new to watercooling. heater core? or pa160?

[xkon]

howdy, I'm new to water cooling, just bought a used apogee drive, mcw30, and mcw60. Probably order a t-line instead of a rad...

Now I'm wondering what I should do about a rad. I've been wanting to jump in with a pa160, but i keep hearing heater cores are way better. This is going into an sg03, so it's going to be a tight fit. Either one probably won't fit, but I don't mind the gamble. :D It's either one of those or a sure fit in the 120.2 Black Ice GT as it's only 30mm thick.

Also not too sure about what type of tubing. I'm on a bit of a budget, but don't mind paying a little extra to be secure. I'll just list the parts they'll cool so that you guys get a vague idea of what I'm doing.

Phenom 9600 (might become q9550)
DFI Lanparty JR 790GX-M2RS (might become JR P45-T2RS)
hd4870 + hd4850 (or might do 2[4850x2] maybe 2[4870x2])

The extra cooling was supposed to be just for the extra hot 4850, but the ideas just kept coming. I decided to get an apogee drive so that I won't have to figure out where to mount the pump. So that means I need more than just a single 120.1 rad since i'm cooling the gpu and the cpu.
Would a single pa160 be enough for a 4870+4850+phenom9600+NB?
how about just a pair of 4870x2's or 4850x2's?

[MorGo7h]

I'd go with a triple rad for all the stuff u need to cool.
I bought XSPC tubing last week and it's awesome. It's cheap and good :o I like it better than my tygon R3606! It's a bit stiffer but it bends better than R3606 imo.
3meters of XSPC tubing costs as much as 1meter Tygon :up:

[hellcamino]

I too am thinking a Thermochill or Feser 120.3 radiator as well as a higher capacity pump and stand alone cpu block, I think you are asking/hoping for an awful lot from that little guy!

[twwen2]

Yeah that's a lot of wattage for a PA160. For dual 4870X2's i'd be looking at a triple 120 rad definitely.

Have you considered mounting a larger rad outise the case? I'm currently doing a SFF build myself, and i'm passing tubes out through a PCI slot to the PA120.3; which will be mounted under the desk somwhere.

[inCore]

That's one of the more ambitious lists of stuff to pump through a single radiator, respect for that. :p:

On another note, you need at least a triple radiator for that setup, there is no way that a single will even remotely cope with that.

[BreeSpree]

Don't use a heatercore or a PA 160. It will be hard to mount and won't be sufficient for that watt load. Definitely use some standard 120mm fan rads. I would reccomend either a PA 120.3 or a TFC 120.3.

[xkon]

:D thanks for the input. i was looking at the triple rads first, but they won't fit, it'd have to be an external system; which I'd rather not deal with. i don't need great temps, just better than air that fits in this little sucker. like a gemini II, and arctic cooling s1's that take up way too much space. would a pa160 be able to cool a 4870 and 4850 (i see it posted all over the place that it cools better than a 120.2 system). would a 120mm rad be able to cool the 9600?

[MorGo7h]

A 120.2 is better than a pa160. But still not enough for your entire system :(

[hellcamino]

I suppose a single high quality 120 radiator would cool your 9600 alright as long as it was running stock speed. Is this for an htpc ?

[inCore]

If you have the Accelero S1 that you mentioned, you might as well leave it on if you're going to use a PA160.1. A 120.2 will do better and will be fine for your cards. I just wouldn't rely on a single radiator for anything really, except add to an already existing loop. I assume you're going to place the 120.2 in the front of the SG03, if I were you I would keep the cards air cooled with the Accelero and watercool the CPU with a dual radiator at the front of the case standing vertically. Anything else would need some external solution or you might as well stay with air cooling all together.

[Boogerlad]

bonneville 1977 with ac heatercore ftw! aka 2-302