I see day after day the same old post and I find myself guilty of it as well. I am discovering that not only the over abundance of misinformation but also a lack of understanding of the information that I do get to be the culprit for me. I am not a science guy. I do not get nor will I ever get the cw, the pressure drop stuff or any other science math stuff. But maybe there are some general conclusion that I can draw from the information that is available to me. But I need your guys help to put into lamens terms what the hell it is that everyone is talking about. So here goes.
Just as in any purchase two of the most important things are customer support and a company known for making quality components. So set those two points aside as a given. I will consider that first but then my choices come down to the intangibles (unless I test every possible component first hand which will not happen unless I win super lotto) that is where I need your help. Make me and any other person that comes here for the first time a stonger and more informed buyer. Hell if you guys think of enough stuff to tell me maybe this can be made a stickey and maybe you will have seen your last "what is the best pump/waterblock" post.
So then lets get to it, first we have to choose tubing size. 1/2 inch ID all the way!! Is that right? Why does the rest of the planet use 3/8 or even 1/4? What affect does it have? Restricts flow? How much? Is 1/2 the best compromise of two effects?
Second, the pump that moves the water through the loop. Why is one pump better then another? Can I just assume that the more GPM a pump has the better it is? What about head (not that kind
)? What about the heat that the pump creates? When is too much too much and does it change based on other components?
Next is the radiator. So first off size matters. Brass/Copper so that I am not mixing metals. Single pass prefered because it is less restrictive. What about if it is not single pass? How restrictive is it? How will I know how much of an impact this will have on my system? Why is a chevette core better than a BIX or is it? What is so special about a BIX or thermochill? A shroud helps to direct air and reduce back pressure? Huh? Well how deep should this shroud be? What about fans on it? Push or pull or a push/pull? What kind of diff will that really make? Will a push/pull be about 1 degree better in which case WGAC?
Now we come to the blocks, where things get really confusing. So we have single blocks and multiple blocks. First we start with a CPU block. Some flow staight through and others have channels, then there is impingment. What in the hell is pressure drop? How does my choice here affect other choices that I make in the system? Then we have GPU and NB blocks. How do adding one or both of these affect what is happening on the first block? How do all of these combined affect my pump? I have been told that a typical heatercore will have far more cooling ability then these block combines could ever put out, is that correct? So what qualities am I looking for in a block when I am going for a single block setup? Is this different in a multi block setup?
Finally we are done, or maybe not, how about the res. How does this thing affect flow? Am I better off with an airtrap run off of a T? Does placement in the loop matter.
I know that initial temps can be affected by each and every one of these things but realistically how things are going to perfoem when we are blasting away for hours at some guy in another state or creating the next Shrek (I am kind of partial to Donkey) is far more important so answer with that in mind please.
I know there is multi pump setup, multi rad setups, tec setups, chiller setups, serial, parallel, blaaah blah blaaaah blah blah. I think above about covers the most common setups. Add anthing else you think will help. Please answer one or two questions or link to other discussions that helped you with a particular subject. I think this will help alot of newbs as well as some amateurs but it won't help anyone unless you pros step up with some answers, in simple english please.
psycho