Two 240mm radiators or one 480mm radiator?

Hardware Hub Cooling
1

I've been thinking of making my own custom loop, and had the above question. All I really wanted to know was which of the two options gave the coldest temps. Going under the assumption that all radiators are using the same fans, coolant and are made by the same brand.

thanks, Spirol

2

If the radiators are similarly spec-ed then there would be no difference between them. Though running multiple radiators might increase flow restriction compared to a single one. The only thing I think is going to determine the possible difference is how you are going to mount them.

3

the biggest u can get is usually better because you can put more radiator.  What i would focus more instead of length is width of a radiator.  You can make up a 480 with a rly thick 240.

This may not be 100% accurate but it's my rule of thumb.  If you have a video card and cpu that you want to cool, a radiator in between usually helps more than having a longer radiator.  For example, lets say i have a cpu clocked at 4.7 ghz either i7 or FX-8350 so it'll run a little hot, then have 2 x radeon 7970's running in crossfire running at around 1250mhz which is quite common in liquid cooling.  I would want to have two 240 rads instead of a single 480 because i'd want  the radiator to cool the water from cpu after running and then after the video cards as well to make sure the waters heat dissipates for the next loop the water makes. 

4

I'm not well educated in watercooling, but it would seem to me that if you plan on including your CPU and GPU(s) in the loop, you could put a radiator in between the two components in the loop's cycle for slightly better cooling. I will probably be corrected here.

5

Screw it! Just get 4x 120mm radiators and mount them everywhere.

6

Indeed you shall. Placing a radiator between components makes no difference. Since, the fluid is moving so quickly, it doesn't have time to heat up and transfer heat to other components. You won't see a degree of difference, because the temp of fluid is consistent around the entire loop. It really doesn't matter how you set your loop up. The only rule is the the reservoir goes before the pump.