Is 1/4" tubing a bad choice?

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Patyrn

Weaksauce
Joined
Nov 11, 2010
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My watercooling build is in a q11, so space is very tight. Smaller tubing would be convenient. I read a large chunk of a huge debate on tubing size here, but I saw no real consensus.

I'll be running 2 140mm rads and cooling a i5 2500k and a gtx 560ti.

If 1/4" tubing is a good choice for my situation, what's a good pump for it?
 
if you have a good pump it shouldn't mater much but whit larger tubing you will get more flow but as long as you have at least 1gpm moving though your loop you should be good
 
Recommended is at least 3/8. Above that, doesn't really matter.
 
The difference is not as a significant as you would imagine; it can amount to somewhere between .25c and 1.00c.
However since space is at such a premium, you're likely to use laing ddc series pump. If the cpu block that you choose is of lower restriction, such as an ek-hf, koolance 370, or xspc raza then it may even matter less. Even if you choose a highly restrictive cpu block, it won't matter that much. (As in the difference will be within mounting variability)

However, if I were you, I would pick up an H60 and use gentle typhoons, for the cpu portion. I would use the money saved to either get a more power powerful gpu, and select one with good gpu cooler that's relatively quiet.

Although, it's bad ass to do liquid cool in a tiny sff :)
 
I just put all new tubing in my loop. I went from 3/8 ID to 1/2ID 3/4OD. I think looks alone make it better, but honestly I don't see any real noticable change in temperatures. Maybe a degree or two. If you are using a lot of Bitspower fittings, you can make any tubing fit anywhere. The cost gets high pretty fast, though. The real question: Is money an object?
 
Money is an object, but watercooling is for all intents and purposes a complete waste of money anyway, so anything not too excessive I'd totally consider. :p

Although, it's bad ass to do liquid cool in a tiny sff
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Yeah. It's not obviously the most practical route, but I'm doing it for fun. :)
 
Patyrn said:
Money is an object, but watercooling is for all intents and purposes a complete waste of money anyway, so anything not too excessive I'd totally consider. :p
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I disagree. Fittings are what really got me and those are totally reusable. For some reason I really like fittings and that has been 50% of my total costs. Hell, I even bought some I didn't need yet. A nice set of fans are always transferable. CPU blocks are a good to reuse depending on your MB and chip type. GPU blocks are a sunk cost, though.

I guess it's more expensive than a $50 CPU fan though. The lack of noise and the ability to OC make it worth it to me anyways.
 
Don't get me wrong it's awesome. I just mean its more hobby than practical.
 
Yeah. It's basically like putting a NO setup on a car. You don't really need it because your car will do most everything you need. It sure is nice to have it in case you ever need to go from 100 to 150 in like 2 seconds. I mean tell that's not handy, eh?
 
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