CLC question

[fightingfi]

Ive got a single CLC 120 push pull in my case. I run my cpu at stock speeds which im fine with. Ive got a Antec 1200 case so air flow is NO problem but the problem seems if i wanted to add a dual CLC first of all would my temps drop anymore than what they are? ( 50c) and is it ok to turn the CLC upside down? my top fan ( 200mm) with the top 120 mm fan seems to block the top of the CLC i think where the liquid is in for the return. Tankies in Advance

 

[Millerboy3]

I'm assuming you mean by upside down, putting the rad for the 240mm CLC up at the top of the case instead of say the rear fan or something like your 120mm is? Yes you can. CLC's can be moved all sorts of odd directions mainly because they are sealed loops. I have one where the pump is at an angle sort of on my GPU and then fan is in the rear fan spot in my HAF X case. This at the same time while my h80i is in the top of my case for my cpu! Good luck!

 

[Tsumi]

Basically, as long as no air gets into your CLC (it shouldn't unless a hose or something else fails, at which point it's toast anyways), the pump will keep on pumping. That's because any water that's pushed out has to be replaced by water coming in, it cannot just create a vacuum.

As for whether or not you'll see any improvement... you probably won't. Maybe a few degrees under load.

 

[Suprfire]

50c load? i wouldn't do anything extra to your current setup, not worth it imo.

 

[kirbyrj]

50c load? i wouldn't do anything extra to your current setup, not worth it imo.

Agreed. If anything, you could probably take off one of the fans in your push/pull config so it would be quieter.

 

[Gman1979]

If the 120mm rad is doing fine then why fix what isn't broken? The 240mm rad might get you a few extra degree at full load but it will also be louder doing so in my experience.

The larger rads really only shine when you need their extra heat dissipation capacity. And it gets a bit more complex as well due to varying fin counts and density as well as radiator thickness. You have to match the right fans to a rad to get the most out of it. As an example, a common thickness for rads in AIO coolers is 25 to 27 mm. A lot of 240mm rads are also around that thickness. But the thickness spec doesn't say anything about the fin density or how critical a fan's static pressure is to getting air through the rad to dissipate the heat. A higher fin density (as well as increased rad thickness) requires more static pressure to get the same volume of airflow compared to a lower density/width radiator. I've seen 240mm rads get beat by high quality 120mm units in certain situations just due to a better fan/rad pairing.

Now if you happen to come across a 240mm AIO with an above average radiator then you will notice a bigger difference to you current system assuming the 240 rad has the proper fans but it tends to be louder as well. I scored a Thermaltake Water 2.0 Extreme 240mm AIO a couple years back for $50 bucks at Microcenter when it was on clearance. I didn't realize until I got home it had a larger than normal radiator width of 38mm. I threw it in my rig and it performed decently but the fans held it back as they had decent CFM but lower static pressure. My temps weren't much better than when I was using a Coolermaster 212+ heatsink once under load. So those fans got repurposed as case fans and I bought two Scythe Gentle Typhoon AP30s. These had the pressure and cfm to make the extra thick rad shine as the expense of being loud when not turned down to 7 volts (they won't spin up at 5v). Would I go this route again? Nope. I could have put a far cheaper set of good fans on a 120mm AIO cooler and gotten sufficient performance without the additional cost of the Typhoon fans (>25$ each if you can find them because they're not available retail anymore). Not to mention the 240mm rad and hosing really took a chunk out of my case real estate and well done wire sleeving work as it disrupts the airflow in the case. I also had to take a rotary cutting tool to the top of my case to all me to mount the 240mm rad externally on top of the case as the rad thickness made the fans contact the Lan/sound/ps/2 port block on the motherboard. I could have gotten 4 120mm rad coolers in my case without the machine work.

If you're not overclocking then you'd gain nothing from the AIO upgrade as your current system has adequate capacity as is.

As far as placing the radiator at the top of the case if you go the 240 route, it will work just fine. I currently have mine mounted like that. You will lose a small amount of water flow rate if it's having to be pushed upwards into the radiator as these AIO pumps aren't very strong or high pressure. I seem to recall corsair recommending to keep the rad as even with the pump as possible for best performance. You also get all the hot air in you case going through a top mounted rad which can hurt temps a bit.