"Cold" liquid cooling?

[intrepidus]

I'm a newbie to liquid cooling, and I intend to build a system over the summer.

 

I'm curious though, is it possible to chill the liquid that you use to cool the system? Perhaps by chilling the radiator in some sort of enclosure - the method of chilling doesn't matter so much as the actual side effects. For example, in literal "water" cooling, depending on how much you chilled it, the water would condense and possibly damage your components. However, what I am curious about is the glycol/ethelene solutions that seem to be more typical. Do they condense? If so, what are their condensation points? Is this a reasonable thing to consider?

 

I work at a school, so I plan to speak to the chemistry teacher on Monday when I go back, but I thought I would at least put a feeler out on this. I can only imagine the performance boost if you chilled the liquid beforehand.

[Overclocker16]

You could use a large cooler with inlet on the bottom and fill it with ice and the liquid. There are many ways, but really depends on how much room you have and if you want to continue filling it with ice or other cold objects.

[intrepidus]

What about compressors already built for this sort of thing? I haven't found any yet and continue to search, but I can only assume some exist already. Seems like the kind of thing some crafty modder would've tried before.

 

Also, there is the issue of what liquid to use. I originally intended to use Fluid XP, but it freezes at -11F. One of the things I've been looking at is a dry ice cooler of some sort, and I wonder what would be a safe (and non-conductive) liquid to use in place of Fluid XP. Also, I don't suppose anyone knows how long dry ice lasts when stored in a well-sealed cooler?

 

I'm going to hunt around more for units to accomplish what I want - if I find any I'll be sure to post.

[hardnrg]

this is fairly common amongst the more enthusiastic overclocking crowd, the name for it being "waterchilling"...

 

you raise the right points, condensation appears on surface that are colder than ambient temperature, below dewpoint... dewpoint varies dependent upon the ambient temperature AND the humidity of the air... so for a rough example... 30

[Overclocker16]

Anything that uses a compressor is considered a Phase Change system. Which generally people try different gasses to get the best results. Similar to how a fridge works.

 

Using anything to cool it, dry ice, ice cubes, etc is just going to be a temp. thing as you will have limited supplies.

[intrepidus]

Thank you both for the information! You've put me on the right track. Thanks again.