Two separate loops, where should I put the second one?
Hi everyone,
I'm quite new to this topic, sorry if this question already came up. I bought an aio solution for my cpu last year and now I want to add a watercooling system to my gpu. Right now the cpu radiator is mounted to the top panel and is pushing. That means afaik I have only two options, mount the gpu radiator to the front panel or outside the case.
I watched some videos and read some articles in which they say the frontpanel is not that good because the pump could be the highest point of the loop, and therefore there could be some issues with circulation. Also Im not sure if pushing hot air inside the case is a good idea. I could mount it so it pushes the air out, but then Im not sure if 6 fans pushing out is good.
Are there any good solution for that? Or would it better to buy a new case + build a close loop for both cpu and gpu?
My system:
AMD 7700x + be quiet! Silent Loop 2 360
Asrock X670E PG Lightning
XFX 7900 XTX Speedster MERC 310 Black Edition
be quiet pure base 500 tower
Thanks in advance and have a great day
Posted Jun 12, 2023, 1:40 PM UTC
The main thing that matters in an open loop is reservoir directly feeding the pump. So, if you are going to buy a pump-res combo unit, then there is no need to worry about the location of it. Just make sure that orientation is correct.
And, regarding the position of the radiator, the front panel is an optimal place to install the radiator. Pull in air from the front and exhaust on top and back. Since you have an AIO for CPU, then you might see a change in temps by a couple of degrees, and it should not affect the performance of your CPU.
IMO, a complete loop for CPU & GPU will be more optimal choice, but if you are tight on budget, then what you want to do will work completely fine.
Thanks for the help! I guess I will try to come up with a solution mounted to the frontpanel. Im not on a budget but Im also very happy about the aio cpu cooling. Perhaps Ill check out a complete loop on my next pc in a few years.
Aafaik there is only a block from alphacool (https://shop.alphacool.com/en/shop/gpu-water-cooling/amd/13551-alphacool-eisblock-aurora-acryl-rx-7900xtx-merc-310-with-backplate). I'm really excited but also a bit nervous about planing and assembling it myself. I will keep posting here for some questions regarding that if that is ok?
Just thought I’d mention that alphacool also makes an AIO for your card, just in case you don’t feel ready to dive into the world of custom loops. As far as I’ve been able to gather it should be possible to remove the pump from the block and do a small modification to the block to make it usable in a custom loop, so if you later down the line want to do a full loop you wouldn’t have to buy a new GPU waterblock.
I saw that too on their gpu configurator, but it seemed to me like a bug, because I could not find it in their shop. But I digged in deeper and found this pdf https://download.alphacool.com/legacy/compatibility%20list%20ATI.pdf in which it says "coming soon". Thanks for the hint
Hmm, that’s weird, just checked their shop and couldn’t find it either. I know with 100% certainty that I’ve seen it in their online shop within the last 7-14 days, because I have the same card as you and are planning to do a custom loop aswell and thus have been browsing their website a lot lately.