Watercooling question

[WJA96]

This is basically what we have in the new house. We have a second central heating ring that all the PCs are plugged into and they all go into a double 12' radiator in the garage. It uses a proper central heating pump and microbore tubing with isolators and pressure restrictors at each take-off. My plumber thought I was mad, but it works brilliantly and the garage is always cold, so it works well. And it's silent too.

 

[MikeTimbers]

Not at all, bends would increase the flow of water. Kind of like having a smaller point at one end would speed it up. Forcing the water to take a different path speeds it up. Don't ask me how, it just does.

Wrong! Restrictive tubing, corners etc. restrict the flow but increase the speed of the water through that point but overall reduce the flow-rate (i.e. the overall flow over the entire loop).

Don't be fooled by thinking of only the single point of restriction. Impingement blocks have been designed to create highly turbulent fast water hitting directly over the die. But while that is good at the point of the block's contact it is not good anywhere else as it significantly impedes overall flowrate in the loop.

 

[samcat]

remember the faster the flow means less time in the rad to cool you need to find a good balance.

True, double the flow and the water only spends half the amount of time in the rad... BUT in the same length of time it will visit the radiator twice....


I have used copper pipe in my old watercooled MM U2 case, worked well. 1/2" bore pipe can be made to fit over the copper pipe with a bit of persuasion (dip the pipe end in HOT water) and use a barb to ensure it wont just come off.

Sam