Fractal R3 Water-cooling Mission

hutzdani

hutzdani

hutzdani

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Joined
6 Dec 2011
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78
Location
Surrey
So i have finally decided to make the jump......

After running a closed loop CPU water cooling system and its instance to pump bellow of super heated air out of my case, im treating my I5 and 570GTX to the following :

- EK Water Blocks EK-FC580/570 GTX DirectGPU - Acetal+EN (Nickel)
- Alphacool NexXxoS NVXP Back Plate - NV 580/570 Series
- Mayhems X1 UV Oil Black Premixed Watercooling Fluid 1L
- EK-Supreme LT - UNI (universal CPU block based on EK-Supreme LTX)
- EK-Backplate CPU Universal
- EK-CoolStream RAD XT 240
- EK-FAN Silent 120-1600 RPM (2 pcs)
- EK-DCP 2.2 Pump
- EK-Reservoir Combo DCP 2.2
- EK-DCP PUMP mounting plate KIT
- TUBE Masterkleer 12,7/9,5 CLEAR (2 meters)
- EK-PSC Fitting 10mm - G1/4 Nickel (12 pcs)
- EK-Ekoolant UV Blue (concentrate 100ml)
- TIM Gelid GC-Xtreme (EKWB 2g)
- EK Multioption Reservoir X2 150 Basic
- EK CoolStream Radiator XT 120 (120.1)
- XSPC HighFlex Hose 3/8" ID, 5/8" OD, 16/10mm, 2m, Clear/UV

Current setup :
20111224194958.jpg


I'll be removing the sliding drive bays, moving the HDD and SSD's to the free secondary optical bay.



Giving me room to mount the 240 Rad against the existing front two fans switched around to exhaust out the font and use the rear case fan and top two fans to draw in cool air.

r3loop.jpg


However it might be possible to mount the 240 rad to the top fans, if the 240 rad is not to deep ( I don't hold out much hope ).

So bring on the postman :D
 
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The EK 240 rad is 4.7 cm deep. have a quick measure and see. Of course with fans thats an additional 2.5cm. (Although you can get extra thin fans and thinner 240 rads too).

With my modders hat on, if youre willing to take some tools to it, you could take off the top half or 2/3 of the HDD drive bay, shift it under the gfx a bit, mount the 240 in the front and mount the ddc to the new roof of the hdd enclosure.
 
eddyr said:
The EK 240 rad is 4.7 cm deep. have a quick measure and see. Of course with fans thats an additional 2.5cm. (Although you can get extra thin fans and thinner 240 rads too).

With my modders hat on, if youre willing to take some tools to it, you could take off the top half or 2/3 of the HDD drive bay, shift it under the gfx a bit, mount the 240 in the front and mount the ddc to the new roof of the hdd enclosure.
Click to expand...

That's a good idea but I still need my DVD drive as I have an extensive CD collection, I was planning on mounting to DDC on the space where the central bottom fan is supposed to go with some thick foam.
 
I have seen a lot of people run Pump -> Rad -> GPU/CPU block -> Res.

Is it not best to run from : Pump - CPU/GPU - Rad - Res ?

As the top config ends up pumping water that's run through the rad pointlessly ( causing it to heat up via friction of passing through the fins of the rad ) direct to the CPU/GPU which is hot then passing the now hot liquid into the res increasing the overall heat of the liquid in the res which is then cycled around again ?!?

Running Pump - CPU/GPU - Rad - Res allows the heated liquid to be cooled in the Rad and then settle for longer in the Res.


suggestions ?
 
So long as the ambient air temp through the rad is cooler than the water there will be a net cooling effect, and the friction would be againts the cooling interface itself, the effect would be minimal.

The reason for placing the rad after the pump is that the pumps themselves can run quite warm (even hot to the touch) and are being cooled by the water they pump, transfering heat to the loop. Running through the rad first is to ensure the coolest water enters the cpu block.

In real terms effect is minimal as at load and max heat output by the cpu the temperature delta between the water and cpu in either configuration is still huge.
 
eddyr said:
So long as the ambient air temp through the rad is cooler than the water there will be a net cooling effect, and the friction would be againts the cooling interface itself, the effect would be minimal.

The reason for placing the rad after the pump is that the pumps themselves can run quite warm (even hot to the touch) and are being cooled by the water they pump, transfering heat to the loop. Running through the rad first is to ensure the coolest water enters the cpu block.

In real terms effect is minimal as at load and max heat output by the cpu the temperature delta between the water and cpu in either configuration is still huge.
Click to expand...

Okay i'll go with running via the rad first.

I have also added an extra Res as the 100ml is not going to be enough for the CPU and GPU.

so another 2 1/4" and EK Multioption Reservoir X2 150 Basic is added to my order.


This should be enough for the loop and will be a little like this.

Res+Pump combo - Rad - CPU - GPU - Res
 
hutzdani said:
Okay i'll go with running via the rad first.
I have also added an extra Res as the 100ml is not going to be enough for the CPU and GPU.
so another 2 1/4" and EK Multioption Reservoir X2 150 Basic is added to my order.
This should be enough for the loop and will be a little like this.
Res+Pump combo - Rad - CPU - GPU - Res
Click to expand...

The res only really serves as a bubble catcher and as a means of ensuring the pump is always fully fed (and ensures best pump performance). It also makes it easier to fill the loop. Theres no need to have a second small res, but if you want more res capacity (for looks or easier loop filling etc) it is easier (layout wise) and better to just get a bigger one.

In terms of loop order, I would suggest whatever works easiest or looks better/neater, or at least don't go inconveniently out of your way to set up pump>rad>block.

hutzdani said:
That's a good idea but I still need my DVD drive as I have an extensive CD collection, I was planning on mounting to DDC on the space where the central bottom fan is supposed to go with some thick foam.
Click to expand...
In the modding idea what I meant was for the chopped HHD rack to shift over spot where you where thinking of placing the pump, so the 5.25" enclosures would be left untouched.
 
i dont think im being stupid here but i think your going to need another 120mm worth of rad area to cool the loop properly when running a cpu and gpu loop..

min i would look at cooling wise is 360mm worth of rad area.
 
zx|muppet said:
i dont think im being stupid here but i think your going to need another 120mm worth of rad area to cool the loop properly when running a cpu and gpu loop..

min i would look at cooling wise is 360mm worth of rad area.
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Well I'm not entirely convinced by this I see people using 360 rads to cool one GPU and considering the inefficiency of stock coolers I'm going to see what I get with 240mm, if there is still much heat I'll hook up another 120mm rad to the rear fan on my case.

I'm thinking its a bit of a wife's tale regarding rad sizes, I have seen aircon units which have higher wattage and heat output with less rad capacities, the fact of the depth and fpi of these rads I'd expect the one rad will deal with stock clocking values on both the GPU and CPU.

I'm only ever playing some bf3 for a few hours and if not just the odd emailing e.c.t and my systems not really stressed.

But should I have to eat humble pie on this one I will.

Also my kit arrived today, waiting on bigger res and mayhems oil black fluid and the GPU block from another seller as OCUK was out of stock shame the company who's providing it is so god dammed slow ( again great service from the OCUK guys )
 
I think youl be fine, rads not the thickest 240 but should be capable with the fans turned up to control both cpu and gpu, just not at the best that could be (may not be much better than air), but as you say, easy to slot in another 120mm rad on the rear as intake or maybe a slim 240 on top. Il be interested to hear how it goes.

In an aircon unit the temperature of the refrigerant when compressed isnt an issue. Water cooling isnt really comparable as the coolant temp has a direct effect on the temperature that the thing you need to cool can be kept at, and heat in the loop wont be dissipated at a rate high enough to match that which is being input untill the temp delta between the coolant flowing in the rad and the air passing through it is sufficient.
 
Well my Water cooling drawer is filling slowly :cool:

looks like a weekend build, if the post people are not arse-holey and take my stuff back to the depo.

scaled.php
 
EK CoolStream Radiator XT 120 (120.1)
XSPC HighFlex Hose 3/8" ID, 5/8" OD, 16/10mm, 2m, Clear/UV
EK PSC Compression Fitting 10mm 3/8" - G1/4 - Nickel

Adding these to the build as a friend of mine is running only 240mm rad and kicks out some heat !

So now 360 in total, is it worth adding the 120mm rad in between the GPU and CPU section to cool off the CPU heat before hitting the GPU ?
 
Is the interior of the R3 anything like the Arc Midi? The front drivebays etc. look identical.

I put two thick 240mm rads in my Arc Midi to cool an i5 and a 6950 about a year ago. Build log is in my sig.

I've since reduced that to just the one 240mm rad (I stole one for another project) and havent had any temperature issues.
 
It dosent really matter where you put the rad in the loop as the water temp will just lvl out over time. Just route your tubing the neatest way you can :-)
 
I see that bottle of blue dye there, please use a kill coil with it. I thought it would have stuff to prevent algae but I was wrong, required a complete strip, new tubing and rebuild. That was using halfords DI as well.

Since I binned both and switch to mayhems, been happy as a lamb.
 
Sir SpankalotUK said:
I see that bottle of blue dye there, please use a kill coil with it. I thought it would have stuff to prevent algae but I was wrong, required a complete strip, new tubing and rebuild. That was using halfords DI as well.

Since I binned both and switch to mayhems, been happy as a lamb.
Click to expand...

Im using mayhems Oil black coolant as in my OP, I could not be assed to find a kill coil that was in stock at the time of ordering.

Still waiting on GPU block to get this rig going . . .. Roymail are so god dammed slow. . .
 
Quick question for people in the know :

would 1L be enough fluid for a 110ml + 160ml Res + 120mm rad + 240mm rad + tubing ?

I guess anyone who has 2x240mm rads could answer this best ?
 
I had a little spare from a 1L bottle, Im running a 6cm deep 360, a 150ml res and 2 blocks+tubing (3/8 ID) in a large case, only just though. Since its your first time probably worth getting a bit more. You can buy 5L bottles from suppliers for cheaper than you will get those W/C ones, usefull if you want to flush new rads or in case you need to drain and strip down you loop etc. Or you can go to your local pharmacy and they can order in for you (they tend not to stock these days).

Btw be prepeared to need a bigger watercooling draw. :p



Sir spankalot, that DI water will still contains organic compounds, so is more conducive to higher microbial growth than distilled.
 
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