When are too many rads too many.

[Hellfire]

So maybe it's my understanding of how liquid cooling works but I figured I had a pretty strong understanding of cooling however it seems I'm being I'm told wrong without any explanation so please enlighten me if I am wrong.

Discussion on a group with a user trying to lower his Watercooling temps, user has a Single Intel i7 CPU and two GPU's (I forget which) and is cooling it with the following. 3x EKWB 480x65mm Radiators & 1x EKWB 240x65mm Radiator with 120mm ML120 fans

He is trying to lower his temps further (without going chiller root just air cooled radiators.) he wants to drop his GPU load temp by 7c. I've explained air cool rads can't go below ambient, he doesn't seem to understand that.

As far as I can make out, given the number of rads he has and the fans, adding extra radiators wouldn't actually apply any additional cooling?

Now My understanding of WC may be wrong so please, help correct me but the way I understand it is the radiators & fans are rated to a specific wattage (heat it can transfer), the loop in this case is rated to 4164w @100% fan. Now as long as the PC is not generating over that amount of heat, which it isn't, we worked out around 1000w tops then additional cooling wouldn't lower temperatures as the radiators would be capable of transferring more heat than is being put into the system

Radiators/fans are rated for a specific cooling power, wattage. (Rate of heat transferred) For example the 480mm XE radiator is rated for Up to 1190 watts of cooling with the best EKWB fan (the ML120 is better in terms of cooling power but let's use 1190w as the example @ 100%) the 240 is 594w @100%

So the loop in this example is capable of transferring a total of 4164w of heat before the radiators are at full capacity There is no way the PC is creating and transferring that amount of heat into the loop; By my understanding this means, when water goes into the radiator section, it's being cooled as much as it can. No extra radiators or faster fans will cool better, the water will still leave the radiator at the same temp. (close to ambient) I bet even lowering the fan curve from 100% wouldn't actually even raise the temps either.

Now I wouldn't be surprised if the water in the loop is already at ambient by the time it leaves radiator #2 and the 3rd/4th radiator provide literally no cooling what so ever.

The real test would be to monitor tests between each radiator to see if it does provide cooling? has that been done?

Or is my thinking wrong and 8 radiators would cool as well as 2 for example?

 

[erocker]

I've explained air cool rads can't go below ambient, he doesn't seem to understand that.

I guess he needs to understand that. That being said, are all these rads hooked up to one pump?

 

[Hellfire]

I guess he needs to understand that. That being said, are all these rads hooked up to one pump?

Two pumps apparently, I did question that initially.

I'm more of trying to make sure my understanding is correct, my knowledge of physics tells me it's correct but you never know and I'd hate to be giving incorrect info.

 

[lexluthermiester]

The real test would be to monitor tests between each radiator to see if it does provide cooling? has that been done?

Or is my thinking wrong and 8 radiators would cool as well as 2 for example?

Look on the bright side, you'll never overheat.

 

[Hellfire]

Look on the bright side, you'll never overheat.

See, I thought I was overkill with two 480*65 mm radiators for my dual Vegas in a loop and I know my rads are cooling it all with ML120s at 35%

He even ended up posting the Jay2cents video too as that's what he is trying to copy, despite it calling it the dumbest think he has ever done.

 

[erocker]

1 radiator for each should be plenty and not heat soak.

 

[Vario]

He has plenty of radiator now, if he wants sub ambient get a chiller.

 

[Deleted member 185158]

So maybe it's my understanding of how liquid cooling works but I figured I had a pretty strong understanding of cooling however it seems I'm being I'm told wrong without any explanation so please enlighten me if I am wrong.

Discussion on a group with a user trying to lower his Watercooling temps, user has a Single Intel i7 CPU and two GPU's (I forget which) and is cooling it with the following. 3x EKWB 480x65mm Radiators & 1x EKWB 240x65mm Radiator with 120mm ML120 fans

He is trying to lower his temps further (without going chiller root just air cooled radiators.) he wants to drop his GPU load temp by 7c. I've explained air cool rads can't go below ambient, he doesn't seem to understand that.

As far as I can make out, given the number of rads he has and the fans, adding extra radiators wouldn't actually apply any additional cooling?

Now My understanding of WC may be wrong so please, help correct me but the way I understand it is the radiators & fans are rated to a specific wattage (heat it can transfer), the loop in this case is rated to 4164w @100% fan. Now as long as the PC is not generating over that amount of heat, which it isn't, we worked out around 1000w tops then additional cooling wouldn't lower temperatures as the radiators would be capable of transferring more heat than is being put into the system

Radiators/fans are rated for a specific cooling power, wattage. (Rate of heat transferred) For example the 480mm XE radiator is rated for Up to 1190 watts of cooling with the best EKWB fan (the ML120 is better in terms of cooling power but let's use 1190w as the example @ 100%) the 240 is 594w @100%

So the loop in this example is capable of transferring a total of 4164w of heat before the radiators are at full capacity There is no way the PC is creating and transferring that amount of heat into the loop; By my understanding this means, when water goes into the radiator section, it's being cooled as much as it can. No extra radiators or faster fans will cool better, the water will still leave the radiator at the same temp. (close to ambient) I bet even lowering the fan curve from 100% wouldn't actually even raise the temps either.

Now I wouldn't be surprised if the water in the loop is already at ambient by the time it leaves radiator #2 and the 3rd/4th radiator provide literally no cooling what so ever.

The real test would be to monitor tests between each radiator to see if it does provide cooling? has that been done?

Or is my thinking wrong and 8 radiators would cool as well as 2 for example?

Holy Moly!! Where to start!! lol.

So your going to convert your wattage to BTU, that's actually what you are transferring. So power wattage can fluctuate greatly, but BTU dissipation is only relative the transfer speed of the water to the metals of the radiator and then finally to the atmosphere the end result of any Ambient air cooled system.

In really short, as long as you create a heat, your water delta just after the cpu should be higher. The water delta going in should close to room temp as water can get while flowing.

So 1000w of electrical energy = 3412 BTUhr. This is what you are going to dissipate. Then you take the make and model of the rads and look up the capable BTU specs. Always leave headroom.

Sub Ambient? Not without some sort of chilling.

My sub ambient rig is from the Tap to the Drain. GeoThermal and I use it only for benchmarking (for the most part....). Colder than Geothermal, add chilling.

So to me, it sounds like he's got an itch. An itch for some extreme temps. He'll need a Dice or LN2 pot for some real kick booty adventures!

 

[FreedomEclipse]

He sounds like a rad-ical kinda guy.

 

[Aquinus]

Without creating a larger temperature differential, the best you can hope for is more airflow and more surface area, but there is an upper bound to that. The bottom line is that heat most effectively moves when subjected to a large temperature differential, the smaller the differential, the less heat is transferred, regardless of surface area or airflow. What he wants is some form of phase change cooler, either direct or via a liquid chiller.

Also, tell him if he wants it to run cooler, he can always underclock and undervolt it.

 

[Solaris17]

Just stopping by because for some reason I thought this thread was some member asking how much radiation is too much and I was like wtf

 

[Metroid]

never put more than 1 radiator in a single loop. You can make as many loops as you want but just follow that rule and you should be fine.

 

[moproblems99]

The simple answer is there are too many radiators when your pumps can't push with sufficient flow. The next easiest answer is when you can't generate enough heat to saturate them. Anything beyond that is just going to do nothing.

 

[Hellfire]

Just stopping by because for some reason I thought this thread was some member asking how much radiation is too much and I was like wtf

According to the Soviet Union, quite a lot of Rads is ok