Most important questions (in order of importance):
1) Any leaks?
2) Are you getting good temps?
3) Is it quiet?
Quote:
I got the radiator to mount but the only way I was able to do this was by making the radiator barbs come out on the side, not top or bottom…. I wonder if this is ok…
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Yes, as long as you can get all the air out of the radiator. The only reason to have the barbs on top is to get the air out of the radiator header and to keep it out. Air pockets in the radiator impede it from releasing the heat in the coolant coming from your CPU.
Quote:
The tube routing is according to what the instructions says…
CPU out --> RES in --> RES out --> PUMP in --> PUMP out --> RAD in (upper barb)--> RAD out (lower barb) --> CPU in
Wonder if this is done right?
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Yes. You want the rad to feed the "just cooled" coolant directly to the component which is most important to keep cool. In multiple component cooling systems, it is typically more important to keep your CPU cool than your GPU or hard drive. So, you run the loop from your rad to the GPU and then hard drive. However, the actual difference in temperature from one order to the next really is not all the big. The coolant should remain about the same temperature throughout the whole loop as long as the flow rate is decent. You may see differences in coolant temperature of maybe 1-4C. Usually it will be 1-2C. A bigger difference is the air cooling strategy, as water cooling systems still use air to eventually dump the heat.
One thing I do suggest is to NOT screw your pump directly into the case. Use some sort of cushion to acoustically decouple the pump. Otherwise, you've just turned your case into a speaker box to transmit all that vibration energy as noise (at the resonant frequency of your computer case). Use soft materials to absorb that energy instead of a hard mounting system. Suspend it with elastic bands from your local sewing shop if you can manage it. Don't use rubber bands as they break down quickly, dropping your pump and possibly causing a leak from the jolt of that sudden drop.