Two radiators? Overkill?

WuMyster

WuMyster

WuMyster

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I'm starting to get my final list together and I'm wondering now whether or not I should get 2 rads? The case I'm using will be the TJ07 and natively it can handle a 480 at the bottom so ill be putting a SR1 down there. I can also get the case modded to fit a triple rad up top but it'll have to be slim like a black ice stealth.
Is it worth having another rad? Even if it is overkill, surely there's nothing wrong with that, just basically future proofed myself?
Forgot to mention. I'll be cooling a 3770K OCed and the max 2 7950's. I've currently got one OCed.
If people do recommend two rads, is it fine to have the placement like this? Res-Pump-Rad 480-CPU-GPU1-GPU2-Rad 360 - Res ?
Btw, the mobo will be inverted so the CPU will be closest to the 480 rad
 
I got a nice little boost in performance when my CPU had two 480mm rads all to itself for a while. The more rad space you can get the better.:D
 
As long as both rads are extract or both are intake it's 'productive' overkill (2-5 degree lower maybe).
If one rad (intake) pre heats the air that the other rad (extract) is using it's pointless.

With cpu's and gpu's getting cooler and less power hungry - then future proofing doesn't need more rads
 
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ubersonic said:
No it isn't :S in fact this was the "done" way of doing it for years before modern cases allowed multiple rads as extract.
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just because many people did / do it, doesn't make it right

adding a 2nd rad to have hot air blown across it is nigh on pointless, considering the cost, you would be much better off using 1 big external rad (for lower cost) than having 2 internal rads feeding each other hot air

you are doubling the cost of your system for at best a 2C improvement in water temp

case choice is key - saving £30-40 on a case to then spend an extra £80 on an extra rad that gives very little benefit is :confused:

many people that come on asking for advice (or even many people who already have watercooling setups) seem to be entirely unaware of WC specific considerations to airflow, and just go with recommended norms for air cooling (e.g. bottom/front IN, top/back OUT), we are here to recommend and educate, so lets do that instead of just repeating past mistakes
 
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OK, but lets consider that the OP has stated he's using a TJ07. Now unless they're doing something really different the 480 rad will be in the bottom compartment and the mod to allow a 360 in the top will be in a separate compartment. I'm a little confused how a rad in the bottom compartment with the fans blowing horizontally is going to affect fans in the top blowing vertically?
 
GoogalyMoogaly said:
OK, but lets consider that the OP has stated he's using a TJ07. Now unless they're doing something really different the 480 rad will be in the bottom compartment and the mod to allow a 360 in the top will be in a separate compartment. I'm a little confused how a rad in the bottom compartment with the fans blowing horizontally is going to affect fans in the top blowing vertically?
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I wasn't aware of that - good to know
I'd be willing to bet the other 2 people in that vein of conversation didn't know either

shadow did in fact say "IF"
 
andybird123 said:
just because many people did / do it, doesn't make it right

adding a 2nd rad to have hot air blown across it is nigh on pointless
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Jesus I can't believe people still believe this in 2013...

We are not talking about bolting two rads together in place of push/pull (which is counter productive as they restrict airflow as well as transfer heat), were talking about a rad at the front of the case as intake and one at the back/roof as exhaust which is perfectly fine and a time proven effective method.

Its not like the air enters the rad at ambient and leaves the same temp as the damn CPU is it, the air enters the first rad at ambient, soaks up some heat then leaves through the second rad soaking more. As long as air/water is cooler than what its supposed to be cooling it will do so. Look at it this way, using a H100/80 as intake works better than as exhaust, but that doesn't mean its useless in exhaust, and in exhaust its soaking in heat from the GPU too.

Having rads as front intake is fine because the heat dump into the system is lower than from a GPU or CPU air cooler (as its divided with the other rad in the loop) so case temps will still be better than on air (assuming your water loop isn't overloaded) the air leaving through the top/rear rad will be warmer than it otherwise would be however it will still be cool enough to take the required heat form the rad.

I know im probably failing to explain this lol, but I tried.
 
it isn't a case of belief, it's a case of practical testing and results, I've tried both ways and the all rads exhaust and all other fans on intake method gives the best results

when you increase the temp of the air going over a rad, it makes that rad less efficient - you cannae change the laws of physics captain

if a simple fan direction change can improve your temps, both in case for the air cooled items, and water loop, why wouldn't you do it?

anyway, for the purposes of the OP, as GM points out, it's rather moot as the TJ07 has a separate compartment for the bottom rad
 
andybird123 said:
it isn't a case of belief, it's a case of practical testing and results
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Agreed.

andybird123 said:
when you increase the temp of the air going over a rad, it makes that rad less efficient - you cannae change the laws of physics captain
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And when you reduce the temperature of the air going over it what does that do? the exhaust rad will be receiving air that's a bit warmer than normal case air yes but in turn the intake rad will be receiving ambient air that's colder than case air, it evens out, especially considering that the radiators are linked via the loop so effected by equilibrium. The important factor is that by running front intake and rear exhaust you also have positive airflow and so don't fill the case with dust like you would with all rads as exhaust.
 
In terms of order of your loop, I'd "space out" the rads a little more. What I mean by this is that if you think about the temperature of your coolant, it's getting hotter around the loop, hits the first rad, gets cooled, hits the second rad, gets cooled more. As a general rule, things cool faster if there is a bigger temperature difference. From that logic, it would make sense to have the rads spaced out within your loop rather than immediately in series like you currently have.

(The above is based on zero experience, just my logic).
 
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