First time custom watercooling. need some gpu help

El Hurracan

El Hurracan

El Hurracan

Associate
Joined
24 Jan 2014
Posts
11
Hi everyone,

So as the title suggests, I'm planning on building a custom loop sometime in the near future. I have a few queries and was wondering if any of you guys could help me out.

I currently have a gtx 780 HOF and am planning on purchasing another gtx 780 so i can run two GPUs in the loop.

First question, the only waterblock i can find for the for the HOF is a boring EK one, it goes well with my colour scheme of white, but lacks any flashiness like the air cooling cover it currently has. I was wondering if it would be possible to stick the plastic cover (with the fans) onto the water block somehow? If so, then how would you recommend it be done?

Second question is not really relevant to this section of the forum but i may as well ask it to keep this all in one place. The back plate on the 780ti HOF looks amazing! From what the design looks like, it seems as though it would fit on my stand gtx 780 HOF, would anyone know if it would fit, and if it is purchasable from anywhere?

Last question: I have the urge to buy a different gtx 780 to the HOF, I was thinking maybe the poseidon by asus seeing as it is ready to be liquid cooled, however it does not fit my colour scheme, so i may have to repaint some of it (if possible). Is there any high recommendations for a card with a nice water block that will suit my colour scheme (white, Black, Silver) and be at least near the performance of my GTX 780 HOF?

Thanks for giving up your time to read this, I hope my questions are clear :)
 
If you are watercooling, don't get the Poseidon. Its a neither here nor there solution imo.

If you want it to be flashier, get blocks with EK plexi top and stick some glowy coolant in the loop or use some flashy fittings like Monsoon compressions.

What current clock does your hof have?

TBH you can get away with a reference 780 and have it clock easily high enough for your needs. There is no way that you are going to be lacking for grunt with SLI 780's no matter who they are from. You might even find that under water, the reference will clock as well as your card currently. Reference 780 PCB's will give the biggest range in choice for blocks.

EK Acetal blocks are black ad among the highest performing blocks. As for putting the cover on the card, cant be done with the block there, as it uses the mounting holes for the block. Not sure why you would want to cover the beautifully engineered waterblocks for some cheap plastic marketing crap anyway.

XSPC blocks are gray/black and have a plexi trim that glows when you insert LED's. These are on par with EK blocks and though they are my personal third choice when it comes to waterblocks, they sound more in tune with your colour scheme than the other options.
 
Alright, you've got a good point, the EK plexi blocks look awesome.

The clock is always around 1000mghz

True, a gtx 780 SLI configuration will probably be more than enough anyway.

The only reason i thought about covering the block was because i didn't think it looked that great, but it is the only one available. Maybe it'll look better once i get a grip of it rather than the two images displayed.

I'll give XSPC a look, sounds like my sort of scheme.

I have one last question i forgot to include, for the top part of my PC, I'm able to install only a thin 240 Rad like the one on the h100i, I'm having problems finding one of similar thinness. Have you possibly seen one on the net?

Thanks so much for the advice! :)
 
Radiator choice is important, size matters less than quality you can argue. The top choice for me since their release would be EK's 40mm~ thick PE range, as they have insane cooling potential.

If you keep cards at only just above 1000mhz, no need to get any specific brand, just go reference as they are all capable of that (and much more under water!).
 
If you're getting a second card and don't like the look of the block that'll go on your HOF, why don't you just put the HOF below the other card you get (which will have a bigger range of blocks available for it)?
 
I don't think a rad of 40mm thickness will fit in the top area, because my closed loop cpu cooler on the exhaust will block any further potential.

I plan to fit a thick 120mm rad at the front or bottom of the case as well.

And jimbaw, that's a good idea, a standard 780 comes with such a range of blocks as well!
 
El Hurracan said:
I don't think a rad of 40mm thickness will fit in the top area, because my closed loop cpu cooler on the exhaust will block any further potential.

I plan to fit a thick 120mm rad at the front or bottom of the case as well.

And jimbaw, that's a good idea, a standard 780 comes with such a range of blocks as well!
Click to expand...

it's what I was thinking. if you don't like the look of the bottom block it won't really matter if it's hidden by the top one and the tubing and fittings etc.
 
TBH, if I was looking at cooling a couple of 780ti's I wouldn't be happy having a single 240 rad, regardless of thickness. I would be wanting a bare minimum of 360 worth of rad for the gpu's alone (with ideally 480). Then you have to also account for the heat produced by your cpu if you intend to include that in the loop also.

You COULD do it on a 240 rad, but you would need very hoop static pressure fans running at high rpm to keep good temps, which kinda defeats the purpose of watercooling in the first place as you will possibly be limited in performance and will not get the silence benefit either.

EDIT: just read post #7 and see you are also including an additional rad.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom