Please comment and critique this setup before I order it

[Noldor]

I'm posting this thread here at Procooling because I know I will get frank and honest replies.

I'm ordering my watercooling stuff in October, so it's only a month left or so. I'm hoping Cathars new G5 will be ready then, if not, I'll buy my friends Cascade.
This loop is NOT designed for optimal cooling performance, as I DON'T want to have a HUGE radiator in my case. I'd rather have a good looking setup and get it to performe as good as I can with good looking parts.

Case: Lian Li PC-75
Radiator: Black Ice Crome - http://coolercases.co.uk/wc_radiators.htm
Fans: 2x Delta Screamers 190CFM on FAN CONTROLLER.
CPU: Cascade (Or Cathars new silver block if ready by October)
NB: DD Maze 4
GPU: Maze 4
Pump: 2x DD D4 in series
T-Line

These parts will be cooling following hardware:
A64 3400+ @ 2650-2700Mhz 1.7v
ATi X800XT mild OC, perhaps nothing at all even

If you guys don't think the single radiator can handle these stufff at those speeds, then I'm all open for running two of those radiators in paralell. What do you guys think? I'm hoping for temps 30-35 idle and >45 full load. Is it possible?
I'd rather not have a huge heatercore or radiator as I'm not ONLY interessted in good OC and temps, but perhaps even MORE interessted in good looks.


Thanks!!

[Cathar]

Just my own thoughts about your setup:

1) The copper G4, which is superior to the copper and silver Cascade blocks, will be available in 5-6 weeks from now. The silver G5 is not anticipated to happen until late October at which time I will invite orders and deposits to get a batch of silver on the way. I would expect around Christmas/January before those became a physical reality (other than the initial run of 5 which should happen by late October).

2) Those Delta 12cm 190CFM FFB fans, while bloody powerful (I have the 127mm equivalent which puts out 200CFM) have an incredible amount of bearing noise. The motors are very "meaty" as is required to drive those fans at those levels. Even when run at 5v they are annoyingly loud. I could not recommend any person who values their hearing and sanity to ever buy them for a system sitting within a few feet of them. For that radiator, which is essentially a BIX, I would say that perhaps a pair of Panaflo H1A's on the rheobus would be a better choice as they are very quiet when turned down to low speeds, unlike the Delta's, and still quite powerful when run at full chop. To me, they would be the saner choice as the Delta's at full speed might offer 1C lower water temps than the Panaflo's, but the Panaflo's won't drive you insane at lower voltages.

3) The DD Maze4 GPU block is good, but the Silverprop Nexus HL with the brass top offers a block made out of materials that doesn't require high levels of anti-corrosion agents.

4) NB block - Don't bother with it IMO. Find a decent copper CPU heatsink and cut it up and stick a small 5cm fan on it - it'll cool the NB as much as you need to, and sticking water-cooling on the NB would likely yield zero gains in comparison.

5) Pumps - fine - good choice.

6) A second radiator might lower water temps by 3-5C or so (depending on how fast you run the fans), which is something to keep in mind. Beyond that the temperature gains to be had are usually quite minimal and most people use larger radiators to trade off noise for performance.

[Noldor]

Thanks for your swift reply Cathar.

Seems like I'll buy the G4 as soon as I can then and sell it and buy the G5 when it becomes avaiable.

About those Delta Screamers. I own two of them and at low speed they don't bother me at all. I have bad hearing from several conserts so I'm fine with the deltas Although I wish I had worn hearing protection at those gigs :/

About the second radiator. If I would gain as much as 3-5 degrees I will definetly look into how I can fit another one in my case and still keep it very clean. If I understand it correct I should run pumps in series and rads in paralell? I'd like to keep a nb block because it looks cool. No other particular reason. If I don't like it I'll just take it away.

so which loop would be the best then? I'm thinking number 1. yes?

1) pump1->pump2->rad1->cpu->rad2->gpu->nb->pump1
2) pump1->pump2->rad1->rad2->cpu->gpu->nb->pump1
3)???

Thanks!


Any guesses on temps?

[Cathar]

Pump in series and rads in series.

Expect maybe 2-4C better temps if you'll be using the Delta's anyway with a second rad.

Plumb your system in whatever way is most convenient for you and your tubing. It really doesn't matter which way you route it to any significant fashion.

The silver G5 with anodised aluminium blocks just scares me, even with corrosion protection. Galvanic potential difference is approaching 1V between silver and aluminium making for something that may become a headache to manage.

No guesses on temps. No CPU/mobo pairing really tells the correct temps anyway.