[SOLVED] GPU cooling (first-timer)

[Phosphonothioic]

I have an MSI RTX 2070 Super OC Ventus and would like to explore liquid cooling for it. I have only ever used AIO CPU coolers, so this is completely new territory for me.

I saw there is a block for the card, but I have no idea what I'm looking at in terms of getting everything installed and running.

I'm assuming there's no AIO solution here, so I'm really looking for any insight any of you may have about the process and how I can go about doing it successfully. No advice is bad advice. The more info the better.😁

Thanks!

 

[Barty1884]

There 'are' AIO solutions out there, although they don't tend to cool the memory, which can be problematic (NZXT G12 + compatible AIO).

Honestly, custom cooling anything but the top tier card of a generation rarely makes any sense.
By the time you factor in the block ($100), pump, reservoir ($100), radiator & fans (~$100), you'd be better off putting that money into a higher-tier level of card.

2070Super money (<$500 USD) + what you'd spend on custom cooling (~$300) puts you into 2080 Super territory - including 2080Super's that are liquid cooled out of the box (MSI SeaHawk, EVGA FTW3 Hybrid Gaming, Aorus Wateforce)

 

[Gmoney06ss]

There 'are' AIO solutions out there, although they don't tend to cool the memory, which can be problematic (NZXT G12 + compatible AIO).

Honestly, custom cooling anything but the top tier card of a generation rarely makes any sense.
By the time you factor in the block ($100), pump, reservoir ($100), radiator & fans (~$100), you'd be better off putting that money into a higher-tier level of card.

2070Super money (<$500 USD) + what you'd spend on custom cooling (~$300) puts you into 2080 Super territory - including 2080Super's that are liquid cooled out of the box (MSI SeaHawk, EVGA FTW3 Hybrid Gaming, Aorus Wateforce)

Agreed. Looking at $300 easy, and that's with a budget pump. With a d5 or ddc add 50ish. Plus another 50 for fittings and tubing, more if you need anything other than straight fittings. Coolant is another 10-20, though could be omitted for distilled water with some growth inhibitors. This is all considering a 240mm rad, add another 30-50 for a 360mm.

Do you have space in your current case? If not, add another 1-200 bucks. Will you still have adequate airflow for the cpu with a radiator mounted? As well as the pump/res taking up space.

Then you just did all this for basically aesthetic purposes. May a few mhz on the core, but only if you're running hot currently. And unless you get good fans, itll likely be noisy!

I'm a huge fan of custom loops and will usually not say not to. But realize it's a large money sink. Performance doesn't necessarily make up for it either. You likely wont see anymore then a few mhz difference. Temps will certainly be better, but at the cost of a second gpu! And again, unless using top quality fans may even be louder.

 

[grimfox]

Water cooling is a hobby. It's rarely needed and rarely cost effective. I started water cooling because my PC was still doing well and "I wanted to do it" Not because the system was overheating.

That said a good pump will last through a couple of systems. So you can take it from one build to the next. But the blocks will get you. The cheapest EK blocks are about 100USD. You can almost never take them from one card to the next. So if you want to upgrade and take your water cooling system with you, you'll need to add 200-250USD for new blocks. Probably some new fittings and new tubing as well.

If you are set on this route. Look at getting a kit and adding on to it. There can be 20-30% savings getting a kit from EK vs buying your parts piecemeal. If you go to their "gaming" line (of all aluminum parts) you can save another 20-30%(rough est.) on top of that. But note that their gaming line doesn't have broad compatibility particularly with GPU blocks. You can't, and shouldn't, add anything other than aluminum parts to the gaming line. Even something small like a brass fitting or temp sensor can cause corrosion that'll eat away that fitting or the fins on the blocks.