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1stOVERCLOCKER

Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2006
Location
U.S.A
hello i have had a problem with my old wc rig so i baught a littleone off a friend and it is only 1/4id and 3/8od but it still is just as cool but i though it might have no effect on how big of a tube you have as long as your pump pumps fast
 
Grr... Equations.
Poisouille's Law

ΔP = (8QήL)/(πR^4)

ΔP = Pressure Drop or Back Pressure in torr
Q = Flow rate in Litres per second
ή = Viscosity of solution in poise
L = Length of tube in meters
R = radius of tube in meters

As you see, the pressure drop of the system is dependent on both the flow rate and radius, however different rates. The radius is a fourth power, whereas flow rate is a first power. Halving the radius will dramatically increase the pressure drop.
Cooling capacity is solely dependant on heat capacity of the solvent and the flow rate. I'm sorry I don't know an exact equation for this, but Chem Engineers use WC, so I assume there is one.
So to answer your question, the cooling capacity does not decrease by using lesser tube size as long as you use a higher flow rate so that the volume per unit time is equivalent. However, you will need a larger, louder pump to produce the necessary pressure.

Disclaimer: Poisouille's Law only applies in situations where the ratio of L to R is ~300.
 
If I would have known 25 years ago that I would be watercooling a computer in the future, I should have signed up for that Physics class just so I could understand this crap. But then again, 25 years ago, what were computers?
 
25 years ago ====> My Apple IIe with:
- 1 MHz cpu speed
- 128k memory
- extended 80 column card
- resolution less than 300 x 200 (I can't remember what it was but the highest resolution on allowed 6 colors. The worst was something like 48 x 40 with 16 colors).
- dual 5 1/4" floppy drives (was even better when getting single sided floppies and using a paper punch on the side to make them double sided - talk about doubling your storage capacity for the price of single sided floppies - woo hoo!)
- 12" monochrome green monitor
- completely passive cooled CPU (no heatsink or fan - come to think of it, there wasn't a heatsink anywhere on the motherboard)
- Imagewriter dot matrix printer
- 1200 baud modem. Hehehe. 1.2 kbps.. hahaha.. imagine playing multiplayer back then if it was possible.
- Total package: $2000+

I also had a Commodore 128 but it was much much slower than the Apple was. It had a floppy drive that ran at a crawl. The cassette tape drive was worthless. The benefit was that I could hook this up to a TV and have color. But games were not as accessible as it was for my Apple back then.

Oops. Sorry to go off topic. Just thinking about computers 25 years ago made me remember the good times. =P
 
Last edited:
t4runnr said:
25 years ago ====> My Apple IIe with:
- 128k memory
- extended 80 column card
- dual 5 1/4" floppy drives (was even better when getting single sided floppies and using a paper punch on the side to make them double sided - talk about doubling your storage capacity for the price of single sided floppies - woo hoo!)
- 12" monochrome green monitor
- completely passive cooled CPU (no heatsink or fan - come to think of it, there wasn't a heatsink anywhere on the motherboard)
- Imagewriter dot matrix printer
- 1200 baud modem. Hehehe. 1.2 kbps.. hahaha.. imagine playing multiplayer back then if it was possible.
- Total package: $2000+

I also had a Commodore 128 but it was much much slower than the Apple was. It had a floppy drive that ran at a crawl. The cassette tape drive was worthless. The benefit was that I could hook this up to a TV and have color. But games were not as accessible as it was for my Apple back then.

Oops. Sorry to go off topic. Just thinking about computers 25 years ago made me remember the good times. =P

I got a Commodore 64 in my basement.
 
Daddyjaxx said:
If I would have known 25 years ago that I would be watercooling a computer in the future, I should have signed up for that Physics class just so I could understand this crap. But then again, 25 years ago, what were computers?
Even if you had taken the class, if you didn't use the knowledge for 25 years, how much would you remember now? For the most part, I only remember the stuff I use. Hence I can still do algebra, trig, and some basic physics, but I've forgotten calculus almost completely.
 
Ive never had anything below Pentium 1, yes its overclocked from 133mhz to 200mhz. :shrug: Although I remeber using Mac's in 2nd grade, oh the green screens...
 
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Otter said:
Even if you had taken the class, if you didn't use the knowledge for 25 years, how much would you remember now? For the most part, I only remember the stuff I use. Hence I can still do algebra, trig, and some basic physics, but I've forgotten calculus almost completely.
It's a shame you've forgotten your calculus, I use it nearly everday for engineering, tho I do use trig 5x more.... anyway back on "topic".

More volume is definately better, so the larger ID tubes are much better. I'm now deciding what components I'll put in my system that I build (within a year) and I absolutely refuse 3/8"... but that's just me :D hehe
 
That's the thing. I'm a tinker rather than a professional engineer. I find something I'd like to do with calc about once every five years. I suppose it might have helped if my second calculus prof had been able to do the examples during lecture (90% of the time, he'd give up and saying, "oh, that works out somehow"), but the main problem is I just don't need it often enough.
 
Ah the days of Commodore 64, Vic20, and my IBM clone(complete with monitor encased in styrofoam). The memories of waiting 20 minutes for a program to load, green screens and the such.
 
t4runnr said:
25 years ago ====> My Apple IIe with:
- 1 MHz cpu speed
- 128k memory
- extended 80 column card
- resolution less than 300 x 200 (I can't remember what it was but the highest resolution on allowed 6 colors. The worst was something like 48 x 40 with 16 colors).
- dual 5 1/4" floppy drives (was even better when getting single sided floppies and using a paper punch on the side to make them double sided - talk about doubling your storage capacity for the price of single sided floppies - woo hoo!)
- 12" monochrome green monitor
- completely passive cooled CPU (no heatsink or fan - come to think of it, there wasn't a heatsink anywhere on the motherboard)
- Imagewriter dot matrix printer
- 1200 baud modem. Hehehe. 1.2 kbps.. hahaha.. imagine playing multiplayer back then if it was possible.
- Total package: $2000+

I also had a Commodore 128 but it was much much slower than the Apple was. It had a floppy drive that ran at a crawl. The cassette tape drive was worthless. The benefit was that I could hook this up to a TV and have color. But games were not as accessible as it was for my Apple back then.

Oops. Sorry to go off topic. Just thinking about computers 25 years ago made me remember the good times. =P
Only one thing to say.. your old.
 
Most of the european systems use 1/4" Id tubing. A pump designed for that system is probably not going to put out enough pressure to force water through the tubing fast enough to mimick the average joe US 7/16"ID or 1/2"ID flow.
 
Oper8or said:
Only one thing to say.. your old.

I know. I had those computers when I was in middle school. Having those computers allows me to really appreciate the advancement PCs have made since I had the Apple and Commodore.
 
If old is to remember life without computers; then I'm old. If old is remember life without a microwave and cable TV; I'm ancient. When I was a kid, you know what we did...we played outside from dawn to dusk because there was nothing better to do. I'm only 40. :)

You sound like my 18 year old daughter..... My grandfather is old...not me.
 
1stOVERCLOCKER said:
hello i have had a problem with my old wc rig so i baught a littleone off a friend and it is only 1/4id and 3/8od but it still is just as cool but i though it might have no effect on how big of a tube you have as long as your pump pumps fast

Hold on back the run-on sentence train up. Let me try to decypher this.

You bought an entire computer or just a watercooling kit from a friend? wth is a "littleone?" Guessing thats not a new thermaltake POS? :p

You might want to describe your setup just a tad past the ID and OD of the tubing. Namely the pump...

If you keep everything else the same yes tubing size can drastically affect flow rates which can raise/lower your temperatures.

And I'm sorry but I have to quote this one more time :santa:

as long as your pump pumps fast
 
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