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rad questions now

MrDude010

Weaksauce
Joined
Dec 1, 2006
Messages
93
Ok, so im getting closer and closer to purchasing everything for my future build, e6600 2x8800GTS, and now I need to know what to do about a radiator. It seems that the most popular are thermochillPAs and swiftech quietpower rads. The problem I have with the thermochill rads is that they are a little too expensive for what im going for, however I dont think that the quietpower rads can have 1/2" fittings. What products do you reccomend? Im still new to this, but im learning thanks to [H].
 
The Swiftech rads are ordered with 3/8" or 1/2" inlet/outlet barbs. Your choice.
 
If your gonna liquid cool an e6600 and 2 8800gts your gonna need at least a thermochill rad (120.3) a Swiftech MCR 320 probably won't cut it.
 
Yes. A processor and two graphics cards dump a lot of heat into the loop, especially when they are overclocked. The MCR 320 is a good rad, but I doubt it has enough heat dissipative ability to cool all of those things. This is purely a limitation of the MCR design. The thermochills are better designed for lower restriction and higher efficiency cooling.

What I'm saying is purely speculation based on what I've read through various forums. You could always try it out and see what happens. If your satisfied with your temps stick with it.
 
Yes. A processor and two graphics cards dump a lot of heat into the loop, especially when they are overclocked. The MCR 320 is a good rad, but I doubt it has enough heat dissipative ability to cool all of those things. This is purely a limitation of the MCR design. The thermochills are better designed for lower restriction and higher efficiency cooling.

What I'm saying is purely speculation based on what I've read through various forums. You could always try it out and see what happens. If your satisfied with your temps stick with it.

You are correct. On load, an MCR320 would probably be maxed out. It's rated for about 450W of heat dissipation assuming you have a powerful pump like the DDC-2 w/ modded top. A C2D can be estimated at about 75-100W of heat dump and each 8800 would be approximately 200W a piece.

I'd suggest switching to a PA120.3 radiator to handle everything effectively and still having room for generous overclocks.
 
If you can fit it, I guess you can give it a shot. Those rads were hotly under debate in various forums with most people having a negative opinion for the 3x3 version. However, I can't say there's been any hard testing done on it from my knowledge. A few people over on XS have purchased it and tried it but don't have the expertise nor experience with another product to give a quantitative answer.

The only thing I remember being mentioned was that the stats sheet for it said it had a lot of 180 degree bends within the radiator itself. From that we'd expect a drop in flow. How severe? I'm not sure, but it's something to consider.

Two MCR320's or 1 PA120.3 should work for your system. With two MCR320's you'll have 900W of heat dissipation to work with while the PA120.3 will give you 650W worth. I'm estimating your CPU/GPU will have a heat dump of about 475-550W.

So 2 MCR220's would work (325W x 2 = 650W) or a PA120.3 would be your best bet to cool everything in your loop optimally.
 
so two swiftech rads or one? in your opinion what would you do if it were your loop? (ive read rankers sig so i know that one lol)
 
ok, i think i know what im doing now, im going to get a PA. why skimp when i dont really need to. anyhoo, i think I asked ranker in another thread, but Im looking for uv red fluid, that will turn out red and not pink in my loop, will d tek dye work just fine?
 
ok, i think i know what im doing now, im going to get a PA. why skimp when i dont really need to. anyhoo, i think I asked ranker in another thread, but Im looking for uv red fluid, that will turn out red and not pink in my loop, will d tek dye work just fine?

D-Tek UV dye and Alphacool Dye have never separated on me or resulted in gunky build up. I like the color of the D-Tek dye but some of its pigments are a bit over the top. Alphacool has a more subtle color. Just depends on your preferences.
 
What do you mean by subtle color? Is the alphacool dye a deeper red while the other is a more vibrant red?
 
With two MCR320's you'll have 900W of heat dissipation to work with while the PA120.3 will give you 650W worth. I'm estimating your CPU/GPU will have a heat dump of about 475-550W.

You should really quantify the airflow necessary to achieve these figures... PA120.3 will give 650w of Heat Dissipation if used with Panaflo FBA12G12-H1A - 105cfm, 6.8mmH2O, 41.5dBA fans... 3 of. This would be VERY noisy imo. Use fans weaker than this and the radiator will dissipate less heat.

Define heatload. Define noise limits. Choose radiator(s) to suit.

IE: Choose the fans you want to use first based on how noisy you want the system. Then find out whether those fans on a PA120.3 will provide enough Thermal Capacity. If they won't, you have several choices. Either go with louder fans, or, go with multiple radiators with the original or quieter fans. Note that any OTHER brand radiator with those exact same quiet fans will have a lower capacity than the ThermoChill equivalent. Multiples of any other brand radiator would also produce a higher pressure drop than the same multiples of the ThermoChill equivalents, thus resulting in a lower flowrate, and thus resulting in lower performance.
 
I personaly would assemble 2 loops. 1 for the CPU (either using a MCR220, or a PA120.2) and loop 2 for the SLi cards (using a mcr320) If I were cooling SLi vid cards I would want the heat generated by the GPU to stay away from my CPU. However using 2 loops means 1 more pump, 1 more rad, more tubing, so price wise, it might not be effective for you to do that, but I dont know what your financial ability is....

EDIT** For "true" red coolant, check this out: http://www.petrastechshop.com/loliredcoad.html
 
I've got an opteron 170 oced at 2.8ghz at 1.4 volt, 1 chipset waterblock, 2 hd waterblocks and 2 Innovatek G70 for 2 7900 gtx oc running on 1 loop with a Swiftech pump and a quad 120mm heatercore with 4 Aerocool Xtreme turbine that pull 89.9 cfm each. I also have 2 of the same 120mm inside the case to produce an air current.

The fans are running at maximum at all times and the noise is not bothersome. My temps are are follows:

At idle: CPU -> 28C Chipset -> 30C GPUs-> 33C
At torture load: CPU -> 42C Chipset -> 35C GPU ->44C


My cpu overclock is maxed out at 2.8. Increasing voltage doesn't make any difference for me. In my case, one loop proves to be sufficient. The drawback is that my rad is outside of the case. I also noticed during my last maintenance cycle that the pump generates quite a bit of heat on it's own so it should be taken into account.

If you're gonna go for 2 loops, I hope for your sake that you can justify it by having components who's overclock will only be limited by heat because otherwise, it's an expensive overkill.
 
thanks everyone, and to that last one, that may be the case, but im not going to be cooling 7900s so... lol
 
I'd go with two loops.

Buy two MCP655's / 50z's / DDC-2's with Tops, whatever you want. Run one MCR320 for your GPU's and one MCR220 for your CPU.

An MCR220 will handle even the hottest quad core with ease.

That's the best way to do it IMO.
 
I'd go with two loops.

Buy two MCP655's / 50z's / DDC-2's with Tops, whatever you want. Run one MCR320 for your GPU's and one MCR220 for your CPU.

An MCR220 will handle even the hottest quad core with ease.

That's the best way to do it IMO.

I second this.
 
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