Splitting flow -Need help
 

Ok, I am finalizing my watercooling setup.

The problem I am having is all the sizes of the different barbs I will have and splitting flow to all those.

Basicly this is what I have:

Eheim 1250 Pump with 1/2" Barbs
FX51 Block with 1/2" Barbs
5950 Block Bladerunner style with two 1/4" Barbs in, and two 1/4" Barbs out
BlackIce Extreme 120mm Radiator for FX51 flow with 1/2" Barb
BlackIce MicroII 2x80mm Radiator for 5950 flow with 3/8" Barb
Custom Res

So I have a 1/2" flow needing to be split into 2 1/4" flows, and another 1/2" flow.
1/2"-->1/4",1/4",1/2"

I then need to recombine the two 1/4" flows into 3/8"

This seems like too much flow splitting, Does and eheim 1250 have enough power?

http://server5.uploadit.org/files/zapwiz-Flow0000.jpg

Mabye a diagram will help.

First off, is a Dual Radiator a good idea in this case?
I would rather use just the 2x80mm radiator. (As if fits my case design)

I think I will try to adapt the FX51 cooler down to 3/8" to keep flow splitting as even as possible.

I can use the tubes splitters here:
http://www.aquastealth.com/index.asp...PROD&ProdID=68

They adapt 1/2" to 2x 3/8" or 3/8" to 2x 1/4"

you'll want to make everything 1/2" if possible to reduce flow restriction. In the case of the pump inlet and res you wanna make that as big as possible as restricting the inlet of the 1250 has proven to halve it's performance (or there abouts). The BIM2 performs terribly, especially when compared to the BIX. Either go for the both, or just the BIX. Preferably two BIX but definitely not the BIM2.

2 3/8" tubes are roughly the same as a single 1/2" tube, so in theory it should be ok. Bear in mind that passing through a lot of blocks and radiators will cause a fairly large pressure drop though.

How about using a single large heater core modified to have three outlets?
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/water.gro...z-Flow0001.jpg

Not knowing the resistance of your blocks I'd make the GPU lines slighty less on the ID since you have the pump output split off to 2 loops. This will make sure the greater flow of the 2 loops is going to CPU block. Otherwise your flow to the cpu block may be less than that going to the gpu, not what you want.
I like the seperate rads :)

I already have two radiators from HWLabs.
A Black Ice Extreme, and Black Ice Micro II

I don't plan on modifying either.

Plus doesn't a radiator restrict a lot of flow, and would be bad to install before the waterblocks?
(But great photochop groth)

Order doesn't matter for flow, a radiator will cause the same pressure drop for a given flow whether it is first or last. It makes more sense to pick an order that minimizes tubing length and number of fittings.

Your layout will work. Keep the 1/4 section as short as possible. If you can, make a custom 1-to-3 splitter to substitute for the first two wyes.

You made such a nice diagram, I couldn't resist. :p

If you are able of making your own blocks, making custom splitters shold'nt be difficult.

The easiest one is a drilled acrylic block, like bladerunner ones. With a lathe and some ingenuity, you can make a very nice one.

I made this one with a hobby lathe and a drill press. Not difficult at all if carefully planned. ;)

Edit: bad image link.

I have two of those 1/2" to 2x 3/8" splitters you are showing at aquastealth, if you want to buy them. I am probably just gonna get rid of them because I will no longer need them in my new setup.