Watercooling Placement Question

[nisiandrew]

I recently purchased an H240-X from swiftech with the intention to expand it to add a GTX 780 Classified on EK FC780 Classy block (the block is gorgeous), and an adittional 280mm rad, all of which I just received. However before I do my first liquid cooling build this weekend when I have time, I had a question about how I should run the loop. Mainly, should I run from the CPU directly to the GPU? Or should I run from the from the CPU, to the additional 280mm radiator in the front of the case, back to the GPU, and then to the H240-X up top?

My friend says run directly from the CPU to the 780 as it will look "better", but I'm worried that the water will become heated from the processor and heat up the graphics card. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Because0789]

From what I have read in the past the order of the components (except for Res->Pump) matters little in temps(1-2C) and is more about what you are trying to cool vs Rad area.

 

[DarkSable]

There will be absolutely ZERO difference between the temperatures based on the order of the loop. The water is moving so quickly that the entire thing raises and lowers temperature as one body of water, not as "it heats up here and moves here and cools down and moves back..."

Your friend is absolutely correct that you should go with the simplest design that restricts flow the least (i.e. big swooping curves are way way less restrictive than tight corners), because restricting flow will do far more harm to your temperatures than the order the parts are in will.

Congrats, by the way, and welcome to the world of modding and watercooling.

 

[Because0789]

There will be absolutely ZERO difference between the temperatures based on the order of the loop. The water is moving so quickly that the entire thing raises and lowers temperature as one body of water, not as "it heats up here and moves here and cools down and moves back..."

Your friend is absolutely correct that you should go with the simplest design that restricts flow the least (i.e. big swooping curves are way way less restrictive than tight corners), because restricting flow will do far more harm to your temperatures than the order the parts are in will.

Congrats, by the way, and welcome to the world of modding and watercooling.

That is probably one of the best descriptions I have read on exactly why the order doesn't matter.
+1

 

[DarkSable]

That is probably one of the best descriptions I have read on exactly why the order doesn't matter.
+1

Thanks, but it's just a slightly more eloquent version of what I was taught by the guys on here when I was first getting into watercooling.

It's a deep, deep rabbithole, Alice.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Nicely put there Sable and remember, if you put a rad into the rabbithole and insulate the tubing, you'll have some nice chilled water to help lower temps 😛
and generally what you say is true, but don't forget some of us have a larger mass and in setups like that you do get appreciable differences in temps depending on where in the loop you measure, my chiller is the coldest part of my loop, and I've seen 6'c or more difference between that mass and the water passing through one of the Tviruses, but theres not many looops like that out there
Moto