SOLVED Building An External Water Cooling Loop- Need Confirmation On Parts

[fencingdude101]

QBob has a point about going completely overboard. It's a matter of matching porportions. Water cooling is expensive and a maintenance hassle. So why settle for marginally better performance over air cooled or sealed loop (Antec H20 920) system?
Why not include the GPU? Why not a larger radiator and quiter low speed fans. So buck up cowboy. Double down dog.

Double series pump? Why not? It's got head pressure. It's insurance.

Yes, I agree completely with going extreme on an extreme subject (Such as water cooling) I want to start with the best basics I can get, and just add on more things (More fans, accessories, etc)

I will be including the GPUs on a completely separate external loop, however that's after I save up a little more money once I buy the one for the CPU. Eventually, I will also be adding RAM and chipset blocks to the CPU loop. (As you said, might as well go extreme)

I'm getting the largest radiator and fans I can get, 120.4 with 5600RPM fans. I'd go 140mm, but I can't find high performance fans to go with it. I'll just tune the fans down when I can, but turn them up when things start to go under high load to lower temps.

Yes, double pumps are defiantly on my list- triple if the RAM and Chipset blocks restrict flow too much. However, they will have to be saved for later, as my money tree in the backyard hasn't started budding the hundreds yet.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Thanks for the suggestions. I may just go with the MCP35x, after reading up on it a little more. I'll just pick up a quick PWM controller (It's easier rather than running multiple lines to my motherboard from the external case)

I'm still not sure if I should go with the dual pumps, though. If I have the money, it would defiantly be beneficial over just one for my setup. Are there any charts comparing 1 MCP35x over 2? I know there are some for the 655, but not sure about this.

Yeah no problem Unless you add the GPU's to the same line than I would go with dual and if you're going with 2 seperate loops than it would be pointless and would go 1 pump per loop. You wouldn't get a huge difference I have read from 2 seperate loops instead of one big one as most do nowadays. Your wish is my command on the charts you're asking for

Dual Pumps: http://martinsliquidlab.org/2012/01/29/swiftech-mcp35x2-pump/8/
Series vs Parallel: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?225249-Pumps-in-Series-Vs.-Parallel-Graph

P.S. - I made sure the Koolance QDCs were not from an older batch on the VLN4. When I was doing testing on the LC components on the side in the open I went to check and see my QDCs and most look fine but a few of them weren't flushing properly. I didn't want to take any chances and had found this http://forums.koolance.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2326&start=10 explaining of a bad batch and RMA'd them send them back and got newer ones assuming mine were an old batch from Frozencpu. I'd buy those straight from Koolance and not any 3rd party site so you know you're getting their good batch. Just an FYI if you didn't know.

From a Koolance employee on the Forums states:

"We've found an issue after cutting open the bad fittings. The internal o-rings were a hair out of tolerance. This prevented the plunger from fully sealing when disconnected. Unfortunately, there's not a way to tell if a particular fitting is affected without disconnecting the male and female sides (a towel is recommended). Either the plunger surface won't sit flush with the inside, or if it's already installed, there could be continuous dripping.

We've screened our inventory and removed any other QDC's which exhibited the problem. Different styles of VL3N and VL4N fittings were affected, but the products aren't serialized so it's difficult to tell how recent the stock was.

If customers find they have VL3N or VL4N quick disconnects which leak when separated, please submit an RMA request (http://www.koolance.com/support/rma/). We'll need to know your part numbers, quantity, and invoice number/date. We'll take care of the shipping. If you've recently sent in QDC's for this problem, please contact our technical department (http://www.koolance.com/company/contact/) to obtain a refund on the original shipping and replacement fittings if needed."

 

[QBobWatson]

When I say external loop, I mean a custom built acrylic case. I made a case to house the radiator, pump, res, etc externally from the case my computer components are in. Lines then feed out into the computer case, cool the parts, then return to the custom, external case. Same idea as the radiator housing shroud you linked to, however I think mine looks nice, and its customizable.

A custom external radiator housing sounds sweet. Do you have any pics? I really like the idea of putting the electronics in a tiny case and the radiators a big one.

About multiple loops, I agree with GTXJackBauer. If you have a decent flow rate then all of the water in your loop will be about the same temperature, so the only reason to have multiple loops is if you expect significantly higher water temperatures (deltas) on your GPU loop as opposed to the CPU loop. This is really only an issue if you don't have enough radiators to cool the GPUs well enough. I had a build where I put the CPU and GPUs on separate loops, and all it did was increase my CPU temps because it wasn't being cooled by all of the radiators at once. Plus, if you haven't discovered it already, two loops are twice as hard to maintain as one.

 

[fencingdude101]

A custom external radiator housing sounds sweet. Do you have any pics? I really like the idea of putting the electronics in a tiny case and the radiators a big one.

About multiple loops, I agree with GTXJackBauer. If you have a decent flow rate then all of the water in your loop will be about the same temperature, so the only reason to have multiple loops is if you expect significantly higher water temperatures (deltas) on your GPU loop as opposed to the CPU loop. This is really only an issue if you don't have enough radiators to cool the GPUs well enough. I had a build where I put the CPU and GPUs on separate loops, and all it did was increase my CPU temps because it wasn't being cooled by all of the radiators at once. Plus, if you haven't discovered it already, two loops are twice as hard to maintain as one.

Sorry, no pics as of yet. As soon as I get some, I will be posting them up for your viewing pleasure. I have a TON on extra desk space, so I have room for two external cases. Easier assembly, maintenance, etc.

Again, I'm sticking with 1 loop until I add my GPUs and RAM/Chipset into the mix. With three GPUs, I just feel safer putting them on a separate loop. (Both will have 120.4 rads anyway) Also, I'd rather start out easy and work up to more sophisticated loops, rather than just go all-out and mess something up.