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Cathar · 08-14-2004, 07:10 PM

Well I'm not quite sure what's being measured here either. What are we trying to measure, and for those submitting equipment, what is it they are trying to prove?

Even for the "BA" radiators like I mentioned, indeed, they would require at least a pair of ~70-80CFM 38mm fans running at full chop to meet the needs of a balls-out overclocker by keeping the water at 3-4C above ambient when overclocking, but by the same token I could send my smaller single radiator with a single 70-80CFM 38mm fan and it will come close to fitting that bill as well with it normally keeping water temps within 5-6C of ambient when overclocking hard.

I guess that I personally see this "challenge" more as an opportunity to dispel a few notions about having to use noisy fans at all, and that such is achievable with off-the-shelf parts - for which once that is shown there will no doubt be the inevitable commercial rush to source and push such onto the wider marketplace.

I see this challenge as an opportunity to show that it is possible to "have it all", or at least have it to point where gunning for more is somewhate futile. The radiators and fan noise, IMO, is the last great stumbling block (barring an individual's installation ignorance) in the quest for the holy-grail of water-cooling bliss.

At least that's how I would personally approach the configuration of any equipment that I would submit for this challenge since that's what I see is the real issue here that needs to be proved. High-flow vs low-flow is really a function of pumping power and component restriction, and then choosing the right tubing size to fit the scenario. To me, that's fairly obvious and the hi/lo flow nature of the challenge is really about whether or not someone can artificially restrict the system-wide flow due to poor choice of pump or tubing size and largely get away with it. To a certain degree you can for smallish drops in flow-rates and the resultant performance will still be acceptable for many individuals - but we already knew that.

Don't know - the more I think about it - the more I think that we should focus our efforts on pushing the boundaries of water-cooling in the areas that people have identified as being issues (noise being the major one from reading the OCAU poll), rather than attempting to show how some manufacturers are offering kits with potentially poorly matched pumps or tubing. The first serves the community. The second just does said manufacturer's R&D for free for them.

08-14-2004, 07:10 PM	#65
Cathar Thermophile Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 2,538	Well I'm not quite sure what's being measured here either. What are we trying to measure, and for those submitting equipment, what is it they are trying to prove? Even for the "BA" radiators like I mentioned, indeed, they would require at least a pair of ~70-80CFM 38mm fans running at full chop to meet the needs of a balls-out overclocker by keeping the water at 3-4C above ambient when overclocking, but by the same token I could send my smaller single radiator with a single 70-80CFM 38mm fan and it will come close to fitting that bill as well with it normally keeping water temps within 5-6C of ambient when overclocking hard. I guess that I personally see this "challenge" more as an opportunity to dispel a few notions about having to use noisy fans at all, and that such is achievable with off-the-shelf parts - for which once that is shown there will no doubt be the inevitable commercial rush to source and push such onto the wider marketplace. I see this challenge as an opportunity to show that it is possible to "have it all", or at least have it to point where gunning for more is somewhate futile. The radiators and fan noise, IMO, is the last great stumbling block (barring an individual's installation ignorance) in the quest for the holy-grail of water-cooling bliss. At least that's how I would personally approach the configuration of any equipment that I would submit for this challenge since that's what I see is the real issue here that needs to be proved. High-flow vs low-flow is really a function of pumping power and component restriction, and then choosing the right tubing size to fit the scenario. To me, that's fairly obvious and the hi/lo flow nature of the challenge is really about whether or not someone can artificially restrict the system-wide flow due to poor choice of pump or tubing size and largely get away with it. To a certain degree you can for smallish drops in flow-rates and the resultant performance will still be acceptable for many individuals - but we already knew that. Don't know - the more I think about it - the more I think that we should focus our efforts on pushing the boundaries of water-cooling in the areas that people have identified as being issues (noise being the major one from reading the OCAU poll), rather than attempting to show how some manufacturers are offering kits with potentially poorly matched pumps or tubing. The first serves the community. The second just does said manufacturer's R&D for free for them.