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Existing loop advice

Discussion in 'Watercooling' started by m.standish, 2 Dec 2014.

  1. m.standish

    m.standish What's a Dremel?

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    Im looking to get some input on my loop with regards to capacity, path & flowrates

    Im running
    3x 290x on a parallel bridge
    AquaCuplex XT Di on 3820k @ 4.8 ghz (restrictive block)
    4x ram blocks (OCZ flex heatsinks in series)

    1x 360 EK Coolstream (45mm, low FPI)
    1x GT Stealth 240 (30mm, high fpi)
    1x GTX Extreme 140 (50mm, high fpi)


    1x bay res
    1x 18W modified DDC-1t (was 12W)

    Q1 - is this enough rad for oc'ing or should i be looking to add another 240 (the only space i have for anything else)

    Q2- will i gain anything by running the 240 & 360 in parallel to slow the flow in rads and increase flow over cpu

    Q3- The 360 is at the front, 240 on top and 140 at rear of an Air 540
    what would be best for airflow? its currently in from 360 & out through 140 & 240

    Q4- what fans are best for all these and also to balance out airflow so theyres not much -/+ pressure in the case

    Q5 - Would it be worth making the case airtight and only exhausting with high rpm fans over the 140 & 240 (High FPI), meaning the low fpi 360 at the front dosent have fans and is colled by the low internal pressure of the case?

    Q6 - Is there enough pump power for all this?

    I know, a few questions but id like to get some input if possible. Thanks!!! :)
     
  2. m.standish

    m.standish What's a Dremel?

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    this is the build http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=277247 but there is 3 gpus now and another 140 going on the rear, the "spare" space is at the bottom of the case but i dont really want to chop it out if possible as i want it shrouded
     
  3. Big Elf

    Big Elf Oh no! Not another f----ing elf!

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    You have a fairly restrictive loop with a couple of high fpi rads that need fans running at over 2000rpm to get the most out of them so it depends on your tolerance to noise levels as to which are the best fans for those rads.

    What are your temps at the moment and are you happy with them? I'd guess that with the GPU blocks in parallel that the temps aren't great plus the RAM blocks are unnecessary and restricting flow quite a lot.

    1 - Probably not enough rad for GPU overclocking but try it and see whether the temps are acceptable to you.

    2 - Don't run dissimilar components in parallel, the fluid will take the least restrictive path and could impact flow rate and temps.

    3 - Experimenting with different rad positions will give an idea. The best temps will generally be if the fans are blowing cool air into the case but it will vary from case to case and depends on whether there's a decent exhaust airflow.

    4 - I don't know much about current fans but you'll need 2000rpm and above to get the best results from the high fpi rads.

    5 - Again you need to experiment with different setups or google to see what others have done when watercooling the same case.

    6 - I'd guess your flow rate is around 2 lpm (0.5gpm) so that would be less than 1 lpm in each GPU block which, with the GPUs in parallel, could impact temps. Removing the RAM blocks would help.

    If that was my setup I'd have another pump for redundancy as well as improving flow rates but probably not necessary.
     
  4. m.standish

    m.standish What's a Dremel?

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    2000 rpm. ... gulp....
    Well I haven't run the system in this configuration yet. I had only 1 card and no 140 and guy was loading as 56 degree.

    Sadly there isn't any exhaust. All the areas have rads on. Only option is to remove the side windows

    If there was 70 % flow through rad 1 and 30% through rad2 would that be a bad thing as the water us in the rad longer therefore cooling it longer?

    I contemplated running another pump through the gpu and a rad and another for cpu and the rest. Both joining back up in the res so I kind of parallel loop. Would that help?
     
  5. bulldogjeff

    bulldogjeff The modding head is firmly back on.

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    Having a quick loo at that set up I would run 2 loops, GPU's on one and everything else on the other.
     
  6. Big Elf

    Big Elf Oh no! Not another f----ing elf!

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    You will get cooling if you run the fans on the high fpi rads at around 1500/1600 rpm but it won't be very effective. At fan speeds of around 1200rpm with high fpi you might find the temps gradually increasing until they get out of control.

    You need to have an exhaust somewhere to get rid of the warm air from inside the case. You might have to experiment to get the best configuration.

    Unless you can balance the pressure (it's possible) then using parallel flow through different components means the loop is inefficient. Providing you have enough rad then the fluid will equalise throughout the loop with temperatures varying by no more than a degree. You might be borderline with overclocked GPU's.

    If they're using the same res then it's a single loop and avoiding parallel flow through different components is still necessary for efficiency.
     
  7. MarkVarley

    MarkVarley Minimodder

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    What temps are you getting now? That's the best guide.

    I'd add a second pump (right after the other pump will provide refinance too), particularly if you keep the RAM blocks.

    If consider splitting the loop through the RAM blocks, 4 is alot so maybe some Y adapters to create 2x2 instead of 1x4.

    The general rule I work to is 1x120mm rad space per component plus 1, bare minimum, more or thicker rads for overclocking, preferably double.

    You don't need a bare exhaust fan as long as you are exhausting through rads. It's ok to blow into the case through rads and plan your air flow as you would for air cooling =~1 more fan blowing in than you have blowing out, in through the front and base, out through the top and rear.

    Personally I like to fit push&pull fans almost always, if space is a problem fit push. Look for fans with higher pressure, for a recommendation: NoiseBlocker Black Silent Pro. But I often use many others.


    Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
     
  8. m.standish

    m.standish What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks for the advise!!

    Does it not cause much performance loss by blowing heated rad air back out over another rad? (essentially stacking the rads?)
     
  9. MarkVarley

    MarkVarley Minimodder

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    In a similar way to loop component order not making any difference, warming the air a little on its way into the case before exhausting through another radiator won't make any noticeable difference
     
  10. B NEGATIVE

    B NEGATIVE All Hail Kim Jong Magoo!

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    Not true,you can lose nearly 70% of rad efficiency recycling air from another rad to cool.
     
  11. m.standish

    m.standish What's a Dremel?

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    Ive now made the shroud for the bottom so i have used all the availiable space up, the only option now would be to use the window, either remove it or add a 200mm fan in it.

    The etemps i get at load are about 60 on the cpu
    and the gpus run about 65 if i remember right
     
  12. MarkVarley

    MarkVarley Minimodder

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    In a small case maybe, from personal experience in large cases it's nothing like 70%

    Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
     
  13. Big Elf

    Big Elf Oh no! Not another f----ing elf!

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    Last edited: 1 Jan 2015

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