How big of a reservoir do I need?

S

Swatchie

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jan 24, 2001
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I am planning my water cooling setup now for when I build my new PC. I decided to water cool this one since i have not done that in 15 years or so. I know what I want to use for my reservoir, but not sure how much volume of liquid I will need. I am only planning on cooling the CPU, GPU, and possibly the chipset. Does it matter having too big of a res? Is there science involved in them now where you want a certain amount of volume in there?

Hoping to have my build done within 9 months, so I have plenty of time
 
Honestly,

You don't need much of a reservoir at all. Some people just use a T fitting and a fill tube. It does make it a little bit easier to fill the system though.

Other than the ease of filling the only ever benefit is that the loop temps change slower due to the greater water mass, but that is of rather limited value.

I got a HUGE reservoir, and in retrospect I really didn't need it.
 
Awesome. Thanks for the quick reply. I am going to have a big res, and didnt want it to affect my system.

On a side note, are you the Zarathustra who made all the quake 2 vid's? Like Father Frags Best? (one of the best ever!!!)
 
A big res is kinda nice from a maintenance point of view. The bigger the res, the fewer times you have to fill it and jog the pump before your loop is primed and circulating.

That said, as Zara said, a res is primarily a convenience/aesthetic option. They're not necessary and don't change the performance characteristics of your loop much, but they're nice to have.
 
Big enough to keep your pump supplied during initial fill and bleed. Anything else is purely aesthetic. There's ways around that requirement, but they're all a PITA.
 
Swatchie said:
Awesome. Thanks for the quick reply. I am going to have a big res, and didnt want it to affect my system.

On a side note, are you the Zarathustra who made all the quake 2 vid's? Like Father Frags Best? (one of the best ever!!!)
Click to expand...


No problem.

No that is not me. Amusingly enough I used the name Zarathustra back in the day when I played Quake, but never came across this other Zarathustra.

I was never hardcore into the quake community though.
 
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