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7970 msi lightning or ocuk watercooled?

liquidfire

liquidfire

liquidfire

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2 Oct 2012
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I'm building a new pc currently of a 3930k and asus sabertooth. I want to run crossfire.

The cpu already has a custom water loop.

So question should I buy 2x msi 7970 lightening or the ocuk watercooled ones?

I will probally end up watercooling the lightenings at some point in the future anyway but is there an argument for buying the msis over the (I presume) reference OCUK water cooled variants?

I will be overclocking when the time calls for it/when I feel like benchmarking for testing my hardware to the extreme

So what do you think? Help me:(
 
Of course not, can't guarentee anything these days :(.

So ballpark it msi +waterblock (aftermarket) be a better investment than the ocuk variant?

Just wondering if this tuf stuff is really all it's cracked up to be.

I also wonder would ocuk fit blocks for me on the lightenings for a premium?
 
Fitting blocks is easy Liquid. I just did two Lightning 680s and the 7970s are the same. I used the EK blocks which I didn't want because I thought they looked a little tacky but after getting them and fitting them, they are sweet.

It is a shame the LTG 7970s have poo connections :)
 
That's what is holding me back a little bit. I enjoy using my tv as well so hdmi would have been useful but I presume there's an adaptor around.

Might give the blocking a go myself then just a bit worried about it cpu seemed easy to watercool. Gpus feel a bit of a large step for me. I don't want to end up bricking a card especially £400 haha:(

I've been using ek stuff for my cpu so I think keeping the continuity of plexi blocks would look good:) got a 240mm rad figure another rad at 360mm would be fine for the GPUs
 
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It was my first time doing anything with water. As you say, the CPU was a doddle and even though I had 3 leaks (same place and faulty bridge) it was suprisingly easy to do the GPUs.
 
Ill definatly have to give it a go:)

Did you use the ek bridge? From reading the forums I see that there doesn't appear to be much of a difference between parallel and series bridges. So I guess it's just whatever looks better :)
 
I used the EK bridge but for some reason, it wouldn't make a seal so I made my own connections using a couple of 90's to go back to the top slot and a 45 to the bottom rad. Pretty easy and I think it looks better than the SLI bridges. It was a bugger getting the tiny bit of tube between the cards though but some hot water made it easier :)
 
More than happy to :) I look for any excuse to post a pic or two :p


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That is gorgeous :) damn if computer were sexy that would be it as far as I'm concerned:)

Are those scythe fans?
Only the one pump? I might give that bridge setup a go:) (as long as you don't mind me stealing your idea?)

And those are some lovely monitors:) do you learn to phase out the bezels when playing?

Sorry for the 20 questions game haha:)
 
Thanks bud and only finished it this evening so still on a high :) Yep scythe fans, nice and quiet. One pump (Laing D5) and it is more than enough to pump the water round a 360 and a 240. As far as copying me, if it helps you, go for it :) and I don't notice the bezels at all when gaming. I did to start with but within a couple of hours, they were gone. I had the middle monitor slightly forward with the sides bezels hiding behind but I wasn't happy with how that looked when off/doing nothing so I edged to edged them.

Any other questions, fire away :)
 
@Gregster nice setup!!! looks amazing! I myself is going water cooled soon, just waiting for parts. Was it hard to do, and how long did you leak test for. I find this whole water cooled thing a bit scary lol
 
Arrgh a d5 I should have opted for that originally. I've only got a ek dcp 4.0 so might be worth throwing another pump in for me:/

I love how tidy the cables are in your case that's somthing I have to work on in my new build currently running spaghetti junction in my box:(

Just to say your pc is essentially what I aim to emulate but going for a more sinister colour scheme :) gorgeous thank you for giving me these ideas:)
 
SubZero89 said:
@gregster nice setup!!! looks amazing! I myself is going water cooled soon, just waiting for parts. Was it hard to do, and how long did you leak test for. I find this whole water cooled thing a bit scary lol
Click to expand...

Thanks. After all was good, I leak tested for around 3 hours and in truth, I removed the paper towells just for the pics. I have had them on since 7pm ish and every now and then, I give the case a damn good shake (more to make sure of no hiding air bubbles. It wasn't hard but I had my plan all set of what was going where which helped. The only problem was the bridge was faulty so I had to devise a different way. Still the same principle though and thankfully I ordered far to many fittings.

It was scary turning it on and to be fair I had a spare PSU which I used for the pump only so any leaks, it wouldn't damage anything (hopefully).

Good luck with your build and any probs, the water cooling section is full of brains :)

liquidfire said:
Arrgh a d5 I should have opted for that originally. I've only got a ek dcp 4.0 so might be worth throwing another pump in for me:/

I love how tidy the cables are in your case that's somthing I have to work on in my new build currently running spaghetti junction in my box:(

Just to say your pc is essentially what I aim to emulate but going for a more sinister colour scheme :) gorgeous thank you for giving me these ideas:)
Click to expand...

Nice comments cheers and good luck with your build. It gives a great sense of pride when it is all finished :)
 
Always need watercooling:) my old amd 955be runs silent and below 24'c at 4.0ghz (c2 so hot!)

Well I'm definatly going the water route on the msi 7970 lightenings :) ocuk is the cheapest I've found for the blocks so will probally get it all through them:)

Don't suppose ocuk do any price matching?:) (longshot I know haha)
 
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