Questions on redoing my loop

Well my first w/c loop worked ok, but I made some decisions that I am ready to change. Such as getting rid of my bay resi that just decided to start leaking....and right after reading the other thread about it no less . I am purchasing the VJ modded 8800GT from the classifieds, and will probably need to make some changes to my loop to get the temps low enough to handle it and my E6600. As it was I never really saw anything out of the mid to high 40s under load, but I do not remember the exact temps as the box has been down for about a month (ASUS mobo RMA). I know there was room for improvement so I want to try and work on that now. The first step will be to mount the cpu block properly as was posted about on here. I had it running along rather than across the dies. Anyway, this is what I've got and what I am thinking.

Current CPU only loop:
all 1/2" line
240 Black Ice Extreme rad w/4 fans on it
Apogee GT
Iwaki MD20-RZG-2
double bay resi that is getting tossed
DD Fillport

My questions:
Will I need a bigger rad? If so would adding a 120x1 be the same as changing to a 360? I ask b/c I could easily add a 120 in my pump box without having to make changes to the top of my case to accommodate a 360.
What is the best way to regulate the flow on an Iwaki? With it wide open I feel the coolant is not getting enough time at the block, and as such is not pulling as much heat as it could be.
Would my 240 be enough to cool my E6600 and the VJ modded 8800GT anyway? That would solve quite a bit of the problem in itself, but I know I will probably need to upgrade it at some point later anyway.

Thanks for any help you guys can give me. I just want to make sure I do this proper this time.

You don't have to worry about the flow speed. Slowing down the flow will not help you. There are many long explanations in different threads, I would suggest searching for flow speed or something. I wouldn't worry about it to much, in most cases the faster the better.

If you want the best performance I would suggest using two loops (1 CPU 2 GPU) but most of the time that is hard to do.

The current setup you have now is probably good enough to run both the GPU and CPU but if you want to bump performance I would suggest getting some kind of Thermochill 120.3 or BI-Extreme 120.3, because your pump is dumping lots of heat into the loop. That will give you better performance than just having a 120.2 and a 120.1 in a loop. By adding an extra radiator you are adding more restriction to your loop and not gaining very much.

Moral of the story:
Flow Speed: The faster the better. (To a point, if you can find a pump that will pump faster than another and dump about the same heat or less then sure it will be better)
1 big radiator is better than 2 smaller ones.
Big pumps dump lots of heat into the loop but big radiators take out lots of heat.

Also most of the time temps depend on room temp, sensor error, and all kind of different conditions. So it is hard to compare temps across the board.

Last moral is HAVE FUN!!! Just because someone tells you one things doesnt mean you still cant try it and who knows maybe you will prove them wrong and you can laugh in their face

Thanks for the input. I will probably go ahead and step up to a 120x3 b/c that VJ card has a nice OC on it, and I plan to oc my 6600 as soon as I get everything squared away. I wasn't sure about the flow rate issue, just going off of assumptions and logic which we all know usually can't be trusted.

Godfather1138 said:

My questions:
Will I need a bigger rad? If so would adding a 120x1 be the same as changing to a 360? I ask b/c I could easily add a 120 in my pump box without having to make changes to the top of my case to accommodate a 360.
What is the best way to regulate the flow on an Iwaki? With it wide open I feel the coolant is not getting enough time at the block, and as such is not pulling as much heat as it could be.

Click to expand...

Adding a 120.1 is not the same as changing to a 120.3 as adding a rad introduces more restriction based on the extra tubing needed to plumb the 120.1. It does of course offer the same surface area. It is preferable to stick with one larger rad than 2 smaller ones as it is easier to plumb, but then again you have an Iwaki so that extra tubing isn't going to make a difference.

As for flow, more flow is better up to the point at which pump heat dump negates any further cooling gains. There is a point of diminishing returns after which minimal improvements are to be seen as flow increases, normally above around 3gpm or so depending of course on the components and parts. The "time in the block to heat up" thing is a common misconception. Water acts as the medium to conduct the heat away from the heat sources to the rad/air. Keeping a good flow rate allows the water to pass through the components and the rad more often and hence more heat will be shed.

I am curious though why you would buy the viperjohn card when you could buy two regular 8800GTs for the cost of that one card? I would think that an SLI setup would be better than the one card(?).

After water cooling and shipping for everything I would be WAY over what I paid for the VJ card, and the performance would be pretty close to the same due to his mods. Not to mention I plan to SLI it with another VJ GT once the GT prices come down a bit (thus my wanting to make sure this loop is working as best as possible).

So with my Iwaki do you think I may see about the same drop in temps by adding a 120.1 rather than doing the extra work for the 120.3? I bought that pump so that I would not have to worry about flow rates no matter what I throw at it.

I wouldn't worry about the flow, either, with that pump. Add the extra 120 (or a 220 if you can find space for it) and enjoy ...

Well if you guys agree that I should see about the same cooling boost by adding a 120.1 then I think that is the route I am going to take just to keep things a little cleaner. I really don't expect the pump to take much of a hit from the addition of a second rad, and it might actually help control the flow a little. Purely speculation of course.

Since you have an Iwaki, then flow isn't an issue so adding a 120.1 rad is fine. Surface area is surface area when it comes to cooling. As Quietice mentioned, add a 120.2 if you can manage it.

Thanks for the help guys. I'll post up here when it is finished and let you know what I ended up doing.