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Liquid Cooling temp questions.

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Church of Virus

Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2007
I just installed my first liquid cooling setup the other day and it's all running fine and well.. well that is if 38c idle is normal? Which it is not.. could this be strickly due to the fluid I'm using? I incorrectly read an artical and got this fluid instead of Feser..

D-tek Fuzion 1/2 inch high flow fittings
Swiftech MCP655 12 VDC Pump
Swiftech MCR-220 Radiator 1/2 high flow fittings
FluidXP+

Here are some pictures of the setup..
HPIM0203.jpg

HPIM0224.jpg

HPIM0225.jpg

The coolant runs into a 9 inch cylinder res. with 1/2in high flow fittings mounted on the back side of the motherboard.

I have 2 120mm Thermaltake fans for the front intake, 2 120mm Logisys? fans ontop of the radiator on the interior bottom for exhaust, 120 Antec rear for exhaust and 120mm coolermaster top for exhaust.

Something just doesn't seem right.


Everest tells me 38c for the cpu and Speedfan gives 40c. Anyone have wisdom to share?
 
What fans do you have on the radiator? Do you have 4? or 2 pushing or 2 pulling?

In your last pic you have a 90 elbow from the pump, which is slowing the flow, but i doubt that is causing the problem. Actually, you have 2 90s, one going into the pump, and 1 going out... don't sound like a good idea.

I would check the "logisys" fans for the radiator first, I doubt they are enough CFM.

Your idle should be close to room temp with a good flowing system.
 
the fans sit onto of the rad and push air out through the bottom of the case.

That my be part of your problem. They are pulling warm air off your GPU and pumping it through your radiator. If the radiator is already warm then the amount of heat it can pull from the fluid is reduced. This is what we (well in the turbo world at least) call heat soak.
 
What if I turned the fans around, and have them pull air instead of push.. on top of not blowing warm air from the gcard to the rad, it would bring cool air from outside cooling the rad and the gcard?


Also, the coolant I'm using, as I said I misread an article, is supposed to be some of the worst(as far as temps go), so I was considering emptying some of it out and mixing in distilled water.. would this help? I'd like to try to keep the blood red color the best I can, as this ties in with the mod/paint I'm doing with my case.
 
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I have never had luck with any fans coming into the case from a radiator but its worth a shot. And is there enough airflow from under your case to cool the rad?
 
I have never had luck with any fans coming into the case from a radiator but its worth a shot. And is there enough airflow from under your case to cool the rad?

Oh yeah, including the gap provided between the actual bottom of the case exterior and the bottom of the interior is about an inch gap, maybe more, I also have wheels on the case, so I have a few inches of space, plenty of air flow.
 
Yes, it would help. As long as the rad is kinda sealed to the bottom of the case. Are the holes under the rad open? Wide open mesh if any mesh at all?

The rad is pretty sealed to the bottom of the case and there is nothing obstructing airflow between the fans and radiator.
 
If you pull through the rad, what about the bottom of the case? Is there mesh? If I think I know what case it is, there is mesh (small drilled holes in the case material). It really blocks airflow. If the mesh was removed your fans would work much better.

Put the fans in pull on top of the rad, or blow under the rad. You want to pull/push outside air through the rad into the case.
 
Yeah, as part of the case mod I'm doing, I cut the mesh that was provided so there wouldn't be any airflow blockage. I'll try turning the fans around and see what kind of temp difference I get.
 
So I have turned the fans around, so they pull air in and the temps have lowered by 5c. So I'm idle at 32c and load at 50c, still seems high..

This may sound silly, but does 3-pin or 4-pin make any difference? I have them as 3-pin, no 4-pin connected.
 
I think i know what you mean, and no that don't make a difference. Now what does matter is the fans you have technically suck. Not in a good way. Try and get some better fans, maybe even just try some yates. I actually have 2 silverstone fans, and 2 yates on my 220 radiator.
 
Room temp is usually around 75f.. what would be the cfm I should aim for with fans for my rad? Perhaps someone has a link? To stick to the theme of my case mod I want to try to stick with red LED fans. If not though I could figure something else out.
 
Anyone have USA online store links of fans that would have 85+cfm with red LEDs? If not I'll have to figure out an alternative to LED lighting for the bottom of the case. Those panaflow are like 100+ cfm but no red LED.
 
Your temps are great. I wouldn't worry about it anymore. I'm sure 50C load for your AMD is fine, dunno much about max temps for AMD. But 50C is pretty good.

Better fans would help but only get fans that are quiet and have good CFM. Don't sacrifice your quietness for a bit more cooling it you don't need any more cooling.

Google Petras, Jabtech, umm Frozen CPU, Performance PC
 
Right now maximum cooling isn't the big deal, I just am not satisfied with the temps I have. Once I get the new Intel core coming out and a new board I hope to OC like a mofo and the watercooling is to help me keep lower than air temps. Sound level isn't that important either.

So far I have my 2 Thermaltake that are 21db and 78cfm, the 2 Logisys that are 40db and 68cfm, an Antec 30db and 79cfm and some Cooler Master fan that came with the case.

I suppose I have never really payed attention to fans, now I'm realizing how many bad purchases I have made. : / Would a fan with 120cfm cool much more than one with 80cfm?
 
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