Watercooling 3/8"ID vs 1/2" ID - Watercoolers of BT - what do you use?

That is probably the one I was actually trying to find when I stumbled on the above

True. I'd expect the difference to be 25% of the Delta T at most as that is the difference in internal area of tubing between 3/8" and 1/2" ID tubing. Given the increased flow rate of 3/8" I'd say it'll be far less, maybe between 0-10%

 

Well, I'm not going to strip my loop down, and try 3/8" tubing. Way to much hassle. Lol

Hopefully someone with a Single CPU and GPU waterloop can post their findings.

 

It was Cathar that did the impact of tubing size testing. The difference he found between 3/8" and 1/2" was 0.03ºC.

If all other components were the same a 10ºC difference suggests a bad mount.

 

I think the last time I changed the tubing from 1/2" ID to 3/8" ID I think I saw about a 5c increase in temperature overall but I cannot remember fully.

Whilst I do not believe there would be a massive drop in temp's, I just prefer the 1/2" tubing as it just feels better and looks better to me.

 

Parge posted this link on the previous page.

The test do not show, what we are trying to get to the bottom of.

And so further testing with real world results of a PC being used in everyday life, will show you what I found when running between the 2 tubing's.

And no, it wasn't a case of a badly mounted block etc.

 

Forgot to add, that these test will need to be done around a setup with fans on low speed, as unless I'm using extreme overclocks on my CPU (5GHz) & GPU's (1200MHz+), then min Fan speed is more than adequate at keeping the PC Cool-n-Quite.

 

A 10ºC difference is so large that it couldn't be anything other than a significant difference in equipment (apart from tubing size), test conditions or user error.

 

Honestly, once the water gets to it's thermal average temp, it's not hard to see a big differences in temps between the 2 tubing.

There's more water in the loop, and faster flow, which will make it take longer to heat up the water, but by which time, the rad has already done it's job, of keeping the water temps down.

 

The system in my sig uses 3/8" ID tubing. The water temps under load are 5ºC. If I switched to 1/2" tubing I'm not going to see a difference of more than 1ºC at best, I probably wouldn't be able to detect a difference. If I had a 10ºC difference my water temps would be -5ºC.

 

I once tried 3/8" internal and didn't like it. The last half dozen builds have been with Masterkleer 1/2" internal tubing and I love it. Even in my TJ08 I haven't had any issues using it.

I have though made things easier for myself by using Bitspower 60degree and 90degree fittings.