How much water in the reservior?
 

I'd like you guys to tell me the pro's and con's of the water level in open loop (by that I mean pump submerged) systems reservior.

I have pretty much finished my DIY low budget WC'd system recently. When the reservior water is cold (first time power-on) I get idle CPU temps of 20C but over an hour or so the water temps go up considerably and the CPU temp hits around 45C.

I guess my reservior holds about 3-4litres

Thanks:cry:

what are your ambient temps in that room?

45 C at idle is WAY to high for a watercooled rig. Or did you mean those were your load temps?


If that is your idles temps you definitely need something somewhere. Either a more efficient aRadiator or better airflow through the one you have because it isnt doing a good enough job.

Further info:

This is a completely passive system. No fans on the radiator. The load is PSU, CPU, GPU. I checked the temps in the BIOS and at idle its more like 30C. But after a little 3d gaming the system temps stay at around 45C (diode temps) and don't return to idle temps.

This has to be because the reservior water is heating up so the cooling becomes inefficient.

Would less water in the reservior help?

Actually less water would mean that the system would heat up faster.

Sounds to me like you may need a larger radiator/heat exchanger than you have for a passive system.


Either that or some fans to cool what you have. Even some very low flow quiet fans would help out a bit with your current system.

Perhaps get some sort of house fan and have it blowing on your curent system to see what it results in for an example.