Water Cooling Question

[gmdoubleg]

Hello all. This is my first post and I thank you for any advice or recommendations you give. My question is how much will it hurt the overall cooling performance if I add a reservoir with 1/4" holes into a loop with 1/2" tubing? I know from basic fluid dynamics that the flow rate will be impeded entering the 1/4" hole in the reservoir from a 1/2" tube but I'm not sure how much it will hurt the cooling effectiveness of the loop. My loop consists of the following parts:

Radiator: Swiftech MCR220 Res (this is a radiator/reservoir combination)
Pump: Swiftech MCP655 with speed controller
CPU Block: Swiftech Apogee GTZ
Tubing: Tygon 7/16" sqeezed onto 1/2" barbs

The order of the loop is Pump-->CPU-->Rad/Res-->Pump

The reservoir that I want to add is an Innovatek Fass-O-Matic Barrel Header Tank or an Alphacool Cape Bullseye. Both of these reservoirs are mainly for looks as I want to modify my case and install one in the front aluminum face of my pc case. My overall objective is to be able to cool a Q9450 with a medium overclock and possibly a 9800GTX (I'm doubtful of this).

PS. I have room for another 120mm rad inside the case. Would it make that much of a difference, and which radiator would you recommend? Thanks again.

 

[shabaa]

Keeping in mind the laws of hydrodynamics.... when you double the size of a given tube you do not get a simple doubling of the max flow rate but you get a fourfold increase of the maximum flow rate..... Keeping that in mind I would expect the potential flow rate to be reduced by fourfold as well. This will result in an increase in pressure at the point before the reduction in size and a reduction in pressure and flow at the point after the reduction in size.... this could stress out you pump or increase the chances of leaks.... you are best off having all of the fittings and tubing the same size to maximize the efficiency of the loop

 

[rubix_1011]

7/16 onto 1/2 is very common...you will be fine on this one. If you are wanting to add a GPU into the mix, you are going to need at least a 320 rad or similar surface area. General rule of thumb is 1.5x120mm radiator surface area per component like CPU/GPU...2x120mm surface area is even better. If you plan on OC either of these, it is highly recommended to bump to 2x120mm rad surface area per component.

 

[Conumdrum]

Hehe, those aren't 1/4" inch holes. They are threaded for G1/4 threads. You can fit any barbs with G1/4 threads you want on them.

Please do NOT buy anodized aluminum. All it takes is one barb to chip one bit of the anodizing off and the corrosion will start. No aluminum in a loop please.

What rad? Many choices! I'll post a buncha links so you can start to get a taste of what others do on more active experianced sites.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/index.php? Not a noob site, but great stickies
http://www.ocforums.com/ My fav, good peeps, know their stuff, less hardcore
http://www.skinneelabs.com/MartinsLiquidLab/ RAD TESTS
http://www.over-clock.com/ivb/index.php?showtopic=20277 A GREAT Europe site
http://www.overclock.net/water-cooling/
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.effizienzgurus.de%2Fmain%2Findex.php%3Fcontent%3Darticle%26action%3Dview_spec_article%26article_id%3D222&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 Info on rad testing
http://skinneelabs.com/
http://www.dangerden.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
http://www.petrastechshop.com/
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/

 

[gmdoubleg]

Thanks for the replies! Conumdrum, I didn't realize that G1/4 meant the thread spacing and not the diameter of the hole. That makes a huge difference since I can put 1/2" barbs onto the reservoir and there won't be a flow rate change. Also, thanks for the links. I'll be browsing those for a while. Shabaa and Rubix, thanks for the responses as well. I'll try to find a way to get a few more rads into my loop before I add on the GPU.

 

[Conumdrum]

I didn't either at first, but I moved so slow into the WC it wasn't an issue. I knew wayyy before I bought stuff or even considered it.

Feel free to join OC Forums and read there. I hang there mostly. The big thing is take your time to learn a bit. It's a bit diff to go WC and fundamental issues come crystal clear once you read and learn for a while. If the rig is fine on Air for another 30 dyas at least, Why rush it? It's a hobby. Rushing a hobby sucks. Spending $$ on the wrong stuff and waiting a week for the right stuff to arrive sucketh moreth.

I went high end air for a while and was interested in water. I joined a few forums and a few months later I knew enough to build a loop and do it with a few questions and it came out perfect. We'll set you right, your forum experiance/WC loop building depends on your need for knowledge on your own. Being spoon fed is frowned upon, and much less fun for us and the members of the forums I listed.

I'm Conumdrum on forums, seems no one else use it. Say hi on OC! After a few, if not many hours of reading. It's easy after that. Ya dunno what the last post meant? Read the next one, it's fun. No rush, big move to go water.

 

[rubix_1011]

Yes it is...omg...its a hobby more than anything and once you get comfortable, you can start working on custom or modded stuff to fit your gear. I made my own res's...they are overkill, but they get a lot of compliments.

 

[gmdoubleg]

Rubix, I agree completely. I've had a basic water cooling setup for about a year and now I've got the itch to tinker and modify everything so I have a more unique setup. By chance, do you have any pictures of your res's that I can look at?

 

[rubix_1011]

Yeah, no prob. This one is from before I flushed my coolant and went to blue.