too much tubing?

when is too much tubing too much tubing?

I'm having to run my tubes outside and around my case to my top-mounted radiator (since i dont want to drill any more holes in my case for the time being). I'd say there's about 10' or so throughout my case, most of which is outside. I only did this because i read that going pump-rad-cpu-res-pump was the best. If i ran pump-cpu-res-rad-pump, it'd be the most tube efficient.

Does it really matter how much tubing there is in my system? Also, should i get my thumb out of my butt and drill some holes in the dang thing?

-David

The more tubing and height differences, the more head loss you will get from your pump. So water flow and performance will be sacrificed.

Solutions: Use a larger pump (although it puts more heat into your water), minimize 90 degree elbows - tubing length - height changes.

i had the same problem and decided to go pump>cpu>rad . it took a lot less tubing and looks a lot nicer with less tubing. theres aslo a thread where people were debating whether pump>cpu>rad is better. personally i don't think it makes a huge difference, but the difference in tube clutter is worth it

i have a lot of tubing in my case that can probably be cut 3 times shorter but i'm too lazy. lol.

as zip22 stated there has been some debate about placement of components here is one such discussion. It seems that placement doesn't really make much of a difference. I would suggest experimenting with your particular setup however. I'm not sure how your hoses are run, but it doesn't seem to me that the rad being on top of your comp shouldn't invlove much more tubing than locating at the bottom of your case. As for the lift, were really only talking a foot maybe a foot and a half aren't we? Again it might make a difference, but could be so small as to be insignificant.
Whatever you choose to do, experimentation is your friend as not all cooling systems are created equal.

Peace

sanssheriff said:

Whatever you choose to do, experimentation is your friend as not all cooling systems are created equal.

Click to expand...

(Quote edited for stress on the pertinent point.)

That's it, man: wiser words have not been seen by me in any cooling thread or article, anywhere!

If your system meets your needs as far as appearance and temps- call it done.

If you want to get the maximum cooling out of it then experimentation is required- the general rules I have and use a very flawed and even I have found them to be very inaccurate at times, lol!

The least inaccurate rules I have found:
Bigger tubes are better
Sharp bends or 90s are BAD- keep to a minimum
Bigger pumps are better within limits
Bigger radiators are better
More airflow is better
Shorter tubes are better.

My list is in order of priority for my builds- and as you can see, while I do have tube length as a concern, it is far from top of the list.
I would rather have an extra foot or two of tube than a 90 degree fitting, or using smaller tube to make everything fit.

Normally, an internal system really can't have more than a foot or so of extra tube and still fit in the case; an external system is another matter.
10' of tubing probably IS impacting things a bit...perhaps even enough to notice a temp. difference. Perhaps not.

As far as component order is concerned: mostly I do think it is a matter of preference and how components fit best with the straightest, shortest tubes. (NOTE- straight is a higher priority than short!)

Why so much tubing anyway? I have my rad mounted ontop of my Lian Li and have both CPU and GPU blocks, a Res and Dual Rads and I dont think I have even 3' or tubing total. In fact, I will be adding a water chiller next Monday and I dont expect to increase to more than 5 - 6' even then. Drill a couple of holes and get rubber grommets for them at Home Depot or something!

LOL you wanna talk about 'too much tubing'?
Total length of tubing in my set up is about 24ft. I have my
rad/fan/shroud set up in the closet next to my desk. The furnace is in the closet. I keep the small window open so I can utilize the winter air. My temps are 33c/38c load. After 4 hours of MOHAA my cpu temp topped at 40c. I am running a cpu and gpu in series. My Sonata is on top of my desk about 30" high. Tubing from the case to the rad is 12'. The only thing I hear is the pump sometimes.

I plan on putting my water chiller outside of my house on the other side of the wall. Since I will be liminating my rads I tubing length should only increase a little bit and I expect near total silence. I do need to drill holes in the outside wall though...

Putting the radiator before the blocks is good, within limits. That is usually a fairly good way to possibly lower your temps, but, it seems to me that getting it in that order is hurting your system WAY too much.

AngryAlpaca said:

Putting the radiator before the blocks is good, within limits. That is usually a fairly good way to possibly lower your temps, but, it seems to me that getting it in that order is hurting your system WAY too much.

Click to expand...

Yeah, from what I have always seen the temp difference is only 1-2 °C. I would just drill some holes though and optomize for appearance and tubing length avoiding any 90s or restrictions.

1-2C is a fair bit, if it's just a simple matter of changing the physical location, or moving a tiny bit of tubing.

Oh, I agree but I think he will gain as much or event more by reducing his tubing from 10' to 2-3'.

Yeah, that's what I was saying (Or trying to)

well, for now, i'll just leave it as is, but when i go home for spring break i'll drill some holes. thanks for the feedback

-David