External 3x3 or 2 internal 3x1 radiators (120mm fans)

[SverreMunthe]

What's the best solution? The external radiator is a Mo-Ra 3 with 2x9x120mm fans with push/pull, so it's a monster, far exceeding what is needed, but I have it. I also hav 2x360 radiators, so no extra cost either way. My question is basically: how long can the tubes to the external radiator be, and what height difference is possible? Would that make the external radiator worse? I have 2 Aquapumps (Ultima) that I have used in series in a previous build. Also, would it be better to attach the reservoir to the radiator (if I go for the external)? There's plenty of room in the cabinet (Cooler Master Cosmos C700P). The positive with having an external radiator, as I see it, is the ease of maintenance and drainage of the system (less chance of spilling).

 

[n0ns3ns3]

There is no such thing as best.
You obviously don't mind the space taken by computer components. With external radiator you can put it in other room as well.
From my point of view, a system block should be self contained if i want to move it for some reason. with external radiator it's kinda easy to pull the tubes out of the fittings.
Anyway, 2x360 rads is sufficient to cool 2 GPUs and a CPU (even all high end and overclocked).
People mounting the reservoirs to the rad mostly due to the lack of space. Anything you put on radiator adds resistance - more RPM needed to push same amount of air.
As for maintenance, having a convenient drain port and fill port removing the risk of spill. not that spill has ever killed anything in my systems. and i had a lot of them with well over a decade of doing custom loops. Soak it with paper towel, put a fan on that area for 30 mins and that's it.

 

[SverreMunthe]

As for maintenance, having a convenient drain port and fill port removing the risk of spill. not that spill has ever killed anything in my systems. and i had a lot of them with well over a decade of doing custom loops. Soak it with paper towel, put a fan on that area for 30 mins and that's it.

I use to spray the area affected with large amounts of distilled water and then blow dry with my dogs hairdryer (high air pressure and no heating).

 

[n0ns3ns3]

I mostly use distilled water as my favorite coolant

 

[SverreMunthe]

I went for the external radiator. Less chance of spilling + easy draining. Had to drill 2 holes in the backplate, for the Koolance quick-connectors, but it looks good. The damned thing with my setup is that I needed airing in front of the first pump, but with a valve it works like a charm. Probably too much resistance in the pumps for the fluid to get passed them; even opening the loop, at the top, didn't work, and the radiator outlet is higher than that point. 2.5 meters tubes makes it possible to place the radiator on top of a bench I have next to the computer table. And with this setup the fans (both internally and on the radiator) hardly has to work.

Trying to share picture, but Google Drive is being an a**h***

 

[n0ns3ns3]

try imgur XD

 

[SverreMunthe]

 

[n0ns3ns3]

Looks really nice !
Do you mind to add another one of how the loop looks inside the case ?

 

[SverreMunthe]

 

[SverreMunthe]

 

[n0ns3ns3]

Clean look and overkill - love it
As a side note, why you have not connected the GPUs in parallel ?

 

[SverreMunthe]

Clean look and overkill - love it
As a side note, why you have not connected the GPUs in parallel ?

They are. The bridge is the color-thing on the left.

 

[n0ns3ns3]

I mean in tubing.
http://assets.overclock.net.s3.amazonaws.com/b/bd/bdf8d96e_vbattach234759.png

 

[SverreMunthe]

If the first of those cards get clogged it won’t get water, that follows the path of least resistance. I did have a system with 2 completely seperate loops, once, but what a mess.

 

[n0ns3ns3]

I just use a flow meter. http://koolance.com/coolant-flow-meter-stainless-steel-with-temperature-sensor-sen-fm18t10
Very handy, if i see that flow drops, I know there is an issue.

 

[SverreMunthe]

I was told, by a technician at Aquacomputer, that you should always have a straight tube of about 20cm before it enters the flow meter.

I moved the filter (Barrows) from the in-side of the radiator (god knows what I was thinking) to the out-side.
I also added a temp sensor on the top of the radiator, so I have the room temp when the rad is moved to another room than the PC.
I control the flow and fans on the radiator after the delta temp of room-rad/water and the fans in the cabinet after the delta room-PC/cabinet. The reason I do it that way is because it's no use trying to cool anything lower than the surrounding temp.

 

[SverreMunthe]

 

[SverreMunthe]

Here's a link to the imgur-album. I have written a little info under some of the pictures.

 

[n0ns3ns3]

that's very serious approach.
for me, the flow rate is constant at ~1GPM. Increasing does not bring anything meaningful and lowering is not beneficial either.
Fan speed is dictated by the liquid temp or the SSD temp.

 

[SverreMunthe]

that's very serious approach.
for me, the flow rate is constant at ~1GPM. Increasing does not bring anything meaningful and lowering is not beneficial either.
Fan speed is dictated by the liquid temp or the SSD temp.

As I wrote, on one of the pictures in the album, the system mostly runs on stand-by, even when playing games. If it starts speeding up, it's time to find the off-button. 😉

 

[n0ns3ns3]

with my mini ITX and 31C room temp (today) during gaming i have to allow fans to go all the way up to 1400RPM 🙁

 

[SverreMunthe]

with my mini ITX and 31C room temp (today) during gaming i have to allow fans to go all the way up to 1400RPM 🙁

Not sure where you live, but here, in Norway, we seldom see temps above the high 20's. And I have air con in the "office". The room the radiator is going doesn't have air con, so it might get a bit warmer there, on sunny days.