Tiny loop!

VanGoghComplex

VanGoghComplex

2[H]4U
Joined
Apr 5, 2016
Messages
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Finally added the CPU to my loop. The hoses are touching... honestly not sure how I feel about that at this point, but I like how it's a CPU and GPU loop with 420mm of rad space and only occupies the top and rear of the chassis!

Thanks for all the help and guidance on this forum. =)
 
That is impressive. The miracle of the pump, rad and reservoir in one!

Personally I like it. Like you, I'm only going to have one CPU and one GPU block, but my loop is going to wind up being MUCH larger than yours.

What are your temps like? In the end, that's what really matters, right?
 
Nice job compacting it all. Personally I prefer the reservoir being separate from the radiator, but that's just me.
 
And to do that with compression fittings? Shit, my hands are cramping up thinking about it.
 
Impressive work with tubes that big. I'd keep my eye on the 90° rotary fitting going from the GPU to the CPU and the one going from the 140mm rad to the 280mm rad, especially if there's a lot of horizontal force on it. They tend to leak when they're cocked (bigger gap on one side than the other).
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
What are your temps like? In the end, that's what really matters, right?
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I was worried that this would hurt my temps, as prior I had the CPU on its own AIO loop, but it didn't change much, honestly. Both CPU and GPU normalize at 50c when gaming. That's the hottest the GPU gets, but I can force the CPU into the 60s with Prime95.
Tsumi said:
Nice job compacting it all. Personally I prefer the reservoir being separate from the radiator, but that's just me.
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I think I'd honestly like that too. The thing is very time consuming to fill and bleed, but doable. The main reason I did this was to get rid of the AIO cooler in the front, making room for another rad and a res/pump combo. I'm wondering if there's any benefit to having two pumps in the system.
 
VanGoghComplex said:
I was worried that this would hurt my temps, as prior I had the CPU on its own AIO loop, but it didn't change much, honestly. Both CPU and GPU normalize at 50c when gaming. That's the hottest the GPU gets, but I can force the CPU into the 60s with Prime95.
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Many people fear this, but they really shouldn't.

Having a single loop uses your radiators more efficiently, and should - given the same total radiator count - in just about about every case result in lower temps.

Your CPU and GPU are rarely both running at max at the same time. You are usually either doing something that really stresses the CPU, with low to no GPU load, or you are probably playing a game with high GPU load, but medium to low CPU load.

The combined loop will always have at least as much radiator capacity as the individual loops in the rare worst case where both the GPU and CPU are pinned at the same time, but in the more typical load scenarios above, you'll actually have more radiator capacity for the amount of heat being generated in the combined loop than in separate loops.

I can't think of a single scenario where it would make sense to have multiple loops. Maybe if you have some stupidly restrictive blocks, to the point where adding pumps inline increases the pressure too much and creates leak risks, but that seems unlikely with modern blocks.
 
Short tube length makes everything more efficient, and is pretty much the holy grail of water cooling.

From that perspective, this is a pretty awesome build.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Many people fear this, but they really shouldn't.

Having a single loop uses your radiators more efficiently, and should - given the same total radiator count - in just about about every case result in lower temps.

Your CPU and GPU are rarely both running at max at the same time. You are usually either doing something that really stresses the CPU, with low to no GPU load, or you are probably playing a game with high GPU load, but medium to low CPU load.

The combined loop will always have at least as much radiator capacity as the individual loops in the rare worst case where both the GPU and CPU are pinned at the same time, but in the more typical load scenarios above, you'll actually have more radiator capacity for the amount of heat being generated in the combined loop than in separate loops.

I can't think of a single scenario where it would make sense to have multiple loops. Maybe if you have some stupidly restrictive blocks, to the point where adding pumps inline increases the pressure too much and creates leak risks, but that seems unlikely with modern blocks.
Click to expand...

This is basically why I created one big loop. All assets of the loop are available to all components being cooled. Granted, my rads are stupidly oversized for the amount of heat I'm currently putting into the loop and would still be even if they were separated to 2 loops, but its still nice. Also, 2 loops = 2 pumps but no redundancy. If I'm going to spend money on 2 pumps, I'd rather have the fail safe. The only reasons I can think to have multiple loops would be for plumbing/aesthetic reasons, or if you swap GPU's a lot and don't want the hassle of filling/bleeding the whole loop.
 
Activate: AMD said:
This is basically why I created one big loop. All assets of the loop are available to all components being cooled. Granted, my rads are stupidly oversized for the amount of heat I'm currently putting into the loop and would still be even if they were separated to 2 loops, but its still nice. Also, 2 loops = 2 pumps but no redundancy. If I'm going to spend money on 2 pumps, I'd rather have the fail safe.
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Agreed.

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of radiators do you have? I'm building my first WC loop starting this evening with one 45mm thick 3x140mm radiator up top, and one 80mm thick, 2x140mm radiator in the front.

I'm thinking this should be pretty good overkill, but the 3930k runs a good deal hotter than most modern CPU's especially when overclocked, and the Pascal Titan also puts out a fair amount of heat.

Activate: AMD said:
The only reasons I can think to have multiple loops would be for plumbing/aesthetic reasons, or if you swap GPU's a lot and don't want the hassle of filling/bleeding the whole loop.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but I'd argue a quick disconnect line might be a better choice if this is the case.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Many people fear this, but they really shouldn't.

Having a single loop uses your radiators more efficiently, and should - given the same total radiator count - in just about about every case result in lower temps.

Your CPU and GPU are rarely both running at max at the same time. You are usually either doing something that really stresses the CPU, with low to no GPU load, or you are probably playing a game with high GPU load, but medium to low CPU load.

The combined loop will always have at least as much radiator capacity as the individual loops in the rare worst case where both the GPU and CPU are pinned at the same time, but in the more typical load scenarios above, you'll actually have more radiator capacity for the amount of heat being generated in the combined loop than in separate loops.

I can't think of a single scenario where it would make sense to have multiple loops. Maybe if you have some stupidly restrictive blocks, to the point where adding pumps inline increases the pressure too much and creates leak risks, but that seems unlikely with modern blocks.
Click to expand...
All good and well and informative, but the reason I was concerned was that my rad capacity was reduced when I removed the 240mm AIO. Prior, all 420mm of my loop belonged to my GPU, but now the CPU is in it too. The results tell me that I was way north of what was needed, and still am. My GPU temps did not budge, even after installing the CPU into the loop. =D
 
VanGoghComplex said:
All good and well and informative, but the reason I was concerned was that my rad capacity was reduced when I removed the 240mm AIO. Prior, all 420mm of my loop belonged to my GPU, but now the CPU is in it too. The results tell me that I was way north of what was needed, and still am. My GPU temps did not budge, even after installing the CPU into the loop. =D
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Ahh, my bad. I thought I had remembered seeing old pictures where all you had was the Swifty 140mm all in one rad on the GPU. But maybe I was mistaken.
 
If everything is in a single loop, a second pump won't hurt anything and adds a measure of redundancy. The only time multiple loops are useful is when each component has its own large set of radiators (e.g. 3x120 per component).
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Agreed.

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of radiators do you have? I'm building my first WC loop starting this evening with one 45mm thick 3x140mm radiator up top, and one 80mm thick, 2x140mm radiator in the front.

I'm thinking this should be pretty good overkill, but the 3930k runs a good deal hotter than most modern CPU's especially when overclocked, and the Pascal Titan also puts out a fair amount of heat.



Yeah, but I'd argue a quick disconnect line might be a better choice if this is the case.
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I'm using a 4x140 alphacool XT45 and a 3x120 XT45. Pretty happy with both of them, but I suspect they were responsible for some pretty severe discoloration of my mayhems pastel fluid, which probably means I should have done a better job prepping them before use. Thats a lot of rad for the components you're talking about, so you should have nothing to fear. When I first built the loop I had a 4770K and 2x290X's in it. and that was no problem. Now I've gone to a single 1080 so its complete overkill and then some. You've got a bit less rad, but less power than I used to have going into mine, so I don't think you should worry.

Yes, a QDC would be better (wish I had integrated some), just going out on a limb to come up with reasons. Again, I think the biggest one would be aesthetics so you can have multiple colored fluids.
 
Activate: AMD said:
I'm using a 4x140 alphacool XT45 and a 3x120 XT45. Pretty happy with both of them, but I suspect they were responsible for some pretty severe discoloration of my mayhems pastel fluid, which probably means I should have done a better job prepping them before use. Thats a lot of rad for the components you're talking about, so you should have nothing to fear. When I first built the loop I had a 4770K and 2x290X's in it. and that was no problem. Now I've gone to a single 1080 so its complete overkill and then some. You've got a bit less rad, but less power than I used to have going into mine, so I don't think you should worry.

Yes, a QDC would be better (wish I had integrated some), just going out on a limb to come up with reasons. Again, I think the biggest one would be aesthetics so you can have multiple colored fluids.
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Jesus, that case must be enormous!

I googled it, but it is tough to tell without something next to it for size comparison!
 
VanGoghComplex said:
Wow. I'm not even quite sure what I'm looking at. I recognize an I/O stack in the back... what is that little beast?
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looks like its probably a standard ITX mobo w/ a discrete GPU with an angled riser (top left), custom CPU block, 2x40mm rad, DDC-style pump, t-line fill/bleed line and I'm guessing a custom fabricated case? Either way its a very impressive use of space, though I would happily sacrifice the space for a bigger footprint to avoid 40mm fans :D
 
i7-2920XM processor, not overclocked (stupid industrial embedded board)

8GB Kingston DDR3-1600

EVGA 750TI OC

PicoPSU 120W with a pair of RAM heatsinks on the backside

Dual 40MM Rad with dual 40MM server-grade fans (and yes, in synthetics they wake the dead. Idle it's quiet enough, gaming it's loud but not hardcore)

AIMB 272 Embedded PGA988 HQM67 ITX Motherboard

Not pictured:

Intel 750 480GB Skulltrail mounted to the inside of top side.

I'm extremely happy with the performance, but I will be upgrading to a different layout with my Alienware SS PSU and a Dell 350W power brick, to go along with either a 970 or Fury Nano. Once the funds come along.
 
Wizzard said:
i7-2920XM processor, not overclocked (stupid industrial embedded board)

8GB Kingston DDR3-1600

EVGA 750TI OC

PicoPSU 120W with a pair of RAM heatsinks on the backside

Dual 40MM Rad with dual 40MM server-grade fans (and yes, in synthetics they wake the dead. Idle it's quiet enough, gaming it's loud but not hardcore)

AIMB 272 Embedded PGA988 HQM67 ITX Motherboard

Not pictured:

Intel 750 480GB Skulltrail mounted to the inside of top side.

I'm extremely happy with the performance, but I will be upgrading to a different layout with my Alienware SS PSU and a Dell 350W power brick, to go along with either a 970 or Fury Nano. Once the funds come along.
Click to expand...
That is impressive. What do your CPU temps look like with that little 80mm?

I've got a tiny mITX build I made for when I have to travel for work, and have been toying with the idea of that little Alphacool rad...
 
It's a dual 40mm (an 80mm radiator is a completely different thing... Poor naming conventions!) and they are actually great - The noise is the problem, and without a proper res, going warmer than normal (high of 60*C) causes some expansion of the working fluid.
 
VanGoghComplex said:
That's impressive! A watercooled, SLI'd HTPC... you have one lucky wife. XD
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Zarathustra[H] said:
That's a lot of power for watching TV/Movies :p
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lol yea its a bit much but. That was the first iteration and I more or less stuffed two cards in there because I could. Nowadays that rig has been toned down and it gets trickle down economics upgrades so its a bit different now. Underneath the rad are QDCs which facilitates quick removal of the rad to get at the mb. The rad/fans case lid pulls off as one piece.
 
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