How much radiator do you need?

[WhyAlwaysMe]

My mate was considering a custom water-cooling loop in the define s. It would be a single gpu loop with an overclocked i7 8700k. Would a single, XSPC EX420 be enough to cool it (on the top of the case as an exhaust) or would he have to add another radiator?

[aaronhare]

I think it should be enough to cool your i7 8700k. It works fine with a Intel Core i7 4770k overclocked to 4.6Ghz and stays around 56-60 Degrees Celsius in a 10 minute stress test according to this video: 

 

[W-L]

7 minutes ago, WhyAlwaysMe said:

My mate was considering a custom water-cooling loop in the define s. It would be a single gpu loop with an overclocked i7 8700k. Would a single, XSPC EX420 be enough to cool it (on the top of the case as an exhaust) or would he have to add another radiator?

Yes more than enough and with spare to even add in a GPU on top of that. 

[KenjiUmino]

12 minutes ago, WhyAlwaysMe said:

My mate was considering a custom water-cooling loop in the define s. It would be a single gpu loop with an overclocked i7 8700k. Would a single, XSPC EX420 be enough to cool it (on the top of the case as an exhaust) or would he have to add another radiator?

i was watching a video on watercooling where i heard something about "one 120 rad per component" as a rule of thumb - i think it was a jayz2cents video

[DildorTheDecent]

7 minutes ago, KenjiUmino said:

i was watching a video on watercooling where i heard something about "one 120 rad per component" as a rule of thumb - i think it was a jayz2cents video

>120mm rad per component.

 

Good luck when cooling big boy enthusiast processors with something like that. Anything above 8 cores is going to melt it.

[WhyAlwaysMe]

Thanks all for the advice. I will tell him a single, 420mm radiator would probably be enough.

[KenjiUmino]

Just now, DildorTheDecent said:

>120mm rad per component.

 

Good luck when cooling big boy enthusiast processors with something like that. Anything above 8 cores is going to melt it.

i know this rule does not work beyond a certain point - the video where i heard it was more about cooling consumer hardware and not about watercooling big boy enthusiast stuff.

 

and i think the 8700K might still be within consumerland - but i might be wrong. 

[ClockSoicy084]

On 3/21/2018 at 6:18 PM, AaronsDev said:

I think it should be enough to cool your i7 8700k. It works fine with a Intel Core i7 4770k overclocked to 4.6Ghz and stays around 56-60 Degrees Celsius in a 10 minute stress test according to this video: 

Shouldn't you stress test for an hour at least for the temps to "equalize/ stabilize"? 

 

[Marinatall_Ironside]

On 3/22/2018 at 9:32 AM, ClockSoicy084 said:

Shouldn't you stress test for an hour at least for the temps to "equalize/ stabilize"? 

Yes, since the component temperature is dependent on the coolant temperature, which is also dependent on the room's ambient temperature, and what case the radiator is enclosed in (which also means placement and fans used are factors). After an hour, the coolant temperature will reach equilibrium, which also means that the component temperature has also reached that state.

 

For my custom loop setup (which is provided by an EK-KIT P360), I am basing my fan curves on the coolant temperature, and the radiator is installed at the top of my Corsair 900D, and my CPU temps do not exceed 70º C on any core, as well as the package according to HWiNFO64. The fans I'm using are Corsair ML120's, and the fan RPM maxes out at 2400 RPM, but how I have them set up, they don't breach even 1200 RPM with the coolant temperature reaching near 40º C. That's just how I have my custom loop and fan curve set up. And as for the fan controller, I'm using the Asus Fan Extension Card, and it's all set up within the BIOS of my motherboard.

[MeDownYou]

7 hours ago, JurunceNK said:

Yes, since the component temperature is dependent on the coolant temperature, which is also dependent on the room's ambient temperature, and what case the radiator is enclosed in (which also means placement and fans used are factors). After an hour, the coolant temperature will reach equilibrium, which also means that the component temperature has also reached that state.

 

For my custom loop setup (which is provided by an EK-KIT P360), I am basing my fan curves on the coolant temperature, and the radiator is installed at the top of my Corsair 900D, and my CPU temps do not exceed 70º C on any core, as well as the package according to HWiNFO64. The fans I'm using are Corsair ML120's, and the fan RPM maxes out at 2400 RPM, but how I have them set up, they don't breach even 1200 RPM with the coolant temperature reaching near 40º C. That's just how I have my custom loop and fan curve set up. And as for the fan controller, I'm using the Asus Fan Extension Card, and it's all set up within the BIOS of my motherboard.

What cpu+gpu do you have? and what's your ambient in the room?

[Kokano]

On 3/22/2018 at 7:19 AM, W-L said:

Yes more than enough and with spare to even add in a GPU on top of that. 

Yes, more than enough for what you are planning. A 80mm thick 240mm rad or 60mm thick 360mm rad should be sufficient for your needs.

[JR88]

Think of the Radiator as just Capacity...you probably could get by with a 240mm.  really the 360mm even the slim ones are better have a lot of surface area with that length.  But if space was an issue and could fit a thickkk 240mm somewhere, that's definitely an option. Kinda want to just get a nice thickkk 360mm, running open anyways...

[Marinatall_Ironside]

14 hours ago, MeDownYou said:

What cpu+gpu do you have? and what's your ambient in the room?

Intel Core i7-5930K @ 4.5 GHz 1.205V that's liquid cooled. My Asus ROG STRIX OC GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB that's under its own air cooler.

 

I live in California, and the ambient temperature is set to climb throughout Spring through Summer. I don't have a thermostat in the room my computer occupies, but it tends to sit around the mid-70's in degrees Fahrenheit according to the heater's thermostat.

Edited March 24, 2018 by JurunceNK