2 water cooling loops 2nd opinion

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I have a good understanding of water cooling and have had conversations with several reputable vendors, ie, Dan from Danger Den, & Gary from Sidewinder Computers, and the gentleman from Petra's Tech shop regarding components and loop set up. I can't for the life of me understand why so many people put the radiator first in the loop after the pump. The vendors I've spoken with and myself run the from the res/t-line -->pump-->cpu, then to whatever else needs to be cooled. My current loop is res->pump->cpu->gpu->rad->res. If you go to www.dangerden.com and look at their install videos and review their instructions, you will see what I'm saying. By no means is my loop the de facto standard, however it does make sense. When I see the radiator then the cpu block I have to scratch my head. In the grand scheme of things, loop order will boil down to convenience, however I would like to entertain the logic of your suggestion or set up. I'm in this for the fun and the learning experience . Below is a reply that I had with Dan from Danger Den regarding my next build:

Hi Anthony,

Thanks for asking, the best way to go would be with a single loop system and a Triple radiator, much cleaner and you will get great cooling for all your gear with one of the TFC 360s or the GTX 360 radiators.
Splitting the flow from a single pump limits the flow to each side which can cause for higher temps and not good when OCing.

Whenever you go with split flows and loops it can be messy as well as costly so a Triple radiator will easily cool your Phenom, dual 4870X2s as well as your NB, Sb and mosfets depending on what board you get My last setup is Phenom with dual 4870x2s as well as the north bridge (couldn't get the south bridge because the GPUs are in the way) all cooled with a TFC 360 and low speed Yateloons with great temps.
The main thing when it comes to OCing is heat and removing as much as possible so it comes down to how much radiator/s radiators will be needed, the easiest thing to say is "more is better" or "fit as much as you can" A couple 240s will give you more surface area than a single 360 but I would not split the flow into to loops. If I was to go with two loops I would use two pumps and keep both loops separate. Just keep them inline (example Pump-CPU-NB-SB-Mosfet-1st 240 rad-GPU-GPU-2nd 240 rad and back to pump) or (Pump-CPU-NB-SB-Mosfet-GPU-GPU-360 rad and back to pump)

My flow is CPU-NB-GPU-GPU-360 and back to the pump so the best routing is really how ever the best flow and tubing runs will be with out too many bends and turns and no kinking of the tubing.

We like to do it both way with the exhausting the cases depending on where the rads and fans are set up, if the radiator and fans are in the front of the case we like to pull air in though the front and through the radiator (keeps the flow off us or other sitting near the front of the cases) if in the back then have it pushing out the back for the same reason

Please let me know if I confused you more than helped.

Best regards
Dan Stephens

Well component placement affect certain loops.

Take for example a loop with a few blocks thats restrictive. For example a EK supreme & add a few more blocks to the loop. You would want a pump with the highest head pressure you can get. This causes turbulence in the blocks & the higher the turbulence the better heat transfer you get.

With a very restrictive loop you'll want max pressure on the loops so it would make sense to make the loop order that the pump will be the first component before the blocks.

The Fluid temps will eventually reach a constant through out the loop, so it does'nt matter where the rad is placed, but the most important thing will be that the res is placed right infront of the pump.

I'm no expert in watercooling & i'm only sharing my very limited knowledge with you.

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Did you read the OP? He is planning to have CPU+1 4870x2 on one loop, then the second x2 and NB/SB on another loop at a later time.

I'd put the cpu on its own loop, the rest on the GPU loop. The CPU is the most temp critical component.

NB,SB, v-reg's and all that I just use good HSF's on. But if you want them just throw them in with the GPU's, flow and head wont be nearly as critical in that loop.

I always run my loop res-pump-CPU-any other blocks. The main thing is to have your res right before the pump so it wont be starved for water. If you would have to run a lot of extra tubing to get it in that config just run it however, very much extra tubing would defeat the purpose of it. Just always res before pump.

I've just always gotten a little better temp's with the CPU block right after the rad. Its not much but WC'ing is a matter of slight dgree's, they all add up to the diffeence between a good OC'ing rig or a so-so rig.

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Pumps generate heat (a small amount, but nonetheless heat).

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The liquid in the system reaches equilibrium so that heat doesn't matter. Ira, I noticed that you set your loops up in the same fashion that I do, any thoughts your loop order preference?