Experimental radiator \build log!!!

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toolmaker_03

toolmaker_03

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Mar 26, 2012
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well here are the radiators, my problem is the configuration of them, simply too many possibilities, so if you could find the time to give your opinions, I would really appreciate it.
I also need advice on a type of shroud for the radiators, the purpose is to inshore good air flow through the radiator.
and lastly how to attach the fans to the radiators?



all advice is welcome and thank you

 
Solution
rubix_1011
I don't use a flow meter, never have, never will.

Having a picture of a flow meter does nothing to support a finding, especially when you cannot be 100% conclusive that it is reading correctly or you are accurately converting what is being reported. Does the flow meter registering on the pump without restriction show a flow rate that is close to the rated flow of the pump with your conversion?

If so, great, but if so, you're still running lower than 1.0 gpm on your loop, meaning your delta-T MUST be offset to calculate your cooling potential. Meaning - you have to over-rad to accomplish the same cooling ability that you could achieve with a higher flow. Adding cost of 3x 360 radiators ($60, example) starts to get expensive...
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Well I could try adding thicker or larger radiators with the added fans, but I was planning on doing that with the next build anyway. For now I will finish up with these upgrades and get back to work on the TEC module upgrade for this rig. Still working on getting it small enough to fit inside of one hollowed out case. Maybe by next year I will have something to show for all my hard work.

 
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Thicker Radiators is always better :)
And very nice, a TEC build, can't wait to see it!
 
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Well I have been reading a lot about UHD gaming and from what I am seeing the hardware is not quite there yet, maybe when the Titan ultra comes out a pair of them might be able to handle the job. If the video cards right now can only get 30 to 60 FPS in SLI, imagine how slow they will be in two years trying to play games at that level. We need more memory on the cards to handle all of the extra graphics detail. I do not think that the cards themselves are slow, only that they are limited by the amount of memory available to them, maybe they will figure out a way to better utilize the memory the cards today do have.
 
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No it's looking like 4Gig’s in SLI is the entry level for 4K gaming, not the most you will need but the minimum that one would need to start this adventure. I have been looking at the ZR30 monitors for some time, and yes I was planning on doing a 3-way setup with them, but now there is no reason to do this, with the release of 4K monitors the cost is about the same, and I can get great graphics on one monitor, that is a plus in my book. The issue is that the hardware on the market does not seem to be really able to handle this upgrade, I have been playing games at 2048 X 1536 for ten years now and when I first bought this monitor only about half the games out on the market even had the ability to play them at that resolution. The standard max resolution at that time was 1600X 1200 but today all the games can go that high, even higher, and I would like to experience a 4K level of graphic detail, but I need hardware that is designed to handle it.
 
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Ok so this loop is taking a lot longer than I expected it to because I decided to do some modifications to the case, and some more upgrades to the last loop. The transition to the TEC module will be more easy for me if I get this done now. There will be a total of three loops after the TEC install too, just not as configured currently. The only loop that will stay somewhat the same as it is now, will be this last loop, so I might as well do it right.
 
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As you have probable guessed by now I have been hashing out a few different configurations for my rig and after looking at all the data and results from previous builds I have finally decided on the upgrade/configuration of this build.
Ok so right now I have two main loops one for the CPU and the other for the GPU’s I am going to parallel all three of the components together creating one loop for them. That loop will travel to a single reservoir and to a single pump then out to a 3-way paralleled radiator setup.
So as a result of this new configuration I remove one pump and reservoir from the system and I will get even better temps, I hope! Well we will see one way or the other. :lol:
 
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Ok so I will also take this one step forward, and try to get all of my hardware onto one loop. To do that I will be paralleling the memory blocks with the SSD blocks, in serial with the CPU and GPU’s that are paralleled together, in serial with the reservoir and pump, with will go to the three radiators that are paralleled together.
Wow that is a lot of hardware and I think that one pump can handle all of it.

 
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Ok, so I have a little OCD, and I seem to never be satisfied, but in reality I like to tinker and tweak on projects. Take this rig for example, it has been through several refits because I wanted to make it better, and I knew I could do it but, it was a matter of getting the configuration right. I know that sounds like Scotty from Star Track, but really, that is what this is about, getting it all to work right, with as little hardware as possible, but enough to be a good performer.
Sounds easy right, and in some ways it is, it only takes time to setup test loops, see how the hardware functions alone and with each other, then apply that knowledge to the build. Well that is how I try to do it anyway, it might seem a little extreme to some, but it helps me knowing that I did all I could to understand it, tells me that I am getting the most out of that I can. So when I finish this loop reconfiguration I will have pics of the build and temps. I will also try to explain how it works and why but I am not too good at that kind of stuff but I fell that I am getting better at it.
 
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OK, so I bought some extensions to go on my radiators so that I can add shrouds and fans to the other side later without having to take that loop back apart to do so. I also have the fittings to make a 3-way parallel connection between them. This is becoming a lot of fun for me, and I hope that I am helping someone out there fix there rig with all of this information that I have been spouting off for some time now.
Why the three way configuration on the radiators, that answer is simple to reduce the restriction of the water flow through them with a 3-way parallel setup the restriction through the radiators is almost nothing I loose 500RPM’s with this setup whereas before with two radiators I was loosing 1700RPM’s of the top of my total flow rate possible with is 8000RPM’s max for this pump.
The more you connect to a loop regardless of the configuration there will be loss of flow period. My objective is to keep that flow as high as possible while still keeping a solid amount of pressure in the system. This new setup should achieve that and if not I will try again, but I have done my homework on this already so do not be surprised when it works the way I want it to.
 
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Ok so I was posting and A gentleman had made the statement that water cooling is simply not needed and if you are replacing your system every two or three years like a normal consumer and buying an off the shelf system the cost is low enough to justify that. This is what I believe to be the main reason for the surge in smart phones and tablets a small computer that gets replaced every couple of years for most consumers this is adequate for their day to day computer usage. I am not the average computer owner I am a system builder, and with that said this stuff costs a lot to build, and I do not want to be changing it out every couple of years. So I water cool my components to prolong their life. What does that really mean to me, it means that as the hardware gets older, and it less able to handle the newer software, I overclock the system hardware to give the system that extra boost of performance needed to work right and play the newer games. At some point though the overclocks can’t go any higher, and the system starts to fall behind, it is no longer able to keep up with the new software demands on the system. This is when I replace the hardware, and hopefully that won’t be for another 4 to 8 years from now. Looking back the price is about the same without the water cooling added into the build cost, but in return I get to play games at a higher resolution with all the great detail that the designers intended.

Now I have to start looking at what hardware is needed for the building of a 4K system, to handle the new standards in high resolution gaming. I do not believe that the hardware is at a point yet that I will buy it, but maybe in a couple of years it will be, we shall see.
 
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For 4k, dual R9 290x will fit your need, the memory bandwidth is what pulls them ahead of the rest at 4k. As for tri-monitor, which is probably what you're looking for 😀 you'd want to wait for something twice as strong unless you can live with ~25fps on quad-xfire tri-4k. :) (But I guess you can really OC the cards and lower some detail for the 40-60fps threshold many people look for :) )
 
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Well I would kind of like to get it all, both quality and performance. That is why I will wait to see what happens over the next two years. We may start seeing 6gig video cards as the norm, remember it was not that long ago that the gigzilla was on the market and that was only a hundred gig’s of storage capacity.
 
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My son was wondering what was taking so long for me to complete this build. So I had him build a loop of his own with whatever parts he would like to have on his own loop. The final build cost after he was done playing around was $2500 for water cooling only. The hardware for the build itself was $3000, he stopped wondering what was taking so long. He said that I can’t afford all of that at one time; I had to agree with him. Now he is wondering how long it will take for his new rig to be built. I told him that when I can build a 4K system for myself, that I would give him my computer hardware that I have now. At first he was a little disappointed, but I explained that he would not have to pay for the computer hardware that way, and his only cost would be the water cooling for the build. He agreed that this would be acceptable because he can’t afford all of that hardware either. In fact it will take him two years to afford the water cooling hardware alone, if he makes all A’s in school for the next two years. I told him that he now has something to work toward.
 
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