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Expand my watercooling setup? **need your 2 cents**

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ntrsfrml

Registered
Joined
Jul 31, 2004
Location
Vancouver B.C.
hi all, here is my current setup:

A64 3000+ @ 2.7Ghz (270x10), 1.67V, DFI 250GB UT, OCZ 2x256MB PC3700EB, ATI 9800Pro, WD 36Gb Raptors Raid0

and my Cooling setup: Swiftech MCW-6002, DD D4 12v, D-Tek 120JR Clearflex60

also here is a picture of my watercooled rig: http://images.dr3vil.com/uploads/water rig.jpg

I know my rig is very simple, nothing special or complicated.. but now i wanna expand the cooling to GPU(ATI 9800PRO).. I was thinking about adding a Maze4 GPU block and a micro 80mm rad to the setup..

here are my questions: Is Swiftech MCW-650 powerful enough to pump water through two blocks and rads?

I will be mounting the radiator outside/behind the case with something similar to swiftech's rad box or maybe just screw it there..how should i run my water circuit? Pump>>CPU>>CPU rad>>GPU>>GPU rad>>pump? I also want to keep the T-line as you can see it in my setup pic.

Not sure if Two rads will be a good idea, but upgrading to dual 120mm rad will be harder for me.. I'll have to re-do the whole system :(

I know few people have two rads in their setup.. i wanna know how is it better than just one single dual 120mm rad?

many thanks :)
 
Yeah, the pump should be up to it. I have a Mag 3 on a WW, Maze4 GPU, MCW20A, and two Chevette cores.

As far as how to route the circuit, you'll see the best results from whatever uses the least tubing. It's nice to have the CPU before the GPU, and it usually doesn't make much of a difference, so that's recommended.

I have two radiators, but they're both Chevette cores. The JR120 is a pretty beefy rad as these things go, and I wonder if an extra 80mm rad would actually hurt overall performance. They're pretty restrictive and don't do a whole lot for cooling. Someone else will probably have more constructive insight on that. The only benefits of having two 120mm radiators over a single dual 120mm might be restriction. Running two cores in parallel should be less restrictive when compared to a single big core.
 
The MCP650 is a very strong pump. It will be able to handle two blocks and a rad.

There are two ways I can see how you route the tubing. Hopefully the pictures are self explanatory. In both setups, I'd use 90° connectors near the GPU block. There's going to be a lot of stress on both the card and CPU block. Contrary to popular belief, using the 90° connectors aren't going to kill your flowrate. Will it go down? Absolutely, but it shouldn't cripple your system.

1.jpg

For this setup, you may have to relocate your pump. I'm not sure what the GPU block will look like, but I'd expect the card's capacitors to be problematic when routing the tubing. The benefit of this setup is that the CPU will have the "coolest" water, although I believe it has been proven that putting a block before the CPU will raise the water temperature a fraction of a degree (you'll want to verify this).

2.jpg

With this setup, you shouldn't have to relocate the pump. Tubing length is minimized, and provided that my aforementioned reference to temperature difference is true, it should be the most ideal setup to use. Edit: Actaully, this setup will use about the same amount of tubing as the first one. So in this case, go with whatever appeals to you more.


Edit: I didn't notice that you wanted to add an 80mm rad. I'll get back to you on that.
 
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I believe around a fraction of a degree Celsius is correct. Certainly nowhere near a full degree at most.
 
All right. As I said, the MCP650 is a strong pump. Coupled with a CPU block that works well in a wide range of flow rates, two rads and two blocks should not force you to lower your overclock much (if any). Here is one proposed setup for thw dual rad-dual block setup.

3.jpg


You have a lot of combinations that you could go with. I simply feel that this setup will minimize tubing and clutter within the case. If you mount the 80mm rad outside the case, you can still route the tubing in a similiar manner (for simplicity, I have not drawn any curves in the tubing; in actuality they will round corners - duh). Again with this setup, you may have to relocate the pump.
 
The MCP650 has about 10ft of head. It's as powerful as an Mag 3, so it should have no problem pushing through two radiators and blocks.

If you do go with two rads and two blocks, try to make it as simple and as small a loop as possible to minimize head loss. Post a pic of your case and where you want the parts to be.
 
It_The_Cow said:
All right. As I said, the MCP650 is a strong pump. Coupled with a CPU block that works well in a wide range of flow rates, two rads and two blocks should not force you to lower your overclock much (if any). Here is one proposed setup for thw dual rad-dual block setup.

3.jpg


You have a lot of combinations that you could go with. I simply feel that this setup will minimize tubing and clutter within the case. If you mount the 80mm rad outside the case, you can still route the tubing in a similiar manner (for simplicity, I have not drawn any curves in the tubing; in actuality they will round corners - duh). Again with this setup, you may have to relocate the pump.

Excellent Pictures and explanations It_the_cow :thup: The ^third picture^ is the exact thing what i have in my mind.. I think i'll go ahead and order the hardware lab 120mm rad and Maze 4 :).

Alacritan: I posted my case picture in the first post. The case is a Lian Li 65xx series. http://images.dr3vil.com/uploads/water rig.jpg
 
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