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Watercoolers: Opinions Needed - Split Loop

A

Arcygenical

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Jun 10, 2005
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Well, I've decided I need to watercool my NB and my MOSFET assembly on my p5b deluxe motherboard... I just don't like the fan setup I've got right now, and I can eliminate another source of noise in my case by watercooling the motherboard.

I do, however, have a small case, without enough room for a full second loop (mainly a radiator and pump just won't fit anywhere internally) so I need to split my current loop into two portions: A highflow loop for the CPU+Radiators+GPU and a low flow loop for the NB and the SB.

Here's a picture of my current setup.

Flow.jpg


Water travels from the light blue (pump) into the CPU block, then to the GPU block (purple) then to the main triple radiator (red)... it then travels down the radiator (it's a single pass radiator) along the side of the case behind the drive cage, and using some elbows, into the second radiator in the bottom left corner.

I'll be splitting the tubing in two places... First, where the darker blue meets the larger green line, which will allow water to flow to the NB and MOSFET blocks, then back through the case floor, to connect with the light blue line at the very bottom...

This second loop will be using very restrictive components (6mm tubing and fittings, mainly) to force more water through the main loop. My question is as follows:

Since both the split points are BEFORE the pump, do you think this will work out for me. I seriously think it will, but I'm not entirely sure, and don't want to drop a few hundred dollars to find out it doesn't.

Cheers!
 
You are not actually splitting into two loops, but diverting flow using the same pump to restrictive blocks and smaller tubing? Thats going to put a mighty strain on your D5. The pump may not be up to the task of the additional restriction since technically its in the same loop if I read your setup summary correct.
 
MrE said:
You are not actually splitting into two loops, but diverting flow using the same pump to restrictive blocks and smaller tubing? Thats going to put a mighty strain on your D5. The pump may not be up to the task of the additional restriction since technically its in the same loop if I read your setup summary correct.
Click to expand...

Correct, it's just the same loop, split off for a tiny bit of parallel flow.

I run my D5 at "1" right now... and moving it up to "5" doesn't change my temps one bit... So, I think I've got a bunch of flow headroom to go.

I'm just worried about water actually, yknow, moving into the second part... I'll put a ball valve in to prevent it from killing all the flow to my other parts.
 
I'm just worried about water actually, yknow, moving into the second part... I'll put a ball valve in to prevent it from killing all the flow to my other parts.

Good idea, the water just like electricty will flow to the path of less resistance and adding the split will NOT increase the backpressure the pump will see by any significant amount, after all it could not be worse than just having the main loop. You are providing another path for the water to flow and it will reduce the load on the pump even if the flow to the split off section is restricted (back again to the water will just mostly take the primary path and the restricted secondary path is still just another path to move water that was not there before)
 
Yeah, I'm fairly sure this will work, but I've got a few irreversable mods required to get this all setup... So, yeah, I didn't want to take any chances.

Cheers guys, I'll post pics and such when I get this done!
 
Actually, using a check valve requires positive pressure in order to move the valve. Water will travel the least path of resistance, and, if said path is restrictive you may not get the positive pressure without taking a flow rate hit. This is how it works on swimming pool plumbing, and I'm sure it matches up with a WC setup.

I just finished up a setup where I placed a check valve in line with a solar panel kit. The pump and main plumbing uses 1 1/2" PVC and the tap for splitting pressure for the solar panel used smaller 3/4" inlets. I found that simply tapping it and adding a check valve never circulated enough pressure through the panels because the restriction was too great. Therefore the main piping moved flow back into the pool while the solar setup got minimal water pushed through, and this was using a 2HP pump. Talk about a high pressure pump. :)

As far as setting the Vario from 1-5, the reason you aren't seeing a difference is your Rad isn't heat loaded, meaning its more than adequate in handling your current heat load without the need of extra flow. That said, the worst that can happen is your idle and load temps rise up. This is all speculation on my part, so take it for what it is... educated guesswork. ;)
 
Check and Ball valves are totally different devices... I won't be placing a check valve anywhere in my loop, as I really don't care about backpressure or anything of the sort. I'll just place a ball valve in series with the second "split" to increase this second loop's total resistance (as required), if it receives too much flow (and my main loop idle/load temps suffer too much).
 
I know this is not helpful or on topic with the OP but I was just curious; did you paint the inside of your case black or did it come like that? If that is a Lian-Li pc-v1000b like I think it is I haven't seen any that were offered with a black interior. Just curious because I have been looking at that type of case and would very much like one with a black interior.
 
Sic said:
I know this is not helpful or on topic with the OP but I was just curious; did you paint the inside of your case black or did it come like that? If that is a Lian-Li pc-v1000b like I think it is I haven't seen any that were offered with a black interior. Just curious because I have been looking at that type of case and would very much like one with a black interior.
Click to expand...

Painted it myself. I've painted about 10 of them now, for myself and clients.

A joy to work with... These cases are incredible :)
 
It won't really work unless you balance the flow equally between the two parts. Remember that water take the path of least resistance so the main loop will surely work fine but the smaller loop will be stagnant.

 
Xilikon said:
It won't really work unless you balance the flow equally between the two parts. Remember that water take the path of least resistance so the main loop will surely work fine but the smaller loop will be stagnant.

Click to expand...

Well, that's the popular thought of the day... But I've seen quite a few examples of split loops, using a manifold, passing water through different components, and still getting fairly good temperatures.

Like, that one with the large 6 port copper manifold with the shutoff valves... I saw it around here awhile back.

Eh, I've got like, 4 Dtek DB-1 pumps kicking around, which I'll throw in series with the second loop provided this doesn't work out without them... And just have it feed into the main loop, in parallel with the MCP655. I just don't have room for another freaking radiator.
 
The main problem I see which I'm supprised nobody has mentioned is the piece you're bypassing is your radiator. Your new loop will be taking hot water from your CPU/GPU and piping it (still hot) thru your NB and MOSFETs, and then (even hotter now) into the suction of your pump. Yeah it will be mixing with cooled water from the radiator but the rad can only make the outlet water so cool. If your radiator is working close to or above max heat capacity as is, this would actually be less of an issue than if you were running well below max heat capacity.

Assuming your radiator has capacity to spare, your setup would probably result in a very noticable rise in temperatures for the CPU, GPU, and not give the desired cooling for your new components.

Also the radiator isn't very restrictive at all so having the restricted secondary loop would probably get little to no flow. Since there is SOME restriction in the radiator, you'd still get a small amount of flow, even going for low flow with the imposed flow restrictions inherent in water blocks you would probably need 3/8" tubing or better to get enough flow, I think 1/4" would probably be too small to provide adequate cooling to the 2 new components.

NB/MOSFET heat load is constant so that part will have the same amount of temp impact regardless of where in the loop it is, rad bypass or not. Your main problem will be CPU/GPU heat bypass, and I have a feeling that to get enough cooling to the new parts the bypass flow will have to be sufficient to have the above mentioned impact on your system.

Your best bet would be to bypass around CPU/GPU and increase pump speed to make up for any lost flow there.
 
-Dragon- said:
The main problem I see which I'm supprised nobody has mentioned is the piece you're bypassing is your radiator. Your new loop will be taking hot water from your CPU/GPU and piping it (still hot) thru your NB and MOSFETs, and then (even hotter now) into the suction of your pump. Yeah it will be mixing with cooled water from the radiator but the rad can only make the outlet water so cool. If your radiator is working close to or above max heat capacity as is, this would actually be less of an issue than if you were running well below max heat capacity.

Assuming your radiator has capacity to spare, your setup would probably result in a very noticable rise in temperatures for the CPU, GPU, and not give the desired cooling for your new components.
Click to expand...

he has a point, if any thing take it and make it flow, cpu>gpu>120.3> southbridge> northbridge> mosfets> pump> 120.1 this way your 120.3 can take care of the high heat load equipment, and your 120.1 can take care of the low load equipment.

i really dont recommend trying to split a loop in 2, either its 2 seperate (1 more pump ect) or one big loop. water -will- take the path of least resistance, while the split may see some flow, in my oppinion it is to risky. if the part of your loop that is cooling your mosfets and northbridge stalls... bad news
 
What is interesting about this proposal is that it can bring the extra components into the loop without adding resistance to the loop, thereby saving need for extra pumping power. You may be onto something there Arcygencial, in terms of how to bring small heat loads into a loop without need to compromise flow rates through more major loads like CPU and GPU as would happen with a series solution. Clever.
 
If you can add a second small pump, but not a radiator, I would T the line between your 120x1 and the pump as your source. You get the coldest water in the system from there, then run through the secondary pump and your NB and mosfets, then dump back into the line between the 2 radiators.

Its a similar layout to what you started with but you are forcing more flow through your 120x1 with a pump rather than bypassing some of the water around it.
 
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