Multiple rads in one loop?

[thereisntanyonehere]

I'm thinking about setting up some watercooling, for both sound and overclockability. I'm running my 3000+ Venice at 290x9 at the moment, getting it to 300x9 would make me happy ^_^ I am concerned about noise, though, and one of the main motivators would be cooling my GPU and Southbridge with water so I wouldn't have to listen to those tiny fans.

Anyway, the case I'm using doesn't have an enormous amount of room, has a 120mm exhaust and an 80mm intake. I want to keep it all inside the case, or at worst attached externally to a fan port.

So the question is, can a single 120mm radiator handle all CPU, GPU and SB, all heavily OC'd? If not, is it feasible to simply insert another radiator into the loop to handle the additional load? I could use either an 80mm rad on the intake port or mount a 120 in the unused 5-1/4" bays (or both, I suppose).

My first idea for component order was Exhaust Radiator (120) -> CPU -> reservoir -> Intake Radiator (120 or 80) -> pump -> GPU -> SB.

Any comments on how well that would work? Does having one radiator on the intake totally negate the value of one on the exhaust, since the air will be hotter?

 

[Soparik2]

I'm thinking about setting up some watercooling, for both sound and overclockability. I'm running my 3000+ Venice at 290x9 at the moment, getting it to 300x9 would make me happy ^_^ I am concerned about noise, though, and one of the main motivators would be cooling my GPU and Southbridge with water so I wouldn't have to listen to those tiny fans.

Anyway, the case I'm using doesn't have an enormous amount of room, has a 120mm exhaust and an 80mm intake. I want to keep it all inside the case, or at worst attached externally to a fan port.

So the question is, can a single 120mm radiator handle all CPU, GPU and SB, all heavily OC'd? If not, is it feasible to simply insert another radiator into the loop to handle the additional load? I could use either an 80mm rad on the intake port or mount a 120 in the unused 5-1/4" bays (or both, I suppose).

My first idea for component order was Exhaust Radiator (120) -> CPU -> reservoir -> Intake Radiator (120 or 80) -> pump -> GPU -> SB.

Any comments on how well that would work? Does having one radiator on the intake totally negate the value of one on the exhaust, since the air will be hotter?

the ability for a 120mm rad to handle it all depends completely on the rad itself as well as the fan being put on it to cool the water that goes thru
also you can add radiators together to increase cooling efficiency so a 120mm and an 80mm would be good togehter

 

[Erasmus354]

A single 120mm radiator will not be able to handle all of that quietly while still maintaining good temperatures. If you get a Thermochill HE or a BIX and put a loud powerful fan on it then it will do. You really should try to get a 2x120mm radiator in there minimum. What case do you have? Many cases can take a 2x120mm radiator in the top pretty easily, it just takes up the top two drive bays.

 

[BioHazard.NL]

A Dual radiator setup would require a heavier pump then most, thus a pump thats more prone to making noise.

What kind of reservoir are you getting, cause maybe you could get a 80 or 120mm fan to cool the reservoir as well.

You could also loop like this

Reservoir -> Pump -> Radiator 1 -> CPU -> Radiator 2 ->GPU -> NB ->Reservoir.

The reason i go Reservoir -> Pump -> Rad is to lose some of the heat that the pump itself adds to the water.

If u use a 80 or 120mm rad in the front you can add a fan there that will cool the HDD's as well, because airflow to the harddisks in a WC setup is usually not the best.
Tho the air that has already travelled tru the rad, will be warmer then normal, at least there is some airflow.

 

[thewhiteguy]

The reason i go Reservoir -> Pump -> Rad is to lose some of the heat that the pump itself adds to the water.

ORDER DOES NOT MATTER AS LONG AS THE RESERVOIR/T-LINE COMES RIGHT BEFORE THE PUMP
ORDER DOES NOT MATTER AS LONG AS THE RESERVOIR/T-LINE COMES RIGHT BEFORE THE PUMP
ORDER DOES NOT MATTER AS LONG AS THE RESERVOIR/T-LINE COMES RIGHT BEFORE THE PUMP
ORDER DOES NOT MATTER AS LONG AS THE RESERVOIR/T-LINE COMES RIGHT BEFORE THE PUMP
ORDER DOES NOT MATTER AS LONG AS THE RESERVOIR/T-LINE COMES RIGHT BEFORE THE PUMP

 

[dekard]

ORDER DOES NOT MATTER AS LONG AS THE RESERVOIR/T-LINE COMES RIGHT BEFORE THE PUMP
ORDER DOES NOT MATTER AS LONG AS THE RESERVOIR/T-LINE COMES RIGHT BEFORE THE PUMP
ORDER DOES NOT MATTER AS LONG AS THE RESERVOIR/T-LINE COMES RIGHT BEFORE THE PUMP
ORDER DOES NOT MATTER AS LONG AS THE RESERVOIR/T-LINE COMES RIGHT BEFORE THE PUMP
ORDER DOES NOT MATTER AS LONG AS THE RESERVOIR/T-LINE COMES RIGHT BEFORE THE PUMP

QFT

 

[Erasmus354]

A Dual radiator setup would require a heavier pump then most, thus a pump thats more prone to making noise.

What kind of reservoir are you getting, cause maybe you could get a 80 or 120mm fan to cool the reservoir as well.

You could also loop like this

Reservoir -> Pump -> Radiator 1 -> CPU -> Radiator 2 ->GPU -> NB ->Reservoir.

The reason i go Reservoir -> Pump -> Rad is to lose some of the heat that the pump itself adds to the water.

If u use a 80 or 120mm rad in the front you can add a fan there that will cool the HDD's as well, because airflow to the harddisks in a WC setup is usually not the best.
Tho the air that has already travelled tru the rad, will be warmer then normal, at least there is some airflow.

Dual radiator setup would not have much impact on the flow. The pressure drop of a radiator is much lower than that of a waterblock. Also the pressure drop of a 2x120 is not much more than that of a 1x120.

As stated above the order doesn't really matter either. And putting a fan on your resevoir will net you no gain. If it did we would all have fans blowing on our waterblocks

 

[theseeker]

My Aquastream is currently doing fine with 3 x 120 Rads (my latest experiment) of course it is OC'ed. I am violating all the rules as well, using 10mm OD tubing and AC blocks. That would be 2 CPU blocks, 2 GPU Blocks and the NB.

BTW, can we leave religion out of this. I find it quite tacky and lacking.

 

[thereisntanyonehere]

Thanks for the responses so far, they have been enlightening.

See my sig for my rig.

I could probably get a dual 120 in the top, but it would probably require more modding than I'm prepared to do, because this case is entirely riveted together. I'm not opposed to doing mod work, but I'm in a shared apartment, and we have no tools. I'd rather explore less intensive options first.

In the same vein as the dual 120 in the top, what about a dual 120 in the side panel? That would require less work (and also be more easily fixable if I screw up), while still getting a full size dual 120mm radiator. This would be along the bottom of the side panel. Getting ridiculous, I could probably squeeze a triple vertically in between the PSU and the drive cages.

As far as having seperate rads, why is two 120mm radiators worse for pressure drop than one dual 120? Further, shouldn't a smaller radiator have less pressure drop, so a 120 and an 80 could have less pressure drop than a dual 120?

Nice to know the res needs to come right before the pump, that's good to know.

I know a lot of people don't like the drive bay res's, but at least conceptually, I like them a lot. What are the main objections to them?

And, can what I want to do be done for under $200? 2 rads, 3 WBs, and all the associated WC stuff I need?

 

[thewhiteguy]

BTW, can we leave religion out of this. I find it quite tacky and lacking.

Context man, context.

 

[theseeker]

Context man, context.

Whatever you say.

 

[malicious]

it's really not that hard to mod a dual or even triple rad to the top of a case ....

here's my love affair -cue the cow bec i posted pics twice in one day

 

[Talonz]

Missing a few worm clamps there?!

 

[thereisntanyonehere]

That looks insanely pretty. But I can't make judgements at the moment, because I'm reallhy,rallly damn drunk at the moment. Really drunk. That rig look ssweeet th0ugh.

 

[AACDIRECT]

Dual rads works fine I do it all the time.

 

[malicious]

Missing a few worm clamps there?!

i chose to leave them off .. the 7/16ths(so far) hasn't driped .. i used near boiling water to fit them and they are very snug ... i have clamps on the non-sloped style fittings...

mal

 

[thewhiteguy]

i used near boiling water to fit them and they are very snug

WTF? I can put 7/16" on my DD fittings relatively easily, boiling water is definitely not required.

PS the whole signing your post thing has been unfashionable and unnecessary for at least ten years now.

 

[thereisntanyonehere]

Guys, there's no need to start a flamewar. I was worried that drunk-posting would piss people off, but apparently some of you are even less mature all on your own. Thanks for the advice so far, it sounds like what I want to do is definitely doable, I think I can handle the research from here. Thanks again.