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Originally Posted by freeloadingbum
At .3gpm pressure shouldn't be an issue. One of the advantages of low flow blocks is that most pumps ability to deal with pressure increases as the flow rate is reduced. I would expect a 5 watt c-systems pump to be able to produce .3gpm with this block and a doublefan rad
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What I think you're really getting at here is trying to use the unavailable
silver HS5 as proof that a low-flow system could get to within 1-2C of a high-flow system.
Let's use your example and assuming a CSP on the HS5 with a heater-core, some small ID tubing that is contributing to the total pressure drop, and the system as a whole is pushing 0.3gpm.
Let's assume that the radiator is a Thermochill 120.2 for convenience sake since we have some good data on it, and that the air-flow rate is a moderate 2m³/min with some tolerable noise fans (perhaps a pair of Panaflo L1A's)
Now let's compare that to what is a fairly decent example of the "high flow" approach, being a TDX with 1/2" ID tubing with a Laing D4 and the same radiator. The predicted flow rate of the TDX system is about 2gpm.
So where does that all fall?
Using
this graph for the radiator:
At 0.3gpm (1.1lpm) and 2m³/min the radiator has a C/W of (5C/115W) => ~0.044
At 2gpm (7.6lpm) and 2m³/min the radiator has a C/W of (5C/160W) => ~0.031
So already there's a 0.013 C/W advantage to the high-flow system.
From JoeC's tests, the HS5, at 0.3gpm has a C/W of 0.139
From JoeC's tests, the TDX at 1.5gpm has a C/W of 0.123. Let's be a little pessimistic and extrapolate this to 0.119 C/W at 2gpm.
So the TDX is ~0.02C/W in front of the HS5.
Add that up, and the 0.02 + 0.013 = 0.033 advantage to the TDX.
For a typical unoverclocked system, that would border at around a 1.5-2C difference.
For a hot overclocked system, that would be closer to a 4C difference.
I now guess it depends on whether you think that 2C on an unoverclocked system, where the level of cooling being applied in both scenarios is FAR more than adequate for stability is important, or whether when overclocking that the differences grow to ~4C or so where such a difference is undeniably significant and important.