what would happen if...

[jon_k]

What would happen if the reservoir was NOT connected directly to the suction side of the pump? I am asking becasue I am currently designing a WC setup in my case, and to keep the tubbing neat and tidy, the loop is going to be

pump->CPU->mobo->GPU->reservoir->radiator->pump

I've read that it is a cardinal rule to have the reservoir connected straight to the pump. What would happen if I break this rule?

Thanks.

 

[Arcygenical]

It shouldn't really matter unless your pump is feeding INTO the res, before all of your waterblocks... My loop goes:

Res - Rad - Pump - Block - Block - Res

 

[jon_k]

here is a drawing to illustrate exactly what the setup will look like

 

[Bbq]

That would be good.

Except I recommend you switch the fan to blow INTO the case.

 

[Arcygenical]

Agreed with Bbq 100%, on both points.

PS: Bbq, your name ALWAYS makes me hungry, and for that I will never forgive you.

 

[sprocket]

The biggest advantage having the rez feed the pump is in filling the loop initially.
Since our pumps are not self-priming they need water in the impellor chamber to do anything and that looks to be difficult (at the very least, time-consuming) with your proposed routing.

Also...your drawing looks very nice and organized but I can guarantee it's going to be much harder to actually assemble.
By the time you factor in barb length and minimum tube bend radius, connections such as that between the northbridge and vid card can be well nigh impossible to make.

Order lots of extra tubing (plan on redoing the loop at least once) and then mount the components in the case and see if your plan is physically possible.

 

[jon_k]

That would be good.

Except I recommend you switch the fan to blow INTO the case.

why would I want the heat blowing into my case?

 

[jon_k]

The biggest advantage having the rez feed the pump is in filling the loop initially.
Since our pumps are not self-priming they need water in the impellor chamber to do anything and that looks to be difficult (at the very least, time-consuming) with your proposed routing.

Also...your drawing looks very nice and organized but I can guarantee it's going to be much harder to actually assemble.
By the time you factor in barb length and minimum tube bend radius, connections such as that between the northbridge and vid card can be well nigh impossible to make.

Order lots of extra tubing (plan on redoing the loop at least once) and then mount the components in the case and see if your plan is physically possible.

yeah it's going to be a tight fit and I plan on using small bore. 1/2" tubing is absolutely out of the question.

 

[kill4killin]

When setting up a radiator and fan. Is it better to set up the Radiator on an exhaust fan or an intake fan? What are the pro's and con's of each?

 

[jon_k]

When setting up a radiator and fan. Is it better to set up the Radiator on an exhaust fan or an intake fan? What are the pro's and con's of each?

Common sense sort of dictates that you want the heat AWAY from your case, which is why I had the fan blowing air over the radiator and OUT of the case. But I'm by no means a water cooling expert, so if I am missing something please fill me in (because I see a lot of designs that violate this rule).

 

[jreffy]

why would I want the heat blowing into my case?

Either way doesn't matter, it'll still work, but consider the following;.

The ambient temperature inside your case doesn't matter so much because you're watercooling your CPU, chipset and GPU. So now think of how a radiator works. You're going to get much more effective cooling by blowing COOL air through your radiator, instead of hot air. A radiator is a heat-exchanger, but when both parts are hot, no heat is exchanged.

This was kind of the reasoning I made a custom duct in my case mod (worklog in the case-mod forum) to pull fresh air right to my radiator, instead of using the warm ambient air inside the case.

 

[kill4killin]

So it would almost be more beneficial to use a top exhaust port as an intake rather than exhaust to put the radiator on top of that hole and the fan inside it, pulling the cool air through the radiator?

 

[jreffy]

So it would almost be more beneficial to use a top exhaust port as an intake rather than exhaust to put the radiator on top of that hole and the fan inside it, pulling the cool air through the radiator?

A lot of people do exactly that.

If you have top exhaust ports though and your rad is already side-mounted, my suggestion would be to keep the radiator mounted on the side of the case. Since warm air rises, putting exhaust fans on the top of the case and pulling in air from the bottom/sides of the case would be much more natural of an air flow.

 

[kill4killin]

ok, so intake is better to mount the rad on, however, i need to also try to keep the flow of heat as natural as i can, meaning from bottom to top. So if I could mount the rad on a front lower intake fan, that would be ideal i take it with the rear and top exhaust as normal.

 

[jreffy]

ok, so intake is better to mount the rad on, however, i need to also try to keep the flow of heat as natural as i can, meaning from bottom to top. So if I could mount the rad on a front lower intake fan, that would be ideal i take it with the rear and top exhaust as normal.

I'm no thermodynamics expert by any means, I'm just taking what I do know and logically applying it. What you explained right there, provided it'll be easy to put in your case, would be perfect.

Like I said before, if you weren't watercooling your GPU and chipset, ambient air inside the case might matter. However, the only parts that aren't getting watercooled are your hard drives and optical drives...pft, no worries there. Good luck with your build!