Cooling PolarFLO TT CPU Water Block Question

I'm looking to purchase a PolarFLO TT series waterblock for my CPU, and it just occured to me that it has 3 barbs, and I really have no idea how to arrange the tubes.

Should I put 2 tubes going in on the sides, and the 'out' in the middle...

OR...

Should I put the middle one as an input, and the 2 on the sides as out...

Any help would be appreciated,

THANKS!

 

The center is supposed to be the inlet, and the two outer barbs are outlets.

 

good deal

Thank you

 

Might be worth considering using the plug and just go for a 2 barb set-up.

I've not tried it yet but i can't see it making much, if any difference temperature wise but it would make setting it up a bit easier.

/.....worth giving it a go!

 

Yea, the real power behind the three barbs is if you have multiple blocks set-up. If it's just the CPU, I remember reading that three actually works a little worse than just the two barbs...

 

If your res has multiple ports then you can run parallel lines out of the block which should help flow rates.

 

Whatever you do, the center is the inlet!

 

I'll be using a CPU block, VGA block, and a NB block.

Since I'll be using the A8N-SLI motherboard, I might go ahead with 2 VGA blocks with 2 video cards in SLI...

I'll take your advice, and I just thought of something, here's a diagram:



How would that work out? I don't mind all the extra tubing, if there is any

edit:// How you like my uber 1337 MS Paint Skillz?!

 

A couple of points

One thing i will add though is its good to keep the 2 hoses coming out you CPU block the same length so both cards will get equal flow.

Don't know how your going to manage to get a NB block in there though as the GFX cards will be in the way.

I'm having the same problem with a MSI K8N SLi Platinum.

You also need to have the res directly in front of the pump.

 

Since I'm mounting the res on the top of the case, how about if I were to mount the pump in the upper 5.25" bays?

 

If you have to put in a NB block, surely stick it before the CPU. The temp won't rsie much from the NB.

 

With any decent pump the flow will be good enough to make the water dT before and after about 0.5°c.. so thats a bit pointless.

Id also add that it might be best if only one gfx went to the nb.

Nb's are usually quite restrictive. It would be better.

Doesnt really matter that the gfx wont both get the same flow, it mkight make one a few c hotter at most but it shouldnt affect clockspeeds, while also improving total flow round the system, making one gfx cooler and the cpu and other components cooler.

 

Must admit, i got to disagree with you there kbn.

I would say the main reason to use the two output hoses from the CPU block would be to keep both cards running identical.......that's why its best to use similar length hose.

If you then run only one to the NB you could find that it could restrict the other so much it can stop the flow which could end up cooking the card.

Bench test it first and you will see what i mean.

 

Well, since I'll be running the tubing to the center of the block, and the exhaust would be coming from the 2 barbs on the side of the block, wouldn't that be reducing the flow as well?

Then, after the water would run through the GFX blocks and come together in a Y adapter, wouldn't the flow rate be the same as it was entering the CPU block?

It's kind of like this:

.......................|
.......................|
....................[cpu]
....................../ \
.....................1..2
......................\ /
.......................|

(nice acsii, eh?)

1 and 2 being the graphics cards...

see how it splits, and then comes back together? think of it like a paper... you tear it in half, it's smaller (splitting the flow in half, less flow) and then combining them again, you get a full paper (the Y connector after the gfx blocks)

I kind of see where you're coming from... since the block will be outputting through 2 barbs, the flow is decreased inside the block. But then again, if water is pumped through the center, and exited out the sides, it sort of creates an effect like this:

......|
...|_|_|

which means, the water flows in the block directly in the middle of the CPU, and then it's forced to "split in half", and then it is forced out on either side. To me, I'd see this as a performance increase... but...

If you were to put the input on one of the sides, plug the middle, and then have the exhaust on the other side, it would have a much faster flow since having 2 exhausts would actually reduce the water flow.

 

bassboi,

I'm going to take a stab at this and try to clear up a couple things I *think* are misconceptions in your post. Coolmiester, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong:

1) No, the flow will not return to 100% after the gfx cards. The blocks do have a restrictive quality to them, and so each will reduce the effective flow slightly. They will recombine and be a little slower than the original stream from the CPU, which is going a little slower than the pump anyways. After all, there is friction in the system, which the blocks provide a bit of. Without that, we'd be able to start a sealed system with a pump and have perpetual motion afterwards.

2) Side to side plugging the middle channel is not as effective as you assume. I'm not sure about a polarflo block, because I haven't taken one apart, but most blocks will have different levels of restriction from their inlet to their outlet barbs, usually most restrictive right after the inlet and getting less and less toward the outlet. This allows the flow to get the most contact with the copper (or whatever) when the flow is strongest, and impede it least when the flow is weakest (trace a maze block, look how many corners by the inlet and how long the straight channels are before the outlet). Your way would create more open flow when the water first enters, then get more restrictive, then less again, which could hamper the system. At least if the polarflo works like many designs do... Not to mention, the idea of using the center barb puts the freshest water right over the cpu core, where the heat source is. Overall, it would just reduce the efficiency of the design, I think.

I *think* that's right, someone let me know if not. I'm not much of a physicist, but having enough chem gave me over a year of thermodynamics.

 

No, the flow (Volume of water per unit time) will always be the same at all points of a series loop. Where there are parallel sections, the sum of the flows in each parallel line will equal to that in the series section.

Otherewise you have a leak!

 

I believe you are right about putting the inlet in the center, and plugging one of the sides because of the design of the copper heat-transfer-thingie or whatever it's called. Here's a picture of it: