Dual radiator vs single rad with custom water cooling?

[Petecool]

Would using two radiators benefit with gpu and cpu temperatures over a single radiator? If it does, by what percentage would you estimate for an increase.

[Oshino Shinobu]

That would depend. A single 360mm rad will be better than two 120mm ones. It's all about the surface area of the rads, rather than just how many. 

[loccilucas]

Would using two radiators benefit with gpu and cpu temperatures over a single radiator? If it does, by what percentage would you estimate for an increase.

It all depends on the size of the rads.

[Petecool]

It all depends on the size of the rads.

 

That would depend. A single 360mm rad will be better than two 120mm ones. It's all about the surface area of the rads, rather than just how many.

what if it was a single 360 rad vs two 360 rads.

[Thecrazyswede]

The only way two 120mm radiators would beat a 240mm radiator is with thickness ( since it allows somewhat diffrent mounting) like if your case does not support a thick 240, you can go with two thick 120mm rads and it will preform better then one slim 240, of course this is obvious since the area is bigger.

 

 

what if it was a single 360 rad vs two 360 rads.

 

two 360 rads will always beat a single 360, no matter how thick the one 360mm radiator is.

[loccilucas]

what if it was a single 360 rad vs two 360 rads.

well, of course 2 360's would beat a  single 360.  You have to have loaaaddds of rad space until adding more doesn't really make a difference.  If you are building a loop, ad as many radiators as possbile.

[Ren]

As an example, a 120mm radiator can dissipate like 140W of heat usually, I think. It's dependant on a lot of things but around that should be considered average for 120mm. As you go up in size, the potential heat dissipation will increase since you'll have a larger surface area to cool with air.

Still need decent/correct fans to make use of a radiator that's good enough for you. More radiators vs. bigger radiators doesn't really matter, I think. They don't exactly impact the flow of water thru the system but there's a number of reasons why people don't buy 8 120mm rads instead of two 480mm. At higher numbers, it'll magnify the restriction from bends in tubing or ports by more than just the total # of rads.

It may also be more expensive, I've never actually shopped for them.

[Ren]

Flow restriction is important bc it'll reduce the effectiveness of your pump, which usually ends up being the loudest part of a watercooled rig anyway.

[Shaqo_Wyn]

Would using two radiators benefit with gpu and cpu temperatures over a single radiator? If it does, by what percentage would you estimate for an increase.

The more radiators the better up till the point where the money you spend starts outweighing the cooling performance and/or noise levels your getting. People get bigger and less radiators because it means less tubing, fittings and a cleaner, simpler loop. Dual 360's will be sweet for a CPU + GPU loop but you can get away with 360 + 240. If you want to get your rads down to calculations. Find the max TDP of the components you're cooling and decide on the rads and fan RPM needed to dissipate that heat.