Rebuilding Loop - Couple Questions

[i4mt3hwin]

Ok so first I figured I'd post my system:

i7 3770K @ Stock (ATM) w/Koolance 370
ASUS Maximus Formula V
16GB DDR3 2133
EVGA GTX690 w/Koolance 690 block.
2x Vertex 4 256s in raid
EssenceSTX


My cooling loop currently is as follows:

PMP450 on a RP-452X2 1.2 --> RX360 --> 370 --> RX120 --> GTX690 --> RES again

1/2"x3/4" ID tubing

So in total I have 4x 120mm fans cooling a 3770k and a 690 which I believe isn't enough but ill get to that in a bit.

So a couple days ago my 690 randomly decided to stop wanting to go into 3D mode and I had to pull it out of my system in order to RMA it back to EVGA. The process of taking the card out was a real pain and I don't really feel like having to do this again every time something goes wrong or I feel like upgrading. So I've decided to purchase some koolance QDCs for all the major stuff, 452X2, 690 and CPU. So if I have to replace any of those I can easily just pop them out. I also decided that if I'm going to do a complete drain anyway to put these in, I want to change some of the compression fittings as I feel like adding some 45's can help things a bit:

http://i.imgur.com/ntTdR.jpg

As you can see that one tube out of the 120 looks kinda meh and I'm not liking the quality of the bitpower fitting on the cpu block either.

Anyway yeah all this stuff is already purchased but i'm also considering maybe doing a few more upgrades now and some more later.

So my first question is, do you think adding another pump to the 452X2 would add any benefit currently? I'm honestly kind of unhappy with the temps on my CPU and I've read that the 370 gets a fair bit better performance with increased flow. Currently I get about 60c loaded at stock and about 70cish at 4.4Ghz which to me is just bad, but I think it has more to do with the fact that I don't have enough to cool a 690 and a 3770K. My GPU hits about 60-65c loaded. I guess I figure for now if I can add another pump to the mix it may help a bit, is this so?

Second, if I did eventually add more rads how many should I be looking at for this setup? I have a Corsair 800D now and there really isn't a good place for me to add one currently, but I'm eyeballing the 900D and will probably end up picking one up at launch. I was thinking of putting my current 360 on top and adding another 360 for the front the mounting the 120 in the same place, on the back. Which would bring me up to 7 120mm fans. I guess at that point I could also considering doing some type of push-pull setup. I'm assuming 7 rad would help lower those temps more. I'm also assuming at this point if I did buy another pump for serial now it would help when I did eventually get this, right? I guess what I'm asking is, will an extra pump and 360 rad significantly reduce my temps or am I doing something wrong altogether?

I'm also curious to know what you guys think about the QDCs. If they work how I think they work I think they will make me feel better about my system, because I absolutely despise having to drain stuff and I don't like when it's a pain to work on things when they go wrong. Now I got the VL4Ns so they shouldn't restrict flow much, but I guess I was just wondering if anyone had experience with them and whatnot.

Dunno, any advice on the setup would be nice.

Thanks

 

[Voidy]

I'm just getting into water cooling after having a h100,
My system is similar to yours and i need to upgrade one of my fans to help the rads a bit.

I've read a lot about it, and i think the best way to test how your rad system is doing, is to measure the water temp at load after its stabilized and compare it to the ambient temp.

10C difference is good, 15 still ok but not stellar. From my limited understanding i'd always upgrade fans / rads before the pump unless your hitting the 10C difference.

Edit : Also, how many watts is your pc using? I run folding at home on the cpu and 2x 680's, then using a power meter, i'm pulling 670w at the wall at 90% efficiency thanks to a seasonic psu, so i need to get rid of 600w of heat.

 

[csshih]

honestly, I think those rads are enough for your system. how hot do they get? how are cpu and gpu temps?

 

[i4mt3hwin]

I'm just getting into water cooling after having a h100,
My system is similar to yours and i need to upgrade one of my fans to help the rads a bit.

I've read a lot about it, and i think the best way to test how your rad system is doing, is to measure the water temp at load after its stabilized and compare it to the ambient temp.

10C difference is good, 15 still ok but not stellar. From my limited understanding i'd always upgrade fans / rads before the pump unless your hitting the 10C difference.

Edit : Also, how many watts is your pc using? I run folding at home on the cpu and 2x 680's, then using a power meter, i'm pulling 670w at the wall at 90% efficiency thanks to a seasonic psu, so i need to get rid of 600w of heat.

I'm using 4 120mm Noctua fans that aren't in pushpull. I don't think I could fit pushpull on top without cutting out the top of the case which I'm not sure I want to do at this point. At stock my CPU idles at about 40c but under load it can hit 60 so I think I'm over the 15c delta you're talking about. When I get home I can try to calculate how much power my system is using, I don't have a power meter but I'm sure I can give a decent estimate.

honestly, I think those rads are enough for your system. how hot do they get? how are cpu and gpu temps?

To the touch I guess they get pretty warm, especially the first 360 right where the pump goes into it. To me my temps seem high, at stock I hit 60c loaded with my i7 3770K and my 690 hits like around 60-65 as well which is way better then the 85-90 it was hitting with the air cooler. But when I see people claiming they hit like 45c loaded on a 690 in other threads I kinda wonder what I'm doing wrong.