Liquid cooling questions (especially about rad)

[ned3000]

I'm building a new system and have decided to go with liquid cooling. There are a few things I don't get (I'm new to this.) There will be an Nvidia 280 (the one with the integrated water block) and a quad core Yorkfield. My goal is quiet, but a little overclocking would be nice too.

One of the things I don't get is how the radiator is supposed to work. I'm thinking one of the 2x 120mm systems would be good, but it's unclear how it's supposed to be set up. Do you put it in the front with air flowing though it into the case? People talk about using 4 fans with the Black Ice Xtreme Radiator II, how exactly are those 4 fans mounted? Also, something like the dual heater core system from danger den work better, and if so how much harder is that to set up? If I get a case with 3 120mm front fan slots in the front do I want have another fan blowing inward as well?

The pump is another question: Which one has the best quiet/power ratio? (I don't mind running AC to it.)

From what I've read I'll want to do a Y thing and connect separately to the CPU and GPU, Is that a good idea?

Also, I think most people are running 10% antifreeze 90% distilled water. Is there anything as good that my cat won't drink and die when it leaks? (dead cat's probably worse than loud 80mm VGA fans.)

[Conumdrum]

ned3000, I see you made it here.

This needs posted in the WC section, not general cooling.

I already answered some of your questions on Danger Den.

.......................
You'll need a 120x3 sized rad to cool that CPU and GPU. Thats 3 fans across one side of the rad to pull or push the air through the rad. The BIXII setup you mention is two fans on each side. It's a 120x2 rad. That rad needs LOTS of good airflow to work properly, so doing a push/pull is common. LOTS of good airflow also means more noise. Heatercores are cheap and effective as long as you have modding skills like brazing copper and making shrouds for fans etc. They also need LOUD fans.

You always want to blow as much air as you can through the case.

Pumps. Just two is all you need to worry about. The D5 or the MCP 355, both 12VDC, very very popular, quiet and very long lasting. Comes on when you turn the PC on.

You never want to Y your flows. Wherever that was read is against 99% of any experianced watercooler.

Most people do NOT run any antifreeze in their loop, another bad bit of info.
Hmmmm send me a link to the place your reading this stuff.

I'll steer you to some more technical links, please spend a few days (DAYS) reading posts, searching, learning.


Great place, not wayyy over the top with uber WC guys.
http://www.ocforums.com/index.php
Uber place, owned by one of the worls winning OC guys in the world. Not a place to post or ask questions by noobs, but an awesome place to learn.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/
Another good place to learn
http://www.overclock.net/water-cooling/
The GURU of independant testing, worshipped by many.
http://www.martinsliquidlab.com/
Great places to buy WC stuff
http://www.dangerden.com/index.php [...] e&Itemid=1
http://www.petrastechshop.com/
http://www.jab-tech.com/

Hope it helps, see ya in a few days, get edumacated!
Don't rush, it's a hobby. You'll be able to learn a LOT on your own.
m

[muddocktor]

Hi ned, welcome to OCForums. :welcome:

I moved this to the water cooling forum for you. :)

[ned3000]

Thanks for the info, I'll check out those links. I agree this probably should have been in the water cooling sub-forum (initially I was thinking of asking about good air cooling alternatives, but I think I'm beyond that now.)

The advice to split the loop came from a tom's hardware article (their justification did seem kind of lame.)

The antifreeze notion was from a poll (http://www.ocforums.com/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=291) on this site.

[MrLarkins]

One of the things I don't get is how the radiator is supposed to work. I'm thinking one of the 2x 120mm systems would be good, but it's unclear how it's supposed to be set up. Do you put it in the front with air flowing though it into the case? People talk about using 4 fans with the Black Ice Xtreme Radiator II, how exactly are those 4 fans mounted? Also, something like the dual heater core system from danger den work better, and if so how much harder is that to set up? If I get a case with 3 120mm front fan slots in the front do I want have another fan blowing inward as well?

The pump is another question: Which one has the best quiet/power ratio? (I don't mind running AC to it.)

From what I've read I'll want to do a Y thing and connect separately to the CPU and GPU, Is that a good idea?

Also, I think most people are running 10% antifreeze 90% distilled water. Is there anything as good that my cat won't drink and die when it leaks? (dead cat's probably worse than loud 80mm VGA fans.)

4 fans on a 2x120 would mean 2 pushing on inside of rad and 2 pulling from outside rad

I don't use a Y-thing...my loop is pump > rad > gpu > cpu > res > pump
you can see my spec in my signature, and I've never had any problems...very quiet and slightly overclocked

also, I use the MCP-350 w/DDCT-01s pump, the DDCT-01s is a custom Derlin top that I got from http://www.petrastechshop.com/laddcwpeddto.html ...its wonderful!

[Conumdrum]

Thanks for getting back, glad your here. Nice place.

I remember that poll. I was surprised. I think many folks use Antifreeze still, but it's moving to less Antifreeze. Anyway, hope it all goes well and post pics ideas etc. I started overclocking in 2006 (or really got to the nitty gritty of it) and in 2007 I started reading about WC. Luckily I found some great places to begin reading and learning for a few months before building my future WC loop. Thanks to all before me who helped etc.

Glad I didn't rush it, I almost got a unmentionable name brand until I saw the light. I'm happy, cool and quiet. Ohh fast too!

Thanks Mud! For moving it.