Planning out my future loop...advice please!

rideelement247 · Feb 9, 2014

I want to watercool my CPU and GPU and wanted to see what hardware I would need to get. I have a HAF 932 case.

The parts I am looking to cool are an i5 4670K OC'd to 4.4GHz, and a Radeon 290X at stock settings. I want to be able to keep these cool and am considering OCing my 290X if I can get low temps.

I am looking at the XSPC AX360 combo pack and would add in a GPU block as well. Would a 360 be enough to cool both of my components? What order should I run my loop from? Would it be best to go from pump/res>rad>CPU>GPU or in another fashion?

ATMINSIDE · Feb 9, 2014

Take a week or so to read through all the stickies in the Water Cooling section of the forum.

There's a lot you need to know before just slapping parts together.
All your current questions should be answered in there already :thup:

rideelement247 · Feb 9, 2014

ATMINSIDE said:
Take a week or so to read through all the stickies in the Water Cooling section of the forum.

There's a lot you need to know before just slapping parts together.
All your current questions should be answered in there already

I read the stickies and think that a 360 would just about cut it, but I'm not sure with the OC of the CPU and if it will handle an OC GPU as well. From what I read about my stock processor, it's TDP is around 160 at stock core under full load but couldn't find any data on one that's OC'd. The TDP at load for the GPU can reach around 300 when OC'd. So I think I may be within good delta T range on a 360 but wanted a confirmation.

mtdewcowboy · Feb 9, 2014

Flow always goes res/pump/rad/cpu/gpu/rez
Rez is always before pump that is the only rule in WC
The other order of the loop is up to you
A 360 will probably not be enough rad to cool
Rule of thumb is 120x2 per chip for quiet setup
If sound is no issue then some high rpm fans will let you get away with less rad
A 360 is pushing it but some will say 120x1.5 per chip is good
I go overkill so not to be under rad in the future

ATMINSIDE · Feb 9, 2014

Well, at stock, you're looking at 84W on the CPU and 250W on the GPU.
Add an overclock to that, I would probably run 4.120 worth.

Loop order doesn't really matter, as long as the res goes straight to the pump inlet.

What fluid were you planning on running?

rideelement247 · Feb 9, 2014

ATMINSIDE said:
Well, at stock, you're looking at 84W on the CPU and 250W on the GPU.
Add an overclock to that, I would probably run 4.120 worth.

Loop order doesn't really matter, as long as the res goes straight to the pump inlet.

What fluid were you planning on running?

Well the pumps would be in the XSPC res so that much I do have covered

. I was planning on using RO/DI water since it would have 0 TDS and I have a unit that does it already(aquarium hobbyist). I guess I could do 2x 240 rads or a 360 and 120.

m0r7if3r · Feb 9, 2014

I'm really sick of the "each block needs 120.?" rules, none of them are right. I would encourage you to run heatload calculations and determine how much rad you need, rather than going by some overly general rule of thumb.

mtdewcowboy · Feb 9, 2014

Yes you can find heat loads and all the specs of rads and pump flows and fans
And after a few weeks you will have the exact size you need
I dont have that kind of free time so I use what most use is the 120 method it maybe off somewhat but it works

ATMINSIDE · Feb 9, 2014

Just wanted to make sure you weren't planning on running dyes or additives.

Distilled with some silver is best, and if you mix metals in the loop you'll need an anti-corrosive for that.

m0r7if3r · Feb 9, 2014

mtdewcowboy said:
Yes you can find heat loads and all the specs of rads and pump flows and fans
And after a few weeks you will have the exact size you need
I dont have that kind of free time so I use what most use is the 120 method it maybe off somewhat but it works

That's a gross over exaggeration.

rideelement247 · Feb 9, 2014

Nope, no dyes or additives for me. I'll be running distilled water. I'm thinking of running UV tubing, but I'll look more into that as time goes along. Got to save up the money first!

rideelement247 · Feb 9, 2014

m0r7if3r said:
That's a gross over exaggeration.

Where can I figure out/calculate my heat loads to figure out what rad size I would need for my setup?

ATMINSIDE · Feb 9, 2014

rideelement247 said:
Where can I figure out/calculate my heat loads to figure out what rad size I would need for my setup?

Straight from the stickies.

Thekamikazepr · Feb 9, 2014

which 360 combo the d5 combo or the xspc pump combo?

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...ded_and_Free_Dead-Water_.html?tl=g30c321s1310
???/
vs

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2...cluded_w_Free_Dead-Water.html?tl=g30c321s1310

ATMINSIDE · Feb 9, 2014

D5 is vastly superior.

mtdewcowboy · Feb 9, 2014

Show me a fx8320 that only pulls 125 watts @ 4.8Ghz?
I have yet to find the info in a hour search online
I have seen mine pull over 200 at lower clocks
Even the stock specs are off @ 125
At stock clocks you can get close but once oc all bets are off
Only way to know is to measure the watts pulled @ such OC cause no two chips are the same
To me going through all that is overrated when 120x2 will get you close and even more so over rad alittle

rideelement247 · Feb 9, 2014

ATMINSIDE said:
Straight from the stickies.

Saw that before posting, but I didn't realize it was the same as heat load. I don't know what the TDP for my processor would be at my current OC, but I'll use the 250W for the processor just to calculate. If I add on my GPU OC'd, it would be 300W.

Therefore, I would need to cool 550W of power and according to the guide I should aim for around a 10DT for a CPU loop and 15 for a GPU loop. Seeing as the CPU is going to be on the same loop, I'm going to aim for the 10DT. The only unfortunate part is that I can't readily find info on the AX version of the radiators from XSPC broken down by DT to W ratio and fan speed. The RX info is out there though.

With the AX being thinner than the RX I guess it will under perform it, and even with the RX I would need high spinning fans to run a 10 degree DT.

Thanks all for the help!

m0r7if3r · Feb 9, 2014

The clock speeds are largely irrelevant to the power consumption. Voltages are what matters to power consumption.

Edit: you can even avoid doing the calculations yourself with this: http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

ATMINSIDE · Feb 9, 2014

You'd be lucky to hit 150W on that CPU. 300W for the GPU is probably pretty accurate though.

You're correct, the RX will dissipate more heat than the AX.
All other variables the same, the percentage difference in thickness will be the percentage of performance hit you take.

rideelement247 · Feb 9, 2014

m0r7if3r said:
The clock speeds are largely irrelevant to the power consumption. Voltages are what matters to power consumption.

Edit: you can even avoid doing the calculations yourself with this: http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

Calculated it and it came to around 170W. Thanks for the link!

ATMINSIDE said:
You'd be lucky to hit 150W on that CPU. 300W for the GPU is probably pretty accurate though.

You're correct, the RX will dissipate more heat than the AX.
All other variables the same, the percentage difference in thickness will be the percentage of performance hit you take.

So I'm looking to cool ~470W which is going to put me at 2 radiators, screaming Scythes, or looking into a more efficeint radiator. That's with a DT of 10.

Planning out my future loop...advice please!

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