Question about my current cooling setup and adding new rads

[Snowbiz]

currently I have the SwiftTech H240x liquid cooler which is like a closed loop cooler in the sense it is all put together but it has the luxury of being expandable. The specifications on the SwiftTech website say that it has a pump powerful enough to easily accommodate adding of new radiators or new waterblocks for your GPU's. The full specs can be read here;
http://www.swiftech.com/H240-X.aspx#tab2

Here is a picture of my new build with the SwiftTech cooler




I'm actually pretty impressed with this cooler, on average at a 4.2GHz Overclock I'm sitting idle at around 24-25c and then I'm playing "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare" or "Assassins creed unity" with completely maxed out settings, everything on ultra or as high as it allows I will see temps around 40c.
The funny part is that even when I up my Overclock to 4.5 - 4.6GHz the temperatures are almost identical with the one difference I have noticed if I'm running at 4.6GHz and I run "3DMark Firestrike Ultra" the temps will go into the low to mid 50's. But it is pretty breif and then they fall right back down.

So considering I am running an Intel i7 5930k which has a stock clock speed of 3.5GHz and Turbo at 3.7GHz I figure that the temps I mentioned above are pretty nice for running at 4.6GHz.
(On a side note: for once I think I got pretty lucky with my CPU, because I'm pretty sure that if I was to raise the voltage more I could squeeze more than 4.6GHz out of it and still remain stable... However do to my comfort levels at this time and until I gain more experience in that area I'll sit calmly at 4.6GHz at about 1.240 - 1.250 volts. )
*** Please feel free to comment if that is an acceptable range for my voltage at that clock speed, I'm always trying to learn more...!!!!

Back to my main thought here;
Yes it says it is a strong enough pump for adding new components but here is what I just finished building and would like to hook into the loop!

Step 1:




Step 2:


Step 3: (Repeated step 1 and 2!)

Step 4:



Now, Since these are both Black Ice GTX 560 Xtreme's (Gen 2) and they are way, way bigger than what I could ever expect to fit into my case... They will be sitting outside of my case. My case has the two holes on the back of it to accommodate tubing coming in and out.
(Another side note, getting that bend right for the piece of acrylic I have connecting the two radiators was such a pain in the @$$!!! I really have respect for people that build such amazing custom liquid cooling loops with acrylic, it's not as easy as it looks!

So for adding this into my loop; do you think the one pump on my SwiftTech H240x kit will be enough for the 240mm radiator that's apart of the original liquid cooler and the 2 new Black Ice GTX 560 rads?
My next addition will be adding 3 water blocks to my GTX 970 Strix GPU's that I have running in SLI.
So at that point it will be the waterblock on my CPU, the 3 waterblocks on my GPU's, the 1x 240mm rad, and 2 560mm Rads.

I wasn't sure if there was ever a point where I should have a 2nd pump in my loop or possibly add another resevoir and pump on the outside of my case as a part of the 2 560 rads.

Please advise on what you all think...
Also can someone tell me what the equation is for figuring out how much heat my rads can dissipate?
I would like to know how many watts of heat I can remove with the 3 rads
1x 240
2x 560's

Thanks!!

Any advice, comments, questions or concerns would be greatly appreciated!!!

-SnowBiz!

 

[Itachiii]

currently I have the SwiftTech H240x liquid cooler which is like a closed loop cooler in the sense it is all put together but it has the luxury of being expandable. The specifications on the SwiftTech website say that it has a pump powerful enough to easily accommodate adding of new radiators or new waterblocks for your GPU's. The full specs can be read here;
http://www.swiftech.com/H240-X.aspx#tab2

Here is a picture of my new build with the SwiftTech cooler
View attachment 158264
View attachment 158262
View attachment 158263

I'm actually pretty impressed with this cooler, on average at a 4.2GHz Overclock I'm sitting idle at around 24-25c and then I'm playing "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare" or "Assassins creed unity" with completely maxed out settings, everything on ultra or as high as it allows I will see temps around 40c.
The funny part is that even when I up my Overclock to 4.5 - 4.6GHz the temperatures are almost identical with the one difference I have noticed if I'm running at 4.6GHz and I run "3DMark Firestrike Ultra" the temps will go into the low to mid 50's. But it is pretty breif and then they fall right back down.

So considering I am running an Intel i7 5930k which has a stock clock speed of 3.5GHz and Turbo at 3.7GHz I figure that the temps I mentioned above are pretty nice for running at 4.6GHz.
(On a side note: for once I think I got pretty lucky with my CPU, because I'm pretty sure that if I was to raise the voltage more I could squeeze more than 4.6GHz out of it and still remain stable... However do to my comfort levels at this time and until I gain more experience in that area I'll sit calmly at 4.6GHz at about 1.240 - 1.250 volts. )
*** Please feel free to comment if that is an acceptable range for my voltage at that clock speed, I'm always trying to learn more...!!!!

Back to my main thought here;
Yes it says it is a strong enough pump for adding new components but here is what I just finished building and would like to hook into the loop!

Step 1:
View attachment 158265

View attachment 158268

Step 2:
View attachment 158266

Step 3: (Repeated step 1 and 2!)

Step 4:
View attachment 158267
View attachment 158269

Now, Since these are both Black Ice GTX 560 Xtreme's (Gen 2) and they are way, way bigger than what I could ever expect to fit into my case... They will be sitting outside of my case. My case has the two holes on the back of it to accommodate tubing coming in and out.
(Another side note, getting that bend right for the piece of acrylic I have connecting the two radiators was such a pain in the @$$!!! I really have respect for people that build such amazing custom liquid cooling loops with acrylic, it's not as easy as it looks!

So for adding this into my loop; do you think the one pump on my SwiftTech H240x kit will be enough for the 240mm radiator that's apart of the original liquid cooler and the 2 new Black Ice GTX 560 rads?
My next addition will be adding 3 water blocks to my GTX 970 Strix GPU's that I have running in SLI.
So at that point it will be the waterblock on my CPU, the 3 waterblocks on my GPU's, the 1x 240mm rad, and 2 560mm Rads.

I wasn't sure if there was ever a point where I should have a 2nd pump in my loop or possibly add another resevoir and pump on the outside of my case as a part of the 2 560 rads.

Please advise on what you all think...
Also can someone tell me what the equation is for figuring out how much heat my rads can dissipate?
I would like to know how many watts of heat I can remove with the 3 rads
1x 240
2x 560's

Thanks!!

Any advice, comments, questions or concerns would be greatly appreciated!!!

-SnowBiz!

Well, LOL! Are u gonna add waterblocks on ur cards? Cause, 2x560 rads judt for the cpu is.. Overkill the least I can say. As long as the pump is concerned, 6W pump for those rads I think it's weak, would prolly need twice the power.. But wait till some1 more experienced hops in and gives u the big picture!

 

[EarthDog]

I would think that adding THAT much radiator to that pump wouldn't be a good idea either. a 3x120mm, sure. But to add 2 4x120mm radiators and then what I would assume to be 2 GPU blocks (otherwise that is a monumental waste of cash), I'm not sure the pump could handle it. And while wattage of the pump can translate to higher flow rates and head, its not the end all number in selecting a pump (again, flow rates and head are).

For a setup like that and a single pump, I would look at the MCP655 variable (B) or its twin. I'm just not sure that Swifty pump on that kit has enough oopmh. You may want to email swiftech and ask if you would get acceptable flow rates (at least 1 GPM) when all is said and done.

As far as how many watts you can dissipate with such a setup... depends on fans and your noise level, but I would imagine it would be well over 500W with a 10C delta or so.

Remember, there is a point in a loop where adding radiators isn't going to help much at all because the blocks that are in the loop can only take so much heat away from the CPU and GPU... ONE of those 4x120mm rads (you called them 560s??) and your switfy kit would easily handle two 980s and your CPU overclocked as far as you can get them on ambient. As far as the voltage on that chip. I wouldn't go over 1.35v for 24/7. That said, your 1.25v is OK.

 

[Snowbiz]

Thank you for your replys, the radiators are actually 4 x 140. (If I'm understanding how thinks are numbered properly. (The radiators fit 4 140mm fans, and when I had looked it up it was listed as a 560mm radiator.) is this / am I correct in my thinking?
Just want to make sure I'm talking numbers properly. And no, I'm definitely not planning on using this just for my CPU (lol!!!), I currently have 3 GTX 970 Strix GPU's and will hoping to either add a 4th one or I have been giving thought to selling them and getting 4 of the GTX 980 Poseidon's (the ASUS model of the 980 that has air coolers but also liquid cooling built in through use of a vapor chamber to spread the heat evenly whether u are using just the air or just the water) . So either way it will either be for 4 GTX 970's or 4 GTX 980's + My CPU + ( in the future maybe adding the universal EK Ramblocks / not that they are needed but some of those look pretty cool...)

So to recap (because I know I tend to ramble on..lmao)

-1 x CPU Block
-4 x waterblocks for each of the GTX 970's
(With a potential future upgrade to 4 x 980's)

And yes I understand that there is a certain point where adding more rads isn't going to help anymore... Honestly I just got a really good deal on these two rads so I couldn't pass them up (even there is no way in hell they will fit in my case)

The Pump:-------

Ok the little voice in the back of my head was telling me the same thing that the SwiftTech pump was prlly not gonna have enough "OOMPH!!"
So here is my previous question rephrased,

Should I look at just the single MCP655 variable (B)

Or would it make any sense to have my 1 x internal pump and then have a second pump added to my external rads?
I didn't know if it was ok to have 2x pumps in the same loop...
But my idea is to build a case to hold the 2 4x140mm rads and then possibly have its own pump as well added to that enclosure.
Then on my PC the 2 inlet/outlets on the back of the case I was thinking of making a setup to where I have a shutoff valve on that part of the loop with quick connects



Please excuse my terrible sketch,

But I want to have something like this so I can hook up the two quick connects and turn the shutoff valves to make the external part of the loop work, if it's not needed I can disconnect the quick connects and turn the shutoff valves to make it run with just the internal part of the loop. (Hopefully this makes sense the way I explained it)

 

[BruceUSA]

You really need to run 2 pumps for this setup. You got 1 cpu block, 3 gpu block and 3 radiators. You need the pressure and the flow. I am running 2 DDC-1T pump with Mcp35X X2 housing pushing thru 120x10 Black Ice GTX Radiators nicely.

 

[EarthDog]

The 560 is correct if they are 140MM rads. They looked like 120 which is why I falsely corrected things.

-4 x waterblocks for each of the GTX 970's
(With a potential future upgrade to 4 x 980's)

That's a silly upgrade there 970 to 980. By the time you need to upgrade, the meager difference between the two won't matter. A new gen card would be a better purchase. Also having 4 of any GPU is silly unless you want multiple 4K monitors (you have a few threads, one of which went over this and still not sure what direction you are going - I feel like I asked that before too!!).

With that many GPU's in the loop, you may want to run dual loops or two pumps. But this is getting out of my wheelhouse as far as knowledge goes so I will leave it up to the real water guru's we have here. That said, I would Just have the QDC's be the 'valve' for the single loop then adding the two external rads by using QDCs on them.

 

[Blaylock]

With the cost of this rig I would want 2 pumps just for safety's sake. If one pump fails you don't torch $3000-$4000.

Another thought is to keep the H220x for the CPU (and future ram block) and this new loop for the GPU's only.

 

[Snowbiz]

Ok thank you;

EarthDog: Haha sorry I tend to be a little ADD when it comes to my thinking so I apologize for not answering your question before. The purpose of this rig;
- Overclocking / Getting the best Benchmark scores I can get without fear of damaging my rig
- Gaming - I love gaming as well so being able to ensure that I can play future (and current gen) games at maximum graphical settings for now and hopefully a good amount of time into the future...
- Work - I am a Mobile Application Developer for IBM, so there are a lot of times when I need to be able to have multiple servers running concurrently for development as well as testing app performance in a simulated production environment.
- It is also hooked up to my 55" flatscreen in my office so I watch movies & TV on it during the day when I am working

As far as the addition of a 4th GPU, I know that it is not necessary for Gaming or other tasks like that but that 4th GPU does make a difference when I am trying to get higher benchmarking scores on programs such as "Catzilla" or "3DMark"

Dont laugh and I may sound kinda lame saying this but I really enjoy seeing my name up on leader boards for benchmarks...lol
I also enjoy taking on new challenges / new tasks because I am curious and thinking 24/7, I can't make my mind stop racing and it does this 24/7... Even in my sleep I wake up during the night with new ideas of things I can do or try to make the performance of my PC better and even with new ideas that I am sure anyone else would just say are crazy but they sound interesting to me and It bothers me if I don't actually try them to see if they work...
(I have been this way my entire life)
I also get personal enjoyment from knowing I have the most "Kick-*** PC" out of my friends and colleagues....lol


I also want to have a water cooling setup that is good enough to where it can dissipate all the heat I can throw at it so that when I am learning more with benchmarking the only thing I need to worry about is staying within safe voltage ranges to ensure the life of my components, and so that heat is not one of them.

Lastly; My office gets VERY VERY VERY Warm by the end of the work day,
My Rig puts out a good amount of heat, I also have My work Laptop (Windows), and my development laptop (Macbook Pro) and another handful of various electronics and toys that make heat as well... So if I can take the main source of the heat and dissipate most of it,( if not all of it) then that is one less thing I have to worry about when 3-5pm rolls around and I Feel like I am sitting in a sauna....

I Also tend to agree with you that the upgrade from my 970's to 980's doesn't make a huge performance gain but my only thoughts/reasoning on this is as follows;

If I purchase water blocks for the 3 (soon to be 4) 970's thats adding the following costs (Going on just 3 GPU's)

3x EK-FC970 GTX TF5 - Nickel Waterblocks = $492.26
3x EK-FC970 GTX Strix Backplate - Nickel = $173.05
------------------------------------------------------------
So for the 3 blocks and 3 nickel backplates thats adding another
$665.31

Where if I sell my 3x GTX 970 Strix
approx. return:
$1,139.97 ( figuring at $379.99 a piece )

and the cost of 3 new GTX 980 Posedions--
$639.99 a piece so total of:
$1,919.97

So total needed minus what I could get back from the sale of the 970's:

That leaves me with $780.00 needed still
and with the cost of the water blocks and backplates being $665.31

the price difference is only $114.69

But when you add in the 6 fittings (2x for each block)
The price point is getting to where it is pretty similar.

So I guess the main question is this;
Are the EK Nickel Waterblocks + EK Nickel Backplates going to give better temps and better overall cooling or would the GTX 980 Poseidons Cooling setup going to yield better results?

The one thing I do like about the 980 Poseidon's is the fact that they have air cooling as well as the liquid cooling so if for some strange reason my loop ever went down for my GPU's the air coolers would protect my investment, also
If I ever wanted to go to a friends house and take my computer for a LAN Party or for playing on one of my friends new 4K TV's then I would not have to attempt to move my external liquid cooling setup and I could just rely on the air coolers...

Granted the likelihood of me actually going somewhere with my monstrous desktop computer are pretty slim i like my options and keeping them open...

So my question is;
"Do you think the GTX 980 Poseidon Coolers (Air + Liquid) are better than the EK Nickel Block + Backplate?"
(Considering potential cooling performance as well as the performance increase I would get from going from 970's to 980's)
"Or do you think I would still be better waiting for the next gen Nvidia cpu's such as the Nvidia Gpu's with the PASCAL Chips utilizing NVLink?"
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-gtc-2014-pascal-nvlink-3d-memory,26383.html

Im sure with the next gen GPU's having such a radical change in the tech/concepts used they are not going to be cheap by any means, but all the same is it worth the wait?

I know I have asked a lot of different questions in this reply but I am just trying to capture my thoughts the best I possibly can to share with you guys...

 

[Snowbiz]

ATTN BruceUSA:

You mentioned you have a similar setup and that I would need 2 pumps,

-How do you have your loops setup?
-If I put the GPU's in a separate loop then I also need another res for that loop, Are there any considerations on the type or size of the res I need to think about for 2 rads that large?
-I am guessing that the SwiftTech H240x that I have running would be more than enough for my CPU and future ram blocks, and I think that was the census from the comments above (just restating to make sure I am correct in this thinking)

ATTN Blaylock:
You mentioned you also think that 2 pumps should be used for the safety of my rig, are there any other safety considerations I should also think about?
I know there is a plethora of sensors out there for pressure, leaks, temps, etc....
I have also been looking at the aquaero 5 ( http://www.aquacomputer.de/aquaero-5.html )
At what point should I start considering adding something like this to my setup?

ATTN EarthDog:
Not to sound stupid but you said use the QDC's could you please elaborate on what you mean here?
Im sure my usage of "Valve" is probably incorrect but from a general mechanical view thats the only thing I could think of, something similar to the standard "Ball Valves" that are used in your home plumbing or normal plumbing setups....

 

[EarthDog]

So let me get this straight again... 1 monitor, 4 970's?

As far as the addition of a 4th GPU, I know that it is not necessary for Gaming or other tasks like that but that 4th GPU does make a difference when I am trying to get higher benchmarking scores on programs such as "Catzilla" or "3DMark"

Dont laugh and I may sound kinda lame saying this but I really enjoy seeing my name up on leader boards for benchmarks...lol

I prefer to use tweaks and such rather than to pay to see my name on a leader board. Not to mention, most leaderboards have 'divisions' by the number of GPUs or cooling used, so, you would still have to beat those with 4 GPUs to get there with tweaks and such. Its like jumping into calculus even though you only need advanced algebra to be incredibly successful and 'see your name on the leader boards'. I guess I have grown past the e-peen phase of my life and moved more into fiscal responsibility, LOL!

Lastly; My office gets VERY VERY VERY Warm by the end of the work day,
My Rig puts out a good amount of heat, I also have My work Laptop (Windows), and my development laptop (Macbook Pro) and another handful of various electronics and toys that make heat as well... So if I can take the main source of the heat and dissipate most of it,( if not all of it) then that is one less thing I have to worry about when 3-5pm rolls around and I Feel like I am sitting in a sauna....

Well... there is a problem with that line of thinking... If your rig puts out 750W, you would still be dumping 750W of heat into your room with water cooling. Same dissipation, different way. If you want a cooler room, don't overbuild this thing.

Are the EK Nickel Waterblocks + EK Nickel Backplates going to give better temps and better overall cooling or would the GTX 980 Poseidons Cooling setup going to yield better results?

I'm not going to get into the monetary side of things, as I was strictly talking peformance and feature sets. It would be a curious move, regardless of negligible costs differences to jump up a little in performance while missing out on everything else GPUs will offer 2 or so generations down the road. "Upgrading" to an older generation card to again put them under water is only going to put you further behind the curve. To put it another way, your e-peen you are after, will look like it got out of a cold pool.

As far as performance of the blocks... again it doesn't matter much as you are still dissipating the same amount of wattage. From a temperature on the cards perspective, I have never seen a benchmark between a full cover block and the built in on the Poseidon.

 

[Snowbiz]

Since I have a lot to learn still in my voyage of life but as far as technology related items I have learned a good bit about myself in my 28years on this planet, one of which is that if I have GTX 970's OR GTX 980's once the new gen GPU's are released there is probably a 99.9% chance that I will end up getting rid of the old and buying the new.....
As far as being more fiscal responsible.... Im not as concerned with that at this moment.. (Please don't take that the wrong way or take a bad image of my financial responsibility) Reasoning why is this:
I build a PC and keep it a year or more and then I sell it when I want to upgrade, in the time between my upgrade cycles I do side jobs and side projects such as making a webpage for someone or fixing someones computer or buying electronics at really good deals from either eBay or craigslist or from close friends looking to just get rid of them and then reselling them for a slight profit... Then all the profits from those various activities I put into my "Have Fun With Technology" Account...
So im not killing myself financially here, I'm just using my funds saved for this exact cause to do things that I enjoy doing

But since what I have read on various sites and articles puts the next gen GPU's at not being released until end of 2015 or beginning of 2016... that is a long time to wait for myself so thats why i am considering my options now

(and as far as my hot room)
Once I have my setup complete my plan is this;

Im going to build an enclosure for the 2 560mm rads and have the heat being blown out of them blow downward into the enclosure. The enclosure itself will have an exhaust fan as well the blows the airflow/heat through a hole in the enclosure.
I will have a vent duct (Or whatever you call it)
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-4-in-x-20-ft-Dryer-Vent-Duct-BTD420HD/203626495?N=5yc1vZc4nu
attached to this hole in the enclosure and then attached to a hole that I will strategically place in the wall of my office (Leading to my furnace room on the other side of this wall which is a very, very cold room since my office is in the basement and the furnace room. This way I believe I will be able to dissipate the greatest amount of heat possible and direct it through the tubing out of the room.

And as far as my e-peen...lmao
I don't want to necessarily look at it like i am paying to have my name on leaderboards and I know they are in divisions 1x,2x,3x,4x cpu's I just want to give myself the greatest amount of options and divisions that I can take part in.

In order to actually get myself on those boards I want to continue to increase my skills (and Knowledge) with tweaking/overclocking so that I can get myself higher up on those boards!

Oh and i feel dumb... QDC's
Quick Disconnects...lmao
Sneaky Ninja Abbreviations...

 

[Blaylock]

Son of a #####! I had a long reply for you snow, but it appears the new forums auto save feature doesn't work on mobile devices. Stay tuned I'll try and retype it when I get home tonight. GRRRR

 

[EarthDog]

If I was you, I would build two machines. One to work on and play games, and one to use for benchmarks. Benchmarking on your daily driver, especially one that makes you money, isn't a great idea. If you are benching 'right' (as in pushing the limits), you are going to bork your OS, or worse, bork some hardware or multiple pieces of hardware. Doesn't sound like a good idea for a work machine and it sounds like you have the discretionary coin to do so.

 

[Blaylock]

^FACT-Trust this man. He's been there.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

OP, you need to ask first and buy second. My guess is you suffer from compulsive buying disorder. Most of all have done this so don't worry, including my self but overtime I've learned from my experiences and others. Hold your horses and put the Visa Black down for a second. You could have had a case that can accommodate all the rads and pumps in a single loop for a CPU + GPUs. Since you already when passed that, we'll just adjust to what you have already.

For one, make sure whatever GPU WB you end up buying that it is compatible with that GPU. NOT ALL GPU WBs are compatible. Every GPU has a specific WB. EK has a search engine that can assist you on that.

Two, I would maybe try and make a DYI housing for those external rads if you're that kinda guy. If not, than thats fine too. Just keep them dust free from time to time.

Three, I would also advise on going on a dual pump in series for redundancy for a single whole loop as that will take some pumping power when you add the tubing distance, QDCs, Blocks, angle fittings etc etc. If you went dual loop, JUST leave the CPU alone with the H240x and have a seperate res/pump for the GPUs and external rads. You have more than enough heat surface. These GPUs are very power efficient.

 

[cozumel]

Also can someone tell me what the equation is for figuring out how much heat my rads can dissipate?
I would like to know how many watts of heat I can remove with the 3 rads
1x 240
2x 560's

Hi,

You may find this thread useful.
Source: overclock.net - Radiator Size Estimator

It includes heat load calculation and allocation. There are also a number of spreadsheets for specific rads with the data of how much heat (watts) you can expect to be dissipated. Data is for push/pull and just push fan configs.

Maybe it will help you. Maybe it won't... Thought I'd post regardless..

 

[Blaylock]

OK, here's my attempt to re-post what was lost.

Safety - As mentioned 2 is better than 1 for simple redundancy. Correct me if I'm wrong gents but so long as your pump(s) is(are) running, there are no leaks and you're using ONLY distilled water with biocide and/or a silver kill coil you are safe. Flow sensors, temp sensors, fan switches etc are all nice bling factor and it's nice to know, but really that's it. Some will argue that external fan switches are nice to reduce noise when not maxing the system out and they're right. But you can usually do the same right through the BIOS of any quality modern Motherboard.

4 GPU's - There are only 3 uses I can think of to need 4 GPU's in a single rig(@1080p).
1. Benching - You have the bug. I know the drive you have to break all the records cuz I have it too. But let me plant a seed in yur skull if'n you don't mine. HWBot has about 13 Video benchmarks currently. Some of which are more CPU dependant than GPU. After you run all 13 what do you do then? Buy more gear? That's the common answer. This mentality is extremely expensive. There's nothing wrong with that if you have the financing for that. Just something to ponder.
2. Mining - On GPU's? That boat is long gone. Don't waste your time and money.
3. Folding@Home - A very noble and charitable way to utilize your system when it's otherwise idle or off.

With that said you should really consider joining the OCF Benching team since you'll be benching anyhow. After 20 HWBot points you'll get access to the teams secret tweaks. Here's how.

 

[Snowbiz]

ok thank ya
I actually just signed up for the OCF Benching team on HWBot but I have not had a chance to get started yet.
(I have a newborn daughter that was born on November 19th so its been rather difficult to sit for prolonged periods of time in front of my computer down in my office, but I'm trying! (When i have time )
Yes this "bug" is certainly expensive but i enjoy doing it. I actually just finished drawing up some designs for a rad box using acrylic sheets.

3ft x 3ft on the top panel, with the 2 rad's mounted in blowing airflow down into the box
then 3ft x 1ft side panels all around with a 3ft x 3ft bottom
thinking of putting 2 - 4 fans on one side of the box blowing out with some sort of catcher to direct that airflow into a venting duct which then blows it out through the wall into the next room.
then i can maybe add some led's and a pump / res inside the box with a single PWM Splitter to have one connection to connect to the fan speed control on my case since its not being used at this time.

have 2 quick connect fittings coming out of the box so i can easily hook it in to the pc itself.

any thoughts?

I can share the plans later when i get them finished but thats my thought process and the total box will cost around
155$ for the acrylic sheets.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Have a look at existing designs to help shed some light on how you want to design it, etc.

 

[Blaylock]

Sounds good. Michigan basements can be damp but a great place to run as they are also usually 5-10F cooler. The only change I would make would be to blow the warm air out of the top as heat naturally rises anyhow. Why fight conventional wisdom. Another thought is to run it out the basement window/egress during the spring/fall when the temps are cooler outside.




EDIT: Jack you forgot the / in your suffix

RE-EDIT: We must be replying at the same time.