First forray into liquid

[richaemry]

Would I be okay with a 140mm and a 360mm? Or should I opt for a 360mm and a 240mm on the side of HDD rack?

[bigball1]

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!

 

Good read on the article. He did a crazy first build to his watercooling setup.

 

Either way your running it, you did the same principle as what l did, which was separate the GPUS onto 1 rad and the CPU on the other rad. There is no right or wrong way of running the same ideas.

 

 

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.

 

Ok so 5c might be high. But l have no idea what the wattage of heat displaced by 3 of these cards is.

[bigball1]

Would I be okay with a 140mm and a 360mm? Or should I opt for a 360mm and a 240mm on the side of HDD rack?

 

Well it depends. For the cost different between a 120 and 240 rad. l would go with the bigger 240. But if your lacking space to place it. Go with the smaller one. Once you have the rad, you will always have it for your next build.

 

As long as you have the 320, The performance difference between a 120 and 240 should be about .5 or less of a degree, for a second rad

[Waco]

Ok so 5c might be high. But l have no idea what the wattage of heat displaced by 3 of these cards is.

With enough flow the difference between the hottest and coolest water in the loop should be well below a single degree.

[richaemry]

The main rad is going to definitely be an 120.3mm rad with push pull mounted in the top of the case. Can I put the top back on or do I have to leave it off? It would cover about 1 inch of the 320mm rad.

 

The 140.1mm rad would be mounted on the exterior of the case and be push pull. The 120.2(240mm) rad would me mounted internally on mounting holes by the HDD rack and would be blowing across my 3 drives 2 in icy dock before exhausting out the the front of the case. Like shown in the attached pic. There can be only one set of fans on this rad.

 

Would it be better in that situation to go with the 140.1mm or the 120.2mm I'm leaning to the 140.1mm to avoid having all that hot air blowing over 400 bucks in hard drives (which will be like 600-700 when the SATA 6GB/s sandforce drives come out.)

 

And yes I realize this is a crazy first build to watercool, and if there was a decent quiet aftermarket cooling solution to 6970s that only took up one slot (all the ones I've seen make a card stick into the 3rd slot or even a 4th.) But you can't hear this wind tunnel in here and it's disorienting check out this review and you will see Look at the vid with 3 cards

 

Thanks again guys you all have given me a lot of help!

 

What are decent no drip fittings and couplers I should look for?

Edited March 19, 2011 by richaemry

[richaemry]

Sounds good guys. What fittings and whatnot do you recommend? I'd like no drip and I'm assuming I'll use plumber's tape.

 

I'm going to go with 3 EK acetyl blocks with EKFC links in 3 way parallel, an EK acetyl CPU block, a black ice 360mm rad and either a 140mm black ice or a 240mm black ice slim rad. Then yate loon fans push pull on the 360 and if I go with the 140mm I'll go push pull too the 240mm won't have room for push pull. I'm looking at commercial tubing of 1/2-3/4 from a friend of mine's shop and then I'm going to go with the XSPC dual bay pump/res combo with a Liang D5 in it, and two bottles of primochill ice since this is my first build and I don't like the idea of leaks killing parts.

 

Fittings? What should I get? I'd like compression for safety's sake what are decent and not to obscene? I'd also like to know about mounting kits. Do I just use the same screws I mount my fans with now? since I'm going to the exact same holes?

 

I can do all this for what right now looks like $720-$760 shipped. Is that a good deal?

Edited March 19, 2011 by richaemry

[Waco]

Fittings? What should I get? I'd like compression for safety's sake what are decent and not to obscene? I'd also like to know about mounting kits. Do I just use the same screws I mount my fans with now? since I'm going to the exact same holes?

IIRC compression fittings are more likely to pop off versus barbs + clamps.

[richaemry]

IIRC compression fittings are more likely to pop off versus barbs + clamps.

 

 

But leaks? Are they going to have leaks? If not then there is what I'm doing since they are cheaper anyways. Will I nee some right angle adapters?

[Waco]

But leaks? Are they going to have leaks?

Barbs + clamps are the least likely fittings to leak, pop off, etc. Compression fittings are more likely to have problems (and they cost more...so if you can stand the look of barbs and clamps I wouldn't bother spending more).

[Speedway]

You said you are getting the Black Ice rads, and the yate loon fans, and this will work. But, if I rem correctly the BI rads have a fin design that is optimized for high CFM (loud) fans. So if you want quietness, and are going with the yate loons, you may want to look into a different rad. When it comes to distilled water, it is just as non-conductive in the beginning as any of the "non-conductive" coolant you can buy! Bottom line is when dust gets added into the equation, it all becomes conductive at that point. You should def not have yourself convinced that there is a way to run a WC loop with a liquid that it is going to be "non-conductive" for any length of time! Because a gallon of .99 distilled water is just as non-conductive in the beginning as anything else, and everything over time is just as conductive as anything else. Unless of course you spend the money creating a dust-free environment

 

You are def saving yourself hearing loss though putting the 6970's under water! I have them as well and they are unbelievably loud, and mine are going under water very shorlty

[bigball1]

But leaks? Are they going to have leaks? If not then there is what I'm doing since they are cheaper anyways. Will I nee some right angle adapters?

 

Nothing is 100% leak proof. Compression have a higher level of leak proof. But if you even do maintenance they are a "B" to get off.

 

Bards are a cleaner install but you may have to but a clamp on it but that depends on the tubing you get. if your tubing is good stuff and its not hard, got a little give to it and its proper size then you wont need clamps. As it will make a seal when its around the barb.

 

You wont know till you do your test run of the system. If you did it right you wont have any leaks.

 

And yes use plumbers tape on all treads. But do it cleanly as if you have excess on the end of the thread, then a bit will tare off and be floating around in your system

 

For Right angle adapters, thats up to you to know as to how you lay out your tubing.

[richaemry]

What would be better rads? I want quiet, and I want cold. I hate noise, and most often I game in an environment with low speaker volume. The hum in here is absurd.