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Questions on a potential first Loop

F

FelixRussia

Weaksauce
Joined
Aug 24, 2011
Messages
72
Hey Everyone,

I'm considering building my first water cooling loop and I've got what should be simple questions, but would like more experienced answers on.

I just recently rebuilt my machine in a Silverstone Raven RV02, and one of my biggest questions I've got at the moment is would I be better off getting a 360mm x 180mm radiator to fit the fans the case came with, or would a 360mm x 120mm radiator be more effective?

For reference, the plan is to have my 4670k and two 660Tis in the loop, with minimal overclocking, I'm thinking 4.0ghz tops for gaming/dvd ripping/video conversions, and little to no overclocking on the cards.

My main concern is then, would one radiator be enough to cool the CPU and the two GPUs well enough? I could put a 120mm radiator in the top fan position if it would make enough of a difference to justify it.

The loop would look something like this:

Reservoir -> Pump -> Radiator -> CPU -> GPU -> GPU -> Then back to the Reservoir

Or

Reservoir -> Pump -> Radiator -> CPU -> Secondary Radiator (120mm) -> GPU -> GPU -> Then back to the Reservoir

The main reason I want to do this is because I feel like it. I've wanted to dabble in water cooling for some time now, and I think I'm about ready to commit to it. I realize this isn't the greatest case to water cool in, and I understand this is supposed to be primarily an air cooled case, but I really like the layout. Its either this or water cool my Prodigy, but I would need to do some upgrades there to justify it.

Anyways, any and all input is appreciated, just let me know what you think! Thanks!
 
the 360x120mm *should* be enough, assuming you can do Push/pull fans on the radiators (fans on either side), AND you use a thicker radiator , OR good fans on a slightly thinner one. I have personally ran a Phenom II X6 1090T (with 1.5V), and 2x 6970s with mild OCs on a single RX 360 radiator, and it handled it, i was a bit above where I would like with it all at load, but it was manageable.


if you *want* the 120mm radiator it def. would not hurt at all, but more of a PITA to plumb/setup that it *may* be worth.


I'd stay away from a 180mm width one, mainly on the premise of re-usability, 120mm is more of the standard.....


Any other questions just shoot, ill see what I can give a hand with, shoot me a PM if you want to jump on a chat for some quicker responses as well (me and a few other WC guys hang out in an IRC)
 
I would advise against putting 2 radiators in the same loop. Radiators add a lot of restriction to the flow of the loop and its important to keep a decent flow going. If you go with multiple radiators, you *may* think about adding an additional pump before the second radiator. I actually have tended to use 2 loops. I create one for my CPU and then one for my GPUs. If you are going to get a second radiator, it will be just a little more to get a second pump and resevoir and have 2 loops.
 
NoOther said:
I would advise against putting 2 radiators in the same loop. Radiators add a lot of restriction to the flow of the loop and its important to keep a decent flow going. If you go with multiple radiators, you *may* think about adding an additional pump before the second radiator. I actually have tended to use 2 loops. I create one for my CPU and then one for my GPUs. If you are going to get a second radiator, it will be just a little more to get a second pump and resevoir and have 2 loops.
Click to expand...

That's not true for all radiators, yes it will add restriction but should not be too bad, just run the video cards in parallel. I will be running 2 480's off one pump.
 
In terms of reusability, I'm not too worried about that since I just got the case and have no plans of upgrading my case again anytime soon.

I do understand that the 360mm radiators are more the standard, but I figured that the Air Penetrator fans that the case came with would work better with a 180mm x 360mm radiator. I really like the fans that the case came with, even on their highest setting, they're not too annoying, and do a really great job at moving air, and are really easy to tune out.

Currently, my biggest motivator for the 360mm radiator is that I can go down the street to Microcenter and get one off the shelf if I wanted to, but again, at the moment, it just seems like the 180mm x 360mm would work better, kinda thinking in terms of surface area. Is there anywhere that I can look for raw numbers on the two? I haven't really been able to find an actual comparison.
 
Two rads is no problem whatsoever for quality modern pumps (D5 and DDC variants). Two separate loops is also rarely necessary or ideal.

Regarding the rad size, surface area is generally king when it comes to performance. So, the 360x180 rad should be the clear winner since it has 50% more surface area than a 360x120. If I were using the RV02 for water cooling, I would definitely go with a single 360x180 rad. It is more convenient, cheaper since you would need to buy new fans, and I have no doubts that it could handle your CPU and GPUs. As was already mentioned, the primary drawback is lack of flexibility if you were to switch cases.
 
Cruiza said:
Two rads is no problem whatsoever for quality modern pumps (D5 and DDC variants). Two separate loops is also rarely necessary or ideal.

Regarding the rad size, surface area is generally king when it comes to performance. So, the 360x180 rad should be the clear winner since it has 50% more surface area than a 360x120. If I were using the RV02 for water cooling, I would definitely go with a single 360x180 rad. It is more convenient, cheaper since you would need to buy new fans, and I have no doubts that it could handle your CPU and GPUs. As was already mentioned, the primary drawback is lack of flexibility if you were to switch cases.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what a 180mmx360mm is? Do op mean a 540mm radiator instead of a 360? A 360 rad = 3x120mm fans so 3x180mm = 540mm

If op means a 120x3 vs a 180x2 then they both have the same surface area (360mm).
So how do you decide which to get? Well start shopping for fans. It used to be that larger fans always had the advantage but it does not seem that is true for radiator fans at this time. Now I'm not familiar with 180's but I have been looking into 140mm fans for a 2x140mm radiator I'm going to purchase, but a shroud + 120mm Gentle Typhoons beat all 140mm fans for airflow/noise ratio on 140mm fan radiators. So I will probably be picking up 2x120mm GT's for my 140mm rad (assuming I have space for the shroud).

Now the larger 2x140mm radiator still had the advantage over a 2x120mm and allowed more airflow from the fan due to the fan having less resistance to push through (more open area in the 140mm rad than 120mm rad of the same type).

So, you have some research to do, that is to find a (high static pressure) quite radiator fan in 180mm that can smoke the 120mm GTs with a shroud (if there is even an adapter available). 180's not attached to a radiator do not need static pressure so 180's would be leaps and bounds better in a noise/performance ratio.

Heres a link to backup the info above.
http://martinsliquidlab.org/2010/12/10/r7-140mm-fan-testing-on-a-hwlabs-sr1-radiator/

Now if you don't care about noise, well disregard the above and go with some high powered 180's, because they certainly be able to push more air than 120s. If you can't find 120's that beat 180's in terms of noise / performance well then you have to figure that 3x120's on a 360 radiator will probably out perform 2x120's + shouds on a 2x180mm (360mm) radiator, but the second option will be quieter.

Hope this helps, and good luck! If you meant a 540 rad, well then disregard the above and just get that and some 180mm fans for it.

*Rant* this is why I never liked the new na ing conventions for radiators ie "360" rather than 3x120 etc. If you want to be safe I would go 3x120mm, but if you find research that shows otherwise post back here! In fact you might be able to get a super thick 3x120mm radiator that will have more surface area than a 2x180 because lets not forget that surface area is not 2 dimensional! for example Alphacool NexXxoS Monsta 360 with fans in push pull.
 
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Justintoxicated said:
That's not true for all radiators, yes it will add restriction but should not be too bad, just run the video cards in parallel. I will be running 2 480's off one pump.
Click to expand...

this

also, using an RV02 (a case that was designed for air cooling) in a water config isn't impossible but can be difficult. check this video out for some good thoughts on using this case

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhGN2rj0xr4
 
Justintoxicated said:
If op means a 120x3 vs a 180x2 then they both have the same surface area (360mm).
Click to expand...

They have the same length, not the same surface area.

length * width = surface area
120x3 rad = 360mm * 120mm = 43,200 sq mm
180x2 rad - 360mm * 180mm = 64,800 sq mm

(64,800 - 43,200) / 43,200 = 1.5 or 150%

So, the 180x2 rad has 50% more surface area than a 120x3 rad.
 
Cruiza said:
They have the same length, not the same surface area.

length * width = surface area
120x3 rad = 360mm * 120mm = 43,200 sq mm
180x2 rad - 360mm * 180mm = 64,800 sq mm

(64,800 - 43,200) / 43,200 = 1.5 or 150%

So, the 180x2 rad has 50% more surface area than a 120x3 rad.
Click to expand...

Your right how did I miss that! 120^2 not 120 doh! Although actually you need to take into account the thickness of the RAD too. 30mm, 45mm 60mm etc.
Anyways the 180x3 is the best choice still :)

Kinda screwy since when I asked if a 140x3 would be better than a 120x4. Most people said to go with the 120x4 because it had more surface area, but the 140x3 has slightly more surface area. Such basic math damnit. Then again I'd probably end up using 120mm fans and I have a feeling 4x120 on a 120x4 might cool better than 3x120 on a 140x3. The 140x3 would be quieter though since one less fan and less resistance.
 
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