Flaws in my plan

[KNO3]

I have an antec 1200 case, i7 920 clocked at 4Ghz on air, and GTX 295. I'd like to be able to overclock my cpu much further. And possibly my gpu without it peaking at 105c >.<

So... my plan is to have a pump in the bottom of the case, to a 360 radiator mounted in the hard drive bays in the front, to a reservoir on the top of a case, to the cpu, to a 240 radiator mounted on the back, to the gpu then back to the pump. I would reverse the rear fans to blow air into the case which would leave just the 200mm fan on the top and the center 120mm on the side as exhaust.

Do the standard pumps have enough power to push through two radiators and two water blocks? Am I going to have too much positive pressure? Do I need north/south bridge blocks since all of the radiator fans will be blowing into the case?

 

[rubix_1011]

Most of your questions are discussed in the watercooling sticky, which is linked below in my signature.

In short, that's a decent loop design plan and while a little more radiator than you need, it's still a great place to start with a hot dual GPU and OC CPU.

I'd keep your rear fans as they are- just make sure you have good fans on your rads.

Do the standard pumps have enough power to push through two radiators and two water blocks?

Yes, almost all pumps are perfectly capable of this.

Am I going to have too much positive pressure?

Do you mean air pressure or loop water pressure? In short, no to neither.

Do I need north/south bridge blocks since all of the radiator fans will be blowing into the case?

Not necessary but a case can be made for NB blocks if you are going for high overclocks or have stability issues at high clocks that aren't due to voltage/BIOS instability.

Give the WC sticky a few read-throughs...there are a ton of links to more and more info, so take a while and soak up as much as you can.

 

[KNO3]

I'd keep your rear fans as they are- just make sure you have good fans on your rads.

Wouldn't that mean that the hot air from the first radiator is being used to 'cool' the second?

Do you mean air pressure or loop water pressure? In short, no to neither.

I meant air pressure since I would have 5 120mm inlet fans and only the 200mm as exhaust.

Give the WC sticky a few read-throughs...there are a ton of links to more and more info, so take a while and soak up as much as you can.

Yep, I'm definitely still in the soaking phase. My component choices are still changing 3 times per day. Which is why I haven't posted anything specific yet.

 

[Lutfij]

Yep, I'm definitely still in the soaking phase. My component choices are still changing 3 times per day. Which is why I haven't posted anything specific yet.

trust me, then your best option is read up on all the stickies on tom's, OCN + xtremesystems.

from there you can move onto choosing what parts you like - after you've chosen a budget. If you are on one, just get a kit.

BTW, BIG RULE of thumb

last time i checked with all that positive air pressure you're not going to rid the inside temps at all. in fact you'll just raise the temps of your mobo. another instance would be that the metal blocks would soak up the heat from the hot air inside your case.

Point in making: you need to exhaust the air as much as you are in-taking.

Have the rear 240 rad fed with cool air - while also not feeding the case used(warm) air.

 

[rubix_1011]

You are better off with a neutral fan setup or even negative. You'd rather remove more air than you're pushing in...this causes air to move into the case naturally on top of any intake fans.

 

[KNO3]

So running the hot exhaust from the first radiator through the second radiator isn't an issue?

 

[rubix_1011]

Do you mean something like this? If so, I'd advise against it. You stand to lose up to 40% of the second rad's efficiency due to airflow and warmer air entering the rad to 'cool' the second. The air temp won't be that warm, but it's still warmer than ambient. Remember, watercooling is all about delta.

 

[KNO3]

Almost. But with more space between them. Below is a diagram of my fans without reversing any of them. I was proposing to reverse the fans on radiator 2 so that both radiators would be receiving ambient temperature air.

 

[rubix_1011]

Yes, that would work...that is much better than what I thought.

I'd actually reverse the flow of the back (small rad) and make it an intake. Your 200 on top will be fine.

Remember, computer cases aren't air tight, so there really isn't an issue with reversing a fan if you have good airflow.