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Single rad enough for 4870X2?

A

amoeba1126

Gawd
Joined
Aug 5, 2006
Messages
775
Here is a stupid question from me to my colleagues...I have 2 radiators for my new rig (a GTX 360 and a Swiftech 120-QP) and plan on getting a Q9450 and a 4870X2. I have 2 DCC 3.2 with XSPC acrylic tops and was wondering if the Swiftech 120 will be able to cool the 4870X2 in it's own loop or will it overload the rad and I will have to put it with the GTX 360 in a big loop?
 
I don't know the TDP of the 4870X2, but if the 4870 is any indication, I think you should just put both rads in series, and include the card in the main loop...
 
I agree 100% and go further and recommend you put the second pump in a drawer to save as a backup.

If you are determined to run 2 loops, sure it would be plenty, but you might not like the noise the fan would make to get temps that make you happy. But based on my single 4870 experience any kind of cooling is better than stock (well at least it dumps the heat outside of the case). Rad cooling is dependent on a few parameters, fin area of the rad, difference in the temp of the air over the fins vs the temp of the fluid running through the rad (so cool air and hot coolant helps the rad work better) and the amount of air flowing over the fins. With that 120 you cant make the fin area larger ( unless you buy a bigger rad), you cant change the room air temp (unless you put in a dedicated air conditioner), the only thing that is easily changed is the amount of air over the fins so your 120 rad performance temp wise with regard to GPU temp is going to mainly be determined by the CFM of the fan used.

There is a water block for the X2 ????? Got a link ?
 
I run 2 4870s in crossfire on a QP320 and can basically turn the fans off without affecting temps. But i somehow doubt a single 120 will be enough.

As for waterblocks, the maze5 keeps mine around 31 and 37 idle, and 41, 45 load.
 
BillParrish said:
There is a water block for the X2 ????? Got a link ?
Click to expand...

None yet... You can bet that EK's are in the works (but won't be released until about a month after the official release date of the X2's) and the Koolance blocks will probably be out half a month or so after the X2's, along with the Swiftech's and possibly a Dtek Unisink.
 
Basically my question was this Bill:
Is the thermal load dumped by the 4870X2 greater than what a Swiftech MCR-120-QP can handle in an individual loop or should I bring it into the main loop and just have a multiblock multi rad loop with 2 pumps to increase head and turbulence?

As far as how the X2 looks, it is very similar to the 3870X2 design where it is a single PCB with 2 R770 cores on it and a bridge chip in between. Since it also has RAM on the back, I would imagine when a full cover block is created for it it will cover both sides.
 
Is the thermal load dumped by the 4870X2 greater than what a Swiftech MCR-120-QP can handle
Click to expand...

I would be willing to say yes. The 4870X2 will easily saturate the MCR120.

Don't worry about two pumps... Just use one of them, it's easily enough for the 4870X2 block, two radiators, a CPU block, and probably a couple elbows in there too ;)
 
Now the hard decision then....which pump should I use... a modded DDC3.2 or a D5..... :eek:
 
Depends on the block you end up with for the 4870x2. If its a full cover "top" vs a GPU block (and I suspect it will), I'd go with the D5. full cover tops tend to be a lot more restrictive, but without seeing a mock up its all speculation.
 
amoeba1126 said:
Basically my question was this Bill:
Is the thermal load dumped by the 4870X2 greater than what a Swiftech MCR-120-QP can handle in an individual loop or should I bring it into the main loop and just have a multiblock multi rad loop with 2 pumps to increase head and turbulence?

As far as how the X2 looks, it is very similar to the 3870X2 design where it is a single PCB with 2 R770 cores on it and a bridge chip in between. Since it also has RAM on the back, I would imagine when a full cover block is created for it it will cover both sides.
Click to expand...

A lot depends on the defination of "handle". Technically no, a single 120 rad will not melt or fail to perform and can easily do better than the stock cooling and provide lower gpu temps at lower noise. NOTE: the stock fan on a 4870 at 70% speed is extreamly loud, too loud, so when I say a single 120 rad can cool better than the stock it is also assuming a fan that would be considered loud say 50dba. Thats actually a lot quieter than the stock air cooling running at 70% stock fan speed and would keep the gpu as cool or cooler but still significant fan noise.

Here are the specs for your 120 rad.
http://www.swiftech.com/products/MCR120-qp.asp

What you want to look at is heat dissipation vs flow rate chart which says if you have about a 2GPM flow rate (middle of chart) and run a single 120mm 81CFM fan (upper dark blue line on chart) you can expect the rad to dump 180W of heat. Notice the curve starts to flatten out some as it goes off to the right indication that increases in flow rate have little effect on heat dissapation. Notice that each "family" (color) of curve represents a fan speed with yellow, the lowest heat dissipation being a 33.8 CFM fan, the magenta/pink being a 47.4 CFM fan and the dark blue the 81.3 CFM fan which illistrates my earlier point that is it all about the airflow over the fins.

So if you stuck a WFB1212HH, 0.68 amp, 2800 rpm @ 95 cfm Delta fan on that rad it would do a fine job and dump 200W easily but it would be very loud.

That takes me back to put it all in one loop and use one pump whichever is the more powerful. Get a 5 gallon pail and a gallon milk jug and see what they do for time to pump a gallon of water. (specs may be online but I dont feel like loking them up :p)
 
Honestly if you are dead set on having two loops, put the cpu on the mcr120. Your temps will not be amazing but they should be equal to top end air cooling. I mean its going to dissipate what 90-130 watts depending on how far you overclock it.

But I would place them all in one loop. If you wish you could run both pumps, but one should be more than enough.

Remember to run your gtx 360 with medium speed or higher fans. 1700 rpm + At that point it really starts to shine.
 
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