Water Cooling Configuration ? Best Way ?

[WilliamSoh]

Hi , I need advice for my water cooling routes for this specs

Specs :

CPU : Intel Core i7 4930K @ 3.4GHZ OC @ 4.4GHZ
Ram : 32 GB G.Skills 2133MHZ DDR3
GPU : Gigabyte GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming 8GB GDDR5
Case : Phantek Enthoo Evolve ATX Tempered Glass

Water Cooling Set :

1x 360mm Radiator ( Top )
1x 240mm Radiator ( Front )
1x Bykski GTX 1080 Water Block
1x EK LGA 2011 CPU Block
2x Water Cooling Pump

routes that im thinking :

1. Pump => GPU Block => 360mm Radiator => CPU => 240mm Radiator => Back To Pump
2. Pump => GPU Block => CPU => 360mm Radiator => 240mm Radiator => Back to Pump .

Please advice on which is the best routes for lower temps and good looking in a tempered glass case .

 

[n0ns3ns3]

why 2 pumps for such a small loop ?
you rout should be the shortest. guess your pump has integrated res, so start from the pump, get to whatever component is closest and keep going.
there is no difference for cooling in loop order. you should minimize bends and turns as well as avoid going up and down.

 

[iS_tech_geek]

I have a similar setup (minus the 2nd pump). I go Res -> Pump -> GPU -> CPU -> Top 360mm -> Front 240mm -> Res

I have my 7700K OC'd to 4.9GHz and I barely break 55C during a stress and barely hit 45C on the GPU. Mind you; I'm using all EKWB (except for my ACool Pump) and an MSI SeaHawk GTX1080.

 

[Tech_TTT]

why 2 pumps for such a small loop ?
you rout should be the shortest. guess your pump has integrated res, so start from the pump, get to whatever component is closest and keep going.
there is no difference for cooling in loop order. you should minimize bends and turns as well as avoid going up and down.

Why shortest? isnt more water = better cooling capacity ?

 

[iS_tech_geek]

why 2 pumps for such a small loop ?
you rout should be the shortest. guess your pump has integrated res, so start from the pump, get to whatever component is closest and keep going.
there is no difference for cooling in loop order. you should minimize bends and turns as well as avoid going up and down.

Why shortest? isnt more water = better cooling capacity ?

Not always... The quicker the water passes through the rads; the better.

 

[Tech_TTT]

why 2 pumps for such a small loop ?
you rout should be the shortest. guess your pump has integrated res, so start from the pump, get to whatever component is closest and keep going.
there is no difference for cooling in loop order. you should minimize bends and turns as well as avoid going up and down.

Why shortest? isnt more water = better cooling capacity ?

Not always... The quicker the water passes through the rads; the better.

So two separate loops for GPU and CPU is better ? or one loop ?

 

[n0ns3ns3]

amount of liquid within the loop does not affect cooling performance. radiator surface, fans, liquid flow does.
same or separate loops is also not important as long as your pump can push the liquid fast enough through the loop. Single loop is generally much more compact and performs better due to the fact that it's rare IRL scenarios to see 100% CPU and 100% GPU load at the same time.

 

[Tech_TTT]

amount of liquid within the loop does not affect cooling performance. radiator surface, fans, liquid flow does.
same or separate loops is also not important as long as your pump can push the liquid fast enough through the loop. Single loop is generally much more compact and performs better due to the fact that it's rare IRL scenarios to see 100% CPU and 100% GPU load at the same time.

One more thing , CPU is around 120 watts Oced , while the GPU alone is 250 watts , that is more than double the heat generated , isnt it better not to add extra heat to the CPU in one loop ? this is my main concern , the CPU is half the TDP of the GPU .

 

[rubix_1011]

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/277130-29-read-first-watercooling-sticky

 

[n0ns3ns3]

not important as long as you have enough radiator surface area.
For example, an average (copper) 240 rad will dissipate around 200 watt at delta 10 (coolant is 10C above air) at sane noise.
So practically, you system will be running cooler and quieter with 2x240 rads in the same loop than with 2 loops each with 240 rad.

 

[iS_tech_geek]

amount of liquid within the loop does not affect cooling performance. radiator surface, fans, liquid flow does.
same or separate loops is also not important as long as your pump can push the liquid fast enough through the loop. Single loop is generally much more compact and performs better due to the fact that it's rare IRL scenarios to see 100% CPU and 100% GPU load at the same time.

Exactly. I bought a higher flow pump due to the fact that I wanted to make a more 'compact' loop (granted its quite large, I have a W200 case). To be honest; my temps are lower now than they were when I used all XSPC (Photon D5/Res combo) in my old CaseLabs Magnum M8. That setup was Res/Pump -> GPU -> 360mm -> CPU -> 240mm -> Res/Pump. Not to mention that that was an un-OC'd build, too.

 

[n0ns3ns3]

D5 is a beast regardless of the label put on it.
I'm not sure why your temps went lower, it can be anything from rads (i see you changed at least one) through the case (air flow restrictions) to the fans.
BTW, I have no idea what are those LX rads you mentioned in your signature.

 

[rubix_1011]

A D5 is a D5 is a D5. The only real differences are whether they are Vario or fixed speed. Replacing the stock top with another can help some in flow and head, but not tremendous difference.

It could be that you had a lot of air left in the loop previously, or you had an issue with restriction that is now resolved.

 

[iS_tech_geek]

D5 is a beast regardless of the label put on it.
I'm not sure why your temps went lower, it can be anything from rads (i see you changed at least one) through the case (air flow restrictions) to the fans.
BTW, I have no idea what are those LX rads you mentioned in your signature.

I'm an idiot; my bad. It's meant to say 'XE' - sorry. Changing that now...

I'm using the EKWB Vardar (1200RPM) fans right now... I know those are much better than the stock fans I got with my XSPC stuff...

 

[rubix_1011]

Vardar fans are pretty awesome...I was impressed with them when I was doing my EK Predator testing.

 

[Tech_TTT]

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/277130-29-read-first-watercooling-sticky

Thanks !!!!

one more thing, I am researching water cooling using Aquarium coolers . can you look into it ? they will eliminate the need to add any Radiators or fans while giving very low water temps in the loop no radiator can match that , but I need professional opinion.. can you add it to your sticky please and test it ?

 

[rubix_1011]

I'm not sure what you are asking - are you wanting water chillers to be tested?

 

[Tech_TTT]

I'm not sure what you are asking - are you wanting water chillers to be tested?

yes .. Aquarium water chillers . instead of using Radiators .


http://www.aquacave.com/aquarium-chillers.html

 

[iS_tech_geek]

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/277130-29-read-first-watercooling-sticky

That is probably the best watercooling guide that I have ever read! Good on you.

 

[rubix_1011]

Those are pretty expensive, I'm not just going to purchase one to test for the forum. Sorry, but that's out of my price range for simply running a few load tests.

 

[iS_tech_geek]

Those are pretty expensive, I'm not just going to purchase one to test for the forum. Sorry, but that's out of my price range for simply running a few load tests.

My brother-in-law has many aquariums and I believe he has a water chiller or two. I'll talk to him tonight and see if I can use one to test said theory.

 

[rubix_1011]

It should be plausible, depending on how many watts the unit is rated for chilling. PC's are continuously generating 100's of watts of thermal energy while I doubt the same can be said for an aquarium unless it is on a large scale. (Although, I could be wrong as I don't know much about aquarium thermal regulation)

This might be the biggest issue - constant thermal load on a higher scale than the chiller might be rated to handle. Although, given they are designed to maintain temps in 60+ gallon tanks, perhaps they would do well for a much smaller 'reservoir' of water. It is a compelling discussion as it would be interesting to test and see.

 

[iS_tech_geek]

It should be plausible, depending on how many watts the unit is rated for chilling. PC's are continuously generating 100's of watts of thermal energy while I doubt the same can be said for an aquarium unless it is on a large scale. (Although, I could be wrong as I don't know much about aquarium thermal regulation)

This might be the biggest issue - constant thermal load on a higher scale than the chiller might be rated to handle. Although, given they are designed to maintain temps in 60+ gallon tanks, perhaps they would do well for a much smaller 'reservoir' of water. It is a compelling discussion as it would be interesting to test and see.

That's just it - His aquarium chillers are designed for saltwater use to begin with. To be quite frank; aquariums don't really need much in the ways of chilling until the summer hits (Northeast Connecticut here); and even then it's not all that bad.

Like you said; it's comparing apples to oranges. I know they make LCS Chillers, though... This is basically an aquarium chiller... but with a 790w cooling. http://www.performance-pcs.com/water-chillers/hot-hailea-hc-500a-110v-1-2hp-790watt-cooling-capacity-waterchiller.html

 

[Tech_TTT]

It should be plausible, depending on how many watts the unit is rated for chilling. PC's are continuously generating 100's of watts of thermal energy while I doubt the same can be said for an aquarium unless it is on a large scale. (Although, I could be wrong as I don't know much about aquarium thermal regulation)

This might be the biggest issue - constant thermal load on a higher scale than the chiller might be rated to handle. Although, given they are designed to maintain temps in 60+ gallon tanks, perhaps they would do well for a much smaller 'reservoir' of water. It is a compelling discussion as it would be interesting to test and see.

well test it !!! you have the resources at Toms hardware , try to look for the most silent one , and I think you can keep the Delta = 0 with water chillers all the time (room temps=loop temps) ... they are not only designed to cool 60-300 Gallons of water , they are designed to keep the aquarium cold 24/7 or some fish will die.

 

[rubix_1011]

As a moderator, I am only a volunteer - we are not staff. We're just normal users like yourself that have been part of the forum for quite some time and asked by staff to act as moderators in our spare time. So, unfortunately we do not have a budget that is associated to the site or forum itself.