Water cooling upgrade question

[Voodoo Rufus]

As part of a new rig build or upgrading the current, I'm reviewing my system capacities.

I've noticed that some of these bay reservoir combo units either have single or dual pumps in series. My current system I would consider fairly restrictive (4 blocks: GPU, CPU, 2 mainboard blocks covering chipsets and power regulators, plus a 4x120mm radiator). My new system would be the same GPU waterblock, but a CPU monoblock covering the CPU and associated components.

Eyeing this unit: https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-sbay-dual-ddc-3-2-pwm-serial-incl-2x-pump

Expensive, yes. I don't anticipate much of a temperature difference, but the additional flow rate can't hurt. I like the bay res concept to significantly clean up my tubing runs, too.

 

[Blaylock]

So what's the question? If it's whether the monoblock will be more or less restrictive I would venture to guess it would be about the same or slightly less as you'd have less fittings/tubing.

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

I guess the question is if a dual pump setup is worth the price over single. Esp since the clock rate boost from it may be minimal.

 

[Blaylock]

The reason for a dual pump is generally for redundancy rather than any overclocking gains.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

A few things come to mind.

Two pumps in series are great not only for redundancy which is one of the main things but for audibles. You won't have to run the dual pumps at high settings as you would with a single pump and so it will be quieter and the other thing is, the increased static pressure will help push through a complex loop in hopes of keeping the loop flowing in the efficient range of 1.0-1.5 GPM.

A monoblock will be more restrictive than a smaller single block but by how much? I'm not 100% sure.

I can confidently say, you can run all of this with one pump but getting two would be more plausible in this case.

As for the bay reservoirs, I'll say this. In my experience, when it comes to powerful dual pumps in serial, I wouldn't recommend or personally use a bay reservoir with serial pumps again as my existing build still does. Some of the few reasons are, you can't run the pumps @ 100% without sucking up air and it's a pain to fill or refill the loop.

My next upgrade other than PC components is going to be the loop as I'm looking to get rid of the dual bay res + DDCs in serial and move them somewhere in the case with a single or dual long tube reservoirs. It will surely be costly just for that upgrade but that won't be happening any time soon.

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

A few things come to mind.

Two pumps in series are great not only for redundancy which is one of the main things but for audibles. You won't have to run the dual pumps at high settings as you would with a single pump and so it will be quieter and the other thing is, the increased static pressure will help push through a complex loop in hopes of keeping the loop flowing in the efficient range of 1.0-1.5 GPM.

A monoblock will be more restrictive than a smaller single block but by how much? I'm not 100% sure.

I can confidently say, you can run all of this with one pump but getting two would be more plausible in this case.

As for the bay reservoirs, I'll say this. In my experience, when it comes to powerful dual pumps in serial, I wouldn't recommend or personally use a bay reservoir with serial pumps again as my existing build still does. Some of the few reasons are, you can't run the pumps @ 100% without sucking up air and it's a pain to fill or refill the loop.

My next upgrade other than PC components is going to be the loop as I'm looking to get rid of the dual bay res + DDCs in serial and move them somewhere in the case with a single or dual long tube reservoirs. It will surely be costly just for that upgrade but that won't be happening any time soon.

I noticed in your sig you have the Maelstrom DDCx2 res. I wonder if the air sucking is part of the reason why it's discontinued now. I am a bit of a noise nut, so running dual pumps at a lower speed as opposed to 1 maxed out does have some appeal. My current single DDC rests on a Petratech orange sponge and there is no hearing that thing.

 

[Blaylock]

For comparison to the others, I have the EK-XRES DDC running through 2xGPU blocks, a CPU block, a 360mm rad, and a 240mm rad. I have good flow (unmeasured) and it's so quiet I need to put my hand on the pump to feel if it's even running. So much quieter than my old Swiftech.