Question about direction of coolant flow to and from the rad.

[WarYur]

Well Aussie Allen started a stupidest thing you have ever done around a computer so I thought maybe we need a stupidest question asked around a PC thread but of course I didn't name it that.

I was looking at my Thermochill 120.3 High Performance rad tonight and finally getting around to set everything up in hopes that I will get my CPU block soon and as I was looking at where the tubing connects to the rad I noticed that there wasn't any markings and to "in" and "Out".  My question is does it matter with this rad which way the coolant is flowing through it and/or is coolant flow just brought about by the placement of your pump?

On any Koolance product/rad that I have ever had the openings where the tubing got connected always had a specific IN and OUT verbage so I thought I would be able to find the same thing on the Thermochill rad as well.   

Anyone have a bit of advice for me?

[Dark Mantis]

Hi

Not a stupid question at all.  It would be more stupid to blindly dive in and connect it up without knowing.

Koolance are a different kettle of fish to nearly all other watercooling kit. They are really considered toys by the people in the know. With all other radiators I have come across it doesn't make any difference which way around you connect the flow and return up.

[WarYur]

Yes, well now that i have done just a small bit of reading and then my own experiences with Koolance I can definitely agree with them being called toys.  A "friend" of mine who got into water cooling got me into Koolance becasue the warehouse in the states is just up the freeway from where I live so it was pretty easy to go that way.  

In retrospect I sure wish that I would have done a lot of reading a long time ago and found out what exactly everyone else was using before i fell into the toy box so that by now I might be a lot further ahead of the ball game in water cooling my computers.  

I'm glad I asked though but it is what i figured you would say.  It looks like I need to buy some more tools though as I had to borrow another friends tools to open up the pump for installation into that XSPC acrylic dual bay reservoir I have.  Learning we are...

Now to try and make a decision as to which "best" CPU water block to get.  You mentioned the new Swiftech revision and  I was reading up on the testing of that on http://martinsliquidlab.org and then all of the water blocks he is testing on the Intel i7 2600k which of course was of special interest for me but not good for making a decision quickly.  

I still wish that I could have gotten that special edition HK but oh well.  I looked everywhere I knew to look and then some and I found a lot of HK socket 1366 SE's which got my heart started the first few I found thinking that I had found the one I wanted and then seeing the 1366 and then getting bummed instead.  

That Swiftech seems to be pretty popular over here...   LOL, Maybe I need to start a poll!

[Dark Mantis]

That Swiftech seems to be pretty popular over here...   LOL, Maybe I need to start a poll!

Why not ? Sounds like a good idea to me.

[WarYur]

Why not ? Sounds like a good idea to me.

Ok, I'll give it a shot.  Never done a poll before so not sure what the general parameters are like how long, etc.  I will go and find which CPU water blocks are Sandy Bridge only and go from there...

BTW, you are probably already aware of this but other reader's might not be.  The reference in my first post should have read "Martins Liquid Lab" and it is an "org" not a com.

http://martinsliquidlab.org/

[Dark Mantis]

I have just corrected the link in your earlier post.

[WarYur]

Thanks from the US Space Team...   

[Aussie Allan]

Hi

Not a stupid question at all.  It would be more stupid to blindly dive in and connect it up without knowing.

Koolance are a different kettle of fish to nearly all other watercooling kit. They are really considered toys by the people in the know. With all other radiators I have come across it doesn't make any difference which way around you connect the flow and return up.

 One of the lovely things about O2 cooling is the amount of control you have with the configuration, components and design.  whether you have the top of the rad as suction or discharge is up to you and the design layout your working to......in the interest of having the least amount of tubing in your system (just one of many thing to aim for) usually dictates what direction your flow takes , you can spend literally days working out the best (for you) layout/plan for your cooling system..........All part of the fun!

 Aussie Allan

[WarYur]

Thanks AA!   I am really finding that out right now and then I am  spending a lot of time lately reading stuff about water cooling and the various parts, etc and one article seems to lead to another and all of a sudden the day is gone.  I just learned how to sleeve my cables last night and that is going to take me some time I can see.  I am learning about water cooling all over again or perhaps for the first time since as DM puts it I was using "toy" water cooling solutions before.

I have several diagrams so far of how I will do the cooling lines and am still coming up with different ideas as to how to best do with with draining the system once in a while in mind and how I will fill the res and such.  I found out that there is an issue with the dual bay res I bought and the Corsair 800D not playing well together but I found a work around for it.

You are so right though, it is a lot of fun in the process.

[Dark Mantis]

Glad that you are having fun whilst learning. It is a learning curve and sometimes is steeper than others, but it is all interesting. There is always some problem to get over or around but that is half the fun of it.

[WarYur]

Yes, Like that XSPC  dual bay res not liking my Corsair 800D a whole lot.  The 800D's tool less bay doesn't work on it for one and then it doesn't readily slide in and out like I would want it to for refilling due to those little rubber thingies and then the two holes surrounded by  rubber where you would secure it to something on each side of it.  I have been thinking about a fill port on top somewhere and then just using screws to secure the res.  If I don't install the DVD writer and just use my blue-ray writer I would free up a bay to be able to put in a L-shaped swivel nozzle and tube up to the fill port. 

Just a thought though...  Not exactly sure what I will do yet but perhaps I can find something slick to put in the case to make the res slide easier.    (that's a joke son).   LOL, maybe.  Bacon grease?   

I am also thinking of those Koolance quick disconnects like just before going into the res and just before going into the rad too.  Then I should add a small tubular res in-between the two graphics cards (GTX 480 SC ver)  maybe to help cool down the water even more.  I think that was something AA was trying to tell me(?)  I was also thinking about some sort of drain out the bottom or lower side or end but I dunno yet.

Twenty years ago if you had told me that I had a "geek" inside of me waiting to come out I would have laughed at you.  Today I embrace my inner geek!   

Now I need to learn how to say NO! when asked if I know anything about computers or would I take a look at their 10 year old PC with a whopping 2GB hard drive because they think that it should still be plenty good for today's apps. 

[Dark Mantis]

Then I should add a small tubular res in-between the two graphics cards

I fail to see what help a tubular reservoir would do in between the two graphics cards, or did you mean a radiator ? That wouldn't be such a bad idea especially if you are looking at a large loop.

What you need is a really grotty, mangled PC that you can "show off" to all your friends and relatives. They will soon stop asking for help!

[WarYur]

Ya, that's what I meant, a small "tubular" radiator!     Or at least now I do anyway.  LOL, Remember we be learning here boss.  It's just that those cards get really hot on stock settings so overclocked they really do need something so a rad it will be.  I have to make one more small order anyway as I have been dragging my feet (entire body?) a bit in ordering the CPU block just in case the one I really want magically shows up.  Which of course is highly doubtful seeing as Aquatuning didn't get one after that fellow from Watercool told me they would be.  They received some of their water blocks for the CPU alright, every other one besides the LE edition nickel and black chrome one.  No one in the states have gotten anything from them lately too so Aquatuning must have at least a bit of pull with them.

I'm afraid the cat is already out of the bag as far me me knowing how to build and repair computers.  Not that I am any expert or anything.  I just get really mad when I hear about some older folks that took their PC's over to Best Buy to their "Geek Squad" and they get charged $300 for doing something I could have done in 5 minutes for free though.  I had some neighbors a while back that were both in their 80's and had no idea how to do ANYTHING with a PC.  I was even a bit amazed that they could manage to turn one on and I am not exaggerating.

Best Buy even sold them a $50 Norton virus package knowing full well that an all encompassing and free Norton program comes with having a Comcast account and that they had an account with them.   Grrrr...   I hate seeing people getting taken advantage of you see.  Throw in a bit of co-dependency and there you go. I do have a soft spot especially for families that can't afford a computer or have an ancient of days one that is on it's last leg and have kids in school that in today's world really need one to get through. 

Thanks once again for the head's up!

[Dark Mantis]

Admirable sentiment and I am sure that most of us feel the same way. Just a shame there are so many of these rip off merchants out there praying on people because they don't know their ass from their elbow.