Can my current WC loop handle a GPU block?

Kinsy

Kinsy

Kinsy

Soldato
Joined
8 Aug 2003
Posts
4,947
Location
Loughborough
I have:-

E6400 @ 3.6 1.6v - 35 idle, 62 load on both cores
P5N-E
8800 GTS @ 600/2000 (just started playing with the gpu clocks).

I'm sorely tempted to get the Danger Den block and plumb it into my current WC loop which consists of:-

Eheim 1250
Bayres
Cathar Cascade, Delrin Top
2x120mm Radiator (unknown manufacturer, have owned for 5 years now) w/2 120mm pulling and 1 pushing air.

With the fans at 7v after a couple of hours at load the radiator is still cool to the touch. I think there is enough capacity in the rad to dissipate 250-300w of heat, but before i go and splash out £100 on the block i'd like to get some idea if itll handle the load.
 
I would think so but it's tricky to be certain. The 1250 is a good pump but the Cascade is restrictive so adding a gpu block that likes high flow would be inadvisable. Go for something that doesn't mind low-flow and isn't overly restrictive, otherwise your cpu cooling could be impacted by the reduced flow through your cascade. Remember that although the radiator has to dissipate the heat, the water still has to remove it from the block so the more flow the more energy is moved to the radiator. Try pinching your tubing and see what effect it has on load temps.
 
Yea i just found out the DD block wont fit a GTS (why, grr).

From reviews they dont seem to mind low flow so figured id be good. Ive seen the EK blocks around but theyre Acrylic topped which i really don't like (has a tendency to crack under temperature variations and a 8800 is pretty big on those!).

[edit]and then i find acetal topped EK blocks - ill nab one then methinks, i like how its a LOT cheaper than the DD block too :)
 
Last edited:
the ek blocks rock, half the price of DD and look almost exactly the same hehe, i've seen them on 8800gtx/s and on 1900s and they work lovely
 
Ok, EK 8800GTS block delivered this morning.

42 idle, 50 load so far with Eve loaded and Orthos running in background, cpu temps havent gone up too much but id put down their increased temps to my block (Cascade).
 
CPU's hitting 70deg load at 3.65ghz...stable though. Will drop the volts some as i've done the vdroop pencil mod recently. Pinching the tubing didnt have much effect, but there is another problem.

The cascade was designed for Athlons; specifically maximum cooling for a minimum surface area as defined by the pits and jets. Now on a Core2 of course you have a wider area due to the 2 cores and the heatspreader, which i dont fancy removing (as its soldered on and i just killed my naked A64 3000 by chipping the core). Also there is the other problem which i should have taken a picture to highlight.

The centre of the block doesnt sit over the CPU. I had to mount the block quite far to the right in order to miss the caps on the left hand side of the socket. Also, pinching the tubing doesnt really do much for the load temp. That suggests to me along with a fairly cool radiator that i need a up to date cpu block ;) Question is is it worth also getting a new pump?
 
You work for Thermochill? Not a biased view then? ;)

The rad is starting to get pretty toasty, but all that kit is going to cost and i'm unemployed at the moment. I'll look into the pump as a starter and sell the Eheim to offset the cost.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom