Will a 360mm radiator be enough for a CPU and GPU?

[trawetSluaP]

Hi,

I recently purchased an EK KIT 360P for my CPU and am chuffed with it.

What I'd like to do next is add a GPU to the loop. I don't really have enough space in my PC for another radiator so I was wondering if the single 360mm radiator that came with the kit will be sufficient to cool both components.

I'd imagine my CPU will be cooler as the rad is set up as an exhaust at the moment and has all the hot air from the GPU blowing through it.

What do you guys think?

Also, I can get a full Bitspower waterblock for the 980 Ti Lightning I have for 189 Euros. Is this too much as I realise it's an end of life product? It's just cheaper than buying a new card and a waterblock for the new card! Or would you guys recommend hanging on for a bit and grabbing a 1080 Ti and adding that to the loop?

 

[davido_labido]

a 360 rad will be fine, a lot of people go by the rule of thumb that 1 x 120mm rad space per component cooled + 120mm extra. so, for 2 components it would be 360mm.

as for the block, that is double what it would usually, be and I wouldn't pay that much, but it is up to you whether you think it is worth it really. I wouldn't pay £400 for some shoes by some rapper, but people do

 

[Razor Time]

Bitspower have never had a good rep when it comes to gpu blocks in terms of performance. Look at EK, you can pick up a block for the 980ti from their range.

 

[Legend]

What I'd like to do next is add a GPU to the loop. I don't really have enough space in my PC for another radiator so I was wondering if the single 360mm radiator that came with the kit will be sufficient to cool both components.

I'd imagine my CPU will be cooler as the rad is set up as an exhaust at the moment and has all the hot air from the GPU blowing through it.

What do you guys think?

Also, I can get a full Bitspower waterblock for the 980 Ti Lightning I have for 189 Euros. Is this too much as I realise it's an end of life product? It's just cheaper than buying a new card and a waterblock for the new card! Or would you guys recommend hanging on for a bit and grabbing a 1080 Ti and adding that to the loop?

It will be sufficient, but you may notice an increase in temps. The GPU hot air won't be making that much of a difference currently, but adding another component to the loop will. That said, rads are cooled more effectively with fans bringing in cooler air from outside, so you should have fans on intake anyway, not exhaust. That should help performance. This is also better for maintaining positive pressure and avoiding dust build up in the case (providing intakes are filtered).

As suggested, an EK block might be preferable. It's up to you if you want to get the 1080Ti... that's a big investment, about £850 once you factor in block/backplate. Only you can answer whether that's worth it or not.

 

[trawetSluaP]

Bitspower have never had a good rep when it comes to gpu blocks in terms of performance. Look at EK, you can pick up a block for the 980ti from their range.

I did look into an EK block but they don't do a full cover block for the Lightning.

It will be sufficient, but you may notice an increase in temps. The GPU hot air won't be making that much of a difference currently, but adding another component to the loop will. That said, rads are cooled more effectively with fans bringing in cooler air from outside, so you should have fans on intake anyway, not exhaust. That should help performance. This is also better for maintaining positive pressure and avoiding dust build up in the case (providing intakes are filtered).

As suggested, an EK block might be preferable. It's up to you if you want to get the 1080Ti... that's a big investment, about £850 once you factor in block/backplate. Only you can answer whether that's worth it or not.

At present it makes a 5C difference to my CPU temps when I have the GPU running at full chat. Having said that if I add the GPU to the loop it will no longer be exhausting hot air into the case, meaning I can change the fan orientation on the rad to intake.

I know the Bitspower block seems expensive... But I wanted a full block for the GPU. Decisions, decisions.

 

[Legend]

I did look into an EK block but they don't do a full cover block for the Lightning.

At present it makes a 5C difference to my CPU temps when I have the GPU running at full chat. Having said that if I add the GPU to the loop it will no longer be exhausting hot air into the case, meaning I can change the fan orientation on the rad to intake.

I know the Bitspower block seems expensive... But I wanted a full block for the GPU. Decisions, decisions.

It's your call on the card, but I do see your point on the block and that you want a full one. Saying that, keep in mind it won't be that visible given it's underneath, so it may not bother you as much as you think.

As for temps, yes, a GPU blowing out hot air will impact your CPU when it's under full load, but when it's in a loop it will be sharing the heat load with the CPU on the same rad. Six of one, half a dozen of the other. I would suspect you may see similar or perhaps worse temps as a result of that when both CPU and GPU are being pushed. Every set-up differs though, so there is no way to know for sure until you do it. But if your case doesn't have room for another rad then you have no choice. It certainly won't be bad performance though, so nothing to worry about in the grand scheme of things. If your fans are PWM though, it may get noisier than you might like. This is something I have noticed myself on some builds, and it can be an issue with less rad space... more work is demanded of the fans.