New water cooling system - needs comments/suggestions.

[Canadmos]

I am new to water cooling, so I would like some advice/comments/suggestions on this setup I have planned. I have read the majority of the threads in this liquid cooling forum and all of the stickied topics, so I am hoping I have at least a somewhat vague understanding of everything.

Anyways, my system consists mostly of the following;

- Case - Cooler Master Stacker STC-T01 (on order)
- EVGA 680i A1 mother board
- EVGA 8800GTX x2
- Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0GHz
- Corsair Dominator PC2-8500
- 1 320gb Seagate HD

I plan on doing a little overclocking with the liquid cooling, but nothing extreme.

At first I was thinking of doing a two loop system, with the CPU and video cards on their own separate loops.

Parts I have picked out so far is this;
- Swiftech Apogee GTX CPU Waterblock (http://www.petrastechshop.com/swapgtxcpuwa.html)
- Ek Full Cover Waterblock 8800GTX (http://www.petrastechshop.com/ekgtxfucowaf.html) - x2
- Thermochill PA120.2 (http://www.petrastechshop.com/thpara1.html) - x2
- Liang DDC2 Pump w/ Petra Tops (http://www.petrastechshop.com/laddcwpeddto.html) - x2
- Masterkleer Tubing (http://www.petrastechshop.com/7id5odmagepu.html)
- Not sure what reservoir yet, probably best decided later when I have the new case.
- Will be buying clamps for tubing at local hardware store or something.

Okay, so overnight I was thinking about this setup and I thought it might be a little overkill. Here are my questions;

1. Is that setup overkill?

2. Would I be better suited to just doing one cooling loop with a Thermochill PA120.3?

3. I do not want to mod my case very much at all, will two Thermochill PA120.2's fit in that case without any major modification?

4. I have read and seen pictures of the 120.3 fitting in the front of the case standing vertical, is there any modifications needed for it to fit there?

5. What size tubing does everyone recommend? 1/2" or 7/16" ID tubing?

6. Will I need to purchase a fill port if the reservoir does not come with one?

7. Have I missed anything?

Thanks in advance to anyone who makes some comments or suggestions.:shocked:

[KVL]

fans for your rads ?

[Canadmos]

Yeah, got that on the list. Forgot to include that in here.

[Canadmos]

Anyone else? Comments on a single or dual loop?

[kinghong1970]

just a couple of things i found helpful in here in XS...

there's a nifty way of estimating heat load and flowrate and it helps in choosing your loops and parts.

here's a link (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=157901) and read Marci's post carefully and check out the details.

[Canadmos]

Ok, I did the chart and here are my results. First up is the dual loop setup, which seems ok. And followed by that is a single loop setup with one pump and two pumps.

I think if I used the single loop setup with two pumps it would save some money, not having to buy a second radiator, double the tubing, etc. But if a single loop system doesn't cool the components that much it would be a waste of time.

I have one more question about the tubing, how many feet of tubing is usually used in a typical CPU and video card loop?

Dual loop;
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/8975/cpuloopkf4.jpg
CPU loop.

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/6918/videocardloopuk2.jpg
Video card loop. Which seems not that good when compared to the single loop setup.

Now for the single loop setup;
http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/9720/singleloop1pumpiy3.jpg
One pump, which is out of the question.

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/1038/singleloop2pumpfh8.jpg
Two pumps, which is still better than individual video card loop, but I have no idea on how well it will cool everything.

[leo_bsb]

I would try one pump, 1.42 is still great. How about try this first?

[kinghong1970]

Ok, let me see if i can get this straight, you want to WC a E6850 and 2x 8800GTX, right?

well, calculating the heatload, i inserted the following fields:

Motherboard: High End
CPU: Core 2 Duo E6850
CPU Util: 100% TDP
VIDEO: 8800 GTX
Video Type: SLI
PUMP: Swiftech MCP 355

total heat load = 352W (390W-38W)

now working the flowmeters:
appx 3' of 7/16 tubing
1 GTX
2 EK FC 8800
1 PA120.3
1 DDC2 + Petra's top
= 1.45 GPM

so a PA120.3 at 1.45 GPM can dissipate appx 350W of heat with an undervolted 1212M = Delta WFB1212M - 72.4cfm, 3.4mmH2O, 34dBA @ 12v (Factory spec), undervolted to 7V...

as for flow rates, it seems that tho it improves the heat dissipation but the improvement is not as significant... (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=158351)

if you want to play around with dual loop, you are going to pay a lot more but you should have no problem

PA120.2 CPU loop Scenario:
3' tubing
1 GTX
1 PA120.2
1 Laing DDC2 + Top
= 2.24 GPM

whereas the Heatload of only CPU and Pump at 100% TDP will be appx 106W (144W-38W)

hence in comparison to the chart below, PA120.2 can handle the heatload... with some headroom, depending on the fan you choose.


PA 120.2 VIDEO Loop
3' tubing
2 EK FC 8800
1 PA120.2
1 Laing DDC2 + Top
= 1.66 GPM

whereas the heatload for 2 8800GTX + Pump is 277W (315W-38W)

again, you can refer to chart below and see where you want to be...

perhpas 120mm Yate Loon D12SM-12 Case Fan - Black (70.5 CFM, 33 dBA) (http://www.petrastechshop.com/12yalod1cafa1.html) should be more than sufficient for you dual loop and even your single loop configurations...

http://www.thermochill.com/PATesting/PA1202HeatdissVSFlowrateGPM.jpg

[Canadmos]

Wow, thanks for all of that information. I think you have convinced me to try out a two loop system. That way I have plenty of head room. Plus I don't think it will be too hard to fit two 120.2 radiators in that this case.

[The_Beast]

just do a single loop, dual loop is overkill unless you OC alot

[Canadmos]

True on the OC point. I definitely won't be going for any extremes.