Watercooling CPU + NB +2 GPU

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nomanor

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Nov 17, 2006
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Guys, I would like to watercool my CPU, NB and 2 graphic cards.

I'm totally new to watercooling and have no idea if such a thing is possible.

I have Corei7 975 on an Asus Rampage II Extreme with 2 x 285 GTX. All this in a Cooler Master ATCS 840 case (it's huge). Right now everything is on air, but things get pretty hot with some overclocking.

What's the best way to go about it? Get some kind of ready watercooling system? Or buy parts separately?

Couple of current photos:
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/6164/dsc00132t.jpg
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/3091/dsc00135f.jpg
 
Yeah it is.

And we went with Aircooling cause it was being shipped all the way to Europe and Watercooled setup would be too havy/too fragile for such shipping.
 
All of the links provided by baddad are valid and decent stuff. The CPU block and GPU blocks are pretty popular. The CPU block is very restrictive and needs to be in a loop all by itself tho.

I wouldn't buy and koolance fittings myself, it's bitspower brand for many and me. The Koolance fittings are much poorer quality. but the quick disconnects for a bleed line and the valving isn't bad.

Shadow, you gotta get out more and see what peeps are using before just slamming Koolance. Their custom stuff isn't that bad.
 
^After seeing how the older ones leaked, and given their past quality problems, and the fact that thy use Acrylic instead of Delrin/Acetel, I still don't trust Koolance. Sure the 350 block performs well (better than GTZ,etc), but I would never trust an Acrylic top (seen too much Acrylic stuff broken easily, including 1/2" Acrylic plates). I guess I'm just bias toward HK,EK,Swiftech. :lol:
 
You might be biased, but info you pass on needs to be correct. Your one of the 4-6 peeps here who know stuff. Don't let others old past issues cloud your good judgement. You never used Koolance so I don't see the personal link to your bias, only others issues.

Still, ANY Koolance kit is crap, I agree on that.
 
^ OK, I'll not try to be bias 😛 But no guarantee. As for never using Koolance stuff, my friends usedd them and after seeing it start to leak while in the middle of gaming at a LAN and just out right dying in it's sleep, I'v been pretty anti Koolance. At any rate, I'll recommend the 350 if one wants the best. 😉
 
Thats a LOT of heat to cool.
+1 for avoiding budget brands like Zalman and Koolance

Air cool the NB for a start.

I got all my stuff from danger den. Its expensive tho.

You want a good pump and big rez for a start. As a 'rule of thumb' u want ~ 120x120mm of radiator for every major heat source. That means a 3x120 rad.
Id avoid the gpu coolers that include mem cooing, which means heat sinks and additional internal fans for those. A single 120mm low rpm should be fine.
Get Tygon tubing. Dont skimp.
Get heat blocks and rads with copper only internals. Mixing alu and copper is BAD.
Use a water wettter and or anti fungal and anti conductive. Yes your system could leak. Yes, you WILL get crud gunking up your pump, rad and water blocks regardless of what fluids or additives you use.
Look to spend ~$1,000. Yes you can spend less. You could also get a Celeron instead of an i7.

Having built a few water systems, my next homebuilt system will be air only.
Get a massive Thermalright 120 sink. Make a custom venturi with 2x120mm fans in a pull config. Thermalright also make killer gpu coolers. The advantage of air is its low maintenance. Dust builds up. Just blast it with a can of compressed air. Easy.
 
He'll need a 120x2 minimum for just the CPU, and 120x2 for the GPUs minimum. Times have changed mrmez.
Tygon tubing isn't the king anymore Primoflex LRT is. Tygon is still good.
We don't use water wetter anymore. You won't get crud in your blocks after two years of using distilled water and a quality biocide. Yes, drain and refill every 6 months of course.

Your looking at something north of $600 minimum easy and that not watercooling the NB.
 
Right, so I probably will skip the MB cooling as it's too much hassle.

So it's CPU+ 2 GPUs

My case (ATCS 840) has a plug-n-play space on top for a 360 rad.
It also has a place to mount a 240 rad on.

So I figure 360 rad = CPU, 240 rad = GPUs
Then make 2 loops with this Dual Reservoir: http://www.xspc.biz/ddcdualbayrestwo.php

As for the video cards, I still want to go with full blocks (like this one: http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/hegpgtrev2.html)

 



I'd just reverse your rad configuration. your 2 gpus will make more heat than your processor, so put the 240 in your cpu loop, and the 360 on your gpu loop.
 
The ops Delta T with those two GPUs, a MCR 120x2 and HS Yates running SLI Furmark load might hit 11-12C. Kinda high, but the GPU temps will still be lower than stock by a long shot. It all depends what his plans for the CPU is. High VID with HT on and a BIG overclock, the 120x3 for the CPU for sure.

It's kinda up to the OP.

He's on at OCForums BTW, he did a double ask.
 
Well... i was/am running a Q6600 @ 3.0 and a 2900xt (which was a very hot card) all on one 120mm Thermochill rad with a single fan.

Today without the gpu the old hot quad runs with a single 800rpm fan all day, even with games like FSX which use 100% cpu.

So... IMHO id suggest if you get a good rad like a Thermochill, you should be fine with a 3x120. Setup is very important tho. In a 'push' config you want at least 10cm between fan and rad. Many people dont like the 'pull' config, but with a horizontally mounted rad and a shroud, im loving it.

Should be interesting either way. Let us know how it goes.
 
I have the Q6600 as well, and I play around with the clocks on it. When it gets to 3.4 or so and above, it does run a decent amount higher than stock-3.2ghz. The more voltage needed to keep an OC processor stable is to blame.

In any case, you are going to need some decent amount of rad space to keep that loop cool, even if it ends up being dual loops.
 


The Q6600 is a B3 xxx special edition. Thats what i call it anyway since it pulls 1.20v under loads @ 3.0Ghz
I use my hottest core (Core 0) as my numbers. With the fan @ 800Rpm i get ~42c idle. Full load (FSX) I'll get up to 58c after hours.
Normal non cpu centric games I'll get low 50's.

You COULD add a gpu to that loop, tho you would need to run that fan flatout. I wouldn't like it.
I still think a 3x120 with good fans, installation and setup can handle 1+2.
 
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