Radiators

Locky

Locky

Locky

Soldato
Joined
14 Oct 2003
Posts
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Location
South Derbyshire
do different rads make much difference.

im going to cool my CPU in 1 loop and GPU in another loop.

CPU block will be D-TEK fusion. GPU block full cover EK

pump will be a D5 or DCC

but i dont really want to spend nearly 60 quid on 120.2 thermochill rad

can i get away with do cheaper half decent rads?
 
The PA series of rads are generally considered to be the best, the PA120.2 is on a par, if not out performs many other 120.3 rads just to give you an idea of how good they are.

I would view purchasing a PA radiator an investment and from a watercooling point of view the two most important parts that will determine overal cooling performance is the waterblock and the radiator.

Jokester
 
Ok so i get a 120.2 PA for my cpu, but the GPU doesnt need such a performance rad, as i wont be raping the overclocks.
 
Well i would be dumping close to 400watts of heat into the loop if you take everything into account, which means i would need some hi flow fans. I dont really want a noisy pc, dont mint a bit but not what my current air cooling is like.
 
Nah, it'll be nearly half that, a couple of decent performance quiet fans like Yate Loons/Sharkoons etc will be ok.

Jokester
 
Well, Thermochill rads are the best performance wise, no argument.

But, when I moved from an XSPC 120.2 rad to a Thermochill PA 120.2, but keeping everything else the same, I only saw a couple of degrees improvement. I was expecting more to be honest, given the rave reviews everybody seems to give them.

Yes, better than the old rad, but worth nearly twice the price?

The answer is probably yes, as the temps, albeit a small amount, were lower, and the Thermochill rads hold their money pretty well, so you will get more for it selling it on somewhere down the line.

Don't beat yourself up over it though if you don't want to spend that much, a black ice II/XSPC rad will still do the job...
 
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It's all relative at the end of the day: chopping and changing from an average WC setup to one that costs twice the price will only ever net a couple of degrees drop in average temperatures, but it depends on how much that is worth it to the user...

But, it does seem strange when bods go all out on the rg and then fit it with only average cooling components... awesome cooling can go a long way to making the difference between average components and top-draw stuff when overclocking.

is the PA120.2 worth it? I would say yes, but that's because I take my cooling very seriously.

Jokester is right about heatload, however. The only 'desktop' system that would come close to dumping 400w into a loop would be an Athlon FX 7X rig with two 2900XTs in Crossfire... and that isn't even possible. Two SLI'd 8800s would come close, but hey.
 
In electronic systems, power consumption is heat output. It won't be 400W though, becuase that's a theoretical max, and not all heat producing components will be getting water cooled.

Jokester
 
IIRC a PA120.2 has a capacity for 450w of heat. Not taking into account all the other variables like Delta, fans used etc... I would guess that the Quad and 8800GTS would put out roughly 350w of heat PEAK. How many times will you load the quad on all cores 100% and the GFX at the same time?

Remember that the PA rads while being on par with some rads of a larger size also take up less space so are easier to work with when building into a case.

Also ask: Will I be overclocking the **** off this CPU for a max clock? This is where those 2-3 degrees can make all the difference.
 
would it be ok to put a 120.1 after the cpu and before the GPU

like CPU ---> 120.1 rad ---> GPU so on.
 
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