7970 Crossfire Waterblock Help

gustafangus

Honorable
Jan 20, 2013
593
0
11,160
Hello everyone,
My 7970's are overheating, and I would like to make a custom WAter loop. However, my cards are the Sapphire 11197-03-40g. Apparently they arent REFERENCE. Are there any FULL Waterblocks for them? I want to also OC my core to 1150-1200. I already have the rest of the water loop "figured out" and will post the full specs here soon.

Thanks :)
 
Solution
OK, just got back and had time to review your question, lets do this.

The image below shows the best method for setting up your loop (sorry for the crappy sketch):
z3qkAkz.jpg


Putting a radiator at the bottom of your case isn't a good idea, you will get nowhere near the performance of on places at the top.

Thermal Paste:
Use the double X pattern but don't use too much, most people pour thermal compound on their chips and it makes a huge mess, if you use the right amount you should be able to put the copper adapter on with almost no paste coming out of the sides into the blue areas. Then you'll add another layer of thermal paste on top of the copper plate to make contact with the waterblock. The RAM...

P1nnacle

Distinguished
I'm not sure you'll be able to find what you're looking for, it's very hard to find full blocks for non reference boards (I'm actually using GTX 580 waterblocks on my 570s because they changed the reference design early in the production). You'll probably have to buy just a chip cooler if you still want to W/C your GPUs.
 

gustafangus

Honorable
Jan 20, 2013
593
0
11,160


I guess something like a Swiftech Mcw82 or this:
http://www.coolingconfigurator.com/upload/pictures/EK-VGA_Supremacy_CP_800.jpg
Would work well? But that means gettig additional heatinks for the vrm and stuff... Could you help me piick out some heatsinks for the VRM?
 

P1nnacle

Distinguished
Dang, thought that might have been our golden ticket. I'm not very familiar with non full blocks, so I can try to give you guidance, but that's about it. For passive heat sinks, just about any should work, there really isn't that much in a difference of quality, you just need to buy the right size.
 

corvetteguy1994

Distinguished
also when you put on the heat sink adhesive do it the best you can cause once its cured its there for good and trying to get it off without ripping of the ram is not an easy task. talking from experience.

 

gustafangus

Honorable
Jan 20, 2013
593
0
11,160


What about thermal pads?
 

gustafangus

Honorable
Jan 20, 2013
593
0
11,160


Thank you very much for helping me. So, i guess the only way to do this is to get a gpu-only waterblock. So, like a Swiftech mcw82 or something from EK, like i posted yesterday. Also, how do i know what "size" heatsinks to buy, arent, there some that have to be larger and longer ect?
 

P1nnacle

Distinguished


Yes, you should see if you can buy a kit or you may just have to pull your heatsink off and measure the components. Thermal pads or thermal paste are both acceptable means of heat transfer materials.
 

gustafangus

Honorable
Jan 20, 2013
593
0
11,160
Isn't there a part of the VRM that controlls the voltage of the core or something? Would i still be able to get a nice 1100-1200mhz core OC with just a Gpu Water block and heatsinks? One of things i also want to achieve with this is to lower the profile of the card cooling, because the card coolers now take up 2 and 1/2 bracket of space, and I cant lower my 2 card down to the 8x slot. They are now suffocating from the 1/2 space between them.

Oh, but then again, gpu-only block loop makes the build $100 cheaper! Yay! :D
 

gustafangus

Honorable
Jan 20, 2013
593
0
11,160


So, I finnaly had the chance to put "something" together... anyway, can you tell me what else should i get and how this is compatible... Really, i never even wanted to know about watercooling so i know very little... I'm mostly wondering 'bout the barb/gpu block and tube/barb compatibility... So... here it is...

kemcalon.jpg


And here are the parts for it: :D

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/16991/ex-blc-1221/EK_VGA_Supremacy_Universal_High_Performance_VGA_Cooling_Block_-_Acetal_Nickel_EK-VGA_Supremacy_-_AcetalNickel.html X2

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2121/ex-mis-01/38_ID_-_12OD_PVC_Clear_Tubing.html x10 (10feet, you this it'll be enough?)

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2128/ex-pmp-27/Swiftech_MCP655-B_12v_Water_Pump_w_38_Conversion_Kit_317_GPH.html x1

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/15648/ex-res-352/Alphacool_Repack_Dual_525_Acrylic_Reservoir_-_Clear_-_Revision_2_15033.html 1x

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/14916/ex-rad-334/Alphacool_NexXxoS_XT45_Full_Copper_Single_120mm_Radiator.html x2

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/15236/ex-tub-1210/Alphacool_G14_Thread_38_10mm_ID_FatBoy_Barb_-_Chrome.html x12 (or how much do i need?)

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/11441/ex-tub-705/IandH_Silver_KillCoils_-_Antimicrobial_999_Fine_Silver_Tubing_Reservoir_Strip.html

Oh, for coolant... distilled water?

Apart from silver coils, what else do i need?

thanks :)
 

P1nnacle

Distinguished


Sorry mate, been out of town. That all looks good, my comments would be that both the reservoir and pump are too much for your system. I only counted 8 barbs for your system, correct me if I'm wrong. Distilled Water and a Silver coil are all I use, and 10 ft of tubing is enough for 2-3 retubings usually.
 

gustafangus

Honorable
Jan 20, 2013
593
0
11,160
So, the barbs and the tubing is compatible?
And what did you mean with "pump & res. too much for your system"? Should i get a weaker pump? Because the reservoir will be used to fill & refill the loop. What pump do you reccomend?
Oh, and does the waterblock need barbs or something else? Like standard water blocks that use compression fittings...?

Thanks again!
 

gustafangus

Honorable
Jan 20, 2013
593
0
11,160


Oh, and also, i thought about getting 2 Y Leakproof splitters to split my loop before the water reaches the gpus because then the upper card won't heat the water up and pass it to the lower card, as shown in the picture as GPU 2. What do you think about this?

like this: http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2288/ex-tub-27/38_UV_Reactive_Leakproof_Y_Fitting.html

Oh, yeah, i think i need 10 barbs, 2 more for the reservoir or do you connect to the res. another way?

pie-man.jpg

 

P1nnacle

Distinguished


The pump is what I would consider overpowered, I use the same one for my 2 GPU + CPU setup, you don't need that much flow for what you're doing. The reservoir is large, I wouldn't get more than a 1 bay res for your gpus. Your waterblock will need barbs, I would recommend you get 90 degree ones though, you won't be able to run your tubing out if you have two cards right next to each other.
 

P1nnacle

Distinguished


You can certainly do that, I ran a parallel setup for a long time. The challenge is keeping all of the tubes air free, more paths means more places for air bubbles to hide. There also isn't that much of a difference in cooling performance, water can absorb a lot of heat. Parallel may be easier for you since it will reduce the amount of sharp turns your tubing has to make.
 

P1nnacle

Distinguished


Yep, the barbs fit the tubing, the pump i would recommend for your build is the Liang DDC, the tubing is attached via barbs to the res.
 

gustafangus

Honorable
Jan 20, 2013
593
0
11,160
I get that the swiftech is an overkill pump, but it's just $5 more expensive... Don't get me wrong, i just think the Swiftech pump had better GPH. But maybe there is a factor I'm missing? Please, again, I'm a noob at Water cooling, so if you could explain your descision, there is no problem with going with the Liang pump!

Oh... What about the heatsinks for the VRM and Memory?

Thanks :)
 

P1nnacle

Distinguished


Well it all depends on the person, some say that slower pumps are better, others say faster. You really need an incredibly small flow rate to actually cool your cards. I have the Swiftech pump you're looking at (also known as Liang D5) with a modified pump top, and I love it. I would recommend the Liang DDC only because it is much smaller than the D5, which for a first time builder, will give you more options and leeway when it comes to pump placement. As for the VRAM heatsinks, you just need to find the size you need (and thermal pads if the heatsinks don't come with). Here's a picture of what you need for the 7970:
SpeicherKK7970klein.png

What sizes though, I'm not sure.
 

gustafangus

Honorable
Jan 20, 2013
593
0
11,160
Well some guy says he bought 0.5 x 0.5 x 0.25 heatsinks for his memory and vrm on a 7950 but i guess the height doesn't really matter... Is it really so sensitive, that if the heatsink is a milimetre or two bigger/shorter on the memory or vrm, something can go wrong?

But wait... Doesn't the ORIGINAL cooler, that i'm currently using have those heatsinks? Or is it all in one cooler...?