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Which setup is better

O

Oh4Sh0

2[H]4U
Joined
Mar 13, 2005
Messages
2,744
Well Currently I have two setups, and can't decide which I should put in my system.

One is innovatek.. utilizes 8mm ID/10mm OD Tubing
Has XX-Flo CPU block (and 754 adapter bracket en route)
Eheim pump(unsure model) black/blue with rear molex connector
Tank-O-Matic plugon Reservoir (large)
Innovatek Konvekt-O-Matic Passive Radiator

Pros:
Very Elegant.. Having radiator on the outside is a plus and a space saver.. also having reservoir connected directly to the pump is a plus
Cons: Performance? how well can a passively cooled radiator perform? small diameter tubing, no gpu block (i don't think innovatek makes em for radeon anyways)

Other is various parts, mainly polarflo/danger den
Polarflo TT CPU and GPU blocks - pretty much brand new, blocks are gorgeous, look better (and the cpu block is larger than the innovatek's)
heatercore with shroud and a 120mm panaflo
Danger Den Round Reservoir
Via Aqua 1300 Pump

Pros: Larger 1/2" ID tubing. Panaflo fan cooling the radiator seems to push a LOT of air through it. has GPU blocks, and the blocks look cosmetically better
Cons: Space. placing a heatercore/fan somewhere in my case will be virtually impossible. Also, having the pump inside my case, will mean i will have to buy a relay to get rid of the power cord(since it does not have a molex connector)

so i'm looking for some opinions =]
 
If youre willing to work to fit things inside (or just stick stuff outside), then go with the 2nd, better performing setup. If you want an easier setup at the cost of performance, then go with the first one.
 
Okay here I go one more time. Religion is such a boorish topic, but WTF ;)

There are essentially two schools of thought when it comes to H20 cooling. Some people believe in large tubes with high flow and most of the others believe in smaller tubes and lower flow. A very small minority, like me, believe in a nice happy medium. Everybody seems to be able to point out statistics, mathematical equations, reviews, and other errata that proves their point of view. However, when it gets down to the nitty gritty both schools of thought seem to work just as well as the OC's of the actual machines don't seem to vary much. Now what that means I don't want to get into as that is really religious in nature. ;)

So lets take the big is better (BIB) school of thought first. Here we want something like 1/2" ID tubing, the water blocks, and other stuff that will excel in that environment. For that kind of stuff you can be plain Jane or you can have a Cadillac. Depends on your $$ supply and how much you value looks along with performance. The following are some links for you to peruse:

Asetek, Danger Den, HardWare Labs, D-Tek, Little River, PolarFlo, Swiftech.

There are probably more manufacturers out there so if you think you have been slighted in some way please call your therapist. I just call them the way I see them and these are pretty much the big players in the BIB school. Please note that if you go this way you will want to stay in this group of products and can pretty much mix and match to your modding pleasure.

Now lets discuss the low flow school of thought. As I mentioned earlier this is the highly engineered stuff that uses smaller tubes, blocks, and other stuff to get to the same results as the BIB school. They really do this by carefully designing their products to use all the little tricks possible to make sure that everything works with each other in a nice cohesive manner. Some links to peruse would be:

Alphacool, Aqua Computer, Asetek, HardWare Labs, Innovatek, Koolance

As I pointed out earlier there are other manufacturers, but this is a representative sample of the major players in this school. As you have probably noticed the BIB school is primarily associated with domestic companies and the low flow school is associated with imported companies. This is something to consider in any plans you have as the exchange rates do vary and can make your desired products fluctuate in price over a given amount of time. If you go this route you can also pretty much mix and match in this group of products, but you do have to be more careful as sometimes products are developed to perform the best with their own stuff.

You probably have noticed that two companies are on both lists. This is because they both make products that are usable within either group, but not all their products so you have to be discerning in your plans.

My personal preference is for a happy medium between the two schools of thought. I tend to design rigs that utilize the best of both worlds and to do this it does get more advanced in that often you will need the services of machine shops and other specialized industries outside of the computer modding crowd. However, my suggestion is that you carefully look around and decide what you really want as both lines of products will get you to the same place. :cool: :D
 
where as I thank you for your word count, that really didn't help me decide. I'm not going to spend any more money on WC(I would say throwing money into two different setups is already overkill and more than I planned on spending) I'm currently working on the "bigger" setup, just due to the fact that I don't have the tubing or 754 bracket for the innovatek system. (couldn't find anywhere that sold the bracket by itself, so I had to pay frozencpu $30 + shipping just for the goddamn bracket) I moved my drives (dvd burner and dvd rom) down to the lowest two bays in the case and took the front bay to my audigy 2 zs platinum blah blah blah out.(wasn't really using it anyway.. might've used the remote more if i didn't have a door on my case.. It also removes an ata cable that ran from the card thru the front bay.. and if u could see the inside of my case.. u'd know that getting rid of one cable in the estatic mess is an uncomparable accomplishment :D )

This gave me 3 open bays to throw in the heatercore/shroud, & 120mm panaflo in. It didn't leave me much room... I left a little at the bottom so the fan could pull in air, and a little at the top for exiting airflow -> however the small amount of airspace is making me curious about potential performance. I "installed" this with ties (not very well and/or stable, but I love ties) so it's alright for now. the reservoir is just chilling freely in mid-air, until I'm happy with things working(given that everything does work properly in the first place!) at which point I plan to figure out a way to fasten it to the door(double sided tape or something)

The mess of cables and tubing is really starting to make me desire using the innovatek system.. that is if I don't destroy everything first ;)
 
Okay then do the first one because it will do the same job as the second set of items and look a hell of a lot nicer. :D But I think you have already decided what to do, no? Why not use a little of both systems and have one big happy family. ;)
 
Top Nurse said:
Okay then do the first one because it will do the same job as the second set of items and look a hell of a lot nicer. :D But I think you have already decided what to do, no? Why not use a little of both systems and have one big happy family. ;)
Click to expand...
because one uses 8mm ID tubing and one uses 1/2" ID tubing which is a bitch to ... umm... "cross-breed" :D Sure, it'd be nice to have two pumps and two radiators running.. but it's more shit than I need or have room for =0
 
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