Question What can expect from a custom water cooling

[Superlp12]

Contemplating my first attempt to do a full custom water cooling with parts from alphacool. I have a delidded 8700k with conductonaut applied between the die and ihs and between the die and the Noctua d15. Cpu is clock to 5ghz. Current peak temperature is 84C with ambient at 30C running the latest version of Prime95 set smallest with avx. Gpu is the Asus Strix 2080ti OC and is overclocked and temperature peak at 77C.
I plan to set up the loop going through first to the gpu and then to top radiator set to exhaust(push). Then to cpu block and then to front radiator set to pull(in). Both radiator will 360mm at 30mm thickness. Back top exhaust is noctua nf-f14 and radiator fan will be latest noctua a12x25.
My first attempt at custom water cooling and not too sure what I can expect if I capped fan speed at maximum 50%(most fan will be very quiet at this point). Comments from those who had actually done water cooling would be very much appreciated.

 

[Superlp12]

The gpu to radiator is actually the output and yes it does look a bit stretched! But the Ek duraclear soft tube is actually very compliant and as such there is very little pull around the connector area.

 

[Karadjgne]

Ah ok, so external pump/res combo to gpu to front rad to cpu to top rad to res. I'm assuming that Phanteks block is universal direction? Usually intake is on the left due to jet plates or valving of some sort to increase pressure before hitting the microfins.

 

[Superlp12]

Both the Phanteks gpu and cpu block does not employ any kind of jet plates and has no indication for input or output.

 

[Karadjgne]

Sweet. Good to go then

 

[Superlp12]

Now if I were to switch out the 2 30mm radiator for 2 60mm radiator(10fpi), how much drop in temperature can i expect?

 

[Karadjgne]

None, some, maybe even see a raise in temps.

Radiators don't work like that. They are not 'set' pieces. Some rads work better with low rpm fans, some with higher, some with higher SP fans, some don't see gains until reaching higher flow, some use lower flow.

I have a 20mm thick rad that out-performs many 30mm rads at 700-800rpm, even many 60mm rads at those speeds, yet you hit 1800rpm fans and those same rads are now in the lead.

The type of fans, the rpm of the fans, the flow rate of the coolant can and does change the characteristics of the rad.

To get the best performance requires matching the right fan with the right rpm range with the right rad.

It'd be very easy to see your loop actually gain in temps, simply because you don't have high enough rpm fans without enough static pressure to do anything with a 60mm thick rad.

EK PE 360 Radiator Review - ExtremeRigs.net

EK PE 360 Radiator Review - hardware labs, koolance, ek, xspc, xs-pc, aquacomputer, watercool, water cooling, black ice, liquid cooling

www.xtremerigs.net

Read some of the reviews these guys did on different rads, they go into great detail about flow and rpm, which rads work better at what range. Don't worry about size, a EK PE for instance, has the same fpi at 480mm as it does at 240mm, so will have the same(ish) curves if the other rads were 240mm. There are some 240mm reviews.

Also, don't confuse capacity with ability. If your pc has a 500w output, you'll get roughly the same temps from a 700w capacity as an 800w capacity. Ability is a function of efficiency, that's getting the better complementary equipment, not necessarily bigger equipment.

 

[Superlp12]

None, some, maybe even see a raise in temps.

Radiators don't work like that. They are not 'set' pieces. Some rads work better with low rpm fans, some with higher, some with higher SP fans, some don't see gains until reaching higher flow, some use lower flow.

I have a 20mm thick rad that out-performs many 30mm rads at 700-800rpm, even many 60mm rads at those speeds, yet you hit 1800rpm fans and those same rads are now in the lead.

The type of fans, the rpm of the fans, the flow rate of the coolant can and does change the characteristics of the rad.

To get the best performance requires matching the right fan with the right rpm range with the right rad.

It'd be very easy to see your loop actually gain in temps, simply because you don't have high enough rpm fans without enough static pressure to do anything with a 60mm thick rad.

EK PE 360 Radiator Review - ExtremeRigs.net

EK PE 360 Radiator Review - hardware labs, koolance, ek, xspc, xs-pc, aquacomputer, watercool, water cooling, black ice, liquid cooling

www.xtremerigs.net

Read some of the reviews these guys did on different rads, they go into great detail about flow and rpm, which rads work better at what range. Don't worry about size, a EK PE for instance, has the same fpi at 480mm as it does at 240mm, so will have the same(ish) curves if the other rads were 240mm. There are some 240mm reviews.

Also, don't confuse capacity with ability. If your pc has a 500w output, you'll get roughly the same temps from a 700w capacity as an 800w capacity. Ability is a function of efficiency, that's getting the better complementary equipment, not necessarily bigger equipment.

 

[Superlp12]

Ok. Get the point. Basically, I should stick to what I have now unless there is a significant heat generated by changes or additional heat generating components. Thanks.

 

[Karadjgne]

Not quite saying that. There is info you can research. Just taking blind leaps could very much do nothing but waste your money on little to no gains.

For me, I'd look into exactly what you have, what you are facing. Find your wattage output and go from there. You sound like you are after a 5° Delta, not the 10° or 15° you might have now. So will getting thicker rads fix that, do changing both fix that, or is more pump flow needed with a stronger pump, or would changing the fans to better suit the radiator be better or is that too much noise to get what they need so keeping the 30mm and moving to a higher fpi or split-fin design be more effective. Or a 45mm.

For my rads, I started with certain restrictions. 28mm max on bottom and 38mm max on top. I wanted silence as a priority. That means slow fans, no more than 7-800 rpm and they had to be quiet to start with. So then started reading up on which rads gave me what I was wanting, which pump I needed for the flow the rads required etc. It took me 3 months of researching just to figure out exactly what models would fit the bill. Brand was not a consideration other than for quality.

Ended up with xspc 20mm tx240 w/Noctua A12x15 slim fans on bottom, Hardware Labs GTS240 30mm with Noctua A12x25 on top and a EK 3.2pwm DDC pump, over powered volume so I could run it slow/quiet. I could have gone with different models/brands and similar sizes but those rads are pushing 20-22fpi, and being thinner respond better to lower rpm. I could fit a 38mm EK PE on top, but that'd require turning up fan speeds to get the same efficiency, rad too thick and not as efficient at lower rpm.

So figure out what you have, what it's requirements are, what it'll do and only then make any changes to fit exactly what your needs/wants are after figuring out exactly what will accomplish your goals. It's going to take some time, but when finished you'll have the best possible outcome that fits your pc.

It's your pc. It should do what you want it to do, right now it's doing what it wants to do, but that's only because it can only work within the parameters of what it's setup to work with.