Critique Water Loop

[baron5]

Hey guys, I am looking to setup a water loop for my next build which will consist of the following components

3770K with EK Supremacy block
ASROCK OC formula (standard chipset cooling)
GTX 680 with Heatkiller 680 through hole block
swiftech MCP35X with xres top
XPSC 120mm x3 rad
NZXT phantom 820 case

Since this is my first time doing water I wanted to see what you guys thought of my design. I have marked what I think should be 45 compression fittings on the picture, the rest will be standard compression fittings. I have tried to minimize tubing with the configuration, and as far as I have read the order does not really matter that much once the loop reaches steady state.

My main queries are:
Do you think the mcp35x can handle this loop effectively?
Do you think the order of flow through components will work well?

 

[patonb]

I'm not a h20 guy, but speaking engineer like, I'd think you'd want your pump and rad higher up to put less strain on it.

I think PPMc is the better h2o guy here.

 

[PP Mguire]

You actually want the pump to be at the bottom of your loop so the water "flows" to it naturally.

You want all blocks in a series before coming back to your pump. If you heat up the water going to the pump before going to a rad to cool off then you are essentially overheating your pump causing it more wear and tear, and then sending hot water to your CPU block. If you are overclocking at all then your 680 will put off more heat than your CPU causing your loop to be warmer than normal.

There is no need to water cool the PWM. My hex at 4.5 is barely making my little bitty heatsink warm to the touch pulling more wattage than your 3770k will.

That being said, pump, cpu, gpu, rad, pump in that order. CPU block gets the most pressure and it is more effective due to the way the block is made. With compression fittings you can mimic that everywhere else. Rad goes last because you want to cool that water down before hitting your pump and being put back into your loop.

 

[baron5]

Appreciate the replies guys. Your right the PWM doesn't really need water, but it's more of a self-satisfying thing for me, also I would like to disconnect the included fan as I want this computer to be very silent. I have had a couple of squealing boards in the past and even on my X58-UD7 it gets a little warm in summer (when its around 40 deg Celsius, my room has no aircon). Even though I don't plan on a massive overclock I feel it would satisfy me more to include it, however if its going to hinder the performance significantly of the loop I'm happy to leave it out.

This is the modified version of the loop, I took your advice and placed everything after the pump before being cooled by the rad. I have noticed most people seem to place the GPUs first and it seems cleaner this way with less tubing, what do you think?

Currently it is, PUMP>GPU>CPU>MB>RAD>PUMP

EDIT: the last connection from rad to pump was split so its easier to see the rest of the loop.

 

[PP Mguire]

1366 CPUs take more power than Z77 and all 1155 boards are digital which greatly reduces heat output. Not only that, like I said, my 3960X is a 130W CPU and at 4.2 or 4.5GHz the little heatsink barely gets warm to the touch. My lukewarm cup of coffee sitting next to me is hotter than it gets under full load. 1155 CPUs take about 50W less or more depending on how your power settings are set.

You will not be able to run this rig without fans. With both the CPU and GPU the water will get saturated with heat and the rad alone will not be able to cool the water off without airflow. If you are dead set on silent then grab a bunch of Noctua fans. They are silent but the static pressure produced by the fans cools very effectively. IMO, I don't see how you can afford a rig like this but don't have AC in your room....especially in Aus.

With or without active cooling, PWM isn't necessary, but to each his own. The heatsinks themselves do quite a bit and mostly they are for show.

I can't stress enough how much you want your CPU block directly after your pump. They are made for the most pressure for the most cooling. Again, to each his own. The way you currently have it will still work, just not as good as it could.

 

[baron5]

Sorry I should have made this more clear. I'm not quite ambitious enough to run with no fans on the radiator, I was referring the the fan on the motherboard HS. I know XPSC rads react well to lower air pressure so getting silent fans should not be a problem, I will look more into the fans when i buy the parts.

Well it seems it will be better to leave out the motherboard phase cooling and that I should definitely go through the CPU block first then. What do you think is the best placement for the pump and/or res for this configuration? With current placement there will be a lot of wasted tubing, does this contribute to the performance of the loop?

Also in regards to the aircon, I do have a small wall/window unit, but if its hot enough to warrant using it, it basically does nothing. Also because of my setup its behind part of my desk and television so It hasn't been used in the past year or two. When you live here you tend to get used to the heat.

 

[PP Mguire]

The fan on the motherboard shouldn't be noisy at all. If it is, then just unplug it or see if you can control it through the bios. Honestly though, your pump will probably be more noisy than your fans.

Too much tube isn't really that big of a deal since there is no resistance. You obviously don't want too much, but where your current pump is would be fine. I don't know what your drive situation is like, but you could always just put it in the drive bay. I used to do that.

 

[baron5]

Drive bay sound like a good idea to get to the CPU first as I will only have one or two opticals at most, I previously recall you saying it's best to have the pump at the lowest point for natural flow, will this matter if I decide to chuck it in the drive bays?

Also this may be a silly question but I cannot seem to find a straight answer, the output/discharge port on the mcp35x is the side port? And the top port joining to the res will be the input/intake port? I wanted to know because I'm still undecided whether to grab the res top or go plain res yet, But i guess the above is correct because the pump would input from the top port where the res is? Be good if you could clear it up

I think your right, being a bit paranoid with silent-ness, I really just wanted it to look the part as this is going to be a real 'themed' rig as I plan to sleeve cables etc.. Really i just wanted the phase cooling so it looked cooler.

 

[Peter.Cort]

Is it a good idea to run the cpu and gpu on the same loop? It's been a while since I've done anything with water cooling (last time I did anything was back in the q6600 and 8800gtx days) and obviously things have gotten loads better in terms of energy efficiency and heat output, and i know the 3770 will be pretty docile in terms of heat output, but having a 680 in the mix?

And I would reorient I think you could keep it basically how it is but just go res up to the cpu, cpu drop down to the gpu, then up to the rad and then back down to the res. You wouldn't be using that much more tubing than your current design, maybe 3-4 inches at most.

And I do believe you're correct on the res.

 

[PP Mguire]

Drive bay sound like a good idea to get to the CPU first as I will only have one or two opticals at most, I previously recall you saying it's best to have the pump at the lowest point for natural flow, will this matter if I decide to chuck it in the drive bays?

Also this may be a silly question but I cannot seem to find a straight answer, the output/discharge port on the mcp35x is the side port? And the top port joining to the res will be the input/intake port? I wanted to know because I'm still undecided whether to grab the res top or go plain res yet, But i guess the above is correct because the pump would input from the top port where the res is? Be good if you could clear it up

I think your right, being a bit paranoid with silent-ness, I really just wanted it to look the part as this is going to be a real 'themed' rig as I plan to sleeve cables etc.. Really i just wanted the phase cooling so it looked cooler.

Yes if you have the res on top the pump is going to suck the water from the res and push it out the bottom. There should actually be arrows on it to clarify.

On the drive bay thing, yes you can do that. I did it for a while. The pump should be at the bottom but sometimes people just don't want that much tube. One time I even hid the extra tube behind the motherboard tray lol.

Is it a good idea to run the cpu and gpu on the same loop? It's been a while since I've done anything with water cooling (last time I did anything was back in the q6600 and 8800gtx days) and obviously things have gotten loads better in terms of energy efficiency and heat output, and i know the 3770 will be pretty docile in terms of heat output, but having a 680 in the mix?

And I would reorient I think you could keep it basically how it is but just go res up to the cpu, cpu drop down to the gpu, then up to the rad and then back down to the res. You wouldn't be using that much more tubing than your current design, maybe 3-4 inches at most.

And I do believe you're correct on the res.

People have been putting GPUs and CPUs in the same loop for a while a while. Nothing wrong with it long as you have a rad capable of the heat output.