Does anyone use Copper Tubing?

[Eugenius88]

I've seen people talk about it, personally I think it looks glorious, but then people say it's a pain to upgrade with them.

Anyone use them in their builds?

 

[chaosjello]

this thread briefly covers using copper tubing

 

[Eugenius88]

Ah I'm assuming removal of blocks and what not will have to get the copper tubes cut and redoing the loop. Looks fun to do, I can't imagine the copper in an arctic setting though

 

[chaosjello]

yeah when you run copper lines it's more affected by ambient temps due to copper being a conductor. component upgrades also become a pain because you'll probably have to fabricate a new line. but what you lose in thermal efficiency and practicality, you make up for in a snazzy industrial look. as stated in that thread "i showed her my pipe... ******* love pipes"

 

[Pierre3400]

I have used it before, and really want to again, but i never get around to it

 

[PenguinParlor]

yeah when you run copper lines it's more affected by ambient temps due to copper being a conductor

I'm not really sure what you mean by "loss of efficiency" and "more affected by ambient temps" care to clarify?

 

[chaosjello]

they are linked. copper is a good conductor of heat, but like all metals, a poor insulator. touch a hot water pipe made of copper and then a pex pipe and you can feel the difference. the loss of efficiency comes at lower temperatures (such as idle or system startup) when ambient temps are high (such as summertime or being near a source of sunlight). the copper could be warmer and heat up the components faster. the loss would be minor, if at all noticeable. it's more of a theoretical loss on paper than anything. under load, the copper could actually help dissipate more heat provided you have strong chassis fans moving air through the case. in the same breath however, the copper lines inside the case will be hotter than regular tubing and could potentially heat up other components. generally speaking, there isn't a performance hit taken when copper pipe is used but it is far more difficult a material to work with.

 

[PenguinParlor]

they are linked. copper is a good conductor of heat, but like all metals, a poor insulator. touch a hot water pipe made of copper and then a pex pipe and you can feel the difference. the loss of efficiency comes at lower temperatures (such as idle or system startup) when ambient temps are high (such as summertime or being near a source of sunlight). the copper could be warmer and heat up the components faster. the loss would be minor, if at all noticeable. it's more of a theoretical loss on paper than anything. under load, the copper could actually help dissipate more heat provided you have strong chassis fans moving air through the case. in the same breath however, the copper lines inside the case will be hotter than regular tubing and could potentially heat up other components. generally speaking, there isn't a performance hit taken when copper pipe is used but it is far more difficult a material to work with.

Ok, essentially yes but, not quite... Your fluid (under no load) is going to be assumed room temperature regardless of piping material. Other than that, efficiency difference is most likely negligible.

 

[chaosjello]

... Other than that, efficiency difference is most likely negligible.

that's pretty much what i said

 

[m0r7if3r]

efficiency difference is most likely negligible.

Think of it as additional cooling surface area. Except think of how much cooling surface area is in a rad...and now how much you would gain in relation to that from the tubing. It's definitely negligible.