I am planning on buying a particular case that can house either 1x SR1 560 and 1x SR1 280 radiators (both 140mm radiator), or any brand quad and triple radiator, example 1x XSPC RX480 and 1x XSPC RX360 radiator, I don't know which combination will work best. I will be running a six core Intel processor (Sandy Bridge E), and only two high-end graphics cards, for me that is more than enough.
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How much radiator do I need?
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Tsumi
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Are you going for silence or low noise?
As far as I know, the TJ11 is the only radiator that can natively house a 560 radiator.
As far as I know, the TJ11 is the only radiator that can natively house a 560 radiator.
The fans I'll be using regardless of what radiator I use will be the Gentle Typhoon AP-15 1850rpm fans with BGears 140mm to 120mm fan adapter, these fans are considered to be silent to my ears. So should I go with a 140.4 linked to a 140.2 or a 140.4 linked to a 120.3?
Tsumi
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Single Black Ice GTX 560 (don't use an SR-1 with AP-15 fans) would be more than sufficient to cool your system. Even a GTX 480 would be enough.
So a single Black Ice GTX 560 will be enough for a six core Sandy Bridge E CPU and two high-end graphics cards 2x GTX 590's or 2x GTX 580's?
Tsumi
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2x GTX 590's are very different beasts from 2x GTX 580's. 2 GTX 590's non-overclocked = 3 GTX 580's (heatwise), 2 GTX 590's overclocked to 580 clocks = 4 GTX 580's (heatwise).
I think I should go for as much radiator as I can, question is what equals more radiator, 140.4 linked to a 140.2 or a 140.4 linked to a 120.3?
Tsumi
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^^ this. It will be cheaper and more effective to just buy a Mo-Ra Pro 3 140mm version than several GTX radiators.
Juggalo23451
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All you need is a 480 rad and it will do fine.
86 5.0L
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Go for a case labs case and stick all the rad you can inside of it 
Some interesting options, I forgot to mention for over a year I have been running a HWLab's GTX480 radiator and with my E6600 (OC 3.2gHz) and GTX 480 (OC 880MHz/4200MHz) I have seen temps rise to toasty levels using OCCT and EVGA OC Scanner, feeling some serious heat coming from the top of my radiator! I figured if I was going with a CPU that has four more cores to cool, plus a second graphics card I would need more radiator! I have seen Case Labs cases and they look like very high quality, I just don't like the cubed shape to them. I heard CL will be releasing some tower cases soon, just don't know when and if it will be soon enough.
Watercooling System:
CPU = EK Supreme HF Plexi/Nickel
GPU = EK FC-480 GTX Plexi/Nickel
RES = EK MultiOption X2 250 Advanced
PUMP = Laing DDC 3.25 18W w/EK X-Top V2
RAD = HWLabs GTX480 w/Gentle Typhoon 1850rpm Fans
LIQUID = Distilled Water w/Petra's Pure Silver Killcoil
Watercooling System:
CPU = EK Supreme HF Plexi/Nickel
GPU = EK FC-480 GTX Plexi/Nickel
RES = EK MultiOption X2 250 Advanced
PUMP = Laing DDC 3.25 18W w/EK X-Top V2
RAD = HWLabs GTX480 w/Gentle Typhoon 1850rpm Fans
LIQUID = Distilled Water w/Petra's Pure Silver Killcoil
D
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I always heard the HWLab's GTX radiators are right up there with the best.
That has been my experience as well, when I first flushed my GTX480 radiator with warm-hot water it came out as clean as it went in. I have also heard and from my experience the HWLab's are more restrictive than most, so linking rads wouldn't be the best option. Dan at Danger Den told me that the SR1 560 140mm radiator is only flatter than 120mm rads giving more surface area and not more radiator.
Tsumi
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Well, SR1 560 compared to GTX 480 would be that way, the SR1 is optimized for low speed fans. On the other hand, the GTX 560 compared to the GTX 480 would be the same in terms of thickness and FPI, but wider and longer.
GTX radiators due to their high FPI and thickness have the best performance when paired with performance fans. Otherwise, with low speed fans, they lose to low FPI radiators like the RX radiators.
What do you mean by "toasty" temps? If you were getting heat out of your radiator, that means that your blocks were transferring the heat effectively.
I'm not exactly too sure what you were doing with your E6600 system, but I know that my GTS 420 radiator (higher FPI but much lower thickness) with 3 140mm 1500 RPM fans (much lower performance than your Gentle Typhoons) kept two GTX 275's and an overclocked Phenom II 1090T at 3.8 ghz below 70 C and 55 C respectively. And considering the Phenom II's take less heat than Intel's, it's about equivalent to an Intel processor running at 80 C, thermal limit-wise.
GTX radiators due to their high FPI and thickness have the best performance when paired with performance fans. Otherwise, with low speed fans, they lose to low FPI radiators like the RX radiators.
What do you mean by "toasty" temps? If you were getting heat out of your radiator, that means that your blocks were transferring the heat effectively.
I'm not exactly too sure what you were doing with your E6600 system, but I know that my GTS 420 radiator (higher FPI but much lower thickness) with 3 140mm 1500 RPM fans (much lower performance than your Gentle Typhoons) kept two GTX 275's and an overclocked Phenom II 1090T at 3.8 ghz below 70 C and 55 C respectively. And considering the Phenom II's take less heat than Intel's, it's about equivalent to an Intel processor running at 80 C, thermal limit-wise.
When the GTX 480 radiator was toasty, I mean the hot air coming from the radiator was hot if I put my arm right above my GT's blowing upwards almost felt like a portable heater! My nickle plating on my EK-FC480 GTX had this black stuff that burned into the nickle plating! My EK Supreme HF had no such black residue and it's the first WB in the loop right out of the radiator. After removing and cleaning of my VGA WB where there was black residue, pitting was left behind. I did have my Vcore voltage very high, modded BIOS up to 1.2V, I did a lot of torcher testing at 1.185V, my E6600's Vcore is 1.29V OC'ed to 3.2GHz and my GTX480 1.125V at 880MHz/4.2GHz. I believe that the black residue was from the main rubber seal in the VGA block for which you can clearly see in the plexi version.
Remember this is with OCCT, actual gaming for hours never see's beyond 43C max on my VGA and 44C max on my E6600. The thing that interested me was that the SR1 560 has much lower restriction over the GTX radiator (best for linking more than one rad) and I find myself using medium-medium high fan speeds (GT AP-15 1850rpm anybody). If needed I under-volt these beautiful fans! The SR1 560 radiator performs very well even with 1700rpm fans, but is the added surface area a better trade-off to losing radiator core size of a XSPC RX radiator? I pulled the trigger on the SR1 560 (140mm radiator) and the SR1 360 (120mm radiator), my BGears 140mm adapters are on there way. Those GT AP-15's should work out nicely on the SR1 560, I haven't decided if I'm going with a single or dual loop just yet.
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Tsumi
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I would run Gentle Typhoons with GTX or GTS radiators, it's a waste using their high static pressure capabilities on low FPI radiators. Especially with 120-140mm fan adapters, those act as shrouds, and increase the performance of the radiator.
striker456
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is push/pull worth the extra cost in fans?
86 5.0L
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i ran push/pull yate loons on my Black Ice GTX480, to cool my i7 920, honestly I have run my pump to 10% and turned off the fans, acting as a passive cooling, and it'll still do its job fine.
BTW, youre suppose to feel hot air coming from your exhaust, that means your cooling system is shedding the heat effectively
BTW, youre suppose to feel hot air coming from your exhaust, that means your cooling system is shedding the heat effectively
Tsumi
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Forgot to say:
You still didn't tell us anything about your graphics card temps or the CPU temps. And that nickel problem you were talking about? Look around the forums, a lot of people have been blasting EK for their bad nickel plating process (since fixed).
You still didn't tell us anything about your graphics card temps or the CPU temps. And that nickel problem you were talking about? Look around the forums, a lot of people have been blasting EK for their bad nickel plating process (since fixed).
My graphics card temps and CPU temps were mentioned in post #19, DAMN IT! Well it seems as if my nickle plating is GONE and all I can see now is copper!!
I won't bother fixing my EK water block until I install my Sandy Bridge E CPU, as of right now is it safe to use distilled water with silver coils on EK's newer nickle plated water blocks? I believe my CPU WB to be fine as far as I can see, there seems to be nickle shavings inside.
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Tsumi
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My graphics card temps and CPU temps were mentioned in post #19, DAMN IT! Well it seems as if my nickle plating is GONE and all I can see now is copper!!
I won't bother fixing my EK water block until I install my Sandy Bridge E CPU, as of right now is it safe to use distilled water with silver coils on EK's newer nickle plated water blocks? I believe my CPU WB to be fine as far as I can see, there seems to be nickle shavings inside.
You didn't list what the temps were under OCCT, you just listed the gaming temps, no need to get mad
The problem never was due to compatibility with silver killcoils and distilled water, that was EK trying to find a scapegoat. The problem existed completely with them trying to go cheap on the plating process, ending with the results that you see. They have since fixed the plating process, although now many dislike EK due to their handling of the issue. They tried to scapegoat everyone from blaming the users to blaming the resellers. They never admitted they went wrong with the plating process, and I don't think they have admitted that it was their fault.
You didn't list what the temps were under OCCT, you just listed the gaming temps, no need to get mad
The problem never was due to compatibility with silver killcoils and distilled water, that was EK trying to find a scapegoat. The problem existed completely with them trying to go cheap on the plating process, ending with the results that you see. They have since fixed the plating process, although now many dislike EK due to their handling of the issue. They tried to scapegoat everyone from blaming the users to blaming the resellers. They never admitted they went wrong with the plating process, and I don't think they have admitted that it was their fault.
After reading many forum on the plating issue it's kind of a let down, they can earn their reputation back by starting to machine the mounting standoffs instead of using those cheap azz plastic standoffs! Funny that Danger Den never had any of the plating problems with their nickle plating or even Aqua Computers VGA blocks to name a few, next time I'll probably go with a Danger Den nickle block. My CPU temps on OCCT was 42-45C core temps, GPU was 55C after an hour or two at 1.2 Vcore.
Oh and I'm not smiling at EK,
Tsumi
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42-45 C on your CPU and 55 C on your GPU are really good temps, I'm not sure what you have to complain about. By your complaining and wording, I thought they were 70-80 C on the CPU and approaching 90 on the GPU.
I guess I was a little freaked out by the heat that this radiator is capable of removing from the water, being a first time water cooler I didn't know what to expect as what is acceptable. Then on top of that my nickle plating started chipping away (just very tiny flakes) so I was seriously freaked out no having any information on the current EK plating problem. So at that time I thought the nickle plating was the result of the heat, then I quit messing around and was happy. Imagine my surprise when you opened my eyes to the EK plating issue, in some ways I'm glad I suffered ignorance this way I avoided the agony of all the disappointed EKWB user's. Three to four months from now and I'll be on a new loop and that is the perfect time to deal with the defective EK block, not knowing something is often more comfortable than knowing it!
On a second note, is it worth replacing my DDC3.25 pump with the more powerful Swiftech MCP35X since I will be linking my SR1 560 -> SR1 360 -> CPU WB -> 2x GPU WB? At what point does flow rate end up in diminishing returns?
Thanks
Tsumi
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Above 1 GPM is usually the accepted minimum for good transfer of heat.
Does your MCP355 have a custom top? (not sure if I missed it in your earlier posts). If it does, then it provides the same performance as the 35X. The 35X changes the top so that the inlet is a direct path instead of a sharp 90 degree turn, improving performance. That is easily accomplished on the 355 with a custom top. The other thing the 35X introduces is PWM control, which isn't really necessary.
It will probably be enough for your system.
Does your MCP355 have a custom top? (not sure if I missed it in your earlier posts). If it does, then it provides the same performance as the 35X. The 35X changes the top so that the inlet is a direct path instead of a sharp 90 degree turn, improving performance. That is easily accomplished on the 355 with a custom top. The other thing the 35X introduces is PWM control, which isn't really necessary.
It will probably be enough for your system.
86 5.0L
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PWM is awesome though, I was uncomfortable running my 35x at full speed, it would get really hot and create a slush in my res from so much force.
I have been do an enormous amount of research on these Laing DDC type pumps, what I have found out through Martins Liquid Lab is that these pump run hotter with high flow loops and cooler with slightly more restrictive loops. Imagine revving your engine at 5000rpms while in neutral with little to no load, I think you get my point. This is why I need some information on when does flow rates not matter anymore!
http://martinsliquidlab.org/2011/06/06/swiftech-mcp35x-hs-ddc-heatsink/2/
More here.
http://martinsliquidlab.org/2011/05/30/ddc3-2-pump-heat-scoping/
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Tsumi
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Ouch... just get a MCP655 and be done with it
86 5.0L
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nice, thanks for the info, things should get a bit more restrictive when I add another Black Ice GTX480 and a few GPU blocks
Ouch... just get a MCP655 and be done with it
I'm not a fan of those D5 pump, I like the DDC pumps, I already have a Laing DDC 3.25 with EK V2 pump top. I figured that I might need more pumping power using an SR1 560 linked to an SR1 360 with one HF Supreme HF and at least two VGA blocks.
nice, thanks for the info, things should get a bit more restrictive when I add another Black Ice GTX480 and a few GPU blocks
I wouldn't advise having two GTX radiators in the same loop, that is why I just purchased two SR1 radiators for silence and better flow rates along with the increased surface area of the SR1 140mm radiator.
86 5.0L
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noise isnt too much of a concern, actually I really dont mind the 8 yateloons running at full speed 2 feet from my head maybe im going deaf...
we'll see though, I get your point though on using SR1s
maybe im going deaf...we'll see though, I get your point though on using SR1s
86 5.0L
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haha probably, I just have this expensive itch I need to scratch with my future build...
I believe in having more radiator than I currently need, it's better to need more radiator and have it than need it and not have it! I also like very low deltas, the thing that sold my on the HWLabs radiators the second time through is the incredible quality, lower restriction and the electrostatic paint job (hate dust collection). My GTX 480 radiator didn't even need flushing, the water going into it came out just as clean.
There is no way in hell I would buy a Silverstone TJ11 and not put at least one 140mm radiator in it that's at least a quad, if you look at the picture below you'll see that the quad 120mm rads look as if they are just not the correct size in relation to the fan spacing in front of the grills.The TJ11 looks like it was designed for 140mm rads, one 560 and one 280. Thing is I wasn't able to fit two 140's and still use my GT15's, the extra space was taken up by the 15mm think fan adapters! So I'll use the adapters on the 560 and none on the 360 as the clearance between rads was to narrow for 1/2 ID x 3/4 OD tubing adapters on both rads. Now I have an extra 15mm to work with, that gives me 28mm in-between rads. Bottom picture is with two 140mm rads!
86 5.0L
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I'll be doing a similar build using a caselabs MH10 with pedestal and mounting two GTX480s in the pedestal with 12 fans.