Dual D5 mod top or 2 seperate loops?

[ohms]

I am thinking of splitting up my loop which consists of an Alphacool Nexxus High-Flow CPU block, EK Crosshair III full cover block, EK 5870 block, Swiftech MCR-320 and Swiftech MCR-220 radiators. (I'm thinking of switching out my MCR-220 with a Thermochill PA160 I have laying around, as talked about in this (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=243769) thread)

Will I get better GPM flow with:

Dual D5's & EK mod top
MCR-320
Thermochill PA160
Alphacool Nexxus HF, EK Crosshair III block, EK 5870 block
BP Res 150

or

2 loops consisting of:
D5 w/ BP front mod, BP Res 150, Alphacool Nexxus HF, EK Crosshair III block, Swiftech MCR-320
DDC w/ Res mod top, EK 5870 block, Thermochill PA160

Basically, if I decide to go with 2 separate loops I will need to spend more money but if the performance gain is worth it I will. I would have to buy an the TMS-200 expansion board, another Koolance Flow meter, DDC w/ Res mod top and some additional fittings.

[mattkosem]

Basically, if I decide to go with 2 separate loops I will need to spend more money but if the performance gain is worth it I will. I would have to buy an the TMS-200 expansion board, another Koolance Flow meter, DDC w/ Res mod top and some additional fittings.

In my opinion, the performance gain will not be worth it (if noticeable at all). I'd go with the dual topped D5 setup. You've got more than enough rad there to keep all of those components cool in a single loop and 3 blocks isn't really going to kill your flow, especially with dual pumps.

I set my box up with my MCP655, cpu block, and TFC rad in one loop and my cpx-pro, 2x EK-cooled 4890s, and MCR320 in a separate loop and found it not to be worthwhile at all. My CPU wasn't any cooler than it was first in line after the rads in a single loop and my 4890s were only ~1-2C cooler, which didn't make any difference in clocks at all. I ended up dropping back to the single loop to clean up all of the clutter.

I'd go with that first loop you have there, in pretty much the order you have it listed. The only change I'd make is moving the mobo block after the vid card block.

--Matt

[Sadasius]

+1 to what Matt said. No need to separate that loop.

[ohms]

Well that wasn't the exact order that I have my current setup in. All the parts are the same but I will be substituting the MCR-220 for the Thermochill PA160.

The order of my loop currently is this:

D5 > MCR-320 > MCR 220 > Video > Chipset > CPU > Res > return to pump


In my opinion, the performance gain will not be worth it (if noticeable at all). I'd go with the dual topped D5 setup. You've got more than enough rad there to keep all of those components cool in a single loop and 3 blocks isn't really going to kill your flow, especially with dual pumps.


+1 to what Matt said. No need to separate that loop.

Believe it or not, my GPM flow rate sucks pretty bad. According to my TMS-200 and the INS FM-17 flow meter I only get about 0.60 GPM. From what I have heard and read I should be getting about 2.00~ GPM. This initially was one of the reasons that I wanted to seperate my loop because the low GPMs worried me that I would not be getting enough cooling. So I automatically assumed that my loop was too restrictive being that I had so many blocks and 2 90 degree fittings.

Temperature wise I guess it isn't all that bad, on full load my CPU gets to about 35C, video to about 39C and my fluid to about 34-36~.

[mattkosem]

D5 > MCR-320 > MCR 220 > Video > Chipset > CPU > Res > return to pump

TBQH, this is not a good loop order if you care about your cpu temps. Your cpu is getting the warmest water in the loop and your graphics card, which cares less than the cpu about temperature, is first. Those blocks should be going in reverse order or cpu > video > chipset. If you're planning to go with dual D5s with tops, your flow will be much higher than it is currently. You won't notice much more than ~1-2C difference with .6gpm vs 2.0 anyways.

--Matt

[Jah]

Something is wrong with your flow, unless your CPU block is a lot more restrictive then I think, you should have more then 0,6 could be as simple as a faulty flow meter.
Splitting the loop in two is overkill, but I think two pumps probably is to :)

Loop order still is negligible, we are talking much less then 1°C in normal loops.

[ohms]

Something is wrong with your flow, unless your CPU block is a lot more restrictive then I think, you should have more then 0,6 could be as simple as a faulty flow meter.

Well when I had initially installed my whole loop and the flow meter and looked at the numbers I was a bit concerned so I had called Koolance and spoke to both Tim and Todd and they had me test out various things like plugging it into my motherboard with the provided adapter rather then using the TMS-2000 and it still showed the same numbers.

I think when I do redo my loop soon I will plug it into the top of the pump rather then in the middle of the loop to see if that changes anything.


Splitting the loop in two is overkill, but I think two pumps probably is to :)


NEVER! There is no such thing as overkill when it comes to water cooling! :D

[BringerOdeath]

Ohms, I think I am going to pick up the EK dual top and another D5 and give it a go also....:P