Rad help request

[DarkPhasade]

Hey guys,

 

Building my first custom loop and have everything picked out except the radiator(s).  Curious for your advice on how many of what size I'd need, as well as what are some good brands to go with.

 

I'm running an AMD FX-9590 cpu and it generates a fair bit of heat.  Atm its being cooled by the single 120mm closed loop it came with.  I recently installed an Asus 980-ti Poseidon, so I'll be cooling that too.

 

Everything will be fit inside my Corsair 540 Air case and I plan on using Noctua A14-IPPC fans.  So planned on putting a 280mm rad up top, not sure how thick of one I can fit.  Not sure if I want to add another 280mm or 360mm rad to the front, maybe later.  Hoping a single 280mm up top will be enough for now.  I want it to be fairly quiet, so also curious what fin density I could go with while still keeping it cool.

 

I don't plan on overcocking it...not in the near future at least.  It runs plenty fast atm, rated 4.7ghz, but its actually running at about 5ghz right now.

 

Any suggestions would be great and thanks =D

[Limecat86]

Normally a 280mm rad is not enough to watercool both CPU and GPU. An extra 240/280mm rad would be needed.

[Maxwit44]

Hey guys,

 

Building my first custom loop and have everything picked out except the radiator(s).  Curious for your advice on how many of what size I'd need, as well as what are some good brands to go with.

 

I'm running an AMD FX-9590 cpu and it generates a fair bit of heat.  Atm its being cooled by the single 120mm closed loop it came with.  I recently installed an Asus 980-ti Poseidon, so I'll be cooling that too.

 

Everything will be fit inside my Corsair 540 Air case and I plan on using Noctua A14-IPPC fans.  So planned on putting a 280mm rad up top, not sure how thick of one I can fit.  Not sure if I want to add another 280mm or 360mm rad to the front, maybe later.  Hoping a single 280mm up top will be enough for now.  I want it to be fairly quiet, so also curious what fin density I could go with while still keeping it cool.

 

I don't plan on overcocking it...not in the near future at least.  It runs plenty fast atm, rated 4.7ghz, but its actually running at about 5ghz right now.

 

Any suggestions would be great and thanks =D

 

With choosing rads, Standard 30mm rads will do fine. Something like the EK Coolstream, Alphacools ST30 or even the XSPC EX240/360 etc. As long as the number of Fins Per Inch is low  like 8-15 or so, any kind of fan will be ok.

 

As for how many, I would recomend  1 280 / 240mm and a 360mm rad.

 

I personally put a rad in every available spot that a rad can fit it, where practical. My case is the Enthoo Primo, and I run 4 rads in that.

 

Your budget for the build will dictate what you can do. More is always good, less, not so.

[DarkPhasade]

Much appreciated for the replies.

 

Think I'll go with an XSPC EX280 for the top.  Undecided as to either go with a second EX280 or maybe an EX360 for the front.  As I'm going for a silent setup, would using the EX360 be much noisier in the front than the EX280 as 120mm fans are a bit louder.  Would I benefit that much by using a 3 120mm fan setup rather than using a 2 140mm fan setup?

 

Thanks in advance,

DarkPhasade

[DarkPhasade]

Also and this is a bit off topic from radiators.  Plan on using the Heatkiller IV copper ni cpu block.  Would it be better to just go with the pure copper.  I ask since adding nickel to copper makes it more resiliant to corrosion, but I keep hearing everyone say don't mix metals.

[W-L]

Also and this is a bit off topic from radiators.  Plan on using the Heatkiller IV copper ni cpu block.  Would it be better to just go with the pure copper.  I ask since adding nickel to copper makes it more resiliant to corrosion, but I keep hearing everyone say don't mix metals.

 

As the others have said a two rad setup is a good choice, and as for nickel it's compatible with both copper and brass in the same loop, other metals like aluminum or steel is the main issue with mixing dis-similar metals, only thing is if you plan to use distilled water silver kill coils they are borderline dis-similar metals with nickel so a biocide with distilled water or premix/concentrate is a good choice.

[DarkPhasade]

As the others have said a two rad setup is a good choice, and as for nickel it's compatible with both copper and brass in the same loop, other metals like aluminum or steel is the main issue with mixing dis-similar metals, only thing is if you plan to use distilled water silver kill coils they are borderline dis-similar metals with nickel so a biocide with distilled water or premix/concentrate is a good choice.

Thanks for the tip on using a biocide.  I wouldn't had known

[DarkPhasade]

Anyone have a suggestion as to which radiator I should use on the front of the case?  Either a 280mm or 360mm?  Is there much difference in cooling capability and if the 360 is any louder when it comes to the fans?

[W-L]

Anyone have a suggestion as to which radiator I should use on the front of the case?  Either a 280mm or 360mm?  Is there much difference in cooling capability and if the 360 is any louder when it comes to the fans?

 

If you can fit a 360mm rad go for that, longer rads tend to do better than thicker smaller rads but a 280mm and 360mm shouldn't have a huge difference in performance due to the extra width. I personally like the rads from Alphacool since they have fairly low FPI and come in a variety of thickness and sizes.

[DarkPhasade]

If you can fit a 360mm rad go for that, longer rads tend to do better than thicker smaller rads but a 280mm and 360mm shouldn't have a huge difference in performance due to the extra width. I personally like the rads from Alphacool since they have fairly low FPI and come in a variety of thickness and sizes.

 

Much appreciated W-L!  I would love to go with Alphacool, but they're a bit more expensive and I've already blown my budget on what I'm getting lol.  I'm not planning on purchasing anything until Black Friday / Cyber Monday just to see if I can get some discounts on my build, but as it stands...this custom loop is gonna set me back $720ish D:

[Benji_w]

Hey guys,

 

Building my first custom loop and have everything picked out except the radiator(s).  Curious for your advice on how many of what size I'd need, as well as what are some good brands to go with.

 

I'm running an AMD FX-9590 cpu and it generates a fair bit of heat.  Atm its being cooled by the single 120mm closed loop it came with.  I recently installed an Asus 980-ti Poseidon, so I'll be cooling that too.

 

Everything will be fit inside my Corsair 540 Air case and I plan on using Noctua A14-IPPC fans.  So planned on putting a 280mm rad up top, not sure how thick of one I can fit.  Not sure if I want to add another 280mm or 360mm rad to the front, maybe later.  Hoping a single 280mm up top will be enough for now.  I want it to be fairly quiet, so also curious what fin density I could go with while still keeping it cool.

 

I don't plan on overcocking it...not in the near future at least.  It runs plenty fast atm, rated 4.7ghz, but its actually running at about 5ghz right now.

 

Any suggestions would be great and thanks =D

 

You will need a 360 alone for the CPU and a 240 for the GPU. I have a highly overclocked FX8350 and a 360 + 240 are just about keeping it cool. You need surface area not thickness of rads. Larger thin rads often out perform smaller thicker ones. 

[DarkPhasade]

You will need a 360 alone for the CPU and a 240 for the GPU. I have a highly overclocked FX8350 and a 360 + 240 are just about keeping it cool. You need surface area not thickness of rads. Larger thin rads often out perform smaller thicker ones. 

Thanks Benji, but I wouldn't had been able to fit anything other than 30mm thick rads in my case anyways with how long my graphics card is.  Might be able to fit a 45mm thick in the front, but don't think I'd need to anyways.  Can't wait to liquid cool this GTX 980 ti Posiedon

[Benji_w]

Thanks Benji, but I wouldn't had been able to fit anything other than 30mm thick rads in my case anyways with how long my graphics card is.  Might be able to fit a 45mm thick in the front, but don't think I'd need to anyways.  Can't wait to liquid cool this GTX 980 ti Posiedon

 

Couldn't fit anything thicker than 30mm in the roof of my case so I modded it to be more accommodating lol