Will this water cooling loop work?

[ThePlasticBling]

I'm planning on water cooling my PC, and I drew a sketch with paint to see if the loop would work:

http://imgur.com/TEBGabm

Thanks!

 

[manofchalk]

You will tend to find that radiators dont have 4 ports on them unless you gets something like this.
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=207_160_297_1270&products_id=20428
And even then it isn't intended you use all four ports at a time.

Any reason for two reservoirs? I'm guessing aesthetic reasons since its externally mounted.

Figure out a way to route the tubing that doesn't require the rad to have foour ports, and you'l be set. Though I think how it would be possible to generally clean up the routing and making it more efficient. As it is you will go through a lot of tubing.

 

[ThePlasticBling]

You will tend to find that radiators dont have 4 ports on them unless you gets something like this.
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=207_160_297_1270&products_id=20428
And even then it isn't intended you use all four ports at a time.

Any reason for two reservoirs? I'm guessing aesthetic reasons since its externally mounted.

Figure out a way to route the tubing that doesn't require the rad to have foour ports, and you'l be set. Though I think how it would be possible to generally clean up the routing and making it more efficient. As it is you will go through a lot of tubing.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, the top reservoir is for aesthetics, lol. The thing is, that is the only way I can think of routing it. Would something mess up if I did use all 4 ports? I was planning on using something like this: http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=59_457_667_1075&products_id=32763

 

[manofchalk]

The problem with using all four ports is that by doing so, you are essentially running the radiator and external reservoir in parallel (knowledge of electrical circuits will come in handy here).

So half the water will go radiator, half will go to the reservoir (assuming equal resistance in both directions, more likely is most will go to the res due to lower resistance). Because that is happening, the heat in the res bound water isn't being dissipated through the radiator, so you will find that your loop will gradually just keep getting hotter and hotter.

Basically, you can only use one port on each side of the rad, otherwise you will end up splitting your flow in half and the water wont be cooled.

CPU -> Left front rad port and will come out Top Right Rad Port -> External Res -> GPU.
Will have to get tricky with your tubing runs, but its possible.
Or drill some holes in the top case, have the pump draw directly from the external res (making filling the loop very easy.

 

[ThePlasticBling]

The problem with using all four ports is that by doing so, you are essentially running the radiator and external reservoir in parallel (knowledge of electrical circuits will come in handy here).

So half the water will go radiator, half will go to the reservoir (assuming equal resistance in both directions, more likely is most will go to the res due to lower resistance). Because that is happening, the heat in the res bound water isn't being dissipated through the radiator, so you will find that your loop will gradually just keep getting hotter and hotter.

Basically, you can only use one port on each side of the rad, otherwise you will end up splitting your flow in half and the water wont be cooled.

CPU -> Left front rad port and will come out Top Right Rad Port -> External Res -> GPU.
Will have to get tricky with your tubing runs, but its possible.
Or drill some holes in the top case, have the pump draw directly from the external res (making filling the loop very easy.

I see what you're saying. What I'm going to end up doing is using just the radiator at the bottom front of the case. I think that would solve everything, haha. Thanks for helping out!

 

[ThePlasticBling]

Best answer selected by ThePlasticBling.

 

[manofchalk]

All good man, just make that rad can handle the heat output of the loop. Most cases can only handle a 240mm at the front, which seems a bit insufficient to me for a CPU and GPU.
You will want to do the TDP calculation to make sure the rad can handle it.

 

[ThePlasticBling]

On second thought, I probably should add another radiator. I will add a dual 120mm radiator to the loop. That should definitely be enough.

 

[manofchalk]

Have you read through the water-cooling sticky? It will tell you how to calculate the TDP of the loop, which will have to offset through your rad choices. Reading reviews oin the rads (Skineedlabd and Martins Liquid Lab are great resources) will tell you how much heat a rad can deal with at various RPM fans.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/277130-29-read-first-watercooling-sticky

 

[ThePlasticBling]

OK thanks man. I will read it.