Making good watercooling better?

[jhatfie]

I am still fairly new to watercooling and I am pleased with my setup, but I am looking to get even better results if possible. This is what I currently have (in running order):

Hydor L30, Whitewater CPU block, DD Maze4 GPU block, D-tek Pro core radiator with 105CFM 120MM fan and shroud, Bay-Rez all using 1/2" clearflex.

I've tried messing around with my configuration, tried a push pull setup on my Radiator, Radiator outside my case, different thermal compounds, but my temps seem to stay about the the same (+/- 1C). About 35C idle and 45-47C load with 22C room temps.

I am thinking that replacing my rez with a T-line might help some by improving flow. Would a different pump help since I have 2 blocks? Maybe something with more head pressure like two of those C-system pumps running in serial/parrallel or perhaps the DD12V-D4 pump?

 

[OneMadPoptart]

With that setup I wouldn't worry about messing with a T line or anything like that. Getting a better pump like the D4 (stay away from Csystem) wouldn't help you as much as you'd like, I'm betting.

If you really want your temps to drop significantly, then you need to get a dual heatercore/radiator for two 120mm fans to replace that Procore (or get another procore and hook it up in parallel with the other one). I think adding a radiator will help, but asides from getting a peltier/TEC device, your temps are going to be around that 30-40 range.

-OMP

 

[NewBlackDak]

I just put a res in mine(this morning), and already I have better temps that with the T. I think it just caused too much flow restriction.

 

[OneMadPoptart]

I just put a res in mine(this morning), and already I have better temps that with the T. I think it just caused too much flow restriction.

Thats to be expected in most cases... A T-line isn't always the best thing avaliable for a system.

 

[jhatfie]

If you really want your temps to drop significantly, then you need to get a dual heatercore/radiator for two 120mm fans to replace that Procore (or get another procore and hook it up in parallel with the other one). I think adding a radiator will help, but asides from getting a peltier/TEC device, your temps are going to be around that 30-40 range.

-OMP

I was curious about going the TEC route. Would my current watercooling system be able to sustain the additional heat provided from a TEC? I imagine I'd want a 226W for the CPU and at least a 80W for my 9800 pro.

 

[gclg2000]

my resevoir works great, i dont count it as "flow restriction" it comes in water flows down and flows out. Its a pool of water inside with a water flow in and out. Not a maze of metal channels like a radiator.

Don't go T line for that is a pain in the ass and it takes away volume of water, which is better to help spread the heat out a little more. I say get a bigger radiator. I have a dual 120mm heatercore and it works wonderful. Peltier's are the next step for you though. That and another Powersupply for your case.

 

[OneMadPoptart]

I was curious about going the TEC route. Would my current watercooling system be able to sustain the additional heat provided from a TEC? I imagine I'd want a 226W for the CPU and at least a 80W for my 9800 pro.

I'm no expert on TEC cooling, but I do know many many people who have gone that route and have been very happy (and just as many people who have b0rk3d processors and graphics cards in doing so as well). I would suggest you do some good hefty research and decide if its worth it to you to go the extra step and spend the extra $$$.

-OMP

 

[Dark Ember]

I was curious about going the TEC route. Would my current watercooling system be able to sustain the additional heat provided from a TEC? I imagine I'd want a 226W for the CPU and at least a 80W for my 9800 pro.

Yeah, thats about right. You're going to need another hefty power supply to power both of those though. At least a 300 watt 12V setup or so, depending on what kind of pelts you get. One thing though, if you want to go pelt, get a different water block for your CPU. The WW was designed to cool the section where the die of the CPU is most efficiently, and doesn't care much about the rest. That is exactly what you don't want if you're running a peltier. You want even cooling across the whole surface of the pelt to make it work as efficiently as possible (and even still, they are horribly inefficient).

Check out the TEC forum over at www.procooling.com. You'll learn a ton there.

 

[rogue_jedi]

i wouldn't worry about getting a TEC at the moment for you. i'd look into a better radiator first, or at least another fan. a single 120mm radiator will not be able to disappate(sp?) the heat that a TEC would put off, let alone 2 TECs. so get a better radiator, then decide if you still want a TEC. just remember that a TEC is an inefficient heat transfer method, so more heat is dumped into the loop than is removed from the chip. so make sure you can deal with the increased heat load (and also the power load, a 226W pelt will require a dedicated PSU... the 80W can probably be run off your system one if it is a good one i.e. antec 550/PCP&C 510 etc. - not some RAIDMAX 600 or whatever)

so you seem to have good components overall, but the radiator (and pump too probably) are the biggest bottlenecks.

 

[Dark Ember]

a single 120mm radiator will not be able to disappate(sp?) the heat that a TEC would put off, let alone 2 TECs.

He has a DTek Pro Core though, which is a decent amount bigger than 120mm. I think that might be ok for running a 226 watt pelt and an 80 watt pelt. One of my friends was cooling dual 1800+'s with 2 226 watt pelts on a dual 120mm radiator just fine, so I would think a pro core would be able to deal with a 226 watt and an 80 watt ok as well.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that he shouldn't get another radiator with it, I'm just saying that it would work well enough. Much better than his current setup anyway. Better performance would obviously be acheived by having another radiator as well, whether he chooses to go pelt or not.

If you do get another radiator though, you may want to consider a more powerful pump with a higher head rating like a Laing D4 or MCP600. Thats a lot more restriction you would be adding with another radiator in addition to your 2 waterblocks and current rad.

 

[jhatfie]

I wonder how much more cooling potential would be with either an additional or larger radiator. Currently I have my A64 3000+ overclocked to 2.5ghz at 1.76v and my 9800 PRO (unmodded) at 470/370 being cooled by my watercooling. My water temp is about 2C above ambient. Currently 27C in a 25C room. At best I might be able to get the water temps down to ambient, how would this translate in cpu temps?

Dark Ember is right, the d-tek pro core radiator is a fair bit larger than 120mm. Pretty much the width of my chieftec dragon case. I'll study up a bit more on TEC's to see if it would be for me. Thanks for all the help so far everyone!