Help Please! 1 or 2 Loops? CS or not

mast3r

mast3r

mast3r

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Help Please! 1 or 2 Loops?

Ok guys (and gals!?!) New case rolled up this morning, Lian-li PC201.
Time for the plans to start... I have a rough idea in my head about it all but tats a problem to, getting things on paper/screen out of my very fragmented head!

My first issue! 1 loop or 2? I have the room for 2... (Shame about the lack of funds right now!)

I have to cool,
QX6700 - Swiffy Storm already on the go
BFG 8800GTX SLI - will be getting a pair of the blocks when they come in (DD ones)
OCZ Flex Ram (1/4 barbs pre installed to the Ram, 2x obv) - will need a reducer of some kind
Maybe the NB and SB of my Striker Ex - Views on this please, advice on blocks for this...?

I have now, the Storm CPU WB - PA120.3 - 6" Thermo T Res - Maze 4 GPU WB (for sale) Swiffy 12 DC pump.

I don’t know if it will be worth having 2 loops but thinking about the heat the cards alone give off!
Maybe...?... CPU - RAM and maybe the Chipset on one and the GFX on another.
If I was going for the 2 loops I would be *hoping* to use a 120.1 or .2 as it will require less mods but I could get a pair of 120.3's in, I don’t think it is going to make much diff having the pair though ??? More cooling area (.3 over the others) = less CFM = less noise = less power = happier me?

OR! one loop - two rads? but then i think i will loose flow as the rads are looking like they have to be in the base.

This is not an urgent need as i need to plan it all then do the mods etc!
 
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Thats a hell of a lot of heat dump and restriction for one loop - even for the PA to handle.

The restriction alone would make me go dual loop tbh. The storm is not good for the quads I'm afraid - better blocks now available (apogee GT/D-Tek fusion). Your flow rate will be killed by all the blocks in one loop and performance(especially as the storm likes high flow rates) would no doubt suffer.

I would do this :

Loop 1 : CPU and chipsets. I would be tempted to stay away from cooling the chipset unless it is noisy as they rarely interfere with overclocking tbh and only adds restriction to the loop - with a storm already in there this is bad!

Loop 2 : 2x GTX. (a 120.2 is more than enough for that).

I really wouldn't bother with cooling the memory tbh, good case airflow is all thats needed.
 
i wasnt going to bother with the ram but seeing as the barbs are just sat there looking at me, i may as well make use of them! ??

The Chipset is my worry, i wasnt sure on this. I am on the striker so its Passive, i can always add the supplied fan to it if i get heat problems.

So... the Quad and the Storm = BAHHH! :( ? any idea how much diff i will see in using the Appoge over it?
 
Will you be overclocking? The quad cores have been known to kill retail phase units. Thats over 200w of heat!
 
yes ill be OC!
ATM i have the quad at 3.44 temps do not go above 50, but thats on its own on a pa120.3
 
I would have the PA120.3 on one loop for the CPU, and 120.2 for the GFX. passive cool the chipset and southbridge as case airflow will be enough for them.

It may sound extreme but that's the way it is. I will be testing a QX6700 under custom modded and tuned phase soon. ;)
 
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sweet!
what about the RAM, i am going to put that in the loop! well one of them. I would think it should go on the CPU loop, after the CPU?
Any ideas on which CPU Block then?
 
Waste of time watercooling the ram tbh m8,i have a thremochill 120.3 cooling my E6600,northbridge & southbridge and have a thermochill PA160 cooling 2 X BFG 8800GTXs,it`s a ideal setup as both cards will throw out a hell of a lot of heat into a loop.

In the end it`s up to you what you want to do. :)
 
You could always use 3 loops if your that determined to cool the memory.

1. CPU
2. GFX
3. Chipset & Memory
 
3 loops was an option open but i decided against that... i dont want the noise of 3 pumps and all the fans, let alone the tube! LOL.
but.... it does sound kinky!
TBH.. nah, i think i will stick with leaving the chipset alone and more than likely dump the RAM on the backend either loop.
 
Its up to you tbh m8, personally I would just cool the CPU and GFX as they are what need it most and they are what will give the most noticable performance leap when overclocked. Other options are just for bling and noise reduction tbh.
 
If you decide to watercool the ram then you HAVE to pump silly volts through it and astound us all with your stupendous overclocks.

GFX and CPU only. That quad core will need ALL the cooling it can get.
 
well it seems i wont be cooling the ram after all! lol.
Thanks all.
What about the rads - loop then? PA120.3 per loop or .3 for CPU .2 for GFX? HELP.
 
I reckon if you went with 2 loops 120.3 for the cpu and 120.2 for the sli I reckon you could easily get away with sticking the nb/sb in with the cpu and the ram in with the sli.

I doubt very much the nb/sb or ram will be that hot anyway so I'd do it just for the bling (and frankly if you don't watercool ram that comes with barbs fitted I will do violence :mad: ) ;)
 
matt100 said:
I reckon if you went with 2 loops 120.3 for the cpu and 120.2 for the sli I reckon you could easily get away with sticking the nb/sb in with the cpu and the ram in with the sli.

I doubt very much the nb/sb or ram will be that hot anyway so I'd do it just for the bling (and frankly if you don't watercool ram that comes with barbs fitted I will do violence :mad: ) ;)
Click to expand...

LOL! this is exactly what i thought! but i think a lot of baddddd things :( hence the post. lol.

I have a PA120.3 sat on the roof of my case. no shroud just single 120 grills. i have 6 panaflow and a single silent egal sat on the under side.
 
put a d-tech on it and you MAY be able to do the cpu and 2 GTXs off 120.3

but you will want two fans on top and two underneath doing push-push.

the wider water shoot area of the d-tech will give you a fair increase on the storm ans mean less cooling requirements for the rad.

keep the storm and auction it in a few months when stocks run out everywhere!!

i have the storm on a C2D and it performs admirably, but there is a lot more silicon on the C2Qs and the cooling area is not big enough.

you could always get a 160 for the nb and the ram, and have 3 loops for a laugh!!
 
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D-Tec even any good?
I am gonna go for the Apogee GT i think, sell ma storm and try it all on 1 PA120.3 loop for now.
 
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