New Project: Triple 120 Rad?

WonderingSoul · Dec 16, 2006

Well, it's XMAS and I am looking at what mod I can do this year :santa2:

My plan is to build a rad box for my Lian-Li PC-65B which will be mounted on the underside of my case. Using a single 120*3 rad with three 44cfm fans and ditching my 80mm rads. I am curious to know will it handle CPU and GPU (both heavily OCed) running on 3/8" tubing? I REALLY do not want to have to buy all new 1/2" barbs and clamps.

4od · Dec 16, 2006

it would be able to support a gpu/cpu, but temps could be less than perfect.

i would go with two bonneville heatercores, or maybe even 4 chevetttt cores, that would be a more efficient use of radbox space. (have strong fans on the front and back, and have sucking fans on the outside of it, pulling air through rads/heatercores

WonderingSoul · Dec 16, 2006

4od said:
it would be able to support a gpu/cpu, but temps could be less than perfect.

i would go with two bonneville heatercores, or maybe even 4 chevetttt cores, that would be a more efficient use of radbox space. (have strong fans on the front and back, and have sucking fans on the outside of it, pulling air through rads/heatercores

Well the radbox will be more like a housing to hide the rad while under the case.

It will be like this: (I didn't feel like making a CADD drawing

)

4od · Dec 16, 2006

ooooh....

that looks like a much better idea than mine, because is will fit itself into the case airflow pattern.

but still, i would suggest using a bonneville heatercore over a 120.3, they're just much better performance/price wise, and since you cant see it, their funny looks won't be a problem

only problem can be fittings if you're not creative enough or don't have good tools

WonderingSoul · Dec 16, 2006

4od said:
ooooh....

that looks like a much better idea than mine, because is will fit itself into the case airflow pattern.

but still, i would suggest using a bonneville heatercore over a 120.3, they're just much better performance/price wise, and since you cant see it, their funny looks won't be a problem

only problem can be fittings if you're not creative enough or don't have good tools

Well a 1/2 -> 3/8 reducer would be fine on the heatercore. Only thing is though the heatercores need shrouds to work properly which means more space in the radbox that I do not need. Bonneville cores are 120.2, correct? The main reason I went 120.3 was because I want SILENT fans on the rad, and I'd rather have one fan too many than two fans that are louder.

Edit: going out for the night then shooting ranges tomorrow morning. Leave me some enlightening posts for me when I get back

4od · Dec 16, 2006

not enlightening, but a bit of useful estimation

i believe theres an article somewhere on the big worldwide intarweb, that a heatercore (bonneville/impala in particular) did better than a 120.3 swiftech radiator, the swiftech had 3 yate loons, and the bonny had 2 yate loons and shrouds, and the water temps were about 3 or 4c lower with the heatercore

if you made custom shrouds out of sheet alluminum i bet you could save money, space, but you would have to toss time into the equation :-/

. I've never actually used a bonneville, but after seeing the results of a friend i almost bought two and made a custom radbox. they truly are incredibly powerful.

Just something to think about - I'm currently using a bong cooler, which produces sub 20c temps and cost about 30-40$ and a two trips to the hardware store. i would certaintly reccomend it if you have the time/space/and iniative to attempt to make one. If you are interested, tell me, as i found out a lot of useful tricks while making it, not to mention some important things NOT to do :bang head

darkcow · Dec 17, 2006

a 120.2 heatercore outperforming the swiftech 120.3 mcr320? thats not an easy task.

but right now your running a system that is very restricted. and the question here is, how much more restrictive will 2x heatercores be over 1x mcr320? it might not be bad, it might be devastating. i wouldn't worry about it if it was 1/2 inch but i've heard 3/8 is pretty damn small.

the mcr320 is only 46 bucks. and a heatcore... maybe 20 bucks a peice. add time, aluminum, maybe tools to work and create the shrouds, paint jobs, etc....

it might not be worth it. but thats my opininon.

as for holding the temps at a nice steady pace, it should handle sli and a cpu no probs.

voigts · Dec 17, 2006

I would like to see where a dual heatercore outperforms a triple Swiftech rad with yate loons. I would have to see it to believe it as heatercores are a lot thicker and require more airflow.

I wouldn't recommend a dual heatercore at all for what you are doing. A MCR320 should do the job just fine and allow you to use undervolted fans.

WonderingSoul · Dec 17, 2006

Well, I was thinking though, instead of dropping money on a new rad and making the box and ect ect I'd better off getting 1/2" barbs and popping off my IHS.

darkcow · Dec 17, 2006

if you currently have 80mm rads i don't think it would help. you need atleast dual 120mm rad for graphics and cpu.

WonderingSoul · Dec 17, 2006

darkcow said:
if you currently have 80mm rads i don't think it would help. you need atleast dual 120mm rad for graphics and cpu.

But going to 3/8" to 1/2" and removing the IHS? I have a Dual80mm and a Single80mm in my loop.

4od · Dec 17, 2006

IHS removal is a bad idea, the chance of cpu working afterward is something like 50%

IHS lapping/sanding is much better, and should help temps aboutas much, maybe 2-3c more, but you're not risking your cpu nearly as much.

WonderingSoul · Dec 17, 2006

4od said:
IHS removal is a bad idea, the chance of cpu working afterward is something like 50%

I don't think that is true. I have't read any posts on people killing a CPU after popping theirs. If failure occurs it happens if someone takes out a resistor or crushes the core.

voigts · Dec 18, 2006

Taking off the IHS isn't going to do you any good if you have inadequate rads. I personally wouldn't take off the IHS as that can be a risky proposition. A number of people do simply lap their IHS. Either way, it voids the warranty so that is up to you.

You will be best served by ditching the 80mm rads and getting at least a good dual 120mm rad. Those micro rads don't do much in the way of cooling, and a single dual 120mm is going to be more efficient than dual 80mm rads just by nature of being a single rad vs dual rads. Going from 3/8" to 1/2" is likely to make very little difference since you have a MCP355 with top. 1/2" makes more sense when buying parts since if you are buying them anyway, you may as well get the larger ID and avoid unneccesary restriction. 3/8" can become an issue over 4lpm (1.1gpm), which a pump like the MCP355 with top can easily best. It is not worth however selling off and replacing parts over.

WonderingSoul · Dec 21, 2006

voigts said:
Taking off the IHS isn't going to do you any good if you have inadequate rads.

I don't see how it wouldn't help. It would help the temps of the CPU for sure. May not help ambient coolant temps, but I don't see how it would not help the chip's temps...

Froggy · Dec 22, 2006

I am thinking he is talking about the risk/reward ratio. All of my CPU's have the IHS removed and my 3rd of 5 A64's I cracked the core when I removed the IHS. So it can happen, just not very often.

If you have a bad IHS to core contact taking the IHS off will help a lot. If not, then you gain very little.

I always do because, well I am just one of those people and it bite me hard once.

p.s. The floss cutting method is what cracked the core. The razor blade did not.

WonderingSoul · Mar 22, 2007

Holy thread ressurection!

The triple 120 is here. With 3 yate loons. EK 1/2" barbs and some 7/16" masterkleer. It's going in this weekend. I am going to pop the IHS now

||Console|| · Mar 22, 2007

Sweet pop that sucka =)

WonderingSoul · Mar 22, 2007

||Console|| said:
Sweet pop that sucka =)

Popped and running now

It's hard to say how much pressure I should put with these TDX retention screws though.

What the HECK... I just had the system randomly turn off...

Going to leave it on while I am at lunch idle to see if anything happens again.

New Project: Triple 120 Rad?

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