Good watercooling setup under £500

Associate
Joined
14 Jan 2010
Posts
2,424
Location
Essex
Hardware to watercool

i7 980x

2 x GTX480

I am unsure about the equipment in terms of dealing with the sli part of it, can it be done under £500, I have a HAF x case.

Also is it worth getting anything else cooled in the setup, (some people do RAM and other stuff as well?)


If people are willing a shoping basket would really help guide me but obviously up to you but thank you so much if you can.


cheers thanks
 
I'm thinking about:

1 EK CPU block
EK mobo full cover block?
2 EK full cover 480 block
OR
AC Aquagrafx 480
D5 (with EK top/any other top)
EK Res - 250ML
Bitspower Compression Bits
Koolance QDC (VL3N)
SR-1 120.3
Tubing of choice (Tygon?)

Cooling RAM isn't really worth it.

EDIT: Shin-Etsu X23-7783D if you can find it.
 
For £500 dual loop surely?

I can fit quite a big rad in my case all along the top at least a 360 if they do one that size, plus what is a dual loop, is that with two pumps one for Gfx and one for CPU?

Do you have any pics of dual loop systems I could look at?
 
I can fit quite a big rad in my case all along the top at least a 360 if they do one that size, plus what is a dual loop, is that with two pumps one for Gfx and one for CPU?

Do you have any pics of dual loop systems I could look at?

Dual loop just means having two completely separate watercooling loops. In your case the best way to do that would be to have one just for the cpu, and one for the graphics.
 
with 2 loops do you need literally 2 of everything? would this not be hurrendously more expensive than 500 to be effective? also would it all; fit inside of the case if I did that?
 
In terms of dual loops no cost shouldn't only be a small amount higher as you you will only need slightly more tubing and 2 resevoirs and two pumps. You will need the same number of fittings, rads, fans etc whether one loop or two.
 
In terms of dual loops no cost shouldn't only be a small amount higher as you you will only need slightly more tubing and 2 resevoirs and two pumps. You will need the same number of fittings, rads, fans etc whether one loop or two.

With the pictures I have been looking at on google fro dual loops people seem to have two rads, I cant picture in my head how the tubing would go with two pumps etc, has anyone got a reference pic to help me understand please?


Thanks for your help everyone
 
I had the same problem so went with the hybrid dual loop but one reservoir. I have a triple rad and a single rad cooling my i7 950 running at 4.5Ghz and my over volted gtx470's nrunning at 800Mhz no problem.

Okay, temps aren't the greatest if I am honest. GPUs idle at 32c and max out at 52c in games, 60 odd ish in furmark but still way cooler than air cooling.

Cpu idles at 34C and maxes out at 72 with prime95 but it has 1.4v through it so that's not bad.

EK HF extreme and EK full blocks.

You can get full bay resevoirs which take two pumps inside which makes life easier but I already had one rad, reservoir and one pump from my previous build so I just picked up a cheap matching 2nd hand pump as it was my cheapest option.
 
With the pictures I have been looking at on google fro dual loops people seem to have two rads, I cant picture in my head how the tubing would go with two pumps etc, has anyone got a reference pic to help me understand please?


Thanks for your help everyone

If you can picture one loop you can picture two? They are two independent loops:

Loop 1: Rad>reservoir>pump>CPU>rad
Loop 2: Rad>reservoir>pump>GPU>rad

You can also add extra radiators if you have space or include chipset cooling either in one of the loops you have or add a third loop. You will however need a large case for more rads:

IMG_5661.jpg
 
I went with a 120.3 because I think that's the biggest rad you can fit in a HAF-X.

I alkready have a 240 in with my swiftech but its not proving cool enough even at stock speed

Ok guys really appreciate all the advice.

So what you're saying w3bbo is that I do need 2 of everything?
 
A dual loop offers little performance increase over a single and the triple rad would handle all 3 of those in a loop, but the more area you have for heat dissipation would benifit temps, so perhaps single loop but with an extra rad thrown in if the temps are a huge concern.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=261044

That thread shows dual xeons and a 5970 cooled in a single loop on a single dual rad.
 
Should add it'll all come down to what temps you're okay with, what sort of overclock you want and how silent you want your system.
 
A dual loop offers little performance increase over a single and the triple rad would handle all 3 of those in a loop, but the more area you have for heat dissipation would benifit temps, so perhaps single loop but with an extra rad thrown in if the temps are a huge concern.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=261044

That thread shows dual xeons and a 5970 cooled in a single loop on a single dual rad.

All very good and well but the system on xs won't put out the same heat as 2x480's. Add the heat dump from those to a cpu all in the same loop and you won't be getting good temps from a triple rad. Throwing in another rad will help temps but may be counterproductive as flow will be affected, putting 'xs' stress on the pump.

I'd prefer highflow dual loop over a restrictive single loop everyday of the week, however you will need a decent size case to house it all.
 
There is a point where pumping power becomes irrelevant and a rads aren't restrictive anyway.

A single D5 will handle it with ease.
 
Rads are the most resrictive part of a loop, second only to a restrictive cpu block like the heatkiller or old ek supreme. After adding a second rad to each loop in my build it cut flow significantly and the cpu only loop benifited much more by being on a single rad loop rather than dual, despite having the extra cooling capacity.
 
I alkready have a 240 in with my swiftech but its not proving cool enough even at stock speed

Ok guys really appreciate all the advice.

So what you're saying w3bbo is that I do need 2 of everything?

I'm not sure what type and how many rads will fit your case but you shouldn't need £500, even for a dual loop. If it were my money, I would be tempted to get a bigger/better case more suited to a large watercooling setup. Something like a TJ07 or a Corsair 800D. IF you want the best case for watercooling then you can't go far wrong with a mountainmods case. Those cases however forfeit style for substance.

See the link in my sig for info on dual loops, large cases and watercooling ;).

There re some great builds HERE which should give you some inspiration
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom