2 rads, one loop?

TheCenturion · 31 Jul 2008 at 11:15

I was doing a little thinking, is it possible to have two rads in one loop, or would that just restrict the flow rate too much?

Scougar · 31 Jul 2008 at 11:36

Depends on the size/quality of the rads. 2 Smaller rads would be ok, but you may need a decent pump for 2 large rads (or a secondary pump between the 2 perhaps?

Matthew

Pneumonic · 31 Jul 2008 at 11:37

cant see the need unless you are cooling a TEC or something similar.. 120.3 thermochil i believe will cool about 500w of heat output so your not going to hit that unless you are cooling a loop with some seriously overclocked parts in

Admiral Huddy · 31 Jul 2008 at 11:40

I can't see why not.. I was thinking of adding a double rad next time I upgrade my GC between the CPU and GPU block..
Save on a second pump/res

surge · 31 Jul 2008 at 22:07

anant_shah94 said:
I was doing a little thinking, is it possible to have two rads in one loop, or would that just restrict the flow rate too much?

You can work out the flow rate using this

http://www.martinsliquidlab.com/MartinsFlowRateEstimator.html

weescott · 31 Jul 2008 at 22:19

I did 2 x 120.2 XSPC rads with CPU, GFX and chipset. The second rad didn't really add anything.

As said above, it depends on what u are cooling and all the other variables.

Monkey Puzzle · 1 Aug 2008 at 00:47

I just added a second 120.2 radiator into my loop cooling my cpu and graphics. Seemed to knock around 5+C off my idle temps, though the pump died a few days after, and the wether's been pretty hot so difficult to tell.

pegasus1 · 1 Aug 2008 at 15:31

weescott said:
I did 2 x 120.2 XSPC rads with CPU, GFX and chipset. The second rad didn't really add anything.

As said above, it depends on what u are cooling and all the other variables.

I asked the same question about 12 months ago and weescott said the same thing then, and he is right, i added a second 120.2 and nothing changed.

TheCenturion · 2 Aug 2008 at 16:01

Its just that I wanted to cool gtx 280's in sli and cpu, possibly chipset. I'm not sure whether the case I have on order (pc-p80 amorsuit) will support the tfc quad rad, so my alternative is to have two rads

pegasus1 · 2 Aug 2008 at 17:09

Twin loop would be far far better. SLI'd GFX on one loop and the rest on the other.

TheCenturion · 2 Aug 2008 at 17:14

would I be able to cool all three components on 1 loop, I'm trying to stay away from 2. Could I get decent temperatures with the tfc 360mm, or does anybody know if the quad rad will fit on the back?

TheCenturion · 3 Aug 2008 at 19:17

... anyone?

MikeTimbers · 3 Aug 2008 at 19:47

Define "decent temperatures".

IMO, you would get "decent temperatures" with a 120.3 rad with medium-flow fans but whether that would be quiet enough for you or decent enough for you is rather hard for anyone but you to say, isn't it?

Sorry to be snippy, but you're asking for a definitive answer to a subjective question.

e.g.

What fans do you intend to use on the rad?
Three or six?
Will the system be heavily overclocked or stock?
Will the system be heavily used or only for the occasional hour-long game?
How hot is the room already?
Will the room be able to rid itself of the several hundred watts of power being turned into heat or will the ambient temperature rise?
What pump will you be using with what, if any, after-market top (i.e. what flow-rate do you expect to achieve)?

Questions, questions, you see.

surge · 3 Aug 2008 at 19:54

anant_shah94 said:
would I be able to cool all three components on 1 loop, I'm trying to stay away from 2. Could I get decent temperatures with the tfc 360mm, or does anybody know if the quad rad will fit on the back?

what exactly do you want to cool if you gave us the CPU, GPU(s), NB etc that would help

pegasus1 · 4 Aug 2008 at 04:36

My rig in sig is one loop and cools a hot (1.7V) NB, the 8800GTX and an E6300 at 1.6V. 2 x 120.2 in the loop although temps are the same as with one rad. Idles in the low 30's topping out at 60C.

fergie128 · 5 Aug 2008 at 00:48

Personally i would go for 2 loops if you are attempting to cool two GTX 280 cards, especially if you are going to overclock them. Im not a fan of twice cooling the same water in one loop with a fairly high spec SLi setup.

***F1ZZY*** · 5 Aug 2008 at 01:03

pegasus1 said:
My rig in sig is one loop and cools a hot (1.7V) NB, the 8800GTX and an E6300 at 1.6V. 2 x 120.2 in the loop although temps are the same as with one rad. Idles in the low 30's topping out at 60C.

While 2 loops will be better to keep the hot gpu's away from the more thermally sensitive cpu, your current set up looks dodgy.

Almost 30 degrees between idle and load is a bit suspect. Maybe you have a bad IHS. What block do you have? Have you lapped cpu? Maybe you need more pumping power.

pegasus1 · 5 Aug 2008 at 05:41

***F1ZZY*** said:
While 2 loops will be better to keep the hot gpu's away from the more thermally sensitive cpu, your current set up looks dodgy.

Almost 30 degrees between idle and load is a bit suspect. Maybe you have a bad IHS. What block do you have? Have you lapped cpu? Maybe you need more pumping power.

The 30C to 60C are absolutes, the coolest it sits at is 30C and the warmest it has ever been is 60C on a warm day running Orthos. Swiftech Appogee and a Laing D5 pump, the CPU is also lapped so it can only be the the contact between the chip and the HSF. Im not worried as the temps are good and 3.4ghz is a decent OC for an E6300.