Is this a stupid idea??
- Thread starter momo56
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I think you've got the arrows mixed up, and i don't full understand what you mean, can you explain or photos?
Do you really need 3 rads? and is there any need for the shroud?, just use fittings instead of tubing at the ends.
Do you really need 3 rads? and is there any need for the shroud?, just use fittings instead of tubing at the ends.
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Two stacked rads have been tried and tested and performed quite well. Don't think anyone has tried three rads.
You'll need a decent pump to get through 3 rads and (most likely considering you're having 3 rads) Cpu block and a Gpu block or two.
Try it out, Post results
You'll need a decent pump to get through 3 rads and (most likely considering you're having 3 rads) Cpu block and a Gpu block or two.
Try it out, Post results
The tubing will be attached via fittings, the shrouds help with air pressure/flow through the rads, raising them up eliminating the dead spot all fans have.
Now would that work, yeh don't see why not, but you would need a hefty pump to pump your water through all that, and the blocks you are going to be using.
What are you planning on cooling as 3 x 360 rads is a lot of cooling.
Now would that work, yeh don't see why not, but you would need a hefty pump to pump your water through all that, and the blocks you are going to be using.
What are you planning on cooling as 3 x 360 rads is a lot of cooling.
I have 2 D5's with two EK tops in series.
I plan to cool an i7 d20 at 4.5 ghz, a rampage 2 extreme motherboard and 6 corsair ram sticks as well as 2 ati 5970's in a loop. I dont like multiple loops because they look too messy and I have 3 thermochill pa.120.3's already so I figured it will let me have my fans as silent as possible as I hate fan noise.
I plan to cool an i7 d20 at 4.5 ghz, a rampage 2 extreme motherboard and 6 corsair ram sticks as well as 2 ati 5970's in a loop. I dont like multiple loops because they look too messy and I have 3 thermochill pa.120.3's already so I figured it will let me have my fans as silent as possible as I hate fan noise.
Give it a go I think it will work although what ever is on the final rad might run hotter then it would without the other 2 rads attached it will be interesting to see how this works vs say 2 rads I'm not convinced you will see much of a improvement but please keep is updated.
Are you mounting these as a vertical stack as per your sketch? If so you want the fans blowing the other way. I have fan-shroud-pa120.3-shroud-fan on top of my case and the heightof that sandwich is 168mm, not including the 40mm standoffs which support it. If you add two more layers then just the sandwich will be 464mm tall, +40mm if mounting on top of case (would not be safe on top of case if you ask me). I guess you will be making a rad box, or standing them next to your case.
However, if you are going to the trouble of making a rad box then the overall cooling potential will be noticeably better if you don't sandwich any of the rads together and treat them separately, even if you keep the same number of fans in total. Tests with sandwiches have been done over the years and it has largely been proven that independant rads cool better than sandwiched. With three rads together you may actually stall the fans due to the static pressure required to even get a unit of air through the sandwich, unless you use high static pressure, i.e. noisy, fans.
With that many rads you may even find if you mount them in a horizontal fashion, and not stacked, that you could even get away with no fans at all, or very low speed fans at any rate.
However, if you are going to the trouble of making a rad box then the overall cooling potential will be noticeably better if you don't sandwich any of the rads together and treat them separately, even if you keep the same number of fans in total. Tests with sandwiches have been done over the years and it has largely been proven that independant rads cool better than sandwiched. With three rads together you may actually stall the fans due to the static pressure required to even get a unit of air through the sandwich, unless you use high static pressure, i.e. noisy, fans.
With that many rads you may even find if you mount them in a horizontal fashion, and not stacked, that you could even get away with no fans at all, or very low speed fans at any rate.
I plan to make a cheap external box with the rads, 2 pumps and reservoir inside. My aim is to have all the cooling components on the outside as my current case (zalman gt-1000) has poor airflow. My original idea was to have the 3 rads next to each other horizontally but then that would mean I need 18 fans and shrouds to do push pull and it also takes up more space. Also as 3 rads are overkill i figured even when they are sandwhiched I could still get amazing temps? This is all temporary as I already have most of the stuff. My future plan is to buy a MM u2-UFO duality front case or a micro atx case since boards like the rampage iii gene still have all the good features and the most I'd ever have is crossfire anyway.
You're right that you'll save space this way... but you would get better results with the rads not stacked... since your way the second (and 3rd) rads would be getting the pre-heated air coming out of the 1st rad. Best if all 3 rads had fresh cool air.
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this is coming from someone who has had next to no WC experience, and i may be missing the point with my statement, but:
do you really need a res if youve got 3 rads+the rest of the loops worth of water in there?
do you really need a res if youve got 3 rads+the rest of the loops worth of water in there?
Yes for bleeding. Much quicker and easier getting air bubbles out. T lines in my experience were annoying.
Why not do some cool Ghetto modding and use the three rads to make the rad box? (top and 2 sides) - could house the pump and res in there too, then your case will be nice and clean)
(kind of thing...) Some clear acrylic blocks for the corners/front/back and a bit of bling lighting ...
(kind of thing...) Some clear acrylic blocks for the corners/front/back and a bit of bling lighting ...
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What I am saying is, if you use the same number of fans you have in your pic, i.e. 12, and therefore assemble one rad with push-pull and shrouds, and two rads with either push or pull with one shroud each, all mounted separately in a rad box, then it is very likely you will get better cooling performance than stacking them in a tower sandwich.
But since you are making a rad box you can easily try both configurations and see for your self before you finalise your radbox design.
Yeah you'd need 18 fans to do push pull on all rads, but as I say, I'd wager a 12 fan 1x3-high stack will perform worse than a 12 fan 3x1-high separate. And you wouldn't need so many shrouds.
