First forray into liquid

[Waco]

I beg the differ, it does matter. When I put my 120.2 rad on top of the case and my pump at the bottom, I had the pump going into a dual bay reservoir which went to the 120.2 rad. My pump was at the bottom, trying to force pressure into a reservoir (which isn't pressurized), trying to get to the rad at the top.

 

Imo, res -> pump -> rad -> cpu -> gpu -> res

You never try to feed a reservoir from the pump - you always have the reservoir feeding the pump. That's about the only restriction on loop order at all (to avoid burning out your pump and avoiding leaks). I guess I should have mentioned that but I figured it was common sense.

Edited March 17, 2011 by Waco

[richaemry]

So if I were to run it with pump >GPU >GPU >GPU> >140mmRad >CPU >360mmRad >Res >240mmRad would that work? I've found a kit coolermaster makes to mount a 3rd 240mm Rad to the side of my HDD bay. This setup would set me back around $800US is that way obscene? I don't want to needlessly spend money, but I want to push this stuff hard. I'm looking for OCs higher than I have now, and I just can't stand the noise in here right now..........

[camaro_dude15]

im not suprised it would cost that much if you got three full cover blocks.

[Onion]

If I were you, I'd get 2 separate loops going instead of mashing all that into one loop. Your pump's gonna have a hell of a time moving water, I can tell you that much. I'd do a cpu loop with the 120x2 and the gpu loop as follows. GPU>GPU>120x3>GPU>T-line>Pump>120x2. Or remove the 120x3 and slap on a 120x4 on the side of your case.

[camaro_dude15]

If I were you, I'd get 2 separate loops going instead of mashing all that into one loop. Your pump's gonna have a hell of a time moving water, I can tell you that much. I'd do a cpu loop with the 120x2 and the gpu loop as follows. GPU>GPU>120x3>GPU>T-line>Pump>120x2. Or remove the 120x3 and slap on a 120x4 on the side of your case.

 

 

yeah but his case has a mount for the 120x3 on the top, nice neat and out of the way, coolermaster really did a great job on that case,

 

and if he got that really nice parallel water bridge, then he couldnt exactly put a rad in between gpu's, the parallel bridge solves the gpu problem anyway by not having them in series, so if he went res->pump->cpu->140->gpu's->120x3->res it should be a killer wc set up

Edited March 18, 2011 by camaro_dude15

[richaemry]

3 6970s (flashed 6950s) pull enough power with this setup to overload my PSU with a 125w CPU and all this cooling 4 ram dimms 3HDDs and all this cooling? If so then for dumb old neighborhood wiring reasons and to avoid spending more than a grand on a UPS rated beyond 850w I may not be able to mount a 120.3 on the top and I'd put a 2nd PSU in. Could I use that monster side fan for a really huge rad or 2 smaller ones? I know this has already been answered but I can't find a really good answer as to what the max usage is in game with flashed 6950's.

 

*Fingers crossed on not needing a 2nd PSU that would really suck*

[Waco]

The order of the loop doesn't matter at all as long as the reservoir feeds the pump. That's it.

 

GPU blocks are nearly always extremely unrestrictive - I wouldn't worry about flow with a halfway decent pump even if you go with a single loop.

 

EDIT: All this cooling stuff with use well under 50 watts unless you go crazy with dual high power pumps or something.

Edited March 18, 2011 by Waco

[richaemry]

I just measured at the wall and my whole rig eyefinity router speakers headset glowy keyboards gamepads and all peaks at under 700w with both prime 95 and heaven running for an hour. Nothing else even comes close to the 686w peak I pulled so I feel pretty solid I can do this with one PSU. I'm thinking 360mm in the top and 140mm on the back. I could put a 240mm beside the hard drive bays and stand it on it's side and put a low profile fan on it that really is necessary. Some people have said I would need the equivalent of 2 360mm rads for this rig, but I just don't think that is right. 360mm+140mm should get these temps down AND give me more headroom right?

[bigball1]

So if I were to run it with pump >GPU >GPU >GPU> >140mmRad >CPU >360mmRad >Res >240mmRad would that work? I've found a kit coolermaster makes to mount a 3rd 240mm Rad to the side of my HDD bay. This setup would set me back around $800US is that way obscene? I don't want to needlessly spend money, but I want to push this stuff hard. I'm looking for OCs higher than I have now, and I just can't stand the noise in here right now..........

 

 

The order of the loop doesn't matter at all as long as the reservoir feeds the pump. That's it.

 

GPU blocks are nearly always extremely unrestrictive - I wouldn't worry about flow with a halfway decent pump even if you go with a single loop.

 

EDIT: All this cooling stuff with use well under 50 watts unless you go crazy with dual high power pumps or something.

 

 

It TOTALLY does matter how you run the order of the setup.

Let say he had 1 big rad in the system. it went cpu,gpu,gpu,gpu,rad,res. This setup it Very bad. As the heat from the cpu is now going to all the gpus, and that poor last gpu. The water temp is going to a few degrees hotter then it first entered into the system. Like +5 or more. If hes overclocking anything here +5 makes a big different from stable to unstable.

 

To run this system for optimal cooling. I would get a bridge for the GPUs as it evenly distributes the cool water over the 3 GPUs. Then to the biggest rad you have. To the CPU, then to a smaller rad.

 

So, Pump, Bridge feeding GPU,GPU,GPU, Rad 120.3, CPU, 120.2, Res, loop

 

This is going to be the best setup for even heat disbursement

 

 

Now if you want to, there is even a dual pump system with res in it for dual loops.It fits into a 5 1/4 bay. Both pumps fit into it and it keeps to 2 loops separate. 1 loop to run 1 gpu,cpu. The other loop for the other 2 gpus. Run each loop on a 120.2 rad. Minimal hose to run, easy fill port. Little bit more $$$

[El_Capitan]

I've never had any issues with just one radiator, even a 120.2 feeding from CPU to a GPU and another GPU. Cooling the CPU is the most important, and your GPU's will rarely get hotter than 50C even with the extra heat coming from the CPU (and that's running Prime95 with Furmark at the same time).

[Speedway]

I think that +5C or more water temp difference might be a little inflated Big. Of course the water coming out of the cpu/gpu blocks will be slightly higher, like wise the water coming out of the rads will be slightly lower, which is why I would always have the biggest rad positioned just before the component that produces the most heat (cpu). Here is a good article that explains Delta T or DT, this is a very important concept in water cooling

 

If I were running everything in 1 loop:

 

res -> pump -> 120.3 rad -> cpu -> 120.2 rad -> gpu -> gpu -> gpu -> res

 

Now to be honest, I would not run all of that in a single loop. I would have my cpu and my (3) gpu's on their own loop. But that costs more and takes more room usually. But, Big did mention a dual loop pump/res solution that I will be moving to in the coming months. Koolance just released their dual loop res not too long ago!

[Waco]

It TOTALLY does matter how you run the order of the setup.

Let say he had 1 big rad in the system. it went cpu,gpu,gpu,gpu,rad,res. This setup it Very bad. As the heat from the cpu is now going to all the gpus, and that poor last gpu. The water temp is going to a few degrees hotter then it first entered into the system. Like +5 or more. If hes overclocking anything here +5 makes a big different from stable to unstable.

If you've got enough flow through the system the difference will be extremely minimal. If you get a delta of 5 degrees from reservoir -> loop -> rad then you've got a serious problem with your cooling system.