Experts... how can i get the best out of my Rad

Experts... how can i get the best out of my Rad?

I designed my watercooling setup to be compact and quiet, and in that respect its a GREAT setup. but... my idle temps are around 105 F. I am only cooling my cpu (athlon xp 2200+ tbred). These temps seem higher than they should be.

The reason I blame my radiator is that when i boot up the computer, and start running it at Load... My temps are still below 100. As time goes on they slowly creep up over 100 and sometimes to like 110 F. I don't think my Radiator is cooling the water enough, and causing the gradual increase in temp.


My questions are:

1) Is a 120 mm BIX enough to keep an athlon xp 2200+ below 100 degrees? (i thought it was easily)
2) Is 80 cfm just not enough air going through the radiator? Should i get a more powerful fan?
3) Would a push/pull setup be better than just a pull?
4) Could i keep this same setup (diff WB prolly) if i was to cool an Athlon 64 CPu?

My setup:

Danger Den maze 4
Hydor L20 pump
Black Ice Xtreme Radiator
1/2" ID tubing
Evercool 120 mm fan (80cfm)
(setup in a T-line)


Thanks for any advice you can give me, I am on vacation now and i plan to try a vantec tornado when i get back. but until then, i'd like to hear any suggestions.

thanks,
Ice

First, I dont do well in Fahrenheit with temps, lol. Second, temps are all relative to many things, ambient temp being the biggest factor. Right off the bat, a better block would yeild you about a 5C reduction in temps if you went with say the swiftech MCW6002. A stonger pump would help too. These are the areas I would investigate first. Your rad is OK, a bigger rad is always better but if you don't have the room, the BIX is fine. A pic of your setup would help too. Do yourself a favor and don't try to keep the processor below some random self imposed temp limit. If it is 30C in your room, this will raise your CPU temp, if it is 20C in your room, this would lower your CPU temps.

Your system looks well-matched for a "typical" water setup. By US standards, It's not a high-performance setup but is very adequate for mild overclocking use. Just don't expect high-performance results with it. If it's stable, enjoy using your computer. Or you could spend a bunch of money replacing most of the components to build a high-performance water system and get 5C, maybe 10C, improvement in CPU temps. Would it be worth it to you?

You can make sure your system is working efficiently. Is a fan shroud built into the BIX? If not, you should be using a shroud to hold the fan away from the rad surface an inch or so. Also seal up any leaks so all of the fan-forced air flows through the rad. The shroud allows more even airflow over the entire rad core and is quieter (less air turbulence).

I don't think your temps are that bad. The system in my sig routinely runs 48-49C CPU die temps in a warm room at 100% load (folding@home). That's with a chevette heatercore, 2 inch deep shroud, and a single 120x38mm fan at 1700RPM watercooling both the CPU and GPU. I'm also using a higher concentration of anti-freeze (25-30%) than most which hurt temps a little. After 6 months of use, the system is very stable. I've got another xp2500 system that is overclocked and aircooled. It runs die temps of 50-51C at 100% load; it is also very stable.

okay, heres some more information for you.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=257330
(pics of my rig, Like halfway down...)

also...
Its never over 20 C in my room. (maybe a little where the computer pushes out the hot air, but thats away from the intake.)

I do have a shroud. its like 1-1.5". Same one thats on cooltecnica for the BIX.
Also, the room is airconditioned quite well that the computer is in, and while it sometimes heats up (lanning with friends), i don't totally blame that.

While i didn't build my system to be a super performer, rather a less costly quiet method of cooling, i don't expect SUPER results, but i did expect the computer to at least run under 100 F (37 C). When i get back from vacation i plan to borrow a high power 120 mm fan and blast that over my radiator, i really think that will be what makes the difference in my situation.

Finally, with a new WB for my CPU when i get an A64. Will this w/c system be able to cool an A64 one? Say the fx-53? I don't expect to be able to overclock it tremedously if at all, but i don't want the thing running at like 120 F (50 C).