T3 - Capable Enough?

[India48]

I'm thinking of running the following components off of a 4 port T3, however, I am undecided yet on the loop order.

2 x 360 Radiator [RX360 or TFC 360; undecided]
1 x 480 Radiator [RX480 or TFC 480; undecided]
1 x Watercool Heatkiller LC 1156
1 x GPU Waterblock [Most likely a 5870 or a 5870x2]

My question is, will a 4 port T3 be able to provide sufficient flow for these components to achieve a "good" level of performance?

I know that in Skinnee's review of the T3, he achieved a flow rate of 3.16GPM with the following components;

1 x Watercool Heatkiller LT
3 x 360 Radiator [1 x RX360, 1 x MCR320 and 1 x GTX360]
2 x DD 295 Water blocks

Based upon Skinnee's results, I would say that I should be right to run the components I listed from a 4 port T3, but I thought that a second opinion (or two) wouldn't hurt. Furthermore, if the T3 is up to the job, do you think that there may be enough pumping power left in the T3 to support either another GPU water block?

At the moment I am thinking that if the T3 isn't sufficient, or I'm after a bit of additional flow/pumping power in my loop, I could throw in another D5 or a DDC 3.2 into one of the loops running off the T3. Will this configuration of a T3 with an additional pump running on one of its loops work? or will it cause some sort of complication(s)?

Cheers guys

[Jah]

Take good hard look at Skinnees results again
What you really are interested in is the flow trough the CPU loop, and to some extent the GPU loop. In skinnees setup 3, you get about 1,5 GPM trough each loop and that is sufficient. The flow through the pump pump in a parallel loop is practically irrelevant for the cooling potential.

You need to balance the resistance of the two loops to get good performance out of the T3, not exactly sure on how sensitive it will be but parallel configs are certainly a bit complicated to get right.

[alacheesu]

You should be fine with the T3, or just a D5 or MCP355 for that matter. You have a bunch of radiators, but radiators don't cause much restriction. The Heatkiller is also quite free flowing. The rule of thumb is to stay above 1GPM, because below that point water block performance deteriorates quickly, but the gains above 1GPM are very small. I think both the D5 (with or with the T3) or the MCP355 should get you above 1GPM with your setup. Flow rate in general doesn't matter very much as long as it's above 1GPM.

[India48]

If I am still concerned about the T3 being able to do the job, will implementing another D5 or DDC 3.2 on one of the T3 loops cause any problems?

I'm placing an order at Sidewinder for a fair bit of kit to Australia, so ordering another pump at the same time will actually work out significantly cheaper than purchasing it in Australia.

[Jah]

If you are considering two pumps just go two separate loops. You will be fine with just one loop and one pump given the "moderate" GPU setup, we are not talking 3-4 GPU:s here
Feels like ruining a dual pump config in some kind of semi parallel setup may be interesting but will be rather unpredictable regardign flow

[Jamesrt2004]

1x480 would cool all that why the rad overkill :/?

[alacheesu]

If I am still concerned about the T3 being able to do the job, will implementing another D5 or DDC 3.2 on one of the T3 loops cause any problems?

I don't know how that would turn out. The T3 is just a way to run two loops in parallel, the same as you would get with splitting the loop with Y's before and after the pump. Physics will adjust the flow rate in each sub loop until the pressure drop is equal. When you put another pump in one of the sub loops you're messing with that effect. You will certainly get more flow through the sub loop with the pump in it, but I'm a little worried about what would happen with the other sub loop. You're pushing the D5 in the T3 more to the right on it's PQ-curve as well, so the end result could possibly be that the other sub loop gets less flow. Again, I don't know, though. Someone would have to try it, but I don't own a T3 and probably never will.

If you're buying two pumps anyway, I would either check out one of the dual-pump tops for MCP355 or run two D5's in series. That's guaranteed to work well and give you more than enough flow for your system. It also has the added benefit of allowing one pump to fail. If you find that the system works well with one pump, well, you have a spare pump to use in another system.

[India48]

Would 2 x 360 radiators be sufficient for my intended configuration?

[Hijack]

Yes

[millertime359]

Would 2 x 360 radiators be sufficient for my intended configuration?

That would be plenty. One 360 and one 240 would be enough too.

The T3 would handle that no problem.

Any reason for getting the LC? If your ordering from Gary, he only has an 1156 HK in copper. I would get the new Swiftech block anyways.

[India48]

You guys have talked sense into me, and I think Ill run with 1 x 360 and 1 x 480. I have a DD Double Wide case, which has the capacity for 2 x 360 and 1 x 480, which is why I went a bit overboard originally trying to fill my case with radiators. 1 x 360 and a 1 x 480 should work well thought, since one side of the case can carry both radiators, and the other side of the case can simply be fitted with a combination of 120mm and 80mm fans to keep the M/B and RAM cool.

If I place the 1 x 480 radiator in front of the 1 x 360, with the fans on the 480 pushing air through the 480, and then into the fans on the 360, will I see much of a loss in performance? Essentially what will be occuring is the heat dissipated from the 480 will be pushed into the fans on the 360, and then through the 360 itself. So basically the 360 will be fed air which will be above room temperature, or will already be "hot".

I'v decided on the LC mainly for aesthetics. I know the XT is an awesome block, but I just don't like the look of it, I guess it comes down to personal preference. I'd like my build to remain within a certain color scheme, and I'd like to stick to Delrin as much as possible, and since the LC is just straight Delrin, its fit for the job.

[millertime359]

I would then get the HK LT. It's still Delrin. with a metal strip and performs a bit better than the LC. You also don't want to sandwich the rads if you don't have to.

[Vapor]

I gotta side with India48 here, the flat black look of the LC is pretty badass.

EK Supreme + black bracket or the EK Supreme LT would be options as well, but the HK 3.0 LC is easily the best of the three of those.

[millertime359]

I gotta side with India48 here, the flat black look of the LC is pretty badass.

EK Supreme + black bracket or the EK Supreme LT would be options as well, but the HK 3.0 LC is easily the best of the three of those.

Where I think the HK LT looks better. If the mounting bracket was powdercoated black, I probably would agree the LC would look better, but with the silver mounting bracket, I think the strip just helps to tie the whole block together.

Now the Swiftech XT is growing on me. The more I look at it, the more I think it looks better than the HK.

[warriorpoet]

Heck, I get fine results out of a single 120x3 with a q9550 and a 8800gts 512. Not exactly cutting edge, but they're both running moderate OCs and the three fans are at <500 RPM.