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Liquid Cooling - Recommendations?
ransim
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I've been putting this off, but I think I finally want to take the dive and try out liquid cooling on my machine along with getting a second video card for SLI.
Current Specs:
Core i7 920
Intel DX58SO Mobo
6 GB DDR3 PC3-12800 (Patriot Viper)
EVGA 260 GTX 896MB Core 216
Zalman 750W SLI PSU
Case: NZXT Alpha
The machine is amazing as it is, but, what can I say I'm a sucker for moar, and I really want to try SLI. I'm just worried about heat. And I'll admit I'm a noob when it comes to Liquid cooling for the most part.
What I'm looking for is something that is relatively low maintenance, preferably a factory sealed system. I'm most interested in getting liquid cooling onto the CPU, but if its possible to do it on the GPU(s) as well that would be awesome. Though I'm not sure there are any factory sealed type system that would do both the CPU and the GPUs.
I'm looking for some personal experiences and recommendations. I'm fairly savvy with computer bits/pieces and building, so don't worry you probably won't scare me. I can also snag some pictures later if anyone is interesting/wants to see the inside of my case.
Current Specs:
Core i7 920
Intel DX58SO Mobo
6 GB DDR3 PC3-12800 (Patriot Viper)
EVGA 260 GTX 896MB Core 216
Zalman 750W SLI PSU
Case: NZXT Alpha
The machine is amazing as it is, but, what can I say I'm a sucker for moar, and I really want to try SLI. I'm just worried about heat. And I'll admit I'm a noob when it comes to Liquid cooling for the most part.
What I'm looking for is something that is relatively low maintenance, preferably a factory sealed system. I'm most interested in getting liquid cooling onto the CPU, but if its possible to do it on the GPU(s) as well that would be awesome. Though I'm not sure there are any factory sealed type system that would do both the CPU and the GPUs.
I'm looking for some personal experiences and recommendations. I'm fairly savvy with computer bits/pieces and building, so don't worry you probably won't scare me. I can also snag some pictures later if anyone is interesting/wants to see the inside of my case.
ransim on
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Other than that, you're better off making your own for performance
You do not want an expensive cooling system unless you know exactly how each part of it works
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
Well I'm fairly familiar with the basics of a liquid cooling system. Its a pump, radiator, reservoir, water blocks, and of course the tubing. I looked into it several years ago but didn't really see a need at the time.
Looking at the H50 its CPU only. I've seen a few other factory sealed ones, but they're all CPU only. That was really more of a pipe dream then anything else. And I guess I should just assume I'm not going to get some nice easy lazy part. :P
What can I say I like moar but I try for lazy when I can.
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
I guess I should clarify. I am a noob when it comes to liquid cooling systems in a PC. I do have experience with them in relation to liquid cooling in a car. So I am familiar with the concept, what I'm really not as familiar with is the specific brands/kits and set ups available on a PC.
I do know I want something that won't require a ridiculous amount of maintenance, yearly/bi-yearly is fine. I also don't want something horribly complicated since I will most likely be doing it on a second machine once my other half starts drooling over my SLi set up (his machine is identical).
I don't think I have much of a choice though if I want to do SLi, I really don't see air cooling doing it once I have two of those video cards in there.
Its even less needed now.
o_O Thank you for a non-answer.
Apparently not the place to ask this question. I'm going to check out a few other forums that are a bit more focused on liquid cooling for some recommendations. I like PA though so I figured I would check here first.
Mod: Feel free to close this thread.
What's he's saying is that super hot CPUs that need liquid coolings are a thing of the past.
With the manufacturing process getting so much smaller in scale, and CPU's becoming more efficient by adding more cores instead of just gigahertz, they are becoming a lot cooler to run. Also, today's heatsinks have large fans up to 120mm or more in size which make no noise due to the fact they have to rotate less to move the same amount of air.
Even overclocked computers don't need liquid coolants anymore.
DangerDen TDX CPU Block
DangerDen 8800GTX GPU Block
DangerDen BlackIce Single 120mm Radiator
DangerDen BlackIce Single 120mm Radiator
DangerDen (basic) Pump
4 feet of Tygon Anti-kink Tubing
2 Fill Ports
Case: Silverstone TJ-08
I have some pictures at home, I'll link them when I get back, but the set up is pretty simple. I did a test fit by installing the CPU block on the motherboard, the GPU block on the video card, then the radiators in the case (I have one on the front, one on the back). With these in place, I planned the loop and cut the tubing to length with scissors. Then I figured in a couple of Y joins so that my fill port in the top of the case could be used for filling and the one in the bottom of the case could be used for draining.
To test it without risking danger to the hardware, I filled the loop, messed with tilting the case until all the air bubbles were out, then only connected the PSU and the Green and Blank wires on the motherboard's wire loom (paper clip). Turning on the PSU let the pump get power, but nothing else was plugged in. No leaks 24 hours later and I was in business.
I've done a bit of reading and from what I've found it seems like two loops are recommending on a SLi build. So I may be able to do a modified version of that.
CPU Loop
Res --> Pump --> Radiator --> CPU block --> Back to res
GPU's
Res --> Pump --> Rad --> GPUs --> Res
Optionally I could run the NB/VReg through the second loop too:
Res --> Pump --> Rad --> GPUs --> Chipset --> Vreg --> Res
I was looking at DangerDen and Swifttek actually. If you've had good luck for two years now with DangerDen thats a positive mark for it me.
What sort of fittings did you use? And what size tubing?
Thanks, I do appreciate it, this is exactly the sort of things I was looking for.
Yes, but if you read my post I'm talking about the CPU AND two GPUs. Right now my machine is running with the CPU and a single GPU on air cooling. But it gets hot, especially if I'm gaming a lot and pushing the video card. The moment I add a second video card in there its going to get even hotter, sure I could buy heavy end after market fans. But I kinda like the idea of water cooling at this point. Especially if I want to try and overclock my CPU too.
But trust me, I ran a 805d OC'd to 4 Ghz for three years on my old machine with just air cooling and no issue. However that machine also only had a GeForce 5700, which heatwise is NOTHING compared to what my GTX 260 puts off.
And really if I'm going to water cool my GPUs it just seems a bit silly to not go ahead and go the CPU and maybe even chipset too.
A couple 120mm aftermarket gpu fans and you will never have to worry about noise or heat.
Beware, running everything in the same loop is going to be incredibly tough to keep cool.
And really, at some point your going to need fans anyway to cool off the water, there's no way you can passive cool that rig effectively without massive radiators. You're going to need fans anyway.
It's just a waste, heatsink and fan technology is superior for most applications.
I would recommend keeping your CPU/NB/anything else on a loop with 1 120mm radiator (or a dual 120mm, whatever your case will allow). The video cards could run off two single 120mms or, alternatively, 1 dual/triple 120mm radiator, again, depending on the room your case allows for.
I don't run a resevoir, either. My fill port in the top acts as an indicator tube - when it gets near the Y join, I fill it up (usually 4oz of distilled water). In the 2 years it's been running, I've only ever used distilled water and it remains clear to this day.
Advice: Don't. Avoid it completely. Use heatsinks, clean them regularly, use fans, clean them regularly. Heat issues with air cooling don't come from air cooling being that much worse but rather because people neglect maintenance.
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
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Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981