Watercooling Radiator Questions

I know ive asked many question about Watercooling in the past but I dont really know much about it and Bit-Tech is so much more helpful than just google searching and such.

So the questions i have for you wonderful people this time around is:

1. How does the radiator sizing work, ive seen multiple sizes and i just dont get it?

2. do radiators use standard fan size fittings to attach to a case, i.e: if it was a dual 120mm fan rad would it fit in the top and the front of my Haf 912 Plus as the top and front can both take 2 x 120mm fans?

3. How much could 2 x dual 120mm fan rads cool?

4. what would be the best dual 120mm fan rads to get?


Sorry for all the questions guys, I dont really know anything about watercooling as I have never done it before.


and thanks for the help

 

1. I've heard that you want a 120/140 per block. So if your cooling 2 GPU and a CPU you want at least a 360/420 RAD.

2. No idea. Measure, make a template and find out.

3. Per what I said you could cool 4 blocks with that. If your doing major OCing then it would cool less.

4. A RAD is a RAD in my opinion. Just stay away from the "stealth" RADs because they don't cool very well. EK, Phobya, XSPC are all the same to me.

 

but surely it would be different depending on the heat the chip the block is attached to generates

and i would but i dont have a rad to try and i dont want to buy one just make a template to find out it doesnt fit

4 blocks is good then even though it may be less depeninding on how much heat is produced.

i was thinking of getting ek rads, to go with blocks and resevoirs

 

Radiators tend to have a standard gap now but I don't think you could mount a dual 120mm one in the front of a case without modding . I would also say that a 912 is a bit too small. People tend to use a full tower case for water-cooling as they are often designed with wc in mind whereas mid towers are optimised for air cooling

 

Ahem....

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=209025


It would appear not.

 

im guessing you are on about the non removable HDD caddy at the bottom of the case, im not sure on the distance between that and the mounts ill have to measure and the fans would go on the otherside behind the front fascia like they are now, and i want to squeeze it in a smaller case as possible and as i already own the HAF i want to use that, not afraid of a little modding


EDIT: thae gap between the caddy and the mounts is 25mm, so not enough if i do itll have to remove / move the caddy.

 

If you have 2 fans in the front, doesnt mean it fits a 240mm rad as standard.

 

I measured it against the spec sheet for this rad

http://www.ekwaterblocks.com/shop/ek-coolstream-rad-xt-240.html

and it fits, just the caddy would need moving to allow the rad to fit



also i havent decided on hardware yet, except for an i5 2500K, which i know doesnt get hot,

what else would the 2 rads cool sufficiently?

 

OP:
1) Most radiators are 120mm with a 15mm gap between the center of the mounting holes, this means the fans but against each other, older Thermochill radiators have a center-center of 25mm so be aware should you go the second hand route.

Some radiators are 140mm, this is better and it is worse; more surface area = good, smaller selection of fans = bad.

Other radiators are out there, Phobya make a 200mm radiator which fits very comfortably at the front of a number of cases, and Thermochill used to make a 160mm radiator; again the choice of matching fans is poor, though you'll usually find any of the old PA160's with a 160-120mm converting shroud.

2)Yes. Not sure about your exact situation, it isn't just the fans you see, the radiators are all longer and wider, by varying amounts, most important is the increased length, which is caused by the plenum chamber at either end of the radiator, if there isn't room for this at the bottom of your case (usually an extra 15-25mm beyond the bottom of the bottom fan) they you'll have to cut a hole for it to stick down under your case - and hope your feet are deep enough

3)Which radiator, which fans. HWLabs GTS/GTX or Koolances 30FPI radiators all work very well with strong fans (anything above 2/3Krpm and they begin to sing) outperforming much of the competition, put put some 500rpm fans on them and they'll show strain with even a light/moderate load. Put those same low speed fans on HWLabs SR1, or XSPCs RX, or a Thermochill or any other low FPI radiator, and they'll be quite happy. First figure out what you want to cool, then decide how much noise you want to put up with, this will inform your decision on fans, which will settle your options for radiators.

4) Appropriate ones. Sounds snide, but it's not, it's like saying "What's the best music?" Nobody answer that - in case you hadn't figured it out.

Fuganater:
1)Roughly yes dependent on radiator and fan choice and overclocking.

2)Exactly, the SketchUp Components Collection has an ok selection of radiators in it, you can print off from that (SketchUp is free) and make a box model to try inside your case.

3)Yup.

4)No, no, and no. HWLabs GTS series are stealth because they're thin, not because they're quiet - high FPI radiator needs high CFM/cmH20 tends to be noisy, the stealth radiator more or less needs noisy fans to perform well, but stick some really good fans on it, and you can reduce the amount of radiator surface area you need compared to a thicker low FPI radiator.

 

im thinking of putting a GTX 580 in there and then when the time comes adding a second 580.


so would 2 of these: http://www.ekwaterblocks.com/shop/ek-coolstream-rad-xt-240.html


Cool an:
i5 2500K
and 2x GTX 580 when it comes to add a second one?

or are my plans wishful thinking

also what fans would work well on those rads, im guessing people ar going to say Gently Typhoons, but i could be wrong

 

They might cool a i5+580 at a push but no where near enou cooling ability for another 580.

 

I cant remember who said it in another thread but there is someone one on the here that cools 3 580's with a 360, so surely 2 x 240's would cool 2 580's and an i5?

 

You could but you may aswell air-cool as you will see little temp difference.

 

(580 TDP x2) + i5 TDP = 583W

Using Skinnee's results for a CoolStream360 and turning your thermal output down to 437 (538/4*3) for a water/air delta of 10C which is considered average you'd need 1600rpm fans (ish - choice of fans will raise/lower this figure) - since many people favour Nidec Servos Gentle Typhoon range at 1850rpm, you'll either have thermal headroom, or can tune your fans down.

And depending on your CPU block and TIM choice you can expect a i7930@3800Mhz to have a core/water delta of 35C upwards (assuming a water temperature of 30C see Skinnies test methodology for details.) so I reckon you'd have a lower core/water delta, and hopefully a lower water/air delta.