Watercooling manifold

[JoeKamel]

Hey, I was going to put a manifold into my watercooling rig, basically the way the new path would go would be:

Pump -> Rad -> CPU -> Manifold -> GPU/NB/HDD1/HDD2/HDD3 -> Manifold -> Res


The system would be 1/2" for everything except the lines between the manifolds, those would be 3/8"

Is there any way to figure out how much pressure I'd need to get enough flow through the system with the manifold in place?

[superart]

i remember seeing bladerunner made a real nice manifold out of plexy. It lookes really cool, and had no 90° turns it it. Really nice.

[Jabo]

Originally Posted by JoeKamel

Hey, I was going to put a manifold into my watercooling rig, basically the way the new path would go would be:

Pump -> Rad -> CPU -> Manifold -> GPU/NB/HDD1/HDD2/HDD3 -> Manifold -> Res


The system would be 1/2" for everything except the lines between the manifolds, those would be 3/8"

Is there any way to figure out how much pressure I'd need to get enough flow through the system with the manifold in place?

Hi Joe, welcome to ProCooling dude.

Nice idea but you'd need some precise valves and flow meters to make it work properly combined if course with appropriate tubes sizing

[8-Ball]

That should work fine, provided you make the manifold as unrestrictive as possible.

Are you making the HDD waterblocks yourself or buying them.

As for flow balance.

I would say that the HDDs probably need the least cooling, so ideally, you want less flow through the HDD blocks when compared to the NB and GPU blocks.

Of all of the secondary blocks, the gpu is probably the most important.

I would be tempted to run two of the HDD blocks in series, and the NB with the other HDD block also in series. They will get sufficient flow to keep these low poewr devices cool, while the gpu block will still get enough flow to keep it as it will most likely be the least restrictive path.

By running the three parallel paths, your overall system resistance to flow will be reduced when compared to running the whole lot in series, so you will be getting a decent amount of flow through the cpu block.

Hope that helps.

8-ball

[JoeKamel]

That should work fine, provided you make the manifold as unrestrictive as possible.

Are you making the HDD waterblocks yourself or buying them.

Well, unfortunately since I have no machining skills at all, I'm purchasing the manifold and blocks. The only manifold I could find that would fit my needs is a right angle jobber. As for the blocks, I was thinking about using the Innovatek HD-O-Matic Micros, and switching the fittings to 3/8" barbs.

Of all of the secondary blocks, the gpu is probably the most important.

I would be tempted to run two of the HDD blocks in series, and the NB with the other HDD block also in series. They will get sufficient flow to keep these low poewr devices cool, while the gpu block will still get enough flow to keep it as it will most likely be the least restrictive path.

Actually the main reason I'm even watercooling is not to OC, I don't really have any plans for that with this system. I'm doing this more for the HDDs. For some reasons or another, every summer I lose a drive to the ol' click o death. Since it happens just about every summer, and my AC isn't helping enough, I figured I'd try cooling the drives. So I figure any GPU block of reasonable quality should suffice.

[Zogthetroll]

regardless of overclocking or not, the gpu is still important as its one of the major heat sources, and should be cooled accordingly. stupid question, but have you tried different types of HD's? have you also tried directing a fan over the hard drives? had to ask.
about the manifold, do look at bladerunner's, all they really require is a chunk of plastic, a drill with a few appropriately sized bits, a saw, and a tap for the barbs, and maybe a file. no actual machining involved.

[JoeKamel]

stupid question, but have you tried different types of HD's? have you also tried directing a fan over the hard drives? had to ask

No, still have the Western Dig's. I got a Sh-tload from best buy about 2 years ago when they were rebated down to almost nothing and now I'm trying to keep them from dying on me. Odd, because I never had problems with them before this batch. The drives were actually directly in the path of the two front intake fans (2x80mm). Both times they died they were the sole HDD in the machine, figured I'd put the remaining drives I have and go with a raid-0 array for storage and a sole system drive. I'm also moving everything into a slightly larger case with the hopes of getting a little less cluttered and therefore some better airflow.

regardless of overclocking or not, the gpu is still important as its one of the major heat sources, and should be cooled accordingly

Well, I'll take a look, still trying to find some reviews of gpu blocks, I may change the setup as right now I'm still in the research phase on all of this.

about the manifold, do look at bladerunner's, all they really require is a chunk of plastic, a drill with a few appropriately sized bits, a saw, and a tap for the barbs, and maybe a file. no actual machining involved

I was thinking about that, but I've never attempted to tap anything let alone plexi. Not sure how well it would work out, but I'm considering giving it a shot. I would like to avoid the 90 deg. outputs in the manifold I found.