Switched from dual loop to single loop

Elganja

Platinum Member
May 21, 2007
2,143
24
81
From this thread, some of you may have known I had a pump fail. It made me think twice about my setup and I decided to switch to a single loop system.

I made the switch from dual loop to single loop for various reasons:

  • it is more simple to deal with just 1 loop rather then 2
  • running a serial setup, so I have peace of mine of one pump fails (in dual loop, i had a pump fail. so this was very important to me)
  • things run cooler, you almost never use your cpu and gpu at max at the sametime. So what happens? the thing that needs more radiator, in a sense, gets it. The downside, is that the thing that doesn't, gets hotter
I'll just give you an idea of temps:

  • my previous setup was 2 MCP355's, 2 Loops... these temps are after the computer warmed up and was on for about 1 hour (ambients 25C)
    • idle (water temps: 35C):
      • -CPU ~44C
      • -GPU ~48C
    • load:
      • -CPU ~60C (water temps: 48C)
      • -GPU ~65C (water temps: 53C)
  • single loop, serial setup, 2 PMP-400's (still have 1 working MCP355 for backup)... these temps are after the computer warmed up and was on for about 1 hour (ambients 25C)idle:
    • idle (water temps: 35C):
      • -CPU ~40C
      • -GPU ~44C
    • load:
      • -CPU ~53C (water temps: 44C)
      • -GPU ~55C (water temps: 45C)
    • just a quick note, when the gpu is at load, the cpu temps are about 2-3C warmer then in the dual loop setup. Not a big deal at all.
I've got to say, I'm pretty happy with the single loop setup... temps are just awesome! Will post new pics soon...
 
Last edited:

OVerLoRDI

Diamond Member
Jan 22, 2006
5,490
4
81
Nice little comparison.

Ironically I was thinking about going the opposite direction since I might be going triple 6970 crossfire when bulldozer comes out. That would put my loop at 4 blocks, and 2 rads on one loop, and I'd like to add another rad to lower temps. Not sure how I'll split the loop yet, but I kind of want to isolate my CPU since my GPUs run 100% 24/7 and three of them might keep the CPU too warm.