4-Way Hybrid GPUs Radiator Mounting on Bottom

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lakerwiz

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Mar 21, 2016
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Hello,

I am installing up to 4 EVGA 980ti Hybrid GPUs into my Phanteks Enthoo Primo and was wondering what the best placement/ proper placement for the radiators would be to optimize cooling and avoid issues. The machine is to be used with Octane Render, and to clarify, they will not be used in SLI since the software stacks CUDA cores linearly and SLI actually hinders performance.

I am contemplating mounting one of them on the bottom as to not disrupt the airflow of the case, however I've heard that mounting the radiator below the GPU can cause problems.

What is the best way to mount the 4 radiators in addition to my Corsair h100i v2 and still maintain good airflow with the remaining fan slots?

The case has the following fan slots:

Front: 2X120
Top: 4X120
Rear: 2X120
Bottom: 4X120

Thanks for your reply in advance!
 
Solution
JackNaylorPE


a) Maintenance ? This isn't the 90s, we have engineered coolants these days.... the same coolants in your Corsair H100i. That pic you see is a workstation...
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Thanks for the reply and drawing, definitely got the message across. I heard that you're not supposed to mount radiators below the GPU/ CPU as it causes problems with air bubbles/ can burn out the radiator. Is this true? Can't seem to find any additional info on placing the radiator beneath the GPUs. I also saw some people using the radiators as a front intake, but I really can't see how it doesn't drastically affect the internal temperatures of the case.

 
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980ti cards produce a fair amount of heat, I wouldn't use their radiators as intake.

There will inevitably be bubbles in every loop, but the danger in putting the radiator below the card is that the bubbles could settle in the pump. Please turn this system on its side once a month, then the danger is minimal.
 
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So just by rotating the system on its side it will help clear out bubbles settling in the pump? Will it immediately fix it when putting it on its side or do I need to run the machine on its side for a certain amount of time?

The other solution I was thinking of would be to place the CPU radiator at the furthest front section of the top exhaust, then placing 2 of the GPU radiators at the remaining top exhaust section, and the final 2 radiators at the 2 rear exhaust locations, leaving the 2X front and 4X bottom fan locations as intakes. Would this work?
 
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I wouldn't put all those radiators up top. If we cover the entire top of the machine with radiators, the weight may cause the top of the case to sag over time. That wouldn't be optimal at all.

Will putting it on its side fix it immediately? Yes and no. You don't need to run it on its side, you just need to leave it that way for a few minutes. Moving bubbles in closed loops is more than just letting them float, but letting pressures in the tubes equalize to the new direction of gravity. This takes up to two minutes when the pumps are not moving. I would not recommend turning the system on its side while it's running, but you can turn it on once it's already on its side if you want to. It's just not a good idea to move a system with actively moving pumps inside.
 
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I have the case with 2 radiators and 16 fans; installing hybrids in it is a seriously bad idea.

1. Hybrids don't cool the VRM. Stacking 4 cards with minimal cooling of the VRMS will surely limit the performance.

2. The H100i doesn't cool as well as an air cooler.

3. The 4 hybrids will not install side by side in 120mm fan slots ... your hoses must come out somewhere

4. Radiator fans always blow in... the Primo's exhaust grille will provide all necessary exhaust needs

This is a custom loop application all the way tho there are other options... much depends on what you have versus what you are adding. If that's scary you, options would include:

Asus 980 Ti Poseidons
MSI Seahawk EKs 1080s

(2) MCR-X20 Drive Rev3 Series Heat Exchangers with Integrated Pump and Reservoir
http://www.swiftech.com/mcr-x20-drive-rev3.aspx
installed in top and bottom off case, one will handle GPUs 1 and 2, 2nd would handle GPUs 3 and 4

Use your H100i mounted in front ... I know a rad fits, dunno about the H100i tho

If it were me, I'd use a Swiftech 35X2 pump with 480mm rads in top and bottom and EK Full cover water blocks (Pump => Bottom Rad => GPUs 1 & 2 in parallel => GPUs 3 & 4 in Parallel => Top Rad => CPU => Small Res +> Pump

Here's an image of that case with 2-way SLI, tubing would be run just like that for cards 3 and 4 from right to left, then after rejoining the parallel flows, re-splitting and going right to left

700






 
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It's a proof of concept thing ... rarely done otherwise as addition of 3rd and 4th card brings very little additional performance. No long officially supported w/ 10xx series. But OP actually is not doing "SLI"

 
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I have a 420 Rad on top of that case.... I could add 8 more and the case would not sag... the weight is miniscule. Many others in the Enthoo Promo thread ob overclock.net hav e 45mm, 60mm and even 80mm thick Monsta Rads in that case w/o issue. Those cheap aluminum rads used in CLCs are featherweights by comparison.

Bleeding a loop is a heckuva lot more than that. In a open loop, it involves a bleed valve and days of attention as the coolant will continue to outgas for several days. Bleeding the loop does involve tilting and turning (usually forward or back, not side) and always while pump is running.

In a closed loop, there is no bleeding... you can tilt and turn all you want but the fluid will both outgas and absorb gases over time because there is no way to bleed it.

 
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Unfortunately a custom loop isn't an option for us since we can't afford the downtime for maintenance, etc. Thus the hybrid cards are perfect for our needs, however we're trying to keep the machine as stable as possible for continuous use. I guess the other option would be to go with 3 hybrid cards and a reference style card as the 4th and hope the temps aren't too high? Or mount 2 of the radiators to the top alongside the h100i v2 and the other 2 to the rear fan slots, the bottom one being for the bottom card so the radiator is at least at almost the same height as the gpu.
 
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Point being, open loops can be bled, CLCs can't. If there are any gases in the loop, they will stay in the loop. they may collect at the top point for a while but will be re-absorbed and re-released as weather and usage changes. So you can move the bubbles, but it's not permanent.

 
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a) Maintenance ? This isn't the 90s, we have engineered coolants these days.... the same coolants in your Corsair H100i. That pic you see is a workstation file server built in 2013.... machine is in use 24/7 as office file server, CAD workstation and Flight Sim.

b) If I do change the fluid (no reason to as yet) it involves hooking a drain tube to the quick disconnect fitting and stuffing in a bucket, rinsing with a gallon of DW, and then replacing the coolant.... entire process takes < 10 minutes.... take longer than that to run Windows Update or clean the drive of temp, dmp and other useless files.

Why hybrids are not ideal...

1. It won't fit ... you can't set say the four rads along the bottom because the hoses need to come out somewhere. From a cooling standpoint, you'd be better off w/ air cooled cards.

2. VRAMs will be too hot. and performance will be gimped because of it.

3. Hot coolant and mixed metals violates the 1st rule of water cooling (Alluminum rads / copper blocks) ... galvanic corrosion. Why water coolers don't do that:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/newresponse/3150407

4. The Primo is a HUGE case, I doubt your hoses will reach all your mounting points. I don't see those 9" or so tubes reaching.

Today, as an alternative to CLC solutions with aluminum rads, we have OLCs.... these are identical to CLCs except that:

a) Pumps are adequately sized at 1.0 gpm and high head, unlike the0.11 gpm of CLCs
b) Radiators are copper / brass instead of aluminum giving you twice the heat transfer coefficient
c) No mixed metals
d) Built in reservoir

To give you an example of how big these differences are, consider that the Swiftech H240 X2 / EK Predator has more than twice the pumping power than the H100i and all 4 hybrids combined.

Recognizing that there's no experienced "tinkerer" willing to set up "maintain" a custom loop, this is what you might consider. First let's look at an OLC. It basically looks just like your H100i but it is made from all high end components ... preassembled at the factory and it installs just like the H100i

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnMeoV95TM0

Here's how you add a pre-assemled GPU to an OLC ...takes 10 seconds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq4iNbCD844

What I gave you was a list of parts that would do that, just w/o the quick disconnects.
 
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Solution
wow 4 hybrids cramed in a case ?? should of went with a full loop you sure gave yourself a lot of overhead between all them lines and 4 radiators to have to contend with

4 way hydro copper [or with a ek blocks]

http://forums.evga.com/4Way-SLI-GTX-980-HC-Lots-of-Red-while-Benchmarking-at-Stock-Clocks-m2280368.aspx

https://www.techpowerup.com/gallery/4042/8_0_547.jpg

http://forums.evga.com/download.axd?file=1;2315937&where=&f=wow hunter 2 pic4.jpg

neat and clean


4 hybrids ? I feel for ya bud

http://forums.evga.com/GTX-980ti-Hybrid-70c-m2522976.aspx
 
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Hi Lakerwiz.
I know this is an old thread but did you ever get the 4 hybrid coolers to work?
Do you have any pics?

I am looking at exactly the same case and GPUs but will be running 2 xeons with Corsair H45 attached too so 6 AIO coolers

I will also be using this rig for octane render FTW

If this doesnt work I may just wait for the single slot 1070s to come down in price and buy 7
 
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Hey!

As a matter of fact, it did work, but not in the Phanteks case. Tried a few options but the main issue is radiators are actually bigger than the fan sizes they represent. Ended up going with the Thermaltake core X5 case and have no problem fitting 6 single 120 aio radiators just on the top of the case. Currently I have an h100i and 4 aio radiators from hybrid GPUs. The case also has insane modularity and space for additional fans at the rear, front, and bottom for amazing airflow. The cards never go above 45 on full load, cpu overclocked and at full load doesn't go above 58.

Hope this helps!
 
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Thanks for this. I hadn't heard of this case. I will look into it and see if it can fit my SSI EEB size mobo without too many problems. Hoping to get some good Octane bench results out of this puppy and speed up my workflow.

Thanks again
 
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Should work! I have the ASUS X99 E WS motherboard and it fits perfectly. I'm pretty sure the case can fit any motherboard even though it doesn't list it on the case specs. Has ton's of modularity and plenty of space/ holes for bigger boards than my own.
 
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