3 barb blocks

I was wondering the best setup to run blocks like the WW
-in/fill/out
-out/in/out
-in/out/in

Want to build a complete watercooling system for Xmas, and I'm seriously considering the WW

Here's what I'm planning on getting if you want to comment (note I want to spend a fair amount of money, do it once and do it right mentality)
-WW or other high-quality block to:
-GPU block (maze4 probably) to:
-Eheim 1250 to:
-Black Ice Extreme 2 (2x120mm fans)
-1/2" ID Tygon Tubing
Want it to be pretty simple, but keep it very cool.

The blocks area designed for water to go in the middle barb, and out the 2 side ones.

Option 2.

Heatercore, Hydor L30, CleraFlex60 @ McMaster along with all your plumbing needs...

It will save you money and prform better due to getting a HC

I know I would save money, but let's just say I'm extremely sceptical that a chevette heatercore would outperform an extreme 2

My heater core was able to handle the heat from my 1900XP @1920MHz and the 226watt pelt. IF you look around you'll see more people go with an HC then anything else.

My impression of that is because of price, not performance.

No... Im afraid you are not right on this. I do understand why you are skeptical as I was skeptical at first...

heatercores give you better results because its ALOT less restrictive than a regular radiator which has more than 2 passes. I believe BIX uses 4 passses. The fact that the heatercore as 2 passes instead of 4 will help the flowrate alot and thus cool better. If the space is not an issue for you I suggest you get a single pass heatercore...

To generalize....
single pass > caprice > chevette > regular radiator

Also if you think about it, the heatercore is used to cool down the oil in a car, which is way hotter then a cpu. So if they are good enough for a 10 grand car then they will be good enough for your 2 grand comp.

I have asked for this before but never got a number. The black ice radiators are meaused in BTU/hour, so what is the chevette capable of. If this number was found or calculated it would prove once and for all which one is better.

riiiight
resistance sure is one factor, but the other (the main purpose of a radiator) is cooling area and fins. They make them double pass so that there is more cooling area. Quicker the water leaves the heatercore, the less it is cooled. I'm not claiming to be an expert, but this is just common sense. With only 2 blocks and a radiator I shouldn't have to worry about resistance that much.

and yes: I would LOVE a comparison

also, ILikeMy240sx, I'm not trying to insult you or anything! I just think it's silly to explain it while only taking into account one factor

a heatercore in comparable size to the Black Ice will definetly outperform it, but you will only usually see the difference when you start approaching very high heat outputs. Like pelts. I have looked long and hard around the forums for the answer to this question as a heatercore is .5in too big to fit in my case without cutting the hard drive cages, so i wanted the smaller BIX2, but i just decided i couldnt lose the slight performance edge a heatercore would give me. So now im trying to find out how to fit a heatercore in my case. But what would be interesting is to see how the BIX2 would compare to a heatercore with a really high flow/head pump, like in the area of 650gph/20ft. Then, we could find out whether the decrease in flow matters. My theory (and it is a THEORY, mind you) is that unless you have an extremley high flow/head pump (how high depends on block restriction; for me it will be quite high since im going cascade, mcw50-p, maze4gpu), the heatercore will perform better. But if you have a very very high flow/head pump, the radiator would perform better because the flow decrease would be neglible. any input (as i would spend more to get the high flow/head pump and BIX2 if it would fit without losing HD cages)?

Raider84 said:

Also if you think about it, the heatercore is used to cool down the oil in a car, which is way hotter then a cpu. So if they are good enough for a 10 grand car then they will be good enough for your 2 grand comp.

I have asked for this before but never got a number. The black ice radiators are meaused in BTU/hour, so what is the chevette capable of. If this number was found or calculated it would prove once and for all which one is better.

Click to expand...

Actually heater core has engine coolant going through it to make it hot so the blower can blow hot air into your car... I know it sounds weird but in a car heatercore is used to heat-up the interior of your car

crimedog said:

riiiight
resistance sure is one factor, but the other (the main purpose of a radiator) is cooling area and fins. They make them double pass so that there is more cooling area. Quicker the water leaves the heatercore, the less it is cooled. I'm not claiming to be an expert, but this is just common sense. With only 2 blocks and a radiator I shouldn't have to worry about resistance that much.

and yes: I would LOVE a comparison

also, ILikeMy240sx, I'm not trying to insult you or anything! I just think it's silly to explain it while only taking into account one factor

Click to expand...

I suggest you read the sticky titeled "flowrate..." Just because the coolant stays in the rad for longer time that doesnt mean it will cool better because as time goes delta T decreases and the amount of heat transfer that occurs decreases. On the other hand, if the flow rate is great, delta T will be greater as hot water is keep coming in the radiator and leaving faster... so the heat transfer is greater Q= MCdeltaT M being the flowrate. This is all explained in the sticky

ILikeMy240sx said:

I suggest you read the sticky titeled "flowrate..." Just because the coolant stays in the rad for longer time that doesnt mean it will cool better because as time goes delta T decreases and the amount of heat transfer that occurs decreases. On the other hand, if the flow rate is great, delta T will be greater as hot water is keep coming in the radiator and leaving faster... so the heat transfer is greater Q= MCdeltaT M being the flowrate. This is all explained in the sticky

Click to expand...

Yup, yup, and yup.

Now for a tangent of my own... I have personaly used a BIX and a chevette HC. Guess which one was better. That's right, the HC.

I really feel stupid for shelling out $65, not once, but twice for a BIX. That's right, I bought two of them. The only application I would even consider a BIX is in very tight places where a HC just won't fit.

Thank you guys, you rock!
I just naturally sassumed that the BI2 was better. I'm mounting the radiator to my case's door (no where else to do it internally) so that should fit. Guess I'll hit up NAAP or autozone when I'm back at home. Do you have to make custom shrouds for the HC's?

crimedog said:

Do you have to make custom shrouds for the HC's?

Click to expand...

If you get a Chevette core, it's the same thing as a D-Tek ProCore, so the D-Tek shrouds should work.

crimedog said:

Thank you guys, you rock!
I just naturally sassumed that the BI2 was better. I'm mounting the radiator to my case's door (no where else to do it internally) so that should fit. Guess I'll hit up NAAP or autozone when I'm back at home. Do you have to make custom shrouds for the HC's?

Click to expand...

glad to be helpful thats why were here... Believe me.. at first i was like 20 dollar performs better thatn 65?????????

Napa Online

This is a Fedco 2-342 single pass HC, an awsome HC for dual 120mm fans. Just cut of the extraneous tubing about 1.5" from the core, and .5" ID tubing will (with a little finesse ) slip right over the remaining tube.

that looks wicked, you are awesome!
any other thoughts on HC's, particurally which models ?

UberBlue said:

Napa Online

This is a Fedco 2-342 single pass HC, an awsome HC for dual 120mm fans. Just cut of the extraneous tubing about 1.5" from the core, and .5" ID tubing will (with a little finesse ) slip right over the remaining tube.

Click to expand...

this model is THE model interms of top of the line HC... As for the tubing... boil it and shove it onto the barb