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Corsair 800D - Single Loop - Advice

E

ex0du5

Gawd
Joined
Jun 26, 2007
Messages
873
I originally posted this in the Case forum, but figured It would be a better fit here.

Alright, so I'm planning out my next build. I finally decided that I would go with the Corsair 800D. So now, I'm entertaining the notion of trying my first water cooled build.

Now, since this is my first water cooled build, I want to keep it relatively simple. Also, since this is such an expensive case, I'd like to keep it intact, which means I won't be installing a second radiator. So that leaves me with having to make due with a 360mm rad.

Now, I would like to go for overclocks, but nothing major. If I were to build a computer today, I'd want to get an i7 930 running at 4.0GHz, and a single GTX 580 (with possible support for an SLI setup) with mild overclocks.

My main question is this: can I make due with a single loop? This approach looks much cleaner to me, and would obviously be far simpler as opposed to a dual loop system. Here's a shot of a setup that looks awesome to me:

BloodRed_corsair2.jpg


I'm also looking to make a relatively quiet rig. That means having 120mm fans spinning no faster than 1200rpm, if possible. I have a feeling I may be expecting too much.

Any help/advice is appreciated. Thanks.
 
You can. You're not going to set an records with a CPU and SLI GPUs sharing a single 360 rad but it will work. If you wanted a bit more headroom you could also mount a 1x120 on the back of the case.
 
DanNeely said:
You can. You're not going to set an records with a CPU and SLI GPUs sharing a single 360 rad but it will work. If you wanted a bit more headroom you could also mount a 1x120 on the back of the case.
Click to expand...

What about mounting at 1 x 120 on the inside back of the case, where there is that 140 mm fan?
 
Wouldn't that fan need to be an intake with the top as exhaust?

Anyways, I'm possibly shying away from the watercooling build. I'm really questioning how much of a temperature and sound benefit I'm going to get over good after market air coolers for the CPU and GPU, at least with such a simple loop.
 
That guy would be me...read the first line of the OP. :|

I didn't realize there was a separate water cooling forum when I had posted it.
 
I think you could get by with a single loop.

Stick with 1/2" OD barbs and 1/2" tubing with minimum bends.

Get high flow radiator and CPU block. Get the highest flow pump that you can stand the noise from.

By keeping your liquid flow as high as possible you should be able to run low RPM fans and maintain decent cooling.


Might want to look at 140mm radiator options.
Some 140mm radiator ideas:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=59_457_458
 
x509 said:
What about mounting at 1 x 120 on the inside back of the case, where there is that 140 mm fan?
Click to expand...
If it's a 140mm fan slot then put a 1x140 there instead. *rolls eyes*

The difference between the two isn't readily apparent to the naked eye.
 
Thanks for the advice. So what I'm getting from this is:

3x120 rad on the top as exhaust
1x140 rad on the rear as intake (or what about setting the rad where the 140mm intake fan normally is, ar the bottom of the case?)
CPU block
GPU block
1/2 inch tubing
High flow pump
2 slot reservoir

Now, I'm assuming all the components on the loop would share roughly the same temperature, right? That would mean that if I'm running a 60C loop, that I wouldn't want to get a motherboard block since it would run cooler off air. Is this correct?

Second, how loud is a pump, exactly?
 
You probably should have the 140 in exhaust mode too. If it's an intake it'll be blowing hot air directly at the 3x120. Moving it to the bottom would also work.

The coolant in the loop will be at a roughly constant temperature. The temperature of the devices being cooled however will vary based on how much power they are consuming and how effective their waterblocks are. I have an MCP350, I've never heard it running.
 
I think you would be better off putting a 140 rad on the bottom as an intake and still use the rear 140 as an intake so you have more negative pressure. You will get more dust in the case but will get better cooling than having too much positive pressure. I originally had my 120.4 on my case as an intake with the other fans as exhaust and it left too much hot air in the case. This is feasible though if you replace the useless corsair fans with higher cfm versions, and possibly going with a fan controller.

Having a cpu put out nearly 240 watts or so and using the 580 on a 360 rad would be ok, but don't expect a very nice deltaT. Adding the 140 would certainly help with that though. You should figure out what your ambient temps are and figure out how many watts you need to dissipate to get a ballpark delta you are ok with.

In case you don't know just yet, your delta is the difference in ambient temps versus water temps, and this affects how well the water will dissipate the heat from your components. There is a bell curve so you will have a lot of flexibility, and adding too much rad coverage will have diminishing returns, and vice versa for too little raddage and higher temps. You just have to find a good balance. That is why I advise some good high cfm fans and a fan controller so you can adjust it to what you are cool with sound wise. I bought 6x gentle typhoon ap-15's and they were worth every penny. I am just waiting to add them to my build until I get my damn lamptron fc-2 replaced with a newer revision because it makes a high pitch whine though.

If you want to check it out, here is my build. I learned alot of stuff building this computer and maybe you can get some more ideas from what I went with. Do lots of research, and I advise you look at every aspect of the case before you pull the trigger, such as how loud you are willing to have the case, how much bling, cost of components, and compatibility with other parts, etc. Good luck!

DanNeely said:
You probably should have the 140 in exhaust mode too. If it's an intake it'll be blowing hot air directly at the 3x120. Moving it to the bottom would also work.
Click to expand...

I just had to add to this. Using the rad on the rear port isn't bad, but it would be pulling cooler air into the case through the rad at the bottom which will keep the rad from feeding it's "warmer" exhaust into the top rad compared to having it in the rear port. This is far better than having the top rad pull into the case and have the restrictive 140 ports send it back out. I don't see it being that drastic temp wise if you do put it on the rear though as an intake. From what I learned airflow is more important that anything, so it's best to go with physics and the way heat rises and use the top as exhaust and have the other fans pull cool air in from the rear and bottom. This way you aren't going against the way hot air likes to rise and will make the case more efficient flow wise. My .02 :D
 
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