Thermocouple and rad temp measuring?

In one of my more crazy schemes involving watercooling, I got the idea of coupling a auto fan controller like the Hardcano 13 with Panflo M1As and a rad like the BICPro 2 or PA160. My quesiton is, how warm does the water actually get, and can I get good temperature readings by attaching a thermocouple to the radiator (either wedged inbetween the fins or attached to the outside)? Or would I have to seal the thermocouple and actually put it in the water stream?

(Plan to cool a 7800 and Athlon 4200+)

I would think that measuring actual water temp would be the preferred method although the temp differential of the inlet and outlet flow is so small I'm not sure how your fan controller would respond.

My water gets anywhere from 26-32C, depending on the ambient/load/overclock. I would say 32C is very warm and you wouldn't want to overclock at that temp. A thermal probe on the radiator near the barbs is fine.. it is copper after all But I put a little insulation on it so that it isn't as affected by ambient temperatures.

BTW, pretty sure you mean the thermistor/probe, not a thermocouple.

I have an Enermax Ultimate fan controller and I have the probes reading CPU, water, ambient, and internal case temperatures.

Hrm, In that case, I might just stick to a rheobus. I hate to say it, but the more I look at the PA160, the more it looks like it will be a pain in the butt to mount like I want to (I dont think it will fit in the rear of a Lian 7077 because of the power supply/if it did, the mounting would make me nervous).