Right, i think im gonna finally take the leap into watercooling, but im not sure of the space in my case for a res though. Is a res essential if i run a dd fillport to the top of the case and make sure its always pretty full up? Will there be any performance defecit not running a res? I'll be using a swiftech apogee or dd tdx block, a single 120mm rad (BIX, Nexxos or XSPC) a csp pump. It will only be cooling a X2 3800 as the rest of my system is pretty damn quiet. Oh, also the rad will be mounted in the roof.
I don't use a res. DD TDX, BIX120.1, eheim 1250, and a fillport. Make sure you get a t-peice not a y-peice for the fillport and you should be fine. My cpu is a P4 2.8C running at 3.5ghz, idles between about 28 and 38 depending on the ambient temps, load is about 5 degrees higher usually, thats with all the case fans and the radiator fan running at 5v. My machine draws air in at the back and side, throws it out of the front, and the rad is mounted on the front of my cheiftec dragon at the bottom, I had to remove the lower HDD cage.
I'd suggest having one if you can fit it (well, not a bayres, I hate those things, but something like an Aquatube is great), but in theory you'll actually get marginally better performance from just a T-line and fillport. Well, sorta - you may have slightly higher flow but less water in the system so it'll heat up faster, so it probably works out about the same. I've never had great luck with t-line solutions... they're a pain to fill imo. But technically speaking you don't even need a rad if you know how to design the setup well.
Hehe, filling is actually VERY easy Firehed. Just grab a 3/8 funnel (for a 1/2" fillport), then just pour away until the water level decides it's time to be difficult. At this point, just boot up, and add liquids as neccessary.
If you're going reservoir-less with just a fill port, check the pump requirements. If the pump is not self priming, you'll need a reservoir in the loop at the pump inlet. There is no possible way to use a fill port and pour fast enough to get the pump primed in the cooling loop.
Just keep pouring water in with the pump off until the coolant has worked its way through. Then turn the pump on for a few seconds, repeat.
My thinking on filling was that the pump will be the lowest point in the loop and the fillport t will be just before it, so when i fill the loop it should fill back round the loop through the cpu block etc, giving me a bit of priming head. I'm also going with a 1/2" tube from the fillport to the t-peice, whilst the rest of the setup is 3/8" so there will be a fair amount of capacity in the filler tube, to almost fill the entire system once the pump fires up, then it will just be a matter of topping up once its running and releaving the air.
I'd put the fillport at the top, so the air can come out that way, putting it at the bottom would probably cause you filling problems.
This is what i was intending. Although i'm thinking of making a mounting plate for the pump so its about level with the CPU, meaning less tubing.
Alternately, DangerDen makes a "Fillport Res" that's like $3 more than the standard fillport here. Maybe grab that?
Yeah i saw that, but i already have a fillport bought now. I think i'll stick with how i've got it planned and just drop the rad down a bit for filling so it all gets filled well before starting it up, either that or not screw the fillport in and fill it all up with the pc on its side so the air can get out.
