to create the cooling circuit.
• A pump to run the coolant in the circuit (often, but not always, integrated under the tank).
• Threaded adapters to tighten the pipes to the appropriate connectors
• A radiator with dimensions compatible with those you can find in the fixing section of the case.
• One or more fans to cool the radiator, if the radiator is 24cm you can install 2 12cm fans. If the radiator is 36cm you can install 3 12cm fans and so on.
• Mounting brackets and screws.

If you are sure that you have everything you need and that the specifications of your liquid cooling system are compatible with your case and motherboard, then you are ready to begin this wonderful experience. You will find details on the assembly process from the next chapter.

Where to mount liquid sink

Well! You have everything you need and now that you are one step away from proceeding the question spontaneously arises: where to mount a liquid heatsink? Well, it might seem obvious but in reality it is not and the question is absolutely pertinent. The liquid heatsink cannot be mounted at will anywhere in the case, as the latter has been designed to contain a limited and precise number of components, based on well-defined size, position and volume. Each component will have its own space and well-designated location that you can identify from the case datasheet or by examining the position of the fixing holes in it. In this chapter I will explain how to locate the mounting location of a liquid cooler.

The first thing you will have to do after disconnecting your PC from the power supply, in complete safety and having it laid out on a comfortable and spacious surface, is to open it and identify the fixing holes of the radiator (which is one of the most cumbersome elements of a cooling kit). Generally, the space for the radiator can be placed at the top of the case, in the front or, rarely in the back. You will notice a series of in-line holes, approximately 12/14 cm apart for fixing the screws that will precisely match the length of your radiator, if you notice that the currently installed fans are partially or totally fixed on the aforementioned section, not worry, remove them by unscrewing the 4 screws that you find in the corners in order to leave space for mounting the radiator.

The second thing you will need to take care of is the mounting position of the liquid cooler that will replace the current air cooler. The heatsink, in a liquid kit, is the terminal part made up of a copper, steel or nickel pad and two tubes that snap together (one for the inlet chilled liquid and one for the outgoing heated liquid). The latter has only one location, precise and unmistakable, that is, in direct contact with the processor.

Around the CPU “socket” of the motherboard, you will notice the presence of 4 holes which are the same on which the stock cooler is currently fixed. In short, the liquid heatsink must be fixed in contact with the processor by means of the 4 supports that engage in the 4 holes adjacent to its “socket”.

Before proceeding, however, I recommend that you be very careful not to leave any nylon films on the heatsink pad. After removing the liquid cooling kit from the purchase box, you may find a protective film or information sticker under the heatsink, which is not always noticeable easily.

Make sure, therefore, that the heatsink pad is clean and free in order to allow the right thermal transmittance between its metal base and the processor. I will explain the details for the application in the chapter below.

How to mount liquid cooler

One of the strengths of a ready-made liquid cooler is that you just have to mount it as it is without having to adjust the amount of coolant, without having to mount the fans individually and without having to cut and connect the pipes appropriately to the internal volumes of the case. So, if you are ready, let’s start the interesting part of the tutorial and see together how to assemble the liquid cooler.

Disconnect your PC from wall power and data cables, such as the USB keyboard and mouse cable or video cable rather than the network cable. Then I suggest you place the PC vertically on a comfortable and spacious surface, in order to work without the risk of dropping any components. Now remove the side doors of the case so that you can access both sides of the motherboard (front and back).

Next, unplug the 3 or 4 pin power cable of the current stock cooler from the motherboard, then with a suitable screwdriver (usually Phillips) remove the 4 screws that hold the heatsink to the base of the motherboard, if you don’t see 4 screws you may have 4 zippers, so rotate the top tabs counterclockwise to unlock them and then gently lift the heatsink to remove it.

With a dry cloth, gently wipe the processor top case to remove the residual thermal paste. Now identify the holes for mounting the radiator including fans. If the holes for setting the radiator are already occupied by one or more stock fans, remove them by unscrewing the 4 screws located at each corner then try to position the radiator to check the overall dimensions. If placing the radiator it seems to you that there is enough free space around it and that its fans do not conflict with other components, such as the video card or any wiring, you can fix it with the supplied screws. If your radiator isn’t equipped with fans, take a look into the next chapter to understand how to mount them.

At this point, check that there is a layer of thermal paste on the metal base of the heatsink (usually all-in-one kits are already equipped with it), otherwise apply a quantity of thermal paste equal to the size of a grain of rice on the processor cap, in the center, I suggest below some versions of thermal paste all excellent and easily available online at competitive costs.

After applying the thermal paste to the processor, place the liquid cooler on top of it while gradually exerting gentle pressure. Finally, insert the 4 supports provided to anchor the heatsink to the motherboard. All you have to do is connect the pump to the power supply using the supplied 3-pin cable and, if present, you can connect the data cable to an internal USB terminal (used for diagnostics and for monitoring software if provided).

The assembly is done, before closing the case I suggest you connect the power cable behind the PC, the video cable and the data cables necessary to start the PC at least once and validate the operation of the pump, you can confirm its operation from the light hum it emits or from the slight vibration that you can feel by touching it.

If the tubes of the cooling kit are transparent you will be able to see the liquid moving further and if everything seems to be working correctly, you can also close the case and reposition the PC in your station, congratulations on the great success.

How to mount custom liquid cooler kit

If you are a lover of do-it-yourself and have preferred to purchase all the components of the liquid cooling system individually to assemble them with your bare hands, then in this chapter you will find all the useful information to assemble them correctly. This procedure is very delicate, as it requires a lot of attention and care on your part in the watertight closure of the circuits in order not to run into sudden leaks of coolant, but we will see it in detail in the next paragraphs. So, legs on the shoulder and let’s see immediately how to mount a custom liquid cooler kit.

As anticipated in the previous chapter, the preliminary disassembly phases remain valid also in your case. Gently disconnect the cables connected to the PC and place it vertically on a comfortable and spacious surface, then remove the side doors to access the motherboard from both sides. Now disconnect the 3 or 4 pin cable of the stock cooler that connects it to the motherboard and disassemble the heatsink by removing the 4 anchor screws or unscrewing the tabs of the 4 zippers in a counterclockwise direction. Using a dry cloth, gently clean the surface of the processor from residues of thermal paste.

Now I’ll explain how to take the measurements for cutting the pipes and then give shape to the circuit (also called a loop ). Lay the case horizontally, then place the radiator near the anchor holes but do not fix it with screws, then place the heatsink over the processor and finally place the tank where it suits you, try to place it in line with the mounting holes you can see on the case and that it is not in contact with other components of the PC.

At this point, you can take the purchased tube (rigid or flexible) and place it over the “parked” components to simulate the path that will connect them, when you have identified the approximate measurements for the various paths you can cut it with a wire cutter (if rigid) or of scissors (if flexible). After cutting, how many tubes will you have to find yourself in all?

• 1 pipe must connect the tank outlet to the pump inlet (if the pump is not integrated under the tank, in this case, ignore this layout and go to the next one below).
• 1 tube that carries the liquid from the pump outlet to the heat sink inlet.
• 1 tube that carries the liquid from the outlet of the heatsink to the inlet of the radiator.
• 1 pipe that carries the liquid from the radiator outlet to the tank inlet (or to the pump inlet if the pump is integrated in the tank).

Well! After cutting the pipes according to the circuit you have planned, take the threaded adapters with gasket and screw them to the components, screw 2 on the heat sink, 2 on the tank, 2 on the radiator and 2 on the pump (unless this is integrated under the tank and then the adapters will be screwed into the 2 appropriate threaded holes). After having screwed in all the adapters, remove the upper threaded part ( ring ) and in each of these insert a tube until it reaches the end of its stroke, then screw the upper ring until it is tightened firmly (without exaggerating or the bottleneck could tear the tube).

We are almost there: now that the circuit (or loop) is ready, you have to fix the components, then screw the radiator with the supplied screws and immediately below you can screw the fan or fans, in case it was a +12 cm radiator or +14 cm (to learn more about the method of mounting the fans, take a look in the next chapter ).

Next, secure the heatsink to the motherboard with the 4 supplied brackets (usually consisting of 4 spacers and 4 screws or 4 zippers ) and screw the tank brackets to the case. At this point, lift the case to position it vertically: it will be essential to fill the tank with coolant, so fearlessly fill the entire tank without exceeding the upper limit line, then close it.

Now it is necessary to proceed with the systematic start-up in order to allow the pump to suck the sufficient quantity of liquid from the tank and channel it into the circuit (or loop), then connect the PC to the power supply and turn it on, turn it off after 3 or 5 seconds maximum or turn it off when you see that the coolant in the tank has almost reached the lower threshold. After turning it off, top up the tank again with coolant until it is halfway through the tank, this time you do not need to fill it up to the upper threshold. Turn on the PC again and observe that the liquid level in the tank stabilizes until it no longer drops.

If the liquid level in the tank continues to gradually decrease, immediately shut down the PC and disconnect it from the power supply, it means that you have a leak somewhere, in any case you would easily notice it due to possible splashes or drips of the coolant. If you can’t see the cause of the leak with the naked eye, run a dry paper towel around each threaded adapter to figure out which one is faulty. If you find the adapter with the leak, before unscrewing it to reset the tube and tighten the upper ring more strongly I strongly advise you to empty the tank and disassemble the components of the whole kit by taking them on a waterproof surface or on a sink, in order to avoid accidental spillage of the liquid on the PC components.

When the operation is successful you can turn off the PC from the rear switch, close the case with the side doors, place the PC in your workstation and take a few seconds to check and reconnect all the cables you initially removed (video cable, power cable, cables USB data etc.) to start it as usual. Mission accomplished, congratulations for the excellent result!

How to mount liquid heatsink fans

If you are facing the radiator fan taboo, you have done well to get to this chapter of the guide, because there are several ways to do it and each of them can be more or less effective. The purpose of the presence of the fans on the radiator is precisely to contribute to the dissipation of heat and cool the liquid that passes inside, so as to send it back into the loop at a lower temperature. So come on, let’s see how to mount liquid cooler fans in the way that best suits your needs.

The fans supplied or those purchased separately must be the same width as the radiator, generally the dimensions of the fans for the radiators of liquid cooling systems are large 12 × 12 cm or 14 × 14 cm and depending on the length of the radiator they can be positioned from 1 to 4 consecutive fans. To mount them, you will notice that at the ends of the 4 corners there are holes in which you can insert the supplied screws. But where should I screw them? you may be wondering. Well, the radiator has 4 threads for each location, so you will have to screw the fans directly onto the radiator.

But the real question is not where to mount them, rather it’s how to mount them. This is at your discretion, or rather according to the configuration of the case: you can install the fans so that they push fresh air out of the radiator, then out of the case ( push mode ), you can install the fans between the radiator and the case with the air flow directed towards the outside so that they extract the hot air from the radiator and expel it towards the outside ( pull mode ) or, if space allows it, you can install the fans on either side of the radiator and all oriented in one direction, in this regard you will have both an air push and an extraction (mode push-pull, very effective).

 

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