Radiator Help

[db140]

Hey i'm planing on using a DD Black Ice GT Stealth 240 in my cooling loop the only problem that i'm having is that the place that i want to put the radiator is a tight fit leaving only 1-4mm of clearance with fans attached. Now will this effect the cooling power of the radiator or is this still enough space for it to function properly?

 

[rubix_1011]

You will limit the amount of airflow that the fans will be pushing due to the minimal space. Where are you putting this that there is such little space?

 

[db140]

i have a ultra full tower case and the only place i could find to put a 240 rad was the space i have right above the power supply i'm tryin to make the case clean with as few wires and what not in the open here a pic of my case from ultra.

http://ultraproducts.com/product_details.php?cPath=13&pPath=411&productID=411

i was thinking of putting just a 120 rad where the rear 120 is but i'm not sure if that is powerful enough to cool my core 2 quad q9650 and a radeaon 4870

 

[rubix_1011]

You are going to need at least the surface area of 3x120mm rad...preferably more. Typical rule of thumb is 1.5x120mm surface area for each major component in a cooling loop...2x120mm surface area if they are overclocked. Of course, this is somewhat dependent upon radiator and fans used...but, like I said...general rule of thumb.

A single 120 rad won't cool that CPU and GPU sufficiently. A 220 rad really won't, either, at least to the point that makes watercooling necessary...you would be better off getting aftermarket air coolers for both if you want to use a single 220 rad.

 

[db140]

ok well the GPU i'm getting comes with a very decent air cooler on it so if i'm just cooling my CPU and chipset then would a 3x120 do the job?

and also thx for your help this is my first WC rig so i dont know to much about some of it.

 

[rubix_1011]

Yeah, that would work fine...and to be honest, you probably don't need to cool the NB. You could get by (if you didn't OC) if you had the CPU and GPU on a 320 rad, but you still need to get into the cost of a GPU block and some ram sinks.

 

[db140]

well my Asus Rampage Extreme comes with NB block so it cant hurt to go ahead and put it in the loop but as for a GPU block do you have any suggestions because i'v been looking and cant descide on a good one... same with the ram sinks

My GPU is the Asus EAH4870 DK/HTDI/1GD5