Why should i go 3/8?

[fivecheebs]

Hello pug, and everyone

I have been considering watercooling for a while now but have decided, finally, to buy some equipment in a couple of weeks.

Since before Hexadragon but manly that project i have loved the looks of low flow systems when they are done well. Hex is a bute! but lately, having spent more time reading the extreme cooling forum on Bit, i find myself being unsure of weather low flow or high flow is the way for me to go. I want good performance, at a fair price, with the flexibility to add more blocks later. Ill probably start with just CPU but possibly NB also depending on how much money i can scrape up. I would rather spend more on a quality loop for CPU only now then a mediocre loop for CPU and NB now.

So.... my question, why should i go the 3/8" route over the 1/2"? The more detail the better.

TIA

cheebs :)

[Darv]

Because low flow is better :p

Seriously though:

You can cool anything and everything without having to worry about flow restrictions. HDD, mosfet coolers etc are only really viable with smaller tubing.

It's far quieter because you don't need a powerful pump or powerful fans on the rad.

It's more tidy and far easier to fit in tight spaces.

It looks the dogs nads!!! (AquaTube!!!!)

Plug and cool connectors are a god send. They're so easy to use!


/edit
Welcome to WizD btw :)

[Edd]

^Everything he said :)
And thin tubes look so much better than the gigantor-tubes that people try and cram into small cases, but would be more at home in a car wash!

[Starbuck3733T]

Or, sometimes in my case (literally) you've got the room to use 1/2". Goliath is so big it doesn't matter really, and the hardpart is worrying about getting other 1/2" components!

This is the first and only WC rig i've built, i'll be doing low-flow on my next build (the home theater PC)

[Edd]

Yeah the big pipes look good in bigger cases (especially Goliath, where EVERYTHING is big :D). I just don't understand the "small case, huge pipes" mentality. I mean, how do people ever do maintainance inside??

[dutchcedar]

Big tubing or little tubing, even the "in-between" stuff... they all have their place. I would be hard pressed to choose one over the other (and have used everything in a PC from 1/4" through 5/8") without knowing what the system will be used for, what case it's going in, what pump is used and what blocks are being used. :rant:

The rig I'm running now has 3/8", 1/2" and 5/8" I.D. tubing (all 1/8" wall) and is working great and is easier to change things on than most air cooled rigs.

All that said, me thinks it's best to size the tubing to the set-up, not the set-up to the tubing. ^_^

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

I also think the 'higher performance' of hi flow systems is more about bragging rights then real world usefulness. Theres only a few degrees difference between hi flow and lo flow systems and its not going to effect the performace of your rig. So long as its running stabley, the cooling is doing its job. ;)

[fivecheebs]

thanks for the welcome Darv :)

I didnt realise that adding extra blocks to a loop will effect low flow less than high flow. Thats good to know thanks.
Big tubing or little tubing, even the "in-between" stuff... they all have their place. I would be hard pressed to choose one over the other (and have used everything in a PC from 1/4" through 5/8") without knowing what the system will be used for, what case it's going in, what pump is used and what blocks are being used
This loop will be going in an Antec midi tower, same size as hexadragon iirc. Its going to be cooling an overclocked barton 2500+ and be on almost 24/7. As for pumps and blocks i really dont know, thats why i posted this thread as i thought i should decide tube size first. I didnt know you could / should have all those different tube sizes in a loop, what are the advantages of those?

I also think the 'higher performance' of hi flow systems is more about bragging rights then real world usefulness. Theres only a few degrees difference between hi flow and lo flow systems and its not going to effect the performace of your rig. So long as its running stabley, the cooling is doing its job
Well, if i was sensible i would just stick with my SLK800 and just back off the overclock as ambient temps increase, but im not sensible :wacko: ! Im not to worried about noise as i dont have to sleep close to my rig and when im using it i allways wear headphones, however, it is in an unventilated loft room and as a result as summer creeps forwards ambient temps increase a fair ammount (last summer max ambient temp i saw was 35 c and it lasted a while). Obviously this does not help the HSF to keep the CPU at an acceptible level and i want to address this before the weather warms up to much. A degree here or there im not worried about .... a few degrees could effect my choice.

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

If you were sensible you wouldnt be on here disscusing water cooling! :p I'm cooling an overclocked XP2500 and a Radeon 9800 Pro off a single fan rad and my PC also pretty much runs 24/7. My temps top out at 42C max.

I'm completly cooled by aqua computer btw ;)

[dutchcedar]

I didnt know you could / should have all those different tube sizes in a loop, what are the advantages of those?You can read the hows and whys of what I did over here... http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=41&type=expert ;)

[Pug]

Hiya cheebs, nice to see you here. B)


There's been some hugely useful points made here already (thx guys) but dutch hit the nail on the head with the fact of sizing the tubing to the system, rather than the other way around.

If you're going for a complete system from a single manufacturer, odds are that your tubing size is going to be predetermined by them anyway.
At one end of the scale, you have the AquaComputer stuff, as in my HexaDragon setup running off a 5Watt pump
If you have high flow blocks in mind, you'll need to shell out for a pump that can provide the flow/pressure they require and provide an adequate hose passage to maintain that high flow.

My next Project may well be "high flow" by comparison to Hex but it'll still only be 3/8" ID max or thereabouts (unless I base it on blocks from yesteryear ;)).

I'll be able to introduce a couple of new hose options in a more widespread fashion soon, 8/10mm Compression Fittings and 8/10mm PushFits to help people mix & match a bit between systems and components, so mebbe we'll have a medium-flow niche for people to settle in and mebbe reap the pros & cons of both approaches. :h34r:

[bigZ]

Why did I opt for 8/10mm tubing?

I decided that it looked much tidier in comparison to 1/2" tubing, and I preferred the looks of the blocks. I haven't been disappointed at all, I keep a mobile barton at 2700MHz+ under control with this cooling, and I could probably go a good deal higher too.

The only problem at the moment is, that I have a prometeia. I was forced into buying another motherboard to make a second NForce2 based system, which will house my water loop, just because I enjoy running the 8mm tubing rig that I have. It's quiet, and has good performance; what more could I ask for? ^_^

[fivecheebs]

Cheers for the advice lads... im going to go read about dutchcedar's project now, re-read the hexadragon log, and Ill see if i can find your thread on Bit also bigZ. Ive realised ive probably forgotten alot of info that would be useful now.

I am still unsure of how to decide what i want, and what is the best choice for the system, however i am taking myself back round to the low/med flow option. Surely, unless the case is particularly well designed, a 1/2" or larger loop makes it hard to do any maintenance inside the case. Apart from it looking cluttered in my less than huge case.

Please brace yourselves for some more questions shortly....