How to choose radiator....

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M4rvin
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat May 05, 2007 1:35 pm

How to choose radiator....

Post by M4rvin » Mon May 07, 2007 10:04 am

... and other water cooling components. :)

I've read most threads in this forum and would like som feedback on some issues I haven't found an answer to.

I have a Antex P182 case with a Corsair 520 HX PSU, when I upgrade my computer I'm getting a quad core with a direct x 10 graphic card. I'm calculating top wattage consumtion (for cpu/gpu) to be around 250W, give and take.

Once I got the case I noticed it's not silent enough. I have to change the case fans to something really quiet (low rpm), but that will force me (who am I kidding, I always wanted to watercool anway) to cool cpu/gpu with water.


Pump?

In the pump megathread many seem really fond of the Laing DDC with the acrylic top. It sounds like a sure bet for a silent pump to mount inside the case. Thing is, it's almost twice as expensive as the Innovatek (Eheim) HPPS which atleast someone found virtually silent. Is the Laing worth the extra money?

The Laing DDC comes in two (where I'm buying from) flavors, a pro 3,5 version with 420L/h flow and a ultra version with 500L/h. Do these correspond to the 10 and 18w I've read about in some of the threads? Are both silent when mounted inside a case, how do I choose which one to get?

(Is the Alphacool AGB-Eheim 600 Station 2 (Pump & Tank) worth considering?)


Radiator?

I think I will need a radiator that can disspate about 250w maximum. But I'm in this for silence so passive sounds best, or does it?

First the Innovatek ULTA caught my eye. My German is a bit rusty but it says it can dissipate 170w at a 23 degrees celsius ambient temp. Which will be more than enough for my everyday use but might not be enough for gaming and stressing the computer.

http://www.webshop-innovatek.de/assets/ ... ovatek.de/

So I figured there's a few ways I could go about setting up the radiator. Either I get a car oil radiator or similar that can dissipate 250w, or I get an ULTRA and buy a booster pack or put some fans on it and get an aquareo or similar device to spin up the fans only when they´re needed. Or I go with a multi low rpm fan solution from the beginning. Maybe the Black Ice GT Extreme 360 or 480.

What would you do?

Is it good practise to connect to the radiator with speedcouplings or do they add to much resistence? I would like to be able to disconnect the radiator from the case if I have to move the computer without emptying the system.

Please give me some advice on how to go about.

PS! Great forum.

Arto
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2006 11:25 am
Location: Sweden

Post by Arto » Thu May 10, 2007 11:33 pm

Thermochill PA-series is the best radiator without competition if you want a silent system with low-rpm fans.

If you feel like digging through loads of numbers and some text read this: http://www.over-clock.com/ivb/index.php?showtopic=17958
The conclusion is that the PA-series(PA120.1 PA120.2 PA120.3) has least pressure loss and best cooling performance so the choice if rad is pretty simple. PA120.2 is probably the best choice regarding performance and size.

Rad - Thermochill PA120.2 (PA120.3 if you want the absolute best)

CPU - Swiftech Apogee GTX (low pressure drop and great performance)

GPU - No idea yet...

Pump - Modded Laing DDC seems to perform well. The HPPS is probably nice too, I had an Eheim 1048 a couple years ago that did well and the HPPS seems to be some kind of upgraded 12V version.

M4rvin
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat May 05, 2007 1:35 pm

Post by M4rvin » Sat May 12, 2007 12:07 am

Thanks for your reply. I'll see if I can find thermochill's radiators over here (Sweden).

But basically a good multi-fanned low rpm radiator is the recommended way to go?

What about quick couplings? Avoid or not? Since I'm going for an external radiator (and maybe a large passive one, have to think about it) it would be nice to able to move the rig by decoupling the radiator. I'm just afraid the coupling adds alot of resistance to the water loop.

By _modded_ Laing you mean the acrylic top? Should I go with the pro or the ultra? The ultra adds 20% flow, but I have no clue if that's needed or wanted or at what price it comes (more noise, heatgeneration).

cyberspyder
Posts: 259
Joined: Mon Jun 26, 2006 4:58 pm
Location: Markham, Canada

Post by cyberspyder » Sat May 12, 2007 4:30 pm

Generally, you don't need quick-decoupling fittings---just slip the tubes onto the barbs. And yes, Arto is right. Thermochill makes the BEST rads in the industry, MUCH better than that Innovatek. If you can, get the Petra/Laing DDC pump. It's better than all of the other Laing pump variants.

http://www.thermochill.com/PATesting/index.php

BRendan

Arto
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2006 11:25 am
Location: Sweden

Post by Arto » Sun May 13, 2007 2:17 am

M4rvin wrote:Thanks for your reply. I'll see if I can find thermochill's radiators over here (Sweden).

But basically a good multi-fanned low rpm radiator is the recommended way to go?

What about quick couplings? Avoid or not? Since I'm going for an external radiator (and maybe a large passive one, have to think about it) it would be nice to able to move the rig by decoupling the radiator. I'm just afraid the coupling adds alot of resistance to the water loop.

By _modded_ Laing you mean the acrylic top? Should I go with the pro or the ultra? The ultra adds 20% flow, but I have no clue if that's needed or wanted or at what price it comes (more noise, heatgeneration).
I haven't found any Thermochill rads here in Sweden either so www.vcore.dk is the closest to us. They've got the DDC pro too with the acrylic custom top but I don't know if that allows to connect the hose on the top.

You can buy a standard DDC and do the mod yourself: bit-tech DDC-mod

I suggest skipping quick decoupling too. Standard hose fittings and hose clips are very secure and a closed water loop won't leak if built properly.

Marci
Posts: 68
Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2005 5:49 am
Location: West Yorkshire, UK
Contact:

Post by Marci » Mon May 14, 2007 5:43 am

Over-Clock.com / ThermoChill.com (same people - ThermoChill.com only lists Thermochill products, Over-clock.com lists everything) can ship direct to Sweden if it helps matters.

migueld
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2007 10:46 pm

Post by migueld » Mon May 14, 2007 2:57 pm

M4rvin wrote: By _modded_ Laing you mean the acrylic top? Should I go with the pro or the ultra? The ultra adds 20% flow, but I have no clue if that's needed or wanted or at what price it comes (more noise, heatgeneration).
Like you said there are two versions, the 10W and 18W. The 18W is considerably noisier, it vibrates more, and it generates more heat. I would advise against it. So I'd suggest that if you go with the DDC that you get the 10W version and the acrylic top. One of the good things about the acrylic top is that it will dampen much of the vibration and noise. There is also a delrin top available from Petra's store, but I've seen comments where it's not as good as acrylic noise-wise.

There is a new pump in town which I'm seriously considering for my second computer, D-Tek's dB-1. It's got good flow but the head pressure it's not as good as the DDC. It's good if you don't have too many restrictive components.

M4rvin
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat May 05, 2007 1:35 pm

Post by M4rvin » Wed May 16, 2007 11:59 am

Thanks for all the input. I'll go with the 10w Laing DDC and a thermochill radiator.

Khrono Devil
Posts: 38
Joined: Sat Jun 02, 2007 2:18 am
Location: New Zealand

Post by Khrono Devil » Mon Jun 04, 2007 3:15 am

I agree with the other guys, the Thermochill PA120.? and Swiftech Apogee are great.


Heres the Liang MCP355 ( Liang DDC-Ultra 18w w/ Alphacool top ) I would recommend this one
http://www.alphacool.de/product_info.ph ... ultra.html

And heres the Liang MCP355 =P ( Liang DCC-Pro w/ Alphacool top )
http://www.alphacool.de/product_info.ph ... -pro:.html

MoJo
Posts: 773
Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2003 9:20 am
Location: UK

Post by MoJo » Sun Aug 05, 2007 5:11 am

I am in a very similar position, and am considering water cooling. Quad Core and 8800 Ultra in a P182.

At the moment, the CPU hits 75 and the GPU 85 with air cooling, which is quieter than the two 500GB WD5000AAKS HDDs in the machine. So, you can run such a system silently on air, but...

The biggest issue is how to mount the rad on the P182. The PA120.1 doesn't seem like it will be able to cope with that much heat. The PA120.2 is probably borderline with a Nexus fan at 12V, at least according to http://www.thermochill.com/PATesting/index.php.

Is 200W at a 10C differential enough? It is probably borderline for such a system.

YugenM
Posts: 40
Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2007 9:55 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada

Post by YugenM » Tue Aug 07, 2007 9:30 pm

Arto wrote:
M4rvin wrote:Thanks for your reply. I'll see if I can find thermochill's radiators over here (Sweden).

But basically a good multi-fanned low rpm radiator is the recommended way to go?

What about quick couplings? Avoid or not? Since I'm going for an external radiator (and maybe a large passive one, have to think about it) it would be nice to able to move the rig by decoupling the radiator. I'm just afraid the coupling adds alot of resistance to the water loop.

By _modded_ Laing you mean the acrylic top? Should I go with the pro or the ultra? The ultra adds 20% flow, but I have no clue if that's needed or wanted or at what price it comes (more noise, heatgeneration).
I haven't found any Thermochill rads here in Sweden either so www.vcore.dk is the closest to us. They've got the DDC pro too with the acrylic custom top but I don't know if that allows to connect the hose on the top.

You can buy a standard DDC and do the mod yourself: bit-tech DDC-mod

I suggest skipping quick decoupling too. Standard hose fittings and hose clips are very secure and a closed water loop won't leak if built properly.
+1 for vcore.dk :D

Awesome service, even for international customers like me

CyberDog
Posts: 206
Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2007 5:54 am
Location: Kuopio, Finland

Post by CyberDog » Wed Aug 08, 2007 2:28 am

I have a ques that MO-RA Radiators are Swedish made. What I think is that they can dissipate most heat if you want to have one that is made for computers...

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