View Full Version : series or parallel?
DoGMaN
12-15-2002, 01:07 PM
When using 2 rads, should they be put in series, or in parallel for maximum cooling?
KnightElite
12-15-2002, 01:35 PM
Parallel, because the water will be at the same temperature when entering the radiators, thereby giving maximum cooling. If they're in series, one of the radiators will be getting cooler water than the other, and be less effective.
antipop
12-16-2002, 06:07 AM
What gain can you expect from running two rad instead of one? like two dd heatercore
AKRedneck
12-17-2002, 01:49 AM
Originally posted by antipop
What gain can you expect from running two rad instead of one? like two dd heatercore
You'll get twice the cooling capacity.. You've doubled your surface area for cooling...or another way to look at it is your water spends twice as long in the radiator where it's tranferring heat to air..
JBELL
12-17-2002, 09:43 AM
Also remember your parrallel rad setup will doulbe the bandwidth of the flow for water ... plan your pump size and location accordingly... I would run 1/2 tubing throughout inline setup and run 3/8 @ the rads .. as having two side-by-side the 1/2 will lose your back pressure and be as effective overall than if you had smaller tubing at the rads.
JBELL
Svenn
12-27-2002, 11:32 PM
Originally posted by JBELL
Also remember your parrallel rad setup will doulbe the bandwidth of the flow for water ... plan your pump size and location accordingly... I would run 1/2 tubing throughout inline setup and run 3/8 @ the rads .. as having two side-by-side the 1/2 will lose your back pressure and be as effective overall than if you had smaller tubing at the rads.
JBELL
I've got an Eheim 1250. If I am using 1/2" tubing and split it into 1/2" tubing and have one go to GPU and other go to NB, will that mess up my flow rates too much? Hardass said it'd be fine... Also, what if I went 1/2" to 1/2" parallel gpu/nb back to 1/2" then to parallel rads? I'm putting a swiftech MCW50-T w/ pelt on the GPU so I'm trying to keep it real cool.
AKRedneck
12-28-2002, 03:38 PM
Svenn,
Here's a way to look at this that may help your decision. On any parallel setup, the pressure loss through each branch will be equal to the other.. This will alway's be true. So, if you put smaller tubing on one branch, the flow rate will decrease so the pressure loss is equal to that of the other branch. If you use the 1/2" tubing for both branches, then the only factors are the pressure loss difference between your water blocks, and the difference in length of tubing between branches (probably negligable).
I haven't done any branched systems as I've only cooled my vid card so far, however, I am guessing that you would want more flow for your vid card, since it is probably in need of the xtra flow. Perhaps you could put a small restriction orifice on the nb branch to regulate flow if you use the same size tubing.
Hope this helps with your decision..
:D
i've had this debate upteen times, parallel i'd say but still never had time to try it, works best for some in series tho http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?postid=12999#post12999 so parallel definately by theory but system dependent in practice ?
g.l.amour
01-23-2003, 07:13 AM
what i have noticed that indeed the parallel way should be the more efficient one...
Jbell strikes a very important point. he sais it because if u don't pay attention to the line thickness u risk not having enough flow when u split up. that would cause eventual air bubbles not being blown into the airtrap.
that was the exact problem i had when running those 2 rads in parallel with my 1048. putting em serial solved that problem. upgrading to a 1250 and reducing line size to the rads also solved the problem, but gave me no measurable temp difference.
summarized, go serial if u want trouble free, easy routing passive cooling.
now the promised pix
http://users.skynet.be/donsole/final7.jpg
http://users.skynet.be/donsole/final9.jpg
hedge
01-29-2003, 07:37 AM
I won't confess to be an expert on water cooling, but I believe if you run it in serial you can use slower and quieter fans than if you were to use one radiator. The first radiator will bring the water down closer to ambient temps and the second one finishes the job by cooling the water to ambience without having to use noisy fans. Just my thought.
By the way g.l.amour, that setup is almost as ghetto looking as some of the things I have done before. :D Picture a golden orb with a 120mm fan blowing down a paper funnel.
Hedge