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A WC N00b with a few questions...

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SkiBum1207

Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2008
Dual Radiator question, Series or Paralell?

Ok so ive never watercooled and am a noob at it so if i say anything stupid and offend anyone, im sorry.

My system. (A work in progress)
Intel Q6600
Nvidia 8600GT
2gb HyperX pc2-9200
Asus P5k
Antec New Solution Case super mid tower
Thermaltake toughpower 750


so the first question I have is about routing the water line. my case only has one 120mm fan connection and it is on the back so i don't think I can run a 240 or 320mm radiator. (If theres a solution to this problem let me know!) So I decided 2 120mm radiators one off the back fan and then run the other off a side 80mm vent with an adapter. (again, let me know if this is a good idea or not). So to the question, would it be better to run the radiators in parallel or series?

Example
Series=
Pump->waterblock->Y Splitter->Rad1->Ysplitter->Resivoir
______________________^->Rad 2->^

or parallel

Pump->waterblock->Rad1->Rad2->Resivoir

Any help on the subject would be greatly appreciated, I could not find anywhere online information about this matter :confused:

Also what would a good radiator/fan setup be? im looking for a balance of performance and noise anything kinda in the middle would be awesome
 
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...my case only has one 120mm fan connection and it is on the back so i don't think I can run a 240 or 320mm radiator.
Generally, case fans are not used to cool radiators. The radiators are either mounted in openings cut into the case or on standoffs (see drawing).

Generally a series loop is preferred because with a parallel loop you can't control how much water goes through each loop. A parallel loop, while reducing restriction, also cuts flow in half.

As for order in the loop, Pump>Rad>Block(s)>Pump is preferred since the water is the warmest leaving the pump, and coolest leaving the Rad. But that temp difference will be less than 1*c, so routing in at least as important.

I'd suggest you start off reading this:
http://www.over-clock.com/ivb/index.php?showtopic=20277
 

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If you really want to run 2 singles I don't see a problem with that as long as you get a good pump. You really need both of them to be 120mm, though, if you plan on cooling the GPU and that quad (and some people might say that's not enough). It's usually better to run the rads in series:
T-line > pump > rad1 > rad2 > block(s) > T-line, or
T-line > pump > rad1 > block(s) > rad2 > T-line if you need to do that to minimize the tubing lengths.

I guess you could use an 80mm fan for one of them but you should make it a high CFM one (for an 80mm) if you do. For decent performance most singles need ~50 CFM but more is better up to about 75 or 80 CFM when the performance curve starts rounding off.

A good way to mount the rad outside of the case is with a radbox.

http://www.jab-tech.com/Swiftech-RadBox-MCB-120-Revision-2-Black-pr-3337.html
Agreed! I was wondering why he hadn't come across that option already. :)
It does make it a little difficult to get to some PCI slots but other than that it's a good way to start ...
 
Hey thanks everyone.

I had run into the rad box and was planning on using it if the 120mm rad was too big for the rear interior of the case. But Wouldn't a 80->120mm adapter be better than the rad box because It looks like (I have no expirence with this so its just what I can see) the rad box blocks the air vent and I would prefer the air to be vented out of the case rather than circulate into the GPU, other Rad etc..?
 
Do yourself a favor and just go with a dual rad at least right from the start. You can use two singles, but you will find that they really are more hassle that its worth over just using one dual rad. The Swiftech MCR220 is a good performing rad to consider. Don't let your case dictate your cooling as most cases aren't designed for watercooling in mind anyway, and most cases will require some cutting and creativity to mount watercooling.

Also, later down the road when you end up selling your rad for whatever reason (and believe me, if you get the watercooling/tinkering itch, you will upgrade or change things at some point), selling single rads is going to be much harder than selling a dual rad.
 
Hey thanks everyone.

I had run into the rad box and was planning on using it if the 120mm rad was too big for the rear interior of the case. But Wouldn't a 80->120mm adapter be better than the rad box because It looks like (I have no experience with this so its just what I can see) the rad box blocks the air vent and I would prefer the air to be vented out of the case rather than circulate into the GPU, other Rad etc..?
Not sure what you're getting at here. The rad box is designed to hold the rad off the rear fan mount and provide a pressure equalizer between the case fan and rad fan (the rad box has open sides). I think it's assumed the air will be pushed through the rad by fans mounted on the computer side of it - in other words, all the air will be moving away from the case.

As billb pointed out, this does put some of the case fan exhaust air through the upper half of the rad. But a lot of people (especially ones not wanting to rip into their case) are willing to make the trade-off to get a simpler mounting solution ...
 
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