single Vs double Vs tripple rad

i was just wondering how much of a difference it would make.
setup will be a asetek waterchill CPU block and asetek xtreme pump
e6600 CPU and possibly cool a 8800gts if i can get a block for a good price.
are two singles as good/better than a double because i have not realy got enough space to put in a double without cutting my new case

also how much difference would having fans on both sides make?

thanks

If you are just going to cool the cpu or a gpu then a singe radiator should do the job just fine. If you are cooling both the cpu AND the gpu together then I would recommend a double radiator.

I would use a double rad if you intend to cool both cpu and gpu. Its a lot simpler imo than using two single rads, which just give you more points of failure.

Using a push/pull setup can give you a little more performance over just pulling through the rad. Adds more noise usually though.

the problem is that to have a double rad i would have to cut out some of my new case which i do not want to do, wel not yet anyway.

rajanm1 said:

the problem is that to have a double rad i would have to cut out some of my new case which i do not want to do, wel not yet anyway.

Click to expand...

Two things:

First of all, a bigger radiator pretty much has more capacity to cool. It doesn't guarantee your temps to be significantly lower, but it does help in dissipating heat for a LARGER LOAD.

For example, if you try to cool just an Athlon XP CPU running stock, I'm sure you'd get the same temps on a single rad as you would on a triple rad b/c of the low heat load.

Now, that being said... SECONDLY, I'd like to say that I have two watercooled rigs. My first uses a BIX2 (double rad) with 2x120x38mm Deltas. My second rig uses two SINGLE rads in the water loop... each with a push-pull setup. Both rigs perform similarly with temps and their capacities.

So, if you have trouble fitting a double rad, you could always see if it's possible to hook up two single rads for a similar performance.

Or you can do a double+single arrangement for similar performance to a tropple rad!!

by the way I thought that triple was spelled with only one p. I see it all over with two. Am I off my rocker? Does it have 2?

Anyways I would put the biggest rad in your box that you can fit/afford. A lot of overhead is always better than borderline. You will have less of potential problems + being able to use 3 really quiet fans instead of 2 pretty quiet or 1 kind of loud fan + the ability to add components if you need to (8800 sli anyone?) or the ability to upgrade the system to something more powerful without having to reinvest and relearn a whole new system (I say relearn because I think everyone gets a little habituated the components they use for a long time, they know their little quirks)

Good luck delving into the world of aqua. I wish I had the money/time to do so myself.

triple

triplets... mmmm...

If you want the most bang for your buck, sell your video card and get the GTX... water is for quiet+performance, not very price efficient... like raptors...

Good water is about $250, great air is about $100.

As for sandwich fans... about 0.5-1°C, maybe less.

I bet you could get about 80% performance of water if you went with a tower cooler for your CPU+ HR-05 for the 8800gts... for about 1/2 the price or less.

Maviryk said:

triple

triplets... mmmm...

If you want the most bang for your buck, sell your video card and get the GTX... water is for quiet+performance, not very price efficient... like raptors...

Good water is about $250, great air is about $100.

As for sandwich fans... about 0.5-1°C, maybe less.

I bet you could get about 80% performance of water if you went with a tower cooler for your CPU+ HR-05 for the 8800gts... for about 1/2 the price or less.

Click to expand...

watercooling can be used again in the future, though... you don't have to change your equipment too often, and a lot of waterblocks are universal or have upgradeable kits for them. i think it was a good investment for me.