Multiple rads

[Alan1969]

Currently I have a slim 360 rad (for cpu) in the roof of my Lian Li 011 dynamic. Currently I have intake fans floor (x3) and side (x3) and exhaust fans (x3) roof.

I would like a gpu block and to put a thicker rad in the roof.

That would leave me with my slim 360 that I may as well put either in the base or side. I have seen this orientation in many systems.

my question is: that surely all the heat which the side or floor rad is taking out of the coolant will then go into the case as warm air and then reheat the top rad = basically all the heat the 2nd rad is taking out will be put back into the system = net effect is zero. ie. with a roof rad there is no point adding a floor or side rad.

[the only way for me to resolve this thought is for me to put the new thicker rad in the floor being fed with fresh cool air and the slim rad to be placed on the side with fresh cool air and to leave the roof empty as an exhaust].

 

[Alan1969]

To a degree what you're thinking is right, but there are several factors that mean it would still be an improvement.

Only some heat is removed from the liquid via the radiator, so it still has energy to give out if it meets another radiator later.

The air coming out of a radiator is therefore not as warm as the liquid, so can still offer a cooling effect to any other radiators it meets.

Also the case isn't a sealed system so some heat can escape via other routes such as exhaust fans, vents, and also can be conducted along or out of panels, tubing, blocks etc.

For instance if you have 3x intake fans through a radiator and 3x intake fans on a vent, you are effectively making a "50/50" mix of fresh Vs post-radiator air, to feed the second radiator with.

I would say the gains from adding a second radiator will outweigh the inefficiency of some air being "used" twice.

yes, good point that the air coming out of the rad is not as hot as the coolant. Therefore, if I make the top rad as hot as possible (ie. directly after passing through the GPU and then CPU) then the temperature differential should mean that it will exhaust heat out the system, and then to cool the coolant down further it can then be routed to the floor or side rad before returning to the res/pump.

I know that custom loops pump much quicker (say x10 or 250/hr for my pump) than AIO's. And that the temperature stabilises and is meant to be virtually the same anywhere in the system - but - is there any benefit of sending the hot coolant post GPU to a rad before routing it into the CPU (again common sense is telling me that the GPU is heating the coolant the most and sending warm coolant to the CPU is not as good as sending cool coolant)? ie. i could easily route the tubing from the GPU to the top rad and then to the cpu and then to a side rad and then to the pump/res.

 

[Alan1969]

my cheap EK pump/res combo is quoted at 250 L/hr whereas a quantum 5 is quoted at a max. of 1500 L/hr. therefore I will prob get more temp differences through the loop than a top pump.

 

[Alan1969]

I have re-found this video from Linus I’ve been water cooling wrong for YEARS - $H!T Manufacturers Say - YouTube

a 240 rad on the roof and on the front worked better than just a 240 rad on the front - despite the heat from the front rad exhaust through the top rad. Problem solved - maybe I just go for a rad on the floor roof and side now.

 

[Alan1969]

current set-up:

was thinking of adding a thick 60mm EK rad with single fan in roof or floor.

initially was the top one with clear coolant and a vertical reservoir but couldnt fit the extra floor fan and so changed the reservoir to horizontal to fit the extra floor fan in but now dont have enough room for a side mounted fan on the inside and hence not able to put my slim rad side mounted in the rear compartment.

 

[Alan1969]

OK I am convinced - even blowing warm air through a rad is better than less rads. At the moment I have 6 intake fans and 3 exhaust fans through a slim 360mm rad. If I get a second rad should it be a 40mm with push/pull or a 60mm with a single fan - it would either go in the roof or floor and so I am thinking that a single fan would also have the benefit of convention with the heat just going straight up. I am favouring a thinker rad with a single fan as the amount of cables (I tend to use 3 to 1 fan cable ek splitters) already in my case is off-putting.

 

[Alan1969]

I did regular 30mm Corsair XR5 up top and a Thick XR7 55mm at the bottom in a dual loop system. Temps were good but the bottom rad took up a lot of space.

how did you secure your graphics card? does the riser screw onto the lower rad fans?

 

[Alan1969]

some more questions:

I got this soft tubing kit ▷ EK Water Blocks EK-Kit Classic RGB S360 Perfo… | OcUK (overclockers.co.uk)

1. Do I need different fittings if I want to use hard tubing?
2. What diameter hard tubing should I use? although EK do 10/12 and 12/16mm, you would think that you get better flow through the wider tubing? but both must reduce down to a narrower (and the same bore) to go through the fitting and therefore the diameter of the tubing is just aesthetic?
3. I hear that PETG tubing is more forgiving, but that Overclockers use Acrylic - which hard tubing should I use?
4. I currently have the EK SE360 (which uses UNC 6-32 screws) but like the look of the white corsair X5 which uses M4 x P0.7 screws - these presumably are different - do I need to use different screws for the different rads? Would it be easier to use EK stuff thoroughout?
5. If I need to use different fittings for hard tubing and if I stick with EKWB then should I pay more for the quantum fittings?
6. I think that the thick EK XE rad at 60mm is too practically thick for the top or bottom of the Lian Li 011 dynamic case. Would the PE at 38mm thick and a fan 25mm be more sensible? Until I got a GPU block in say 18 months time for the next gen cards (and when supply and prices have normalised somewhat) then at the moment I dont really need any more cooling for my cpu but I may add another rad to try watercooling a bit more and to give me something to do. Hence I am thinking of adding a 2nd rad. I could move my slim SE rad to the bottom and the new PE rad to the roof (graphics card is too long for me to currently house my pump/reservoir on the floor fan and currently being orientated horizontally wont allow me to put a rad fan inside the main compartmant).

 

[Alan1969]

1. yes, fittings for hardline are different than fittings for soft tubing
2. tubing diameter has no measurable effect on flow. flow rate is determined by the pump. choose whichever size fits your eye.
   
3. PETG is easier to bend and cut but also softens at a lower temperature so high coolant temps need to be avoided with PETG
4. the screws are for the fans nothing to do with anything other than that.
   
5. Quantum fittings are functionally no different. it's just about aesthetics. buy what you like and can afford.
6. install what fits.

There are no "right" answers. Watercooling is about what you like.

If you bought a soft-tubing kit why not just use it?

thanks both for the answers.

yes I am currently using the soft tubing kit - which i thought was very good - suprising how much stuff was in there. I will continue to use soft tubing even if I install a 2nd rad shortly. However in 18 months time when I get a new GPU and waterblock then perhaps I may like to have a go at hard tubing.

 

[Alan1969]

If you plan your loop properly so it doesn't foul any components like ram, you can change them with ease. Alternatively QD's and hardline work well together as well but does make it rather expensive for the sake of convenience.

what is QD's?

I am basically going down the custom loop route to reduce fan noise (lower fans speeds). And now I have a cpu loop I am thinking that I may as well add the most heat output (GPU).

 

[Alan1969]

whilst I wait for a next gen GPU (with better availability and price) + waterblock - I may have a go at adding a thicker rad to plan/try ahead. I am thinking that when I have a watercooled CPU and GPU that I could benefit from more than my 28mm x 360mm EK SE. It seems like a 45mm rad would fit well in my 011D on the roof and/or floor. I like my pc to white some white inside so that I can see the black components. Hence I see that there is this 45 x 360mm very white alphacool rad:

▷ Alphacool NexXxoS XT45 Full Copper 360mm Trip… | OcUK (overclockers.co.uk) I may try this on my roof with my soft tubing (I may place my slim SE rad on the floor but not necessary just for an undervolted static 4.45 ghz @ 1.29v ryzen 3600XT).

I need to add some more coolant soon and having my reservoir horizontal rather than vertical (due to the length on my graphics card - it did fit vertical if I omit the first floor fan - see the first photo with clear coolant - I am thinking that a GPU waterblock will make the graphics card shorter in future and so wont have this problem in 18 months time).