Watercooling... I know the parts, now the setup

[Fendulon]

I plan to build at the end this summer with money I'm getting for college (free tuition ) and I have all the parts planned and as for the watercooling part I am going to get

http://www.petrastechshop.com/swapgtzcpuwa1.html for my CPU block

http://www.petrastechshop.com/swmcnowa.html for my Chipset block

http://www.petrastechshop.com/swkofuwaforn.html for my GPU block

http://www.petrastechshop.com/swmcqposerab4.html for my Radiator

http://www.petrastechshop.com/swmcin12pu.html for my Pump

All with 1/2" inner diameter tubing.

Now my question in all of this is how exactly should I set all of this up? Should i go just one straight shot through it all? just rad-pump-chipset-gpu-cpu-rad or shoud I perhaps Y off and go to just the GPU on one side and then to the CPU and then chipset and Y back together and to the radiator? I have never actually done watercooling but I've looked around a lot and built a crap ton of PCs, just never done water cooling. So I'm looking for suggestions before I spend about.... 400$ on a water cooling setup haha. Thanks in advance.

Edit: This will be in an Antec 900 and I will be using the Radbox (http://www.petrastechshop.com/swmcrre2raho.html) to mount it on the back of my case. The pump will be on the inside infront of the power supply, I've got really good cable management so this won't be a problem.

 

[wuzy]

If you haven't ordered the parts yet. You do not need a chipset block, aircooling it will be more than enough, with a small fan on top or just case airflow. A chipset block will only hinder your loop's performance with more flow restriction.
And consider going with Dtek FuZion gfx v2 + Unisink if you want better performance for little less cost than a full-cover block (which is not re-usable).


You just need resv. outlet->pump inlet. Everything else can go in whatever order you like, they will not affect performance. Go for a loop with least tight bends and tubing, the less/simpler the better. Mounting the resv. in a high-ish position will help bleed air more easily though.

 

[Shadow703793]

CPU block... good
D5 pump .... good
NB block.... drop. Complete waste of money unless going for extreme OC.
GPU block..... +1 for the FuZion wuzy listed.

Also what kind of tubing? Tygon,etc.

Also wuzy, shouldn't it go res>pump>CPU>GPU as GPU has a higher heat optput and thus should be closer to the rad?

 

[wuzy]

The thing is water has a pretty high specific heat capacity. What that means is water can absorb a lot of heat (in watts) without causing much temperature rise. The inlet and outlet temperature difference from a waterblock if measured will give usually ~4C max. for a heavily OC'd quad.

From a theoretically POV for maximum cooling performance, the outlet from your radiator will have the lowest water temperature in the loop. You can direct that to the CPU waterblock to give it 1st priority in cooling for example.
e.g. my current loop: resv.->pump->3x120 rad->CPU->2x120 rad->GPU->resv.
But if using such loop causes complicated tube routing inside the case (luckily mine didn't) then it would be better to just use simplistic design as performance difference is negligible.

 

[Shadow703793]

^Thanks. That makes sense.

 

[rubix_1011]

Good point, typically, you aren't going to see a substantial difference in temps anywhere within the loop due to the constant nature of the coolant/water being continuously circulated. You might be able to measure a difference from one point to another within the loop within 5-6C at most...as long as you have the ability to expend the heat watts being generated.

I'm not a thermodynamics engineer, but isn't there a curve for heat in liquids that rises more per 'hot' point the warmer the liquid gets? For instance, once you get to a certain threshold, isn't it easier to raise the temperature by using the same amount of heat output than to lower the heat being carried by the coolant?

 

[Conumdrum]

Most loops have a Delta between the coolest and hottest water of less than 2C. More like 1-1.5C. So it really doesn't matter where the blocks are placed in relation to the rads. If routing allows for CPU first after rad, great. No big deal tho.

 

[Fendulon]

Thank you all for this info. I have also posted this at extreme overclocking. http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?p=3455246#post3455246 That is the thread. Thank you for the info on the graphics card block. I think I may go for just a GPU waterblock and then get a full cover heatsink so I can reuse the actual block. Also I will actually be using 2 MCR320s and be mounting them to the side of my Antec 900 raised off the panel about 2 inches to allow airflow. I plan to use tygon tubing just because this is going to be a long term thing and I'm not going to go cheap on anything.

 

[rubix_1011]

2 MCR320s and be mounting them to the side of my Antec 900 raised off the panel about 2 inches to allow airflow

That is exactly what I did on my Gigabyte Aurora case...I only offset by 1", though.

 

[wuzy]

I took a quick look at Antec 900. If you remove the junky top plastic parts, you can mod a 3x120 rad onto it externally while the fans running underneath it internally.
The other 3x120mm can be mounted at the back, using Swiftech Radbox or a hollowed-out 120mm fan(I used a dead fan).

 

[Fendulon]

I thought about modding the top to fit a 320 but decided against it. I'm happing wit just modding my side panel to get the job done. And if I decide to do SLI and need more raddage I will probably get a radbox and mount it to the back and get another pump. Do a loop for the cards and a loop for the CPU.

 

[wuzy]

The problem with mounting rad on sidepanel is the tubing. If you want to access the other side of the case (to screw in drives or cable management..etc.) you'll only have a small gap to do it in as you can't remove the panel completely, limited by tubings.

 

[Fendulon]

My cable management is done and the way my hard drives are set up in my 900 I don't need to take off that panel. They are mounted with the connectors towards the front with all the cables already routed, i have 4 out of 6 slots filled. But I do see where you are coming from and I'm ok with working in a cramped space when i slide th panel around on the tubing.

 

[rubix_1011]

I have my rads mounted on the side of my case and if you flush mount with machine screws, you usually have 3/4" - 1" of room between the case side and the chassis inside. I run my tubing out the back and around...it works pretty well. The only downside to having dual MCR320's is that they hold a lot of water...so your case starts to get rather heavy. Picking up a case strap/carrier is a good idea if you transport it.