New to the forum and watercooling; I've yet to install water. After gleaning through the forum for waterblock, reservoir, and radiator design ideas, I'm still unclear on whats best/ideal
. So I'll ask a few general and specific questions in hopes that someone can help me out.
-Radiadtor: A 14x3x1.5 (approx) heatercore for Renault
I was thinking I could put 4 80mm fans inline across this radiator. However I'm not sure if the physical orientation is important. Does it matter if its standing tall like the picture? Can it be upright but on its side? Can it be laying down flat? How would this effect its performance? Any ideas? Is the radiator choice good or bad for any other reasons, like the barb size?
-Reservoir: I would prefer making my own, and the physical shape would depend on the radiator dimensions, orientation, and whether it was internal or external. I'm sure metal based reservoirs are better for dissipating additional heat, but by how much? Lots or just marginal? Also With tube style reservoirs, are there any gains to be had for having the inlet up high and outlet near the bottom (assuming reservoir is upright)?
-Waterblock: I again want to make my own. I've read conflicting things and I can't seem to find a definitive answer; is high-flow, laminar wbs or high-turbulence wbs more effective? Some make wbs with straight through, low resistance paths while others bore a grid of deep dimples then cut paths between them - I can't tell which I ought to be doing.
---Direct water-to-processor: Has anyone tried making a shim for direct water-to-hs for 775/939/AM2 processors? Is it more effective? Again should water splash on for high turbulence or glide past in a smooth laminar flow?
-Pump choice: SWIFTECH MCP655-B (I don't remember who else has the same pump under a diferent name) is what I'm likely going to buy and use, it seems to be an all around good performer and I can power it with my PSU if everything fits internally. I don't have multiple GPU/CPU, my setup will consist of only CPU GPU and NB WBs. Any additional comments on this?
-Tubing: I've seen varying sizes of tubing and was wondering if there is a "can't go wrong" size for CPU, GPU, NB. Regarding the CPU wb does one want the highest amount of volume they can push? Of course there is a loss of speed with an increase in tube diameter, so is there a sweet spot? Is that wb design dependent?
Sorry for repeating a few common thread ideas here, but I just wasn't able to find what I was looking for. I'm not in a hurry to buy-fab-assemble all this, so I'm asking questions so I can learn a lot and do a good job the first time around (I can be a bit of a perfectionist). All comments, ideas, knowledge, and help gladly welcomed
