For the uninitiated a water cooled computer is one that substitutes a radiator, water pump and a cooling block to replace the fans in your computer. This allows you to run your computer faster than spec. My first water cooled system was a Frankenstein of parts. For a radiator I used the heater core from a car at the junkyard, I bought a pump at the aquarium store, ordered a copper cpu block online and hooked everything together with tubes and fittings from the Home Depot plumbing aisle. To power the affair I dismantled an old PSU and stuffed it into my case.
I was no expert and combining water, electricity and knowing just enough to get yourself into trouble… I got myself into trouble. The thing about PSU’s is that they contain high energy capacitors that can discharge very quickly. So you need to be careful to not touch them and kill yourself – which has happened before. In hindsight having a hacked up PSU in my case was not the greatest of ideas. One night while trying to force something or another into the case I was greeted with a flash of light, a billow of smoke and the lights going out through the entire house. From downstairs I could hear my roommate Mike calling up… “Tom?!”
Needless to say I lived and after dealing with leaks, cutting my case up with a dremel, and tweaking my computer to the fastest speed possible I finally had a working system. It was a lot of effort and I loved that computer. I ran blacklight sensitive automotive radiator fluid through it and would use it to host music at parties. I enjoyed people walking into my room and exclaiming – “What is that?!” Most of all I enjoyed the process of building something unique and seeing it work. These days you can just order up a water cooling kit and hook it up in fifteen minutes, but in those days it took blood and sweat.
