Is this pump sufficient

[ivanski]

I originally had a Corsair Nautilus500 kit cooling cooling an FX60 back when it was the king.I eventually upgraded to a core2d and decided to water cool my 8800GTX's and air cool the cpu.I replaced the radiator with a Black Ice Xtreme and was content with load temps 15c lower from stock cooling.Here we are now 2008 and I have upgrade everything.I decided I wanted to include my new e8400 in the loop,so I took apart the Nautilus and ordered an Swiftech Radiator -MCR120 with the built in reservoir to help with the cpu.The pump that was inside the Nautilus is a Delphi with these specs:

Spherical Motor: Electronically commutated with brushless DC (direct current) design to minimize noise production and extend product life
Voltage Range: 8 to 13.2 VDC
Maximum system pressure: 22 PSI
Head pressure: 13.05 Feet (390 m/bar) @ 12 Volts
Maximum flow @ 12 Volts: 350 LPH (1.54 GPM)

Everything seems to be runnning smooth but I expected lower temps,since the Black Ice X was doing good before and the Swiftec should help with the CPU in the loop.My load temps on the GPU's rose from 70c to 75c and my cpu went from 50c Orthos"air cooling" to 56c during Crysis.

Only thing I can think of is maby the pump isnt sufficient for my setup,any advice is greatly appreciated.
Here is how I have the loop going wich by the way is exactly 5ft worth of tubing: pump> cpu> gpu> gpu> "exterior"rad> rad> pump

 

[fletch420]

I can't claim this to be the case from direct experience, but I have read quite a bit in lieu of doing so.
From what I have read the cpu/gpu loop needs to be parallel not series.....in your current config u are pushing hot cpu water right to your gpu and so on. As far as the pump....look up the specs on the good one from danger den or wherever else has them and see if it is as good or better. It will need to be considerably more pumping capacity with added loops, those small pumps conductance curves fall of quickly....so i would say look at what that perticular pump was doing with your old system and then factor in what you have added then get a pump that surpasses that value by 25%. That should insure coolness....>)
good luck

 

[phreejak]

Your pump functions at 92 GPH - not really very powerful when compared to the more modern 12v pumps like the MCP655 (1200lph or 317 gph). It does appear to have good head pressure if you stated the characteristics accurately.

BTW, is this a pump with a 3/8 ID barb?

Now, if I am understanding this correctly, you are using two rads in your loop. The problem with your setup is that you have them placed in a very disadvantageous potion. While they will still do their job of helping wiht the dissipation of heat, they are doing nothing as far as helping the two major components (cpu & gpu) heat generation from diversely affecting each other.

You can remedy alot of what you are getting as results by repositioning the rads in such a way that they benefit each major component of your computer. Right now, you are forcing the first GPU waterblock to deal with the heat from the cpu AND the GPU. Now, the second gpu has to contend with its own heat AND the heat fromt he cpu and the first gpu - a very precarious position for it.

Redo your cooling loop like this:

reservoir - pump - cpu - rad - gpu - gpu - rad - back to reservoir

In this configuration, the cpu is still recieving the benefit of being the first component AFTER the pump. The heat from it's waterblock is being dealt with by the first rad so that the coolant will be better able to carry the load fromt he consecutive gpus. Their heat, in turn, will be dealt with by the second rad (and with a little help from the reservoir) BEFORE the coolant reaches the cpu again.

 

[Granite3]

You did not specify, but we can assume you DO have a good 120mm fan on each radiator?

I also go a little farther and run a bead of silicone around the fan/rad joint to get every bit of airflo possible.

phreejack is spot on in config of the system.

Also, check the waterblock/barb joints, some barbs extend too far into the waterblock opening, constricting waterflo. I had to dremel down the barbs for my Koolance gpu blocks.

I am adding a third rad to my setup now, as the Q9450 is a little warmer than I would like.

BTW, my 2x8800 GTX's, and Q9450 are running at 50c idle/ 60c load gpu, and 36c idle/ 58c load cpu on the 2 current swifty 120's, res and swifty MCP 350 pump on 3/8" lines.

What waterblocks are you using?

 

[warezme]

Maximum flow @ 12 Volts: 350 LPH (1.54 GPM)

No sir, your pump is simply not enough. Compare this to a model like the eheim 1250 that I use, although on OC'ed quad core which moves 1250LPH on 1/2" tubing and is just enough to cool the hot chip.

An 8800GTX puts out a lot of heat, add the CPU even at stock and I believe you've reached your max thermal efficiency in the loop. You would have to increase water flow along with radiator size (dual 120mm) to optimize your loop.

optimal loop is heated water coming out the offset barb on the CPU or GPU going straight to your radiator, cooled than flowing into your high flow pump that gets pushed straight into the direct barb on the water block to the center of the CPU or GPU and the loop starts again.

 

[ivanski]

Ok well I order the Swiftech MCP355,I hope it does the trick.I gathered alot of info on the best configuration with loops and the majority state the order of components is not important as much as the pump and rads you use.
If one of my rads was able to keep my SLI 8800gtx at bay.Then adding another rad should compensate for the cpu "low voltage E8400" that never reached above 50 on air.I got an Antec900 so my cooling is good,the tubing is 3/8id and there are 2 fans on the interior rad doing push/pull and 1 fan on the exterior rad pushing.I hope the pump is all I was missing,thanks for the replies,

 

[phreejak]

The MCP355 is an excellent pump. Some would say that it is one of the best 12v pumps out there. I think that, if anyone chose either the MCP655 or MCP355 they couldn't go wrong. Statistically speaking, it does beat the MCP655. However, out of the box, it was designed for 3/8 ID loops (although, you can purchase some particular parts to convert it to 1/2 ID). Another thing is that it does have a somewhat perceptible noise level. Other than that, it is an excellent pump.

Split that rad setup like I mentioned to take maximize your cooling loop.