6990 advice

JeffyB · 27 Sep 2011 at 22:31

Upgrade itch finally got me, i have sold my 5870 for a decent price and bagged a 6990 and i am considdering how best to water cool it. I'm looking at 2 blocks, ek nickel (en) plexi

or aquacomputer nickel.

I am leaning towards the ek block as i will be using coloured coolant but the ac block is so sleek. Opinions?

I will also be adding a second rad to my loop, either another 420 or a 280 but am wondering whether to go dual loop as i have 2 res' and 2 d5's anyway and am concerned the 6990 heat dump (375w) will affect cpu temps too drastically.

Kainz · 27 Sep 2011 at 22:52

I had a similar dilemma with my 6970. In the end I decided not to go the Aqua route but towards EK as the latter had backplates available for their blocks. It is a hard decision and both blocks look superb.

JeffyB · 27 Sep 2011 at 23:00

The 6990 also has ram on the reverse side of the pcb so the ek backplate would actually be of use.

JeffyB · 28 Sep 2011 at 13:33

Any thoughts on going dual loop or just having 1 big loop considering the 6990's heat dump?

Kofac · 28 Sep 2011 at 19:27

I have a 6990 also had the EK water block. Had to change it as I had problems screwing in the stand offs they supplied. Basically ended up breaking one in the block.

In the end I bought a new water block, got an XSPC Razor 6990. Looks a bit ugly but does a great job also was very easy to fit. Specially compared to the fiddly EK one.

As for 1 or 2 loops. Well I run 1 loop D5 pump, runs my 6990 overclocked to 940mhz on GPUs stock RAM speed. In same loop I have a 2600k Over clocked to 4.7ghz.

All that runs through 2 Rads 120.3 & a 120.2 running silent GT fans at 1000 rpm. Heat wise idle today the CPU is 34. The 6990 is at 39 GPU, Vram 38. Even under load it does not get mental hot. When the weather was cooler the CPU was idling sub 30.

Not sure if any of that helps or not but its another perspective.

Greboth · 28 Sep 2011 at 20:05

If you are going to be using coloured coolant I would always say the EK block just because its plexi.

As for one loop or two, if you have enough rads for dual loop in theory the temps should be the same if everything is on one loop. Though I have seen a couple of people say temps went up / drop a couple of degrees changing between single / dual loops. I take it your still using the lian li case and it you have the room for 2 loops why not

JeffyB · 28 Sep 2011 at 20:09

Very helpful info, have been thinking a bit about this and will stick to 1 loop. I will see what temps are like with just my 140.3 rad but I'm sure another 140.2 or 140.3 would be wise especially as I like the pc to be as quiet as possible. Going to go with the ek6990 plexi/nickel (en) as I want to see this lovely blue coolant lit up in the block. Hopefully get some pictures up in my build log soon.

JeffyB · 28 Sep 2011 at 21:00

Will be going in my Lian li v2000, so enough room for the extra rad. I am tempted to run a dual loop as I have another d5 and res and could use another colour hose for the cpu. Will see how crowded things get.

elmuzzy66. · 28 Sep 2011 at 21:02

Can your psu handle it?

JeffyB · 28 Sep 2011 at 21:23

Will be getting a new psu around 1kw

JeffyB · 17 Oct 2011 at 22:30

Have been re-thinking the dual loop idea and I think it's winning. I already have 2 d5's and 2 ek res' and just think its better to have the 6990 in it's own loop. Now i'm just undecided wether to have the same colour coolant in both loops.

Cleeecooo · 17 Oct 2011 at 22:56

I'm doing dual loop aswell but with 570's instead

Dual loop looks sooooo much better

I'm going for green and blue coolant but red and black, blue and red both look really good aswell. Get some aurora

JeffyB · 17 Oct 2011 at 23:08

Well i ordered a 2nd ek d5 xtop anyway and 4m of clear primoflex, gonna be fun cramming it all in. I am tempted by some mayhems uv blue for the 2nd loop but it might not be enough of a difference from the ek uv blue. I do like the aurora but i'll stick with something uv.

Cleeecooo · 17 Oct 2011 at 23:09

JeffyB said:
Well i ordered a 2nd ek d5 xtop anyway and 4m of clear primoflex, gonna be fun cramming it all in. I am tempted by some mayhems uv blue for the 2nd loop but it might not be enough of a difference from the ek uv blue. I do like the aurora but i'll stick with something uv.

Get the clear aurora and add your own uv colours

Why not get the dual D5 top?

JeffyB · 17 Oct 2011 at 23:13

I already have 1 top and i won't have enough room for the dual top. The lower compartment is already gonna be rammed with 2x140.3 rads and the psu so the pumps are coming up into the main area and will probably be connected to the res' using male to male connectors.

Cleeecooo · 17 Oct 2011 at 23:55

What case is thi again?

How much bigger is the dual top?

JeffyB · 17 Oct 2011 at 23:58

Its a lian li V2000, i just don't have the space to put the 2 pumps together like the dual top does. I've ordered the xtop v2 and the rest of the bits for the rebuild anyway.