can someone look over my water cooling idea (first attempt) ?

Electroshadow · 24 Mar 2011 at 13:15

Right my graphics card keeps shutting down on me due to the high temps caused by the otherhalf always wanting the heating on full……
Plus the noise from the gtx280 is a little loud so I was thinking of water cooling my rig to bring the temps down and the noise.

I would like to cool the gpu and cu from one triple rad is this possible or do I need two rads? Also do you just link the different blocks together thus keeping them all in one loop? But wouldn’t this cause high temps on the second block?

So I was thinking of doing the following.

All with ½” tubing and g1/4 threads

EK CoolStream Radiator XT 360
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-078-EK&groupid=962&catid=1523&subcat=

outlet flow going to

XSPC Dual 750 Bay Reservoir & Pump
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-011-XS&groupid=962&catid=1845&subcat=

Flow going to some sort of reservoir with 2 outlets to split the flow

EK Multioption Reservoir X2 150
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-089-EK&groupid=962&catid=1551&subcat=

Flow 1 going to

EK Supreme LT CPU Waterblock
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-088-EK

Flow 2 going to

EK VGA Supreme Universal Water Block
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-086-EK&groupid=962&catid=1520&subcat=

This is where im stuck…. Getting 2 flows back into rad, is there some sort of Y piece thread that I could use onto rad or do I need another sort of ek multioption before the rad but then I was thinking that would be two much for the pump???

Is there anywhere that I can save some money or a cheaper way of getting two flows looking for best cooling for pound here on my first attempt. All to fit into a cosmos s case.

Frozennova · 24 Mar 2011 at 13:23

You don't need to split the flow

Run in the following order

Res->Pump->Rad->CPU->GPU->Back to res

Electroshadow · 24 Mar 2011 at 13:46

ok great that makes life easier.

but will it not lead to comprimised gpu cooling?

oulton · 24 Mar 2011 at 14:46

would you need to split the flow for dual gpu cooling?

Greboth · 24 Mar 2011 at 15:37

Running CPU and GPU on the same loop obviously adds more heat and the water will be warmer into the second block, however it doesn’t make all the much difference to the temperatures. Also the water temperature is reasonably equal across the whole loop (I am sure I have seen figures of about 1 or 2 C delta of rad in and out.) As long as you have enough rad area to cool your cpu and gpu and you run res before pump the rest of the loop can be anyway you want, generally the easy the better.

As for Y pieces you can buy them, I don't think overclockers sell them but there are specialised websites for watercooled pc's and they do sell them.

OLDPHART · 24 Mar 2011 at 15:40

Hi, l was told to set my loop up like this - Rad[360] --> Res

ump[XSPC D750] --> CPU[i7920 at 4.2GHz] --> GPU[GTX470 AT 850:1700:200] --> Rad, by doing this the pump is kept that little bit cooler by receiving the cooler water from the Rad when the system is under full load, which should help with reliability and the working life of the pump. This set up cools my CPU + GPU with no problems at all, Cpu never goe's over 68,c + GPU peaks at 51'c at a room temperature of 23'c, you do not need the extra Res X2 150 and maybe some one can tell you what fans work best with that EK Rad.

Electroshadow · 24 Mar 2011 at 15:47

I have 8 Apache fans in my current setup so will be using them or 6 on push pull.
I will leave the extra Res then and source a couple y pieces. And try a couple setups, in line and split flow.

zulu9812 · 24 Mar 2011 at 15:56

OLDPHART said:
Hi, l was told to set my loop up like this - Rad[360] --> Resump[XSPC D750] --> CPU[i7920 at 4.2GHz] --> GPU[GTX470 AT 850:1700:200] --> Rad, by doing this the pump is kept that little bit cooler by receiving the cooler water from the Rad when the system is under full load, which should help with reliability and the working life of the pump. This set up cools my CPU + GPU with no problems at all, Cpu never goe's over 68,c + GPU peaks at 51'c at a room temperature of 23'c, you do not need the extra Res X2 150 and maybe some one can tell you what fans work best with that EK Rad.

I wouldn't rely on order of loop to keep any one component (e.g. a pump) any cooler. In a loop of this size, the temperature will be the same all around the loop. Cooling the pump is a good idea, but is best done by placing it in a high air flow region. One possibility is mounting it to a fan - radiator fans would be fine, assuming you were operating a push/pull configuration.

Mnemonik · 24 Mar 2011 at 16:19

zulu9812 said:
Cooling the pump is a good idea, but is best done by placing it in a high air flow region.

Most pumps usually dump their heat into the water, not externally. I know my DDC doesn't even get slightly warm on the outside of the casing, and has run every day for 2 years without a glitch.

Therefore, I wouldn't bother with putting it in airflow. Not that it would matter if you go with that Bayres/pump combo as the pump's sealed in a box

Stick it where ever you like - preferably after the res to aid filling and bleeding.

OLDPHART · 24 Mar 2011 at 16:54

Electroshadow said:
I have 8 Apache fans in my current setup so will be using them or 6 on push pull.
I will leave the extra Res then and source a couple y pieces. And try a couple setups, in line and split flow.

Hi, no need to split the loop, in line will be just fine, the GTX280 peaks at about 85'c under load roughly the same as a stock GTX470 on air just checked a review Guru3d. Also my 470 is overclocked to near a stock GTX480 speed. By the way just use distilled water + silver coil for your loop, far cheaper than pre-mix, don't use a dye for a colour effect use colour tubing.

zulu9812 · 24 Mar 2011 at 18:46

Mnemonik said:
Most pumps usually dump their heat into the water, not externally. I know my DDC doesn't even get slightly warm on the outside of the casing, and has run every day for 2 years without a glitch.

Therefore, I wouldn't bother with putting it in airflow. Not that it would matter if you go with that Bayres/pump combo as the pump's sealed in a box Stick it where ever you like - preferably after the res to aid filling and bleeding.

Actually XSPC/DDC kits have been known to cause pump overheating. There was a survey done on XtremeSystems forum last year asking people who had that problem what their circumstances were. The overwhelming response was that it was a) an MCP 355 18w with an XSPC top and b) in a low airflow environment. Supposedly this fault is caused by the 18w pump having the same FETs as the 10w version - these FETs aren't designed to handle the extra power of the 18w pump and have a tendency to overheat. Not all MCP355 18w's - but enough for it to be a concern. It's happened to me, and I had an XSPC bay/res combo in a low airflow area.

Jokester · 24 Mar 2011 at 19:01

There was a bunch of pumps kicking about a few years ago that had a different impeller design to the usual that was causing the impeller to rub against the aftermarket top causing the motor to burn out.

My 18W DDC doesn't have any air flow over it at all and it only gets warm to the touch.

Splitting water between two blocks won't achieve any benefits, and may actually hamper one of the blocks if the water flows preferentially through the other.

OLDPHART · 25 Mar 2011 at 09:48

The first XSPC D750 Res

ump Combo was prone to pump failure but XSPC beefed it up on V2 and made the Res slightly smaller. As l have mentioned in a earlier post my XSPC D750 V2 is about 7months old with no problems at all.

Electroshadow · 25 Mar 2011 at 11:01

I've managed to find a nice triple 120mm fan Rad that is 60mm thick, will this cause any problems for a pump or will it just aid good cooling with the Rad being thick.?
The make is Phoyba has anyone heard of these Rad 's, what are they like?

Exsurgo · 25 Mar 2011 at 11:11

Phoyba's are about average as far as higher end radiators go, with moderate flow resistance and work best with medium to high fan speeds.

Electroshadow · 25 Mar 2011 at 11:26

I'm not really sure what I'm looking for in a Rad? Any recommendations for a triple to cool CPU and gpu it will have 6 fans in push pull attached to it

zulu9812 · 25 Mar 2011 at 11:40

Exsurgo said:
Phoyba's are about average as far as higher end radiators go, with moderate flow resistance and work best with medium to high fan speeds.

Phobya radiators are advertised as having "Exceptional Performance with Low RPM Fans". Have you seen any tests that show otherwise?

EDIT: they're also 60mm deep, which implies better 'radiating ability', thus less need for higher RPM fans.

OLDPHART · 25 Mar 2011 at 12:27

Hi, l see you have picked the EK CoolStream Radiator XT 360-£50, the user review is good one, see if there is any reviews on the net just to check. If he's cooling sli 470's + CPU and roughly getting them temps the EK Rad can't be that bad.

Exsurgo · 25 Mar 2011 at 12:43

zulu9812 said:
Phobya radiators are advertised as having "Exceptional Performance with Low RPM Fans". Have you seen any tests that show otherwise?

EDIT: they're also 60mm deep, which implies better 'radiating ability', thus less need for higher RPM fans.

The Phobya G-Changer 360 v1.2 seems to perform better anyway with mid-high fans, but still does well at the lower rpms, it's the rad im looking at getting.

http://skinneelabs.com/phobya_gc360/3/