Hot, hot water in watercooling system

[Mobsters]

The problem is, hot water

I just put together WC system. below 24h old. Everything works but, somehow water inside loop is not cooling enough. Room temp is around 24'c and water temp is 42'c if the temp sensor inside aqua xt pump is accurate. This is when i fold with both GTX 480 @ stock clocks.
Another problem is cpu that heats up in linx test. Hitting around 78'c, idle around 50'c and below.

Loop order, pump(Aquastream XT- Ultra Version) -> gpu blocks in paraller(ek) -> cpu block(Swiftech Apogee XT Extreme) -> rad(Phobya G-Changer 420) -> res

I have 3 noctua 14cm fans pulling air trough rad.

What is next step to solve this problem, buy another rad? reseat cpu block?

Goal here is silent system and any tips is

pic of the system and specs

core i7 920@4GHz HT on 1.376V
sli gtx 480@stocks
coming soon
MB blocks and memory block

[Mazlov]

Two GTX480 can generate an enormous amount of heat. Considering your 3x140mm rad surface, I'm not surprised that your water gets warm. You just don't have enough rads to get rid of all that heat.

[Holst]

If your water temp is 40+ degrees then thats going to be pushing your temps up a fair bit.
Does the tubing and res feel hot when your touch it?
I would be tempted to put a household thermometer into the res to check the temp reading you are getting from the pump.

Your CPU load temp might be a bit high with a 36 degree delta a load but those CPUs produce a decent amount of heat at those clocks.

Reseating the CPU block may help, and its worth taking the block off and checking that the mount is good anyway.

Is your rad drawing air from inside your case?
If your case temps are high this will also affect the water temps.

There are three things you can do to get lower water temps
1 - reduce the temperature of the air entering the rad.. . if your getting ambient temperature air into the rad already then this is all you can do.
2 - Improve airflow through the rad (more powerful fans, you may also be able to make things more efficient with a shroud)
3 - More surface area... more rads.

Your rad is quite large and should cope with your components, however you need to optimize the airflow through the rad.. doing this and keeping the noise down isnt always easy.

[OldChap]

I never owned a bay res so not sure you can but looking at the pic if you stand the rig back side down can you get any more air out of the rad?

I have a temporary setup of a 920 @ 4.1 and a q6600 @ 3.6 plus fully watercooled rampage MB on one loop running a d5 and pa120.3 this runs with water temp 9deg above ambient You can calculate the heat load for yourself but at first glance you seem to need more rad

[Mobsters]

here is couple more pics





i tried to bleed the rad out of air but i will try it again, and rad and tubing feels hot, almost burning. GPU temps are great at max load, tipping 60'c with furmark, only positive thing atm.

I haven't remount cpu block yet, but will when i have more time. Just checking leaks and stuff atm

PC case is nexus edge, it tends to get little hot inside with all that Noise absorption wave foam..

[Holst]

Your rad placement is pretty good on top of the case so it seems like you really need more powerful fans, or more rads...

Can you take a pic from the top of the case so we can see how the fans are mounted?

[kroks]

I have 3 noctua 14cm fans pulling air trough rad.

What is next step to solve this problem, buy another rad? reseat cpu block?

Goal here is silent system and any tips is

Noctua 14cm fans suxxxxxxx
and you need more radiator

[Mobsters]

Here is top shot, damm difficult to take



So if i decide to buy new fans for rad, what would be efficient and silent for the job? And anything else that would help?

I would like to keep this build silent(still little loud) as i need to sleep with same room with pc... and i keep it on all day and night as electricity is almost free(included in rent).

[BrokenArrow]

I think your pump is part of the problem. The Aquastream by itself produces about half the flow rate of the typical DDC 18W.

Can you check the flow rate? For the system you have, I think the temperatures seem normal.

[Mobsters]

That is the one thing i cannot check, but i could order flow meter check it. Pump operates at 81.4Hz if that says anything

[voigts]

The way that you get quiet is to increase cooling surface area and thereby be able to reduce airflow. i doubt that issue is your pump. The Aquastream pumps work fine. I would run what I have through AndreaBZ's flowrate estimator to get an idea of what your flow looks like.

I use 2 triple radiators, which allows for lots of surface area with fans running at about 6-7 volts. Those Noctua fans aren't the best radiator fans, but they should still be good enough.

[Holst]

The way that your fans are mounted onto your rad isnt the best.
There are lots of gaps between the fans and the core that they can pull air through.
With the fans trying to pull air through the core you need to seal up those gaps so that the air has to come through the rad and not around the edges of the fans.
This is especially important with low CFM fans that dont move much air.

You may get a decrease in water temp by sealing the saps between the fans and the core. I would just use some masking or electrical tape and see if it makes any difference to the water temps. If it does then making a proper shroud might help.

[Sideroxylon]

You've got that middle fan blowing heated case air across your rad. Never a good idea if you're looking for better temps. Reversing your fans should help.

[BrokenArrow]

The Aquastream pumps work fine. I would run what I have through AndreaBZ's flowrate estimator to get an idea of what your flow looks like.

Looking at the pictures I see pretty small diameter tubing and a lot of 90° elbows for the suction (inlet) to the pump. Not a good idea to restrict the flow into the pump.

I still think flow rate is probably still pretty low. As above, please try to estimate flow rate or do a simple bucket test (stop watch and graduated bucket) to measure your actual flow rate.

[Mobsters]

tubing is 3/8" ID Primochill, i tried fans another way but temp increased. Im thinking about those 90° too, could replace em with 45°, straight ones would take too much space.

flowrate estimator tells me flowrate about 0.90 GPM

[Holst]

Looking at the pictures I see pretty small diameter tubing and a lot of 90° elbows for the suction (inlet) to the pump. Not a good idea to restrict the flow into the pump.

I still think flow rate is probably still pretty low. As above, please try to estimate flow rate or do a simple bucket test (stop watch and graduated bucket) to measure your actual flow rate.

If the GPU temps were bad then I would agree with you, but the high watertemps are the main problem.

[Sideroxylon]

i tried fans another way but temp increased.

I guarantee that your temps are higher by supplying your rad with the heated case air. Granted you only have 1 fan blowing from your case through your rad but that isn't helping with temps. Always supply your rad with fresh cool air for best temps.

[BeepBeep2]

I guarantee that your temps are higher by supplying your rad with the heated case air. Granted you only have 1 fan blowing from your case through your rad but that isn't helping with temps. Always supply your rad with fresh cool air for best temps.

Convection?

A 420 is not enough for 2 GTX480 and an i7 920. I'd put the two 480 on that rad and add at least a 220 for the CPU.

60c on GPU's isn't all that great...

[BrokenArrow]

If the GPU temps were bad then I would agree with you, but the high watertemps are the main problem.

Good point.

[fgw]

agree to Sideroxylon. pretty sure the problem is in feeding hot air to the rad.

doubt its related to pump/fowrate, tubing, blocks or a bad mount. looking at it logically, having hot water means the heat transfer from cpu and gpu's is working. the problem is the transfer of heat from water to air.

suggest an easy experiment:

1. unscrew your rad to have it laying loose on top of the case in the same position as it is right now
2. start your loading programs cpu or gpu or even both and watch temps rising
3. grab your rad and hold it upright, so it will get fresh air

report back what happens to water, cpu and gpu temperatures

if temps go down, the problem is the hot air the rad is getting.

[antiacid]

you either need an additional radiator or you need more powerful fans. More fans also equal more noise, therefore you might have to compromise somewhat on your expectations if you want to add a radiator.

[bmaverick]

A few years back, Swiftech offered the MCRES-1000. It was a DDC pump+RES combo that fit into a normal DVD bay. That isn't offered anymore because the pump heat would keep the fluid in the reservoir hot.

Looking at your setup, the RES has really no place to release heat, thus that volume of fluid stays nice and warm.

My loop has a 1-gallon glass pickle jar just outside the case with quick disconnects. It's stays almost a full 9C cooler than the bay RES I use to have with the loop. In the summer, I place the 1-gallon next to the AC vent. In the winter it sits up next to the window to grab the cold draft of the glass.

[Mobsters]

suggest an easy experiment:

1. unscrew your rad to have it laying loose on top of the case in the same position as it is right now
2. start your loading programs cpu or gpu or even both and watch temps rising
3. grab your rad and hold it upright, so it will get fresh air

report back what happens to water, cpu and gpu temperatures

if temps go down, the problem is the hot air the rad is getting.

Rad is already loose on top but short tubes makes it hard to move and all fan wires

A few years back, Swiftech offered the MCRES-1000. It was a DDC pump+RES combo that fit into a normal DVD bay. That isn't offered anymore because the pump heat would keep the fluid in the reservoir hot.

Looking at your setup, the RES has really no place to release heat, thus that volume of fluid stays nice and warm.

Good point there, been folding couple hours now and bay res looks like this with water temp 38.4'c

you either need an additional radiator or you need more powerful fans. More fans also equal more noise, therefore you might have to compromise somewhat on your expectations if you want to add a radiator.

What rad would be good at low fan speeds?

[PiLsY]

Id try some 140mm yates on that rad before you replace it. Theyre square frame so should seal better plus they perform well. Dial down noise level to suit.

Ultimately you're still trying to dissipate at least 600watts of heat through a single triple rad with low power fans. Better airflow or another rad needed.

[Sideroxylon]

[QUOTE=bmaverick;4706532Looking at your setup, the RES has really no place to release heat, thus that volume of fluid stays nice and warm.

My loop has a 1-gallon glass pickle jar just outside the case with quick disconnects. It's stays almost a full 9C cooler than the bay RES I use to have with the loop. In the summer, I place the 1-gallon next to the AC vent. In the winter it sits up next to the window to grab the cold draft of the glass. [/QUOTE]

Good point there, been folding couple hours now and bay res looks like this with water temp 38.4'c

You guys are killing me. The res in his loop has NO impact on temps. That's what the rad is for.

He's blowing HOT air across his rad. If this was a good idea everyone would park a space heater in front of their rad. Hopefully common sense and logic tells you this is NOT a good idea.

Mav, your res might actually be helping your temps due to it being influenced by your AC or cool outside temps. That's not the case with the op. He relies solely on his rad doing the job.

OP your res looks like that because your water temps are so hot and your getting condensation in the res.