Jump to content

I need some help answering a question regarding the highest possible efficiency of watercooling.

 

I'm  planning a project build with a Case Labs STH10 and I'm planning on putting 3 560mm radiators, and 2 420mm radiators. I'm doing this as a no expense spared project build with a 5860x, gtx 980 in SLI, 64gb ddr4, and ax1200i psu. Which got me thinking.

 

My question is what is the therotrical maximum thermal management  ability of convential water cooling systems with radiators? Lets say we have 100 560mm radiators all lined up cooling a cpu in this scenerio.

 

Would the ability to cool that cpu go up in a linear fashion with each corresponding radiator added to the system? (two radiators cool the cpu twice as well as one)

 

Ok so the theortical limit of cooling would just be the ambient temp of the surrounding air, correct? so would adding radiators in a corresponding fashion just make  it take longer for the fluid to reach higher temps?

 

Would a 100 radiator system have a substantial increase in water cooling ability or overclocking ability?

 

Also if there is any information (buildlogs,benchmarks etc.) showing an overkill system (many, many radiators) with temps like that? or any temperature graphs/charts/data showing the effect of adding additonal radiators?

 

Thanks, any help is appreciated!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

a rule of thumb i go for is i Count a triple rad for 500w TDP. So if both your cards <500w TDP then you will be fine with a single 360(triple).

 

 

In depth guide:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?238504-Review-Triple-Radiators-V2&p=4101259#post4101259

Intel I9-9900k (5Ghz) Asus ROG Maximus XI Formula | Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR4-4133mhz | ASUS ROG Strix 2080Ti | EVGA Supernova G2 1050w 80+Gold | Samsung 950 Pro M.2 (512GB) + (1TB) | Full EK custom water loop |IN-WIN S-Frame (No. 263/500)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

No, you begin to reach cooling limits possibly before you even add a second rad in your given scenario.

It becomes increasingly apparent that the benefit of adding more radiator space than necessary gives greatly diminishing results, it's more understandable if you look at a Newton's law of cooling.

you will get to a point very soon where the delta water temp will be practically immeasurable per radiator added, it will resemble exponential decay.

But yes, adding more radiators will make make the water take longer to reach an equilibrium temperature. If you have enough space, it's very possible to never reach equilibrium load temperature unless you try.

Error: 410

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

No, you begin to reach cooling limits possibly before you even add a second rad in your given scenario.It becomes increasingly apparent that the benefit of adding more radiator space than necessary gives greatly diminishing results, it's more understandable if you look at a Newton's law of cooling.you will get to a point very soon where the delta water temp will be practically immeasurable per radiator added, it will resemble exponential decay.But yes, adding more radiators will make make the water take longer to reach an equilibrium temperature. If you have enough space, it's very possible to never reach equilibrium load temperature unless you try.

Basicly this.

The absolute minimum temperature you can reach is the ambient temperature of the room your in.

Your computer is a system. And the point of water cooling is to remove heat from the system. Your room is also a system. You are putting heat into the room via the computer. If you don't remove that heat from your room then it doesn't matter how many rads you have because the ambient temperature is going to be rising. And as I said before ambient is the absolute best you can do.

01010010 01101111 01100010  01001101 01100001 01100011 01010010 01100001 01100101

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Ok lets just say I'm outside in a field and the temps are 20 celcius and I have a loop with an absurd amount of radiators, would the temp of the cpu not just stay at or around 20 celcius? Could I  overclock that cpu to a point where it would just stay at  a certain temperature with an infinite amount of radiators?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

To bring this back to reality too, would my planned system with 3 560mm rads, 2 420mm rads be able to acheive higher stable clock rates than say a system with just one or two 560mm rads? I see what your saying with just being left with the heat in the room but I could just exchange that air to the outside.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Ok lets just say I'm outside in a field and the temps are 20 celcius and I have a loop with an absurd amount of radiators, would the temp of the cpu not just stay at or around 20 celcius? Could I  overclock that cpu to a point where it would just stay at  a certain temperature with an infinite amount of radiators?

you would be at the limits of how fast the heat can be transferred from the CPU (through IHS) to the block, and then to the water.

Your water might be, for all intents and purpose, at ambient temperature, doesn't mean your CPU will be.

 

 

To bring this back to reality too, would my planned system with 3 560mm rads, 2 420mm rads be able to acheive higher stable clock rates than say a system with just one or two 560mm rads? I see what your saying with just being left with the heat in the room but I could just exchange that air to the outside.

No, you won't get a higher overclock with more than two 560's. Hell, two 420's should handle it.

Error: 410

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

you would be at the limits of how fast the heat can be transferred from the CPU (through IHS) to the block, and then to the water.

Your water might be, for all intents and purpose, at ambient temperature, doesn't mean your CPU will be.

 

 

No, you won't get a higher overclock with more than two 560's. Hell, two 420's should handle it.

 

 

Ok that makes sense, there is a limit to how much heat can be dissipated from block to water to air,  no matter how many radiators.

 

And your professional opinion is that two 420's is as much radiator needed in any system?

 

Thanks you've been a great help. I'll probably just stick with two 560's and a smaller case then.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×