Flow restrictions from Koolance ATI cooler

Hi All,

I'm a noob to W/C, and after searching a ton for info and not finding it, I figured I'd just ask.

First though I'll explain my system and my goals. I'm going for quiet. I currently have over 7 fans in my system and it sounds like a jet engine. So, I'm ditching my Tt lanfire case for a Tsunami mid tower that has front and back 120mm fan slots. I've got a AMD 4000 in there on a gigabtye board. I'm also trying to avoid any sort of external attachments since I do drag this box around to lan parties, so I'm going to try to keep everything internal. So, given those contraints, I went for the Switftech 120 Swiftech H20-120 "PREMIUM" CPU Liquid Cooling Kit . My thought was to mount the 120 rad/fan internally blowing out instead of using the external fitting. I also liked the tubing size at 3/8 ID since it takes up less room. From what I've read on that 350 pump, it has a fair amount of umph, with 13' of head, so I throught I'd be able to add a video cooler for my x800.

So my big question is, given that I've went in for the Koolance VID-AT1-V06 ATI cooler that used 1/4 ID fittings, will this kill my water pressure? I know folks are not terrible impressed with the GPU/Ram enclosures, but I'm worried about the ambient temps in my box, since it will be in an enclosure within my desk and figured having the kit would help.

I know that the Rad isn't the biggest, and it would be better to go with the bigger one, but I'm trying to avoid that for now. In the long run, I can always mount it on top or the back if teh single rad doesn't cut it. Anyhow, any thought on the impact of going from 3/8 to 1/4 within the loop? What sort of impact does that have on flow rates in your experience?

Thanks,

Drum

The Koolance parts are extermely restrictive and not designed for use in high flow setups, hence th 1/4" fittings. You might consider returning that block for something more suitable, such as the Dangerden full cover block.

I wish dangerden offered something for the x800 series, but the apparently don't. Only for the x1800...and I doubt that would fit on the 800 board...anyone know one way or the other?

Any idea what sort of effect this will have on cooling? Going from 3/8 - 1/4 and back again?

Get a Maze 4 with OCZ Ramsinks.

consumer9000 said:

The Koolance parts are extermely restrictive and not designed for use in high flow setups, hence th 1/4" fittings. You might consider returning that block for something more suitable, such as the Dangerden full cover block.

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He doesnt have to have a high flow setup. Low flow setups are fine for what he wants

I'm going for quiet.

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unfortunately he said he wants to put everything in the case. All the low flow setups Ive ever seen were built around a very large radiator.

So if you want to stick with the swifty setup (not change out the rad) sell/return the koolance block and get a DD full cover block or a normal GPU block, some ramsinks, and put a fan blowing on the card.

If you want the quietest box you can get(or just want to keep that koolance thign) you'll have to get a different radiator.

Theres nothing wrong with setups that use 1/4" ID tubing. You can even use the same pump and CPU block you have. But you need a rad with tons of surface area. Like the one voigts used. Or that MORA2 thing.

Ok..sounds like I need to deep six the koolance gizmo...I'll grab a Maze4 and some OCZ ramsinks. Any preference between copper vs Aluminum? I'll give this a try. If it still doesn't fly, I can always move the rad outside and get the bigger swifttech rad or go with one of those blackice monsters...

Copper all the way. Aluminum will corrode.

Ok..so one more question...I certainly appreciate all the feedback and advice. I was taking another look at the tsunami case, and it looks like the drive cage slides out. If I were to mount a second 120mm fan/radiator in the front and connect them in series (or parallel) would that give comparable performance to one of the larger radiators out there?

It would give you the performance of about a 120.2 rad.

a second rad if put in series right after the first one will provide basically the same performance as a 2x120mm radiator would


but yeah, definitely go for a danger den maze 4 w/ acetal top & some copper OCZ ramsinks

bartsimsonii said:

Copper all the way. Aluminum will corrode.

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No it won't if you know what you are doing. Had a bare aluminum and copper loop run for a year with no problems. 75% distilled 25% AF. Read more before you give answers.

He just said hes a noob why dont you read more before answering.

Please when you mix aluminum with copper your taking a chance that you may regret later.

I don't think using 25% of an anti-corrosive is taking much of a chance. Of course galvanic corrosion is a real possibility, but there are precautions that can avoid this.

bartsimsonii said:

He just said hes a noob why dont you read more before answering.

Please when you mix aluminum with copper your taking a chance that you may regret later.

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Aluminum + copper + distilled = corrosion.

Aluminum + copper + 75% distilled + 25% AF = corrosion after 5 years.

Hows that? That n00bish enough for you? Or do you want me to put it into another one of your half-sentence incorrect answer post format?

citronym said:

I don't think using 25% of an anti-corrosive is taking much of a chance. Of course galvanic corrosion is a real possibility, but there are precautions that can avoid this.

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Exactly what I am trying to get at but why take the chance. I mean there are enough copper watercooling products that aluminum products arent needed.

jamesavery22 said:

Aluminum + copper + distilled = corrosion.

Aluminum + copper + 75% distilled + 25% AF = corrosion after 5 years.

Hows that? That n00bish enough for you? Or do you want me to put it into another one of your half-sentence incorrect answer post format?

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Has your e-penis gotten large enough or do you want to start a flame war? Please why dont you just stop insulting people and actually help the community.

Its called galvanic corrosion. Read up

bartsimsonii said:

Has your e-penis gotten large enough or do you want to start a flame war? Please why dont you just stop insulting people and actually help the community.

Its called galvanic corrosion. Read up

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[sarcasm]yes this is all about e-penis[/sarcasm]
This is about all of your posts being crap. Is that flaming you? Sure , since others might not agree with my assement of your frequent worthless posts. You answer a lot of threads with the same type of one line no explanation answers so you get some right. But in this case, as well as others, you are wrong. I love how you say I need to help the community. Please show me a post of yours that you've put effort into? Oh yeah it can't be a regurgitated one liner...

As always let me do the work for you. I blame myself for expecting you to post anything worth while...

http://www.valvoline.com/products/Zerex Racing Super Coolant.pdf
They even warrant it again aluminum and copper. Many cars have copper rads and aluminum blocks. Hrmmmm wonder why they don't have problems and don't have to change fluid for years

Soooo yeah wow gambling. It suuure is riskay.

Zerex has the same inhibitors that most antifreeze does. Just a higher concentration (and $/gal).

So if you have copper + al just have your coolant 90% distilled and 10% zerex or 75% distilled 25% AF. Change the fluid every 6months if you're anal.


And I appologize for saying silver + Al is always a no-no. No matter what the inhibitor. The redox-potential of silver is 5 times that of copper. Forgot to mention that.

Back to the point

It looks like you've decided to go with a low restriction setup. That's fine. As for the rad, the single 120 should be fine provided you pass cool air over it, ie not air that has come from inside the case. of course if you have very high ambient temps you may have problems.

I have a single very thin rad cooling an overclocked FX60 and a 7800GTX. This works fine because I've mounted the rad in the front of the case and push air through it from the outside in.