Never satisfied: add a second 120.2 radiator?

S

sicminded

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 26, 2008
Messages
237
hello,

been debating these last few days, and i'm debating because i guess i'm not satisfied with my idle/load temps, especially idle temps.

my current setup (see pic below too):
Apogee Drive 350 self-powered (pump and cpu block combo)
MCR220-QP (120.2 radiator)
MCRES-MICRO (reservoir)
idle/load: ~44C / ~66C (Q6600 G0 @3.375GHz, 1.44V idle, 1.40 V load)

my previous setup was the same, with the exception of hanging the reservoir outside the case. it was the same radiator but with an integrated reservoir. idle temps then were ~40C, about the same load temps. i think the lower temps were due to the radiator getting fresh cooler air hanging outside the case.

so i'm debating whether i should add back my other MCR220 with the integrated reservoir, and lose the MCRES-MICRO. what i'm hoping to accomplish is: 1. lower idle temps (which would also lower load temps) 2. lower fan speed for a quieter setup.

but it seems kinda overkill to have two MCR220s for a cpu block only... and i think the Apogee Drive 350 should be enough to power through two radiators...

what do you guys think? or should i ditch the block/pump combo and get a real cpu block and a pump with more power? but i think the idle/load temps are due to the location of the radiator, getting warmer air from inside vs. cooler air from outside.

thanks for looking

DSC00400_sm.jpg


DSC00394_sm.jpg
 
what was the temp you were expecting?
44c idle, 66c load are seem about right, just a little tad on the higher side, around 5c.
What is your ambient?
 
was hoping to stay under 40C idle, and mid to low 60s under load, and possibly shooting for 3.6 GHz with 1.5 V. ambient temp is 72-75F on a cooler day or night. it was about 74F last night, and i was still idling at 42-43C on average. for a warmer day, anywhere from the high 70s to 85F, i idle about 45-47C. i just stated 44C as an average of the two..
 
Gorgeous setup!

And no, you're nowhere near using your entire current rad, adding another will do nothing, unless you wish to run quieter.

The problem these days, with a Q6600, is it's IHS and the interface between the CPU and the waterblock... Try lapping your chip and remounting your block.
 
I would have to second that man, lapping did wonders for me, get some 400 and 320 grit sand paper and get to work..:D:D:D
 
thanks for the comments.

i don't know about lapping the cpu, kinda scared to do so. maybe it is the interface between the cpu and block.. i did do a messy job, now that i think of it, when i mounted it.. but i have a feeling that even if i do reseat it, it will still be about the same...
 
There are a few things that you can do.
A)You could go forward with your plan, and you will lower your temps. It will be the least expensive option and it will require the least amount of work. < $80.00
B)Purchase thermochill 160 radiator and place it on the front intake fan in front of the hard disk drives. (100 bucks though + fan). It will have about 90 percent of the thermal capacity of your mcr220 and I know that it fits in that area.
C)You can also purchase a mcr320 and a ac ryan or some other brand rad grill.
Mod the top of the case, and mount the radiator. You will have to lower your cdrom, a slot or two. You can move your scythe fan controller up to the top slot.
With the extra space you should be able to clear 38mm fans which usually have higher static pressure and do better on radiators. Cost is about 120 dollars.
C1)Then if you are not satisfied with your temps, you can use a rad box to externally mount your existing radiator.
The micro res that you have is actually excellent for bleeding your loop, a bit better than the built in res in the swiftech rads. Cost is an additional 20 dollars

C2)You may be able to internally mount the mcr220 where the 120mm intake fan is located. But I think you are about 2 inches short in space. But you can take some measurements for us, and we would be able to advice further. FREE!!
C3)option C+B, all internal. Cost is 200.00

Those options are all assuming you keep your existing cpublock/pump combo.
The Apoggee GT does not fair as well on quad core processor as other blocks, such as the fuzion or ek supreme. Since the pump is mounted to the block for acoustic reasons it used the 9w version of the laing ddc pump. However proceeding down this route will be cost prohibitive because you will effectively be getting a new w/c system.

Nes (btw you will never be satisfied)
I
 
Uhm, avd... What makes you think adding more radiative space into his loop will help with anything but noise? There's absolutely no need for more than a double radiator for any dual or quad core setup out to date...

It will not help temperatures at all...

And the apogee drive is quite a bit better than the apogee GT when it comes to quad core processors... The inlet and outlets are larger which allows flow across both cores without problem.
 
avddreamr: thanks for the advice. i'm going to stay away from mounting a 120.3 radiator at the top, i don't want to chop up my case. as far as placing any sort of radiators in the front intake, it is very possible as seen here:

Tom'sHardwarebuild.jpg


only problem is that the fan will need to be an exhaust since i wouldnt want the warm air blowing to the gpu's or inside the case. unless the air coming out from a radiator is not sooo hot. i don't know.

heres an idea: maybe i can reverse the airflow of the case. have the rear intake cool air to the radiator, have the Lian-Li side gpu blower i have on there as an intake, and have the top radiator and possibly a second radiator in the front fan both as an exhaust..

i have the MCR220 with reservoir laying around here from my previous setup, so if i do add it, it will not cost me any $, just time. already have extra tubing and coolant additive laying around too, heh.


Arcygenical: i agree with u that adding a second radiator will not lower idle temps, but i believe it would help with load temps? since two radiators will be able to dissipate more heat?
 
sicminded said:
heres an idea: maybe i can reverse the airflow of the case. have the rear intake cool air to the radiator, have the Lian-Li side gpu blower i have on there as an intake, and have the top radiator and possibly a second radiator in the front fan both as an exhaust..
Click to expand...

i'm thinking of doing this now.. ill have the second MCR220 with integrated reservoir in the front fan area, having it both exhaust. i'll get some some ventilated 5.25" bay covers in the front for the top radiator fan to let air out. daym, its going to be a lot of work tho...
 
ok, why don't you try to remount the block, see if you have a better temp?

You can add the second 120.2 rad at the back of the exhaust fan (exterior) without using radbox, TJ09 back is pretty flat there. You may use the 120mm x 38mm fans to bring the rad a little further away from the case for easy tubing.

I think two 120.2 rads is overkill for only to cool a CPU but it doesn't hurt to do it though, since you're already have a spare.
 
i just finished reseating the block now.. and i was verrrry careful.. i'll see what the temps are like the next few days... thanks all
 
Arcygenical said:
Uhm, avd... What makes you think adding more radiative space into his loop will help with anything but noise? There's absolutely no need for more than a double radiator for any dual or quad core setup out to date...

It will not help temperatures at all...

And the apogee drive is quite a bit better than the apogee GT when it comes to quad core processors... The inlet and outlets are larger which allows flow across both cores without problem.
Click to expand...

I am fairly certain that adding another radiator will help idle temperatures. However it will have a greater effect on load temps.
I wasn't aware that the apogee drive unit was reworked, for quad cores. However I doubt that it compares favorably against the fuzion in that situation. Either way his plan should give him some improvement.

To the OP. How is the apogee drive on the noise department? I know that the lain pumps from personal experience are quite noisy unless they are decoupled from metal/vibrating surfaces. The laing ddc 3.1 pump is by far the loudest thing in my rig.
 
i can't hear my pump at all.. even if i set all my fans to run at 1000rpms with my fan controller.. noise from the fans are still all that i hear..
 
just wanted to post an update:

i am now getting the idle/load temps i was aiming for. i idle below the <=40C temps now, and stay under 55C under regular load (not stress testin, just normal use/gaming). and what i did to knock off ~4C was add a 120mm intake in the front 5.25" bays. i can't believe how much a difference it made. so i have 2 120mm fans intaking air in the front, the rear and radiator fans are exhausting air. and the lian li bs-03 is also exhausting air. k i'm satisfied for now (well i'm tryin to sell a 8800gtx to pick up a GTX280). maybe the radiator wasn't getting enough cool air. when i had the rear as an intake, it may have been sucking hot air in from the gpu's and bs-03. and also, maybe the front intake got rid of any dead air floating around the 5.25 bay areas...
 
Yeah I think too much hot air was getting sucked into your rad b/c 40c idle seems a little high if your loop consists of just the cpu. It might be because your rad is mounted in the case (though it looks great there, along with the rest of the setup).

In comparison, I have my MCR320 (and the 220 i had before it) mounted in the back and at 3.6ghz/1.5V my idle temps are usually 28 / 35C (full fan speed / 8.5V fan speed). More fresh air coming in should help.
 
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