New Loop design Querry

[sir-les-mp]

To start with i am currently running a Zalman Reserator V1 (Blue) and a D-Tek fusion V1 CPU block to cool my cpu.
Currently my temps are Approx 38c idle and 56c 100% load (have been as high as 59c Load during that extra hot spell we had earlier this summer)

My system at present consits of

CPU AMD Phenom II 940 @ 3.00Ghz
Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe Mobo
4Gb Kingston Hyperx 8500 Ram 2 x 2Gb dimms
Liteon DvD Rom ide
Lg DvD Writer dual layer ide
2x Mator Diamond Max 22 320Gb in Raid 0
1x Maxtor Diamond Max 10 300Gb
1x Maxtor Dimond Max 9 160Gb
1x Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500Gb
Nvidia 9800 GX2
Nvidia 8800 GTS 320Mb
Case Lian-Li A20
PSU Silverstone Strider STF75 (750W)
Fans
2x 140mm Lian-Li
2x 120mm Lian-Li
1x 120mm Antec
Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit

I know currently my CPU temps are not that bad however i do want to try and OC this CPU as far as i can get it.
I have already found out my current PSU is not up to the task as if up the multi on the CPU to get 3.6Ghz it will run and boot into windows but shortly after stress testing it falls on its rear with a system reboot.
this is also beared out as when i add a second 8800 GTS into the mix for F@H it will run for a short while before falling on its rear and rebooting.
I have since resolved this in a manner of speaking by purchaseing a tagan 1100 Watt PSU from MM as yet not installed.
As i was going to be opening the system to install this i thought it would also be a good time to redsign my WC Loop at the same time.

To that end i have bought all the required parts i think i need to acomplish this see list below.

1x Black Ice Alpha Extreme 120mm Radiator
2x Scythe Kaze Jyuni 1900RPM Slip Stream 120mm Fan
3x Meters 7/16 tubing
3x Meters PrimoChill Anti-Kink Coils 5/8"- Gloss Blue ( i know they dont match the OD of the tubing but they do fit as i currently have some installed)
1x Laing D4 Pump
1x TFC Xtender - Radiator Shroud 120 - GREEN
8x jubelle clips for peace of mind.

The way i have the loop pictured in my head at present would be to replace the antec 120mm at front of case for one of the kaze juni's. i have rigged the antec with rubber grommets to three of the drive covers to draw in extra air.
Replace the rear Lian-li exhaust 120mm with the other kaze juni attached to the shroud outside the rear of the case with the radiator attached there.
Replace the other Lian-Li 120mm fan with the antec which draws air over the mobo just abouve the Memory.
I would then mount the Pump to the bottom of the case and run the tubing from

Reserator>Pump>CPU>Radiator>Reserator (using the reserator as a reservour)

I know from other posts that the pump in the reserator is not efficant enough to run the loop i have planned due to the restrictions of the radiator. However would it be safe enough to leave it running in series with the Laing D4 and have the loop running like this

RESERATOR>CPU>PUMP>RADIATOR>RESERATOR (reserator Pump Active)

Also i have a set of those D-Tek fusion Nozzle acelerator Kits would it be worth while using a set to squeeze out the few extra degrees cooling.
My hope is to reduce the 100% load temps by 5c or more giving me the extra head room for OC.
the next stage will be plucking up the courage to mod my case roof to take a 360mm Radiator and go full custom WC my last case mod went horribly wrong when trying to cut holes for a couple of 120mm fans on the side door.Thank God it was only a cheap generic case at the time.

Any thoughts and suggestions welcome.

 

[sir-les-mp]

How old is your current loop? It will be interesting to see if the aluminium reserator has corroded at all given you are using a copper cpu block. I don't know if the reserator is annodized with copper which should in theory prevent corrosion. I guess if it hasn't undergone *any* galvanic corrosion then adding a brass radiator won't do any harm. If on the other hand if there are tell tale signs of alu being corroded away then I would ditch the reserator if it was me.

Ive only had the current loop running 6months or so but the reserator was 2nd hand from MM.
I believe it it fully galvanised but thats shouldnt be a problem as i am using a anti fungal and anti corrosion additive

 

[sir-les-mp]

I take it all the WC guru's are on holiday today

 

[sir-les-mp]

Firstly if you don't up the voltage you should be able to OC the chip without to much heat gain.

As bubo said remove the Eheim pump from inside the res (it's one or two screws) and use the D4 externally. Mixing pumps will end up killing the slower one.

If you have access to a bench vice take the bottom of the res and do a snorkel mod (basically adding a lenght of tube to the inside of the res so the inlet releases coolant at the top and not the bottom)

The fusion is coated so unless the inside is all scratch up there is no bare copper in contact with the coolant (or so they say). And even if it did the ratio of aluminum to copper is very high, maybe even 80:1 - and this reduced risk.



Adding a brass/copper rad is a completely different story.
as the ratio of aluminum to copper/brass will be around 2:1 or 3:2 which is asking for trouble.

Aluminum rad / second reservator is best upgrade path.

if using 7/16 you'll also need two barbs for the Res - the quick connectors only just allow 3/8, but it's a G1/4 thread so any new 1/2 barb will do.

The Rad is copper so more anti corrosion fluid will be required
as for the cpu block when i installed it there were no visable scratches so i think i should be ok there.

Running the enhiem pump as well i thought there might be a confilct hence why i asked so i will not run this pump when seting up the new loop.
However i dont have access to a bench vice to remove the pump but i can get my arm to the bottom of the reserator so should be able to use some of the spare tubing to make a snorkel as you advise.

the reserator i have doe's not have the quick release connectors so i added two of these Valves 3/8" barb one side and 1/2" barb the other to marry up with the 7/16" tubing already attached to the CPU Block.
so running the loop like this is the way to go

Reserator>Pump>CPU>Radiator>Reserator (using the reserator as a reservour)

 

[sir-les-mp]

It will be just like a super sized xspc passive reservour.
And yes anti corrosion fluid is a must (personally wouldn't do it, but quiet normal for the german watercooling market)

good that was my idea behind using the reserator
do you think leaving the pump inside it but switched off with restrict the flow any
i remmeber when i first got it and was cleaning it out the water did seem to run through without any problems leaving about a 1/2" at the bottom.

 

[sir-les-mp]

Mixing metals is a very bad idea to start with!
Second bad idea is buying that useless zalman piece of junk.

Sell the zalman buy a second rad instead.

i bought the zalman as i wanted a silent system and performance wise it's as good as and decent aftermarket HSF without all the noise.

As for mixing metals yes i agree using copper with aluminium is not the greatest idea but it can be resolved with the right amount of anti corrosion additive.

If i had the room for a second rad or a larger one i would have gone that route and as you suggest possibly sold the zalman on.

As for restrictive flow the zalman is as restrictive as any loop using 3/8" tubing the only real weak point of the zalman is the enhiem pump which has a low rate of flow.

As mentioned by shadowscotland the zalman will now be used bassicaly as an exepionaly large XPSC Passive radiator/reservoir

At present the loudest part of my system is my 9800 GX2 when the fan runs at 100% and if i can find a waterblock for it at the right price that will be silenced too.

 

[sir-les-mp]

Totally agree that the bigwater is a waste of time - but the Zalman is in a completely different league. I have performance, flow, sub 40c load temps and silence with my modified Res2. Just google reserator and corrosion and see how few hit there are.

Also I'll echo what JonJ said it's designed for silent computing with high end P4's and 7xxx series cards - and still works extreamly well with C2D as some Quads. It was never designed for OC'ed tri sli gaming systems. Your argument is like saying a ferrari enzo is crap because it's can't tow a Plough like a lamborghini R8. Both are high performance vehicles - but have different max stats due to design intent.

I accept that the quickconnectors are restrictive (ALL QC's are - except koolance VL4 and plastic CLC) but for an external watercooling system QC are very useful. But that's the only restricted element - it's a low power pump loop - restriction is not acceptable - and why the block are all high flow.

As to build quality - apart from the first flow guage's in the V1 that where quickly superseeded - they don't leak and don't rust and don't make any noise - what more can you ask for a passive water cooling loop.

Edit: I would rather have silence and performance. But fully accept that other have no issues with hearing the fans in there pc.
Horses for courses

Glad someone is in my corner

As basically all im doing is making use of a fan that is already running by replacing it with a better quality fan and adding a single rad to the other end to improve cooling on the cpu.

If i wasnt running a quad core at 100% 24/7 then i think the current setup would have been fine. However the additions i have planned should not add and extra noise to the system

So as before the loudest part of the system will again be my 9800 GX2 and in a few weeks time that will increase slightly when i add a second 9800 GX2 to the system.

Or i could turn my F@H software to the off position and save my self all the extra time and expense, MMMMMMMM no i think i will keep it all running especially since im about 4 weeks away from catching you.

 

[sir-les-mp]

Update

Ive finnished rebuilding my system with the part's i ordered
took the best part of 2 days to make sure i was happy with it
I also added my other 8800 GTS 320 to the system as well and so far all is running as it should
got the folding back on and so far load temps are yet to go above 45c
the highest ive seen them is 42c
However system has only been running for about an hour at 100% so time will tell but so far so good

 

[sir-les-mp]

well she's been running for over 12 hours now and core temps have peaked @ 43c @ 100% cpu load with kaze juni running at approx 1500 rpm
Its a little noiseir than it was before but i think thats due to the third video card
All in all im very happy with the temp improvments