Watercooling an XFX 9800GT

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sjdean

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Oct 16, 2008
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At some stage, Im thinking of Water Cooling my PC. This will probably be about six months away, but no harm in getting the info in advance and understanding Water Cooling before I splash out!

So I have two XFX 9800GTs... can't use both of them, because I have a hauppauge WinTV HVR 1300 PCI card in a PCI slot, and these XFX coolers are a fraction larger than a single slot and it interferes with the card.

Alas, I can only use one.

The ridiculously oversized heatsink and fans on the Gigabyte GA-X58 Extreme are so huge that also, between that and a second 9800GT, the first 9800GT that sits bang in the middle starts running at a high 74 degrees at idle and the fans keep speeding up.

So, has anyone watercooled a n XFX 9800GT XXX Edition?

Cheers
Simon
 
Well, I'll say your out many months and beginning to look at WC... Smart you are.

I have the same mobo and been WC for a while. Here is my standard input, no offense, take it as you will, plenty of really good active WC forums, testing links, and stores. I'm Conundrum on many of these, look me up after a solid read etc.

You got months. Become a member, have fun. read a buttload...

............................................

Us guys have done the WC thing, there are basics you gotta know. Take a look, don't take it as a diss on you or a rebuttal, look at as a friend saying "Dude, you gotta know what to say and how to communicate".
.......................................
CPU HS $65
GPU HS and air HS for vram and mosfets $95, full cover block, $100-200
Radiator $60 min, up to $130
Pump $80 +
Resiviour $25
Hose, some barbs and clamps etc (min $25, more like $35)
Fans $15-30

I went top notch and spent close to $600 to cool my CPU and GPU.
First you gotta learn about WC. It's not like walking into Best Buy.
Spend a while (weeks is best for your sanity) at these links.
Look at the hundreds of loops close to your case and components in the stickies, read a couple 50 or so threads over the next week or so, you'll be on the ball to make the right choices and by then know how to put it together.
Not 'Roket Sience', but basic knowledge is required.
And you should spend a few hours on the listed sites reading threads. It's how we learn. Once the goodies show up on your doorstep your on your own.
For your benefit please spend a few days reading a LOT. At the busiest places for WC masters. Guys who have done it for YEARS at OC forums and xtreme forums. It took me a while (I was OCing on air, aftermarket stuff, bios settings, best chipsets etc etc) to learn the language and the tricks to a easy install.

Don't expect miracles or SUPER DOOPER over clocks. What you will get is a quiet system that can handle OC to the max of your hardware IF you buy quality and buy smart. And minor maintenance too, a bonus for the water cooler.

Also while there please read on case mods etc. The radiators are not for small cases, pumps and hose routing, wire management and other things are important. Google your planned case and the word water-cooled in one line. You might get lucky.
............................
Edit: The next paragraph was from 2008. With the advent of the HOT i7 and bigger GPU's, it has changed. A 220 size MIN rad for an i7, you want big overclocks, better go 320 sized rad.
................................

IF you just cool your CPU and your NB if you want, you can get by with a 120.2 sized radiator (RAD). And MAYBE fit in inside depending on your mod skillz. You want to cool your GPU too, you'll need a 120.3 sized rad, and it probably won't fit inside. The rear external rad really works great. No matter what your adding 10lbs to your PC.

Once you got an idea of what is good/bad then start getting your system for WC put together and we'll be glad to help.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/index.php? Not a noob site, but great stickies
http://www.ocforums.com/ My fav, good peeps, know their stuff, less hardcore
http://www.skinneelabs.com/MartinsLiquidLab/
http://www.over-clock.com/ivb/inde [...] opic=20277 A GREAT Europe site
http://www.overclock.net/water-cooling/
http://translate.google.com/transl [...] n&ie=UTF-8 Info on rad testing
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=220593 More rad testing
http://skinneelabs.com/
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=282232

Stores
http://www.dangerden.com/index.php [...] e&Itemid=1
http://www.petrastechshop.com/
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/
http://www.jab-tech.com/
http://www.performance-pcs.com



 
Cool. You forget I'm 51 years old, was building my first PC before the 386 processor was out, I used to teach electronics. I have a i7 965 engineering sample CPU and run TWO massive radiators on my rig. I think your a bit outta your class, you 27 year old.

Your silly statement that his card was worthless and all of us are stupider seeing your post. Next time refrain from posting useless info and post helpful info, noob.
 
So I have two XFX 9800GTs
Click to expand...

Doesnt make any sense to watercool a 8800GT
Click to expand...

I think you missed a generation when you decided to attack what was obsolete.

9800GT > 8800GT

Pretty much same card, but still...technically 'newer generation'.

Sell both your 9800GT's on Ebay for $200 and get yourself something more current with good cooling.
Click to expand...

SLI 9800GT's are nothing to sneeze at. I built a rig for a guy about 5 months ago with 2 eVGA 9800GT's...that thing smokes.
 
Hehe Rubix, he missed that preparing for his trip to Beliz. Which means nothing to us except he's spend a lot of money for no reason when he'll be divorced in 3 years with his happy attitude.

Like we care about his personal life. It's about PC's.
 
I agree. Even though the 200 series is out, the older 9 series are still very powerful (and cheap) when run in SLI. It makes them a great value in that sense, similar to the ATI 4770 story Tom's ran about Crossfiring them. You don't always need the top cards in SLI; sometimes a step or 2 down will yield you 90% of the power for 50% of the cost.
 
Why do you take everything like I'm trying to knock his hardware.
Yes my E6300 is obsolete, but its still faster than a stock E8400 which many people here still recommend. I'm talking facts to the OP, not knocking his hardware. Doesnt make any sense to watercool a 8800GT.
If I wanted to upgrade my system today, I would, but I dont need to, and I have a mortgage, two cars, a boat, and a wedding and honeymoon in Belize that I'd rather pay for.
Go find something to do with your boring life kid.
Click to expand...

You missed the bit where I have 2 9800GT's instead of an 8800GT, and that the current coolers are too oversized to effectively use any slots around it, therefore, if I can find a smaller watercooler which is more efficient than the stock cooler, I can then add that into a fully watercooled system.

You also missed the bit about one 9800GT being sandwiched between another 9800GT and the fins from the Hybrid Silent Cooling fins of the GA-X58 Extreme motherboard that the primary 9800GT runs at 74 degrees at idle.

Perhaps I could go with a GTX and stick with one card, but watercooling is an avenue I have been looking at for a long time, mainly to cut down on the noise... But it would be nice to overclock.

Perhaps like you, I would also like to take full advantage of everything I've paid for and to get the most out of everything for as little as possible. I don't particularly want to sell two 9800GTs on eBay and take up a GTX card. They worked fine on my last motherboard, but there was two pci slots towards the left. Blooming motherboards now have some really bad unusable designs.

Cya
Simon
 
I guess my search is over for the all-knowing swami of watercooling and PC components.

What were we even thinking...trying to offer advice when zipzoom is here?

Seriously pal, it appears that you have decided to take an internet forum topic personally and offer your retribution as snide remarks and pot-shots.

Good luck being taken seriously with a reply like that...even if you did post relevant information jumbled amongst the rants.
 
Zip, you are a total hypocrite. I made clear that my 9800GT idles in excess of 70 degrees only when it is sandwiched between another 9800GT and the heatsink of the X58. There's a bit of an airflow situation hence the thought about watercooling.

You really need to take a step backwards and understand the situation and get your facts right first before jumping in with a load of half baked nonsense calling others childish and telling them to dump two month old equipment.

Look at the way you're speaking zip.

As I've said, Im looking into the possibility of watercooling GPUs for two reasons.

Firstly, I have a watercooling capable motherboard with watercooling capable case. At some stage I would like to watercool my system, and if I can get smaller heatsinks for my two cards (you still haven't been able to answer that question zip) to give better and more efficient cooling then I will do it.

I don't want to sell my cards on eBay and get something else, because frankly, I don't think I'll get the return on investment. But it is one possibility, and I would probably, if needed, swap these two cards for a GTX260.

 
I have to say that personally, another major advantage of WC is that you get rid of those massive heatsink/fan combos on most video cards and replace it with a smaller footprint that cools much better. Yes, you need to buy the block and possibly some RAM sinks (or a full-cover block), but you get a lot better cooling (50% cooler in most cases) than a stock cooler can provide at load.

My 9800GTX ran 78C at load (I just wanted to see how hot it got)

Watercooled, it doesn't break 35-36C @load in most cases...depending on room temp.
 

zipzoom certainly wasnt the one taking it seriously. the poor guy just said a card was obsolete! ok maybe it is to him, it might not be to others. then u guys started attacking him saying he was ripping on hardware. this is the internet, if some random guy across the world makes you cry cuz ur hardware isnt top-notch, get off ur pc. seriously guys, comeon, and help the guy out who asked the question.
 
Really...

#1, he was the one who said it wasn't worth it to WC the OP's card. I don't believe it is his decision whether or not this is a worthwhile solution.

#2, calling people 'old geezer' or 'ooohhh, you got an engineering sample'...come on. Good call on maturity.

#3, his personal experience that the 8800GT and the 9000GT; the 8800 being better...go look up some specs...they are the same exact card. Same GPU, same memory used, same #shaders, etc. They just renamed it. His claim that the 9800GT idles 70+C are most likely his own. I built a rig with SLI 9800GTs and they idled at around 50C.

If you read the remaining posts, I have addressed the needs of the OP to the point of just waiting for any responses he might have. Outside of that, I can somewhat see the concern about the 'bickering' of the thread, but it hasn't been meaningless attacks at someone's hardware. If someone wants to take a forum thread that personally, they really need to reassess their idea of online interaction.
 
Why bother? In six months the 8800Gt will be obsolete.
Click to expand...


This first input by our esteemed Zoomyguy sets the story.

Great helpful input Zippy!
The 8800gt was wrong, it was the 9800gt
The 9800gt is a older card in the crazy GPU march
The 9800 gt still has some bang for the buck
The OP has TWO of them, still a decent GPU solution

Zippies input was so wrong on so many levels.

And it's why I slammed him so hard, he's a internet pimple, once popped he's gone.
 
Is the 9800gt (overclocked) a good graphics card then or is
it worth looking into something els?

plus what is bad about overclocking??

thanks!
 
hi from what i gather i think that you have an overclocked 9800gt graphics card i was just wondering for you're oppinion if you think that they are a very good or is it worth investing in something els?

thanks!
 

bad about overclocking..... more heat, possibly more noise, possible shorter lifespan of the card, instability if done wrong

now, if you do it right, the rewards are great. dont hesitate to try, a lot of people think you will kill your card, it actually isnt that easy, if you dont overclock it too quickly. make small steps first and you'll be safe
 
Alright, all the flaming aside, I have done a little research and it looks like I will be able to install an 8800GT water block on a 9800GT since they are the same chipset. However, my concern is with the RAM. Does anybody know of a 8800GT waterblock which is for sure compatible with an XFX 9800GT? I am fairly certain that since it is only a 512mb configuration the ram is only on one side of the board which simplifies the search.

I had two 8800gts from XFX and I was wonderfully pleased with them, then one went bad and they replaced it with a 9800gt. The 8800 has a nice big copper heatsink and fan, the 9800 had a heavy shitty copper heatsink with a little plastic blower. Same chipset, same memory... and I witnessed an increase of nearly 20 degrees celsius in my GPU temperatures. I am not comfortable with temps of 80 degrees. I like my nice 40-55.

I have already purchased a CoolIt Systems Domino ALC for my Phenom 9750 CPU, and if I had the money I might have been tempted to go for their new thermoelectric/water hybrid, but for 500$ I might as well shell out the additional 300$ for this... http://www.crazypc.com/products/cooler_express-92801.html lol

I am wanting to do a separate drive bay based GPU liquid cooling solution. My first step has been to find a waterblock which will for sure fit my card, there seems to be little information on the subject and very few 9800gt specific products which leads me to believe that many of the 8800gt heatsinks and other cooling options are compatible.

Anyone have some advice on what products will work? I don't care for opinions about my hardware configuration.
 
I found the thread you were talking about. Here's what the guy had to say and it basically confirmed my suspicions that there aren't many gpu and memory solutions but you can liquid cool the gpu by itself.

=========================================================================================

Postby dc41 » December 18, 2008, 04:29:08 PM
I had the same problem about a week ago. I bought a 9800 GT to replace an 8800GTS I shorted out (long story :roll: ) and knew as soon as I pulled it out of the box that the block for the 8800gts wasn't going to work (shoulda checked a little more before buying! 😳 ) . I called DD and indeed the only block they have that will work is the MAZE5 stuff for the GPU only.

The only block I could find that covered both the GPU and memory was the Swiftech OBSIDIAN but you still had to buy a mosfet heat sink.

I had a Zalman GPU block laying around, so I installed that and ordered their "J" style vga mem block.

Funny thing is even without the memory block the memory is still running about 20c cooler than with the check fan that came attached.

HTH

=========================================================================================

For now I only have the money to drop some DuOrb Duos on the cards but later on I will likely get the Maze5 it is priced the same as an air cooled heatsink (minus the expense of the rest of the liquid setup of course). Thanks for pointing me in their direction.
 
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