Water cooling performance

[Snowbiz]

How in the world do you reach the "Extreme System" temps of 5-10c?
Is that with or without a chiller added? For my next upgrade to my PC (when my finances recover from building this one) I want to purchase the "Monsoon Hardline Pro Bending kit" and do a full custom loop with the acrylic glass tubing and the Monsoon hardline compression fittings. Still doing research of the radiator but there are some really cool looking reservoirs, I really fell in love with the "Mayhem a Aurora coolant" that stuff just looks awesome! As far as a pump I wasn't sure but I thought the monsoon MMRS series 2" looked pretty sweet, obviously I will have to do more research to ensure the performance matches it's good looks!
The only downside was when I priced it out I was at around 600-800$ so that's one pricey loop. The picture below shows the concept that I really like, I really prefer where the tubing is a single piece as long as possible. Not a fan of the loops I have seen that have fittings and connectors every 2-3 inches and look like a stack of pick up sticks!
So I kind of ran off topic for my original question, but how did you manage the 5-10c temps?!?!

And a random thought that popped in my head last night, I really wish they had small usb powered air conditioners (that could run without creating moisture of condensation) so in other words, a dehumidifier of sorts that puts out extremely cold air....
That would be a great tool to stick inside your pc case, then you could get your ambient temps down extremely low which would then seriously increase the performance of your cooling loop!
However, since I don't believe something like that exists it's just a cool idea to think about!

 

[Blaylock]

My Benching rig in my sig runs at ambient +3c at full load. It's just a CPU loop. High quality Rads, pump and block. I still need the Quality fans.

 

[EarthDog]

That would have to be a fairly intelligent item seeing as how the dew point varies so it would constantly have to 'toe the line'...

dew points are usually relatively close to ambient anyway so to get it 'extremely cold' is out of the question.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Snow, you first need to read the water cooling stickies first. Than ask us will this X amount of heat surface give me Xc-Xc DTs. We'll give a rough guesstimate depending on your components.

If this is your first time water cooling, I would forget acrylic tubing because its best used for show rigs and colored fluid imho. It would be a pain to upgrade or do maintenance to the rig, let alone stain and clog it.

 

[Snowbiz]

I definitely see your point, but I have always been the type of person who really likes to take on new things or new projects. I am also very mechanically inclined, I personally like the acrylic because it looks cool with the colored fluids etc... For example....

 

[EarthDog]

Colored fluids is a no no to those in the know!!! its doable, but something that tends to clog blocks and required much more frequent maintenance at best.

 

[Blaylock]

That definitely looks cool. But I'd hate to have to drain that thing every 6 months.

 

[Snowbiz]

Ahh well I learned something new! Thank you!!! So color tubing would be better than colored liquids....

 

[EarthDog]

Read the guides big guy.. get those basics under your belt.

 

[Snowbiz]

Would it be possible to cool the liquid in the loop below ambient temps? Possibly by using a peltier plate? If I understand the peltier concept, would it be possible to attach a peltier plate to the radiator to make it cool the liquid as it is circulated through the radiator? I could be way off here but again just a thought... Also to my understanding as long as you don't go extremely far below ambient temps you won't have to worry about condensation, is this correct?

I will read the guides I just can't control the ADHD fueled brain of mine...

 

[EarthDog]

Same problem as you mentioned earlier... condensation. You would need to control the pelt and know what your dew points are at all times...

Its been done, but its a lot of effort with minimal returns performance wise. So for a cool factor, go for it, but its not practical.

 

[Snowbiz]

Ok thanks, and sorry about the double post! I didn't mean to....

 

[RGE]

How in the world do you reach the "Extreme System" temps of 5-10c?
Is that with or without a chiller added?

Just for clarity, they are talking about coolant/water temps, not cpu temps. excellent cooling is having enough rads/fans to keep the delta air to water at 5-10C, so water temp is no more than 5-10c above ambient air temp.

My 4790k at 4.7, 1.3v (delidded) runs at 75C with prime 95 v 28.5 (dissipating 180W) using 2 large rads. ambient air is 25C, water temps is 29C, cpu temps are 75C. The rads only effect is the 4c temp between air and water. If I doubled the surface area of rads (with same fans), my water temps would be cut in half from 4C to 2C, and my cpu temps would improve by 2C to 73C. If I had infinite rads and cooled the water to ambient at 25C, my cpu temps would still be 71C.

Only way to get below 71C would be better tim, better water block, but Im already using liquid metal and good block. Or I could lower my ambient.

you are getting a 5930k as I read, so you can control your water temps down to 5C from ambient, but cpu temps are dependent on gradient from core to cooling block, which will be way higher and unaffected by rads.

 

[Blaylock]

The bigger question Snow is why? If this is a 24/7 rig for gaming and you know how to get your temps within a few degrees of ambient, what do you gain by getting a few below it?

I'm playing devils advocate here as I've asked many of these questions earlier this year when I was getting into H20 Cooling. There are some very interesting and unique alternative cooling options out there. Most of them aren't practical but work superbly.

 

[MaddMutt]

My wife is constantly yelling at me. I have a Black Ice GT Stealth 360 with 3 x 120 x 38 Delta's @ 190.48 CFM - 4100 RPM - 55.5 dba. This keeps my RAM,CPU,Video Cards OCed and my CPU temp stays under 50c, Video @ 35C.
Sometimes you can go to far the other way

 

[EarthDog]

One 360 rad keeps your gpus at 35 ehh? Sounds like an idle temp to me... No way a 360 rad can do that, even with deltas.

 

[Johan45]

Would it be possible to cool the liquid in the loop below ambient temps? Possibly by using a peltier plate? If I understand the peltier concept, would it be possible to attach a peltier plate to the radiator to make it cool the liquid as it is circulated through the radiator? I could be way off here but again just a thought... Also to my understanding as long as you don't go extremely far below ambient temps you won't have to worry about condensation, is this correct?

I will read the guides I just can't control the ADHD fueled brain of mine...

Being in Michigan this would work better if you're serious about below ambiet temps.



You can get some seriously cold water this way when it hits -20 to -30c outside. BUT as has been said you have many other considerations at that point. Like the loop freezing up if you don't have your mix right. Even in winter condensation is still an issue so proper preparation of the block and board is a definite must. Insulated hoses etc,etc....

 

[Blaylock]

I've noticed my hoses get very rigid when they become -Xc. I'm always careful with them. Not sure if they'd crack or get stress fractures, but I know I've broken garden hoses that were frozen.

 

[MaddMutt]

My temperature in TN, does not drop that low so I just stick the rad by the window. I don't even think we have thermometers that go that low. Even with the temp at -3c I haven't had a problem with condensation ( Knocking on WOOD) BUT we have not had below 0 F in several years.

 

[Snowbiz]

Ok so I've been trying to figure this out. I know if u have a subzero cpu cooler in ur case you will get condensation due to much warmer ambient air temps. What about the opposite? If I have a way to get subzero ambient air temps in my case would the hot GPU's and other warm components then form condensation?