Conclusion
Performance
While both the Koolance EXT-440CU and the Cooler Master Glacer 240L units performed admirably during both sets of tests, the Glacer 240L was better equipped to handle the added heat load of the Poseidon GTX 780. The Glacer's performance increase minimally during the stock and overclocked CPU tests with no throttling evident during either run. The Koolance unit struggled more with the added heat load introduced by the increase CPU speed during the overclocking test with a minimal amount of CPU throttling witnessed during the run.
Conclusion
Before continuing with our parting thoughts for this multi-block performance analysis, we would like to take this opportunity to give our friends at Cooler Master, Koolance, and ASUS a hearty "Thank You" for contributing the test units needed to complete this article. Both of the cooling units are made with high quality copper CPU blocks and radiators with 5/8" x 7/16" tubing used. The major difference between the EXT-440CU and the Glacer 240L is in the radiator sizing – the EXT-440CU comes standard with a 120mm radiator, while the Glacer 240L comes with a 240mm long radiator. Both radiators are constructed of copper with brass liquid collection chambers, ensuring optimal heat exchange between the coolant medium and the radiator fins.
The Koolance unit does boast an FPI (fins per inch) of almost double that of the Cooler Master unit, 21 FPI versus 11 FPI. However, the increase in fin density was not enough to offset the additional heat load of adding the ASUS Poseidon card to the loop – the radiator size really stood out as a deciding performance factor. Even the greater flow rate of the Koolance unit at full speed (7 L/m), per the Koolance site specifications versus the 3 L/m flow rate of the Cooler Master unit, was not enough to offset the cooling potential of the Glacer 240L's larger radiator. From a sound perspective, adding the GPU into either cooling loop added no additional ambient noise to the system. This is in part because of the low-noise operation of the ASUS Poseidon graphics cards.
In practice, you will have a noticeable noise reduction when you replace a graphics card's stock cooler with a water block because of the removal of those graphics fans from the system.
I really don’t agree with
I really don’t agree with this diagrams flow direction.
Should be out of rad into res and out of res to CPU or GPU…. the end of the loop should be going to the rad out of rad to pump res out to CPU/GPU
You want to go directly from
You want to go directly from radiator to CPU block so that the CPU get the absolutely coolest possible coolant. If you go from the pump or reservior, the coolant will absorb heat from the rest of the loop or from the pump before going to CPU…
That Theory is sound, but in
That Theory is sound, but in practices it dose not really matter, because if you have a good pump, you have about 0.5c drop in temp from inlet to outlet of the rad.
And unless you want to be able to get the last one MHz out of your OC, i would not bother to much.
The main important things you need to pay attention to is a good rad and a good pump.
Also push fan setup is more effective then a pull setup for your rad.
I would avoid the EXT-440CU pump unit as the plague, unless you install a extra rad, as its a sub par solution, the CM pomp/CPU block is a o.k. start set, but noting more then that.
I just build in a Fractal Design R4 of a friends system, this set in:
1x EK-D5 PWM Motor 12V DC PWM Pump Motor – €70,95
1x Alphacool HF Screw connector G1/4 10mm – Deep Black – €47,60
2x Akasa 140mm Apache PWM fan Black – 1300RPM – €31,90
1x EK-Ekoolant CLEAR premix 1L – €7,10
Monsoon Silver Bullet Antimicrobial G1/4 Plug – €13,00
XSPC Acrylic Dual 5.25 bay Reservoir for D5 – €64,05
Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 Full Copper 280mm – €75,95
EK-Supremacy – Acetal + Copper – €60,95
EK-FC780 GTX Ti – €90,90
Totaal 465 euro
The pump is a PWM D5, so you dont need a special controller to adjust the speed, you can just connect it and control it with your motherboard fan controller software, PWM really rocks!!!!
A nice fat rad like the NeXxos UT60 cools a lot better then the rad’s used in the article.
For comparison with a EXT-440CU and a Cooler Master Glacer 240L:
EXT-440CU – 120×210 rad 12 x 12 x 2.7 = 388cm3
240L – 120×240 rad 12 x 24 x 2.7 = 777cm3
UT60 – 140×280 rad 14 x 28 x 6 = 2352cm3
And till a certain point, size really maters with cooling!
The more rad you have the silencer your system is.
And yeah a custom build loop cost a lot more, but also works a lot better, and except for the GPU block, can be re-used on many new systems.
Quality over budget gives you better cooling, a more silent system and longer use of the parts, and above all it looks better to.
You are absolutely correct
You are absolutely correct about loop order. People usually have 0.1C between hottest and coldest point in the loop with normal flow.
And yet, I tend to disagree with push/pull thing.
The thing is, if you use a static pressure fan, it’s not really important if it’s push or pull for the cooling. The only difference is how convenient is the cleaning. And it’s way better when you use pull 🙂 So I’m ready to sacrifice 0.x C in temperature for the easy cleaning.
My setup is Res -> Pump -> VGA mosfet -> GPU -> 120 rad -> CPU -> 240 rad. Running like a charm for many years.
The most load was with overclocked GTX570 + overclocked 4770K. ~31C idle, below 60C (usually 55-56) under load @ 25-27C ambient.
Block order does not matter
Block order does not matter in a watercooling loop. The only important thing is reservoir to pump, the rest can be in any order and it will not impact cooling performance.
You are very wrong
You are very wrong there…
If the best overall performance is what matters (meaning you want the lowest possible temps on all of the components), then the block with the least flow resistance is the first after the pump and the block with the highest resistance is the last. Typically, the CPU block is the highest flow resistance – so that will be the last in the loop.
It does not really matter if the Rad is the first or the last in the loop. However, the pump is the most temperature sensitive component in the loop, so the rad should be the last component in the loop – to get the coolest possible coolant to the pump – as it will fail much sooner if the coolant is too hot. This is particularly true with systems tuned to low noise – as these systems see the highest coolant temps.
The only thing that matters
The only thing that matters is the prioritization of the components you want to cool. If you want more cooling capacity for your cpu, the cpu block goes first.
It doesn’t matter which block has more or less flow resistance because the loop acts as a system. Liquid in = liquid out.
…believe me, I thought this
…believe me, I thought this was the case too. Then, one time, I had to turn the loop around and I found out is is not the case at all 😉 Sure, temps on the CPU rose about 2C – quite logical, considering it now followed three GPUs, but overall temps were much lower. Test it for yourself if you need prof. You need to know which block has the highest flow resistance though, but like I said earlier – CPU Blocks are your usual suspect.
…believe me, if thats the
…believe me, if thats the case, then your pump is just to small!
I had with my old setup, Quad-CF 5870@950MHz and a 3930K@4.8GHz doing Furmark and OCCT.
I had a temperature drop of 0.7C over the inlet and outlet of my radiator, during normal gaming the drop was between 0.4c and 0.6c.
(From the 8 temp censors i have for my Aquaero 5 Pro, i picked two that ware the closes in temp with 0.1c difference between 20c/70F and 50c/125F, to measure the temp drop/delta)
I use a D5 pump, but the smaller DCC pump is for most setups more then enough, or any trustworthy pump that dose minimum of 400L/h (100gallon/h).
More flow means a more turbulent flow, means better cooling then a slow laminated flow.
https://www.google.com/search?q=turbulent+laminar+flow
This is just wrong.
This is just wrong. Thermodynamics dictates that it will get to a steady state, so , yeah, a non-issue which order the components are in.
Super cool to see PCPER guys!
Super cool to see PCPER guys!
Why don’t you split the
Why don’t you split the output of the Rad/Res and use a separate pump for each sub-loop? That way you can size the pump to the flow rate you need for the device it’s meant to cool.
So, to be clear, put a Y on the output of the Rad/Res and run each output of the Y to a different device to be cooled. Then put a pump after that. Finally, combine the outputs of the two pumps with another Y which will then feed into the Rad/Res.
One thing I have learned over
One thing I have learned over the years is that setting up the loop order is always hotly debated.
Keep in mind that the visuals
Keep in mind that the visuals shown display how the flow is setup in the All-in-One cooling systems used, and is not supposed to be a guide to optimal setup. As has been stated, there are many differing opinions on loop setup, order, and flow control based on what type of cooling loops you build and how much experience you've had in the hobby.
Thanks all for the feedback though, its great…
Yeah, sorry, realized that
Yeah, sorry, realized that after I posted.
Love the Poseidon card –
Love the Poseidon card – definitely my next upgrade.
Also love the combined CPU block and pump but I do worry about long term effect of vibrations.
Personally I would swap the radiators for a 200×200 rad (bigger cooling surface large fan working more slowly = less noise).
What this shows is how easy it is to build a full WC in a real small space.
Water cooling is not for everyone, it is pricey for often minimal gains but it is fun and that is important
*reservoir, not reservior
(in
*reservoir, not reservior
(in the pictures)
Glad to see some water
Glad to see some water cooling excitement again.
I’m going to throw hard earned water cooling bones into the pack just for fun.
Reservoirs are only a source of leaks (and reduce flow).
1/4″ tubing systems are junk.
Overall performance is only improved by radiator surface area and fan cfm. (draw backs are size limitation problems and noise) Everything else does nothing because any ‘improvement’ is cancelled out by other factors.
Always great to see a liquid
Always great to see a liquid cooling story on PCPER! I think you would agree, Morry, that you’re not a serious hardware enthusiast until you go with a proper cooling system — even if it’s just an AIO cooler! Love reading all your liquid cooling reviews! Also, they should have you on the podcast more. You’re very thorough!
Thanks for the support. I do
Thanks for the support. I do agree that you really aren't hardcore until you go with water cooling, but I think its more of an enthusiast's evolution as they find that air cooling just won't cut it for the o/c and temps they want out of their CPU and GPUs.
At one point, I was doing phase change cooling, but got sick of the condensation issues that ensued – killed a few graphics cards from leaks in the condeser tube going to the CPU. But my water loop is fixing to get upgraded in the very near future – multiple rads, pumps, and blocks on all my GPUs…
The order of the loop isn’t
The order of the loop isn’t important to temps. Over time the entire loop will normalize to a set temp range based on the amount of heat your components generate and how much your water-cooling components dissipate heat. It’s far more important to worry about your order in terms of connection points, tube length, the number of hard turns in your loop, fans, radiator sizes, aesthetics, etc.
There’s a point-counterpoint argument for all the components you get…fast pumps = lots of noise but since you move more water through the rads you may get slightly better overall temps. Low speed high CFM fans might get you a nice quiet system but may not be able to handle cooling the water as well as you’d like…so you get more fans or make them run faster…and that means more PSU power and noise…and so on.
The key is finding the right balance to meet your personal needs. I like a quiet system and will sacrifice on the temp side.
Whether it’s the air through
Whether it’s the air through the radiator or the water being pumped through, the real output of your fan/pump is dependent on the total resistance it’s pushing against. If you want that high airflow/coolant flow you better have the pressure to back it up against the resistance you have in it.
As others have said… I
As others have said… I don’t understand why people don’t split the output of the radiator and have one feed for the CPU and one for the GPU. That will give you the lowest flow restriction and the GPU’s coolant won’t be pre-heated.
I like to mention too.. If you’ve got the space, build a plenum between the fan’s output and the radiator. I like to take junk fans, cut everything out except for the body, and use it as a a plenum. Stack two if I’ve got the space. You kill an axial fan’s flow when you slap it right on to a radiator. A sirocco (squirrel cage) fan, it doesn’t matter.
1:A faster/stronger pump is
1:A faster/stronger pump is not always the answer,it really depends on what you are cooling [1 or more devices].A super fast pump can actually raise temps due to the friction of the pump.
My old system had cpu,chipset,mosfet and 2 gpus on one loop.My pump always ran on low for silence,if i cranked the pump up to screaming lvs the overall temp would remain relatively the same [maybe 1-2 c difference under a full load]
2:Every case /system is different .What works well for one wont necessarily work well for another.
3: block order can be anyway thats convenient for your build.
4: a few degrees higher or lower will make little if any difference on system performance.
As others have said… I