is 2 better then one?

I am going to have everyhting outside of the case and I am wonder to get some advice on what would most likely be better for cooling CPU and 1 (soon 2) GPUs. Should I run 1 huge rad or would 2 be better?

I'd go with two rads being that you're going to have to cool two cards. What kind of cards are going in this loop?

Depends. U can see sig
i5 750 @ 4.2
1 5850 maybe 2.
ME! I would suggest to run two loop to keep everything cool. So I would suggest to buy 2 rad and if u dont like the temps u got in (1loop) u can buy a second pump/res and do a dual loop.
2 120.3 should be enough for those.
or
1 120.3 for the cpu
1 120.4 for the gpu in dual loop

for the rig in your sig i would get a triple 120mm or quad 120mm rad for everything in one loop.

Two better than one. You got heat to remove, one Mora 9x9 120mm should be fine.

It's all about the heatload.

It goes both ways on this. Me, I say 2 loops. Its fun to build and looks a little neat with different colors.

My i7 runs 24/7 at 4ghz with HT on and I barely tap 50c, 40c most of the time on Call of Duty.

My 4870X2 with its own little 120mm never touches past 43c.

2 loops will run more but well worth it.

It goes both ways on this. Me, I say 2 loops. Its fun to build and looks a little neat with different colors.

Click to expand...

I think a single loop is a better idea. You don't need two pumps and you avoid the extra heat dump of a pump, the cost, and the complexity of separate loops. Additionally, a single loop means the heat load from your CPU and GPU(s) is spread evenly across whatever radiator(s) you use.

what will your upgrade include 1 year from now...

One year from now I see one more 5850 for xfire...

So, you got about 130 watts on the GPU and about 225 watts on the CPU under heavy concurrent loads. Meaning Furmark and Prime 95 at the same time. So for ease of math lets say you got 350 watts, minus 20% for normal high usage. Games primarily.

My source for GPU's come from here. I hear from much more expert peeps that this site is pretty good and numbers are pretty close.

Your GPU:
http://www.hardware.fr/articles/781-5/dossier-vraie-consommation-73-cartes-graphiques.html
Full post, bookmark it please.
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=635806
Your CPU wattage, I just kinda know what you got.

Please look at the rad test here, hopefully you already have it bookmarked, realize research and understanding the 'why' is great. I'm using an MCR320 as the bang for the buck benchmark.

Rad:
http://martin.skinneelabs.com/SwiftechMCR320-Review.html
Full site:
http://martin.skinneelabs.com/

Scroll half way down on the first link right above.

You get a chart. The DT on the left tells you how good your cooling solution is. A GOOD CPU DT is under 10C, you really want to get every bit, go for 5C DT.

The bottom shows wattage, the lines represent different fans (mostly a measure of noise). The black line is LOUD, the green line is as close to silent as you can get pretty much. Now that is out of the way, let's dig in.

An MCR320 with a blue line is about 7.5 DT, not bad at all using Yate Loon medium fans, and can be turned down when not gaming. Solid setup.

Lets add another 130 watts for your second card. So 480 watts with another 5850. You can see your DT goes up to 10C, your CPU temps will be higher. Your overclock can suffer, or temps will be higher than you like.

You can fix that by getting faster louder fans, or by adding more raddage.

Thats why I'd buy TWO 220 sized rads to start. Or get the 320 and add another 220 to the loop once you get another GPU. Or buy a BIG 120x4 to start, or a 140x3 rad.

Other better, much more expensive rads like the SR-1, XSPC RX, or Thermochill are maybe 10% better with low speed fans.

Look at the links, open your mind, bookmark. I know as you get into this stuff, like I did they will be invaluable help in your future.

Conumdrum thanks for the valuable info.. That’s great! I am getting closer and after some more researching I will post my part list and get thoughts. It’s always best to be methodical especially when it comes to planning for future additions.