Suggestions proceeding forward?

[drunkenvalley]

So I'm working on my first watercooled rig, and deciding to either go goofin' with it right or not at all. I want to take my time and plan things ahead buttersmooth, since I want to minimize the amount of stuff I do wrong.

Without further ado I've attached a picture,* and then there are of course a few details.

1. I'll be watercooling an i5 2500k and HD 7970
   
2. The rads are two Magicool 180mm ones
   
3. Pump is DCP 4.0 with attached res.
   
4. Said rads are mounted with velcro.
   
5. Underneath the shaggy sandwich is an opening to the bottom compartment. Tubing bottom rad is least of my problems I think.
   
6. One fan is in its stock mounting, but the other must be mounted with velcro too.
   
7. The bottom does not have filter for fan, but sidepanels do.
   

If you're uncertain about something do ask.

My questions for you guys, however, are simple for the moment.

a. The loop order. I'm aware the rule of thumb is "as tidy as possible," but I'm having trouble visualizing it, particularly with the pump. If you got ideas for order here or for alternate arrangements please do give a shout.

b. In the bottom there is no airfilter for the rad/fan. The sidepanels are however. This leads me to wonder if should possibly mount the fan facing down, blowing air out the bottom of the case... Yay or nay?

Think I had some other questions as well, but I can't for the life of me remember what.

*Sorry about the sharp light from the right. Had trouble getting a good angle for this picture...

 

[S_I_N]

not sure if those 2 thin 180's will be enough for both but would be interesting to see the results. Loop order as long as you have the rez feeding the pump first (which you are) shouldn't have to much of a major impact on temps. While it is good to hit a rad before block you may see 1-2c higher temps (possible) if you hit the block first. I say from what I see in the pic is just make it as tidy as you can.

 

[drunkenvalley]

Aye, know tidy is the way to go, and tidy is what I'm hoping for. Problem is the pump makes it hard to see at least for me what the tidiest solution is. :B

 

[S_I_N]

take the outlet (top of pump) with a 90 to the front of the upper rad from there its blocks but as there not in the pic cant say for sure from the blocks you'll have to get to the lower rad and then back to the rez but like ya said its hard to visualize it.

 

[drunkenvalley]

Honestly, the easier solution from what I'm able to discern is serial-connecting the rads, top rad to gpu, gpu to res/pump, res/pump to cpu and back down to bottom rad. I think. I'm not sure yet.

Add a bit of slack for the res/pump to their respective pieces and I can move the res/pump around some, which should hopefully make for ease of filling and draining. I think. By no means am I going to have things set in stone before I'm sitting there clipping hose.

 

[drunkenvalley]

So got another picture today after I built the system. I connected the two rads with a hose right behind the pump there, but it's damn hard to see from any angle.

That said, I hope this is giving a clearer picture.

 

[drunkenvalley]

So I realized that I can't tube up the pump with the graphics card where I'd positioned it. So I've moved that into the 5.25" bay...

 

[drunkenvalley]

Until I can confirm the graphics card I'm getting isn't a bad sample I'm keeping it out of the loop... Don't want to lose warranty on something broken because I replaced the cooler too fast. Not on something that costs the same as the mobo/CPU combo... xD

 

[Paulie]

spin the cpu block round 180 so the port connecting to the 1st rad is the lower one or just switch the tubes round if the block doesnt have a inlet and outlet, it will make draining the loop alot easier. You could also put a straight piece of tube coming out of either of the ports that face the psu on the bottom rad with a stop plug to use as a drian port, i'm fairly sure you could drain about 95%+ of that loop without having to disconnect anything

 

[drunkenvalley]

I'm wondering if draining the pump may be as simple as just taking out the pump/res, take the lid off and just tip it over into a bucket or something...

Also, /facepalm for me not realizing how I could've oriented the CPU block. That should've been so blatantly obvious...

 

[unwaxed]

You could put some elbows in, like a 45 degree or a 90 degree on your pump outlet (it would rob you of some pressure, but not that much), and a 90 degree on your reservoir inlet (so that you can have a mostly straight tube from your rad). You would definitely make your draining easier if you put a drain port on the bottom radiator like Paulie said. I'd put a 90 degree elbow on the port facing the PSU that's closest to you on the photos, with some tubing and a plug at the end. Then you'd just have to put a bowl a little below your case (like on a chair), put the tube so it drains into the bowl, take the plug out and let her flow.

 

[drunkenvalley]

I've shifted the CPU waterblock the 90 degrees needed to angle the outlet lower. However, I've discovered that the fan controller I purchased with my new HD 7970 simply won't work with the pump. Turns out the pump's a bit more powerhungry than I thought... :B

Anyway, I'll keep the tips about draining in mind. For now I think I'll keep the loop running till I've settled a few things...