How many radiators for my water build?

[ChadTheCreatorRbx]

Hello LTT,

 

I’ll try to keep this short. I’m currently in the process of planning out a monster water-cooled RGB build mostly for my daily multitask workload. I also just want it to look sick. I’m considering getting the Corsair 1000D because I want to have space to water cool my system, and I’d like to go all-out with some push-pull RGB fans, either Corsair LLs or Corsair QLs. Aesthetic is a little more important to me for fans than the small boosted performance from static pressure fans. 
 

The only thing I’m not sure about is just what size and shape of water-cooled radiators will fit in that case. I’d like to fit 2x3x120 on top and 2x4x120 on the front, but what thickness can I go with that will also fit a push-pull setup? Would the top fit 2x4x120 as well? 
 

I appreciate any and all replies! 

[Bombastinator]

5 minutes ago, ChadTheCreatorRbx said:

Hello LTT,

 

I’ll try to keep this short. I’m currently in the process of planning out a monster water-cooled RGB build mostly for my daily multitask workload. I also just want it to look sick. I’m considering getting the Corsair 1000D because I want to have space to water cool my system, and I’d like to go all-out with some push-pull RGB fans, either Corsair LLs or Corsair QLs. Aesthetic is a little more important to me for fans than the small boosted performance from static pressure fans. 
 

The only thing I’m not sure about is just what size and shape of water-cooled radiators will fit in that case. I’d like to fit 2x3x120 on top and 2x4x120 on the front, but what thickness can I go with that will also fit a push-pull setup? Would the top fit 2x4x120 as well? 
 

I appreciate any and all replies! 

With push pull you can go thick, but with 7fans worth of radiator you probably won’t need to

[Deuteronomy93]

Paul's hardware did a build in this so you could look for that video, it will explain which rads he used. I think the project is called Riptide?

 

In terms of needs/wants for the amount of radiators you want, that's up to you.

 

I prefer extremely high performance but for it still to be quiet so my builds tend to take up as much radiator space as possible with fans at low rpm.

[ChadTheCreatorRbx]

3 hours ago, Deuteronomy93 said:

Paul's hardware did a build in this so you could look for that video, it will explain which rads he used. I think the project is called Riptide?

 

In terms of needs/wants for the amount of radiators you want, that's up to you.

 

I prefer extremely high performance but for it still to be quiet so my builds tend to take up as much radiator space as possible with fans at low rpm.

Thanks for the reply! I watched the paul’s hardware video on it, but I’m not sure how well it applies to me since I only plan on using 1 reservoir and 1 GPU. 

[Deuteronomy93]

Sure, this is where it's mostly up to you and what you are prepared to spend vs your end goal.

 

You can scale things down or use pretty much the same setup, you just need to ensure that if you do go for more radiators to optimise for silence+performance, that the pump will have enough power to push it around the loop.

 

Good pumps these days actually do have a good amount of power in them to handle larger builds with 3 radiators without an issue. With your request however, this is what you need to consider rather than 1 res, unless you're talking a pump/res combo in which case you may need 2.

 

Top option 1: 720mm

Top option 2: 960mm

Front: 960mm

 

When you're at 1680mm or 1920mm of radiators, tubes, res, blocks etc thats a lot of strain on a single pump. There are guides to clarify how much flow rate is needed for certain setups.

[ChadTheCreatorRbx]

1 hour ago, Deuteronomy93 said:

Sure, this is where it's mostly up to you and what you are prepared to spend vs your end goal.

 

You can scale things down or use pretty much the same setup, you just need to ensure that if you do go for more radiators to optimise for silence+performance, that the pump will have enough power to push it around the loop.

 

Good pumps these days actually do have a good amount of power in them to handle larger builds with 3 radiators without an issue. With your request however, this is what you need to consider rather than 1 res, unless you're talking a pump/res combo in which case you may need 2.

 

Top option 1: 720mm

Top option 2: 960mm

Front: 960mm

 

When you're at 1680mm or 1920mm of radiators, tubes, res, blocks etc thats a lot of strain on a single pump. There are guides to clarify how much flow rate is needed for certain setups.

Ah, so I’m guessing the 1680mm would be push-pull 140mm x 12? And the 1920mm would be push-pull 120mm x 16? Aren’t there different thicknesses on radiators? I’m wondering if the pull fans on the front would bump against the push fans on the top and not go all the way in. You think 2 reservoirs and 2 pumps would be best for that set of radiators? Do you have any suggestions for order of the tube connections? 
 

I realize I’m asking a lot of questions lmao 

[Deuteronomy93]

You mentioned these:

2x3x120 on top = 720mm

2x4x120 on the front = 960mm

Would the top fit 2x4x120 = 960mm

 

The sizes I mentioned were for the radiators, push, pull or pushpull would be up to you. I was just adding them together based on the 2 scenarios.

 

In terms of thickness of radiators yeah there is a big variation in both the thickness of the radiator's core that cools the water and also the dimensions of the surrounding parts.

 

With that case you'd need to take into consideration both if you intend to max out the radiators, the dimensions need to allow for 2 radiators to be placed next to each other which isn't usually an issue for most people.

 

You also need to take into consideration that the case uses rails for the rads/fans and that going too thick and with push/pull you'll be getting very close to the top and front interfering with each other.

 

Watching one of the Riptide videos just now I saw that he has push on the front and push/pull at the top so you're likely to need to follow a similar setup. His rads are relatively thick, definitely not the thickest but check them out, note down the dimensions and use those to decide on your build. The ones he uses definitely fit as seen in the video so it would be a good way to start the research.

 

One thing to note though is that slim vs thick rads are a bit up in the air in terms of performance. The larger the surface area, obviously the greater the head dissipation so larger ones are better however the larger the rad, the less well it performs by it's size. A slimmer rad will get rid of more heat for it's size than a thicker one.

 

The up in the air part is that sometimes it is better to have a slimmer rad and do push/pull on it and sometimes it is better to go for a thicker one with just push or pull.

 

This is mostly down to the individuality of cases and that some cases prefer different fan optimisations even when it just comes to air cooling. Due to this there is no definitive answer for every case and would mostly require individual testing by the user, unless you get lucky/target your build around something someone else has already done. Your case with the rads and only 1 GPU, you'll definitely get diminishing returns, you don't need that many but its definitely nice on the performance/silence factors we discussed before.

 

In terms of the pumps, I'd go with 2 honestly. It's a lot of work for 1 and even if a single pump could do it, having less strain means it will last longer and in the short term, allow for at least some redundancy if the pump fails and you can rely on 1 for a few days but still have a working computer, and that is definitely a luxury. I haven't had the space to make a second pump work/look nice in my cases but when a pump dies it crippled you for a few days if you only have 1.

 

Regarding the "order" do you mean the order of cpu, GPU, radiator etc? So long as the reservoir is first/last and the pump is second it makes pretty much no difference whatsoever. There have been lots of tests (I think Jayztwocents did some decent ones) on this showing that yes you can optimise it so that you can prioritise CPU/GPU but this is mostly only by 2 degrees from what I've seen unless someone has some crazy/incompetent/extremely SFF setup.

 

Typically you should just try to do the runs in a clean way that suits your build. Are you doing hardline or soft? Soft is better for your case because it is using rails so you can still slide them in and out without disconnecting if you give the tubes some extra length. If you're doing hard, just make the runs as clean as you can realistically, the temperature difference is negligible if you try to prioritise a particular component.

 

The only thing I would advise if you're doing hardline and even soft (this is extra work but a personal favourite) is that if you can drill the case to put in fittings for specific features or adapt the way you fit components. You shouldn't need a fill port as the case is so big that you can easily get to it, but you may want a drain port or think about how you will drain the system as maintenance is very important and shouldn't be an afterthought. If you can put the front radiators upside down with the fittings at the bottom rather than the top you will not only get less conflicts with the top/front radiators but you will also have a really easy time draining the loop. On the other hand, you'll need more tubing and it may not be an aesthetic you want to go for.

 

Again that's a luxury with a case like that as I've had smaller (still considered large) cases where I've had to drill a drain port to make maintenance easier and even then, when you have a bottom mounted radiator is makes things more difficult. The 1000D is amazing for maintenance if you put the thought in, in advance.

[jasonc_01]

Just my two cents here but I think a 1000d is way to big for what you want to build.

 

Maybe have a look at a Lian Li PC 011 xl ROG?

 

This is one I'm currently building for a customer.

 

 

[Deuteronomy93]

Honestly I'd mostly agree with the above if you're not strictly wanting to build in the 1000D.

 

I use the original O11 and it's a very good case with certain niggles, the XL is what I would go for with the next build unless I do end up building a PC into my standing desk.

 

I wouldn't necessarily go for the ROG one nor the Razer etc, just whatever works for you/you prefer.

 

Did the customer want the side mounted distro for that? It might just be personal taste as 2x360 rads are usually fine but giving up another slot for at least 3 fans or another rad never sits well with me. The Bitspower etc replacement for the front glass panel is what I would go for in terms of a distro in that case. Not always readily available depending on country but definitely better: https://shop.bitspower.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=7454

[JapanDave]

This is what you call overkill.

 

 

[ChadTheCreatorRbx]

Hahaha well I doubt I’ll be building something wide open like that. Thank you for the info, amigos. I’ll try to stuff as many fans and rads into this build as I can, as well as 2 res/pump combos. I’ll post pics when it’s complete.

 

I do have 2 more questions though. The first one is, is this an alright setup for the 2 res/pump system I’m after? 
Pump 1 > GPU > front rad 1 > front rad 2 > Res 2 > Pump 2 > CPU > top rad 1 > top rad 2 > Res 1 > Pump 1 

 

Second question: How tf do I calculate how many fittings and angles I need for this? I plan on using hardline tubing with no bends because I don’t wanna shell out just for a heat gun and I like the aesthetic of all straight lines and fittings more.