GPU cooling advise needed for a newbie please.

[Simonsta]

Hello everyone.

Seeing as BF3 seems to have cooked my EVGA 560Ti card I am considering upgrading to a EVGA 3GB GeForce GTX 580 Hydro Copper 2:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-146-EA&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812

I have never done any water cooling before but am familiar with building air cooled PCs. At this stage I would probably just w/c the GPU but would want to buy the correct kit to allow me to w/c the CPU at some stage in the future.

Please can someone recommend me some kit for this?

I'd like a variable speed pump in order to be able to control the amount of noise. I intend to run the hoses from the GPU to outside the case and have everything else externally located.

I was wondering about one of these?:
http://overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-061-OE

What radiator / fan combination would be best suited and what other components will I need?

Thanks

 

[Bubo]

First bit of advice would be to check the forum rules regarding competitors and sigs.

Secondly I would check whether it would be cheaper to buy a 580 and separate gpu full cover block and put them together yourself, a side benefit of which will be you will be able to use your own TIM instead of whatever the card maker decided to use.

Looking at that case it does look a bit fiddly to mount anything more than a 120.2 rad in the front, what with the drives bays in the upper compartment, so if you're ok with having everything outside its not a bad idea if you are intending on doing the cpu as well in the future which would need more than a single 120.2 in the loop. You will obviously need quick disconnects for this.

I personally wouldn't worry about the noise from the pump as the other main pump used, i.e. the Laing DDC Pro 10" or Ultra 18W can both be made virtualy silent if the are mounted correctly and with a external rad box this shouldn't be a problem.

edit: actually, looks like you could get a 120.3 in the front comfortably. And if it was me I would try to relocate the extra drives from the bottom to the top and thus free up the bottom compartment, so you would be able to get another 120.3 or 120.2 laid flat in the bottom.

 

[s7cn]

The advantage to a pre-assembled gpu + block is that it saves time but as Bubo suggested it may be cheaper for you to purchase the card and block individually.

If you want to WC the GPU initially with plans on expanding to the CPU then I'd recommend at least 360 radiator namely the RX360 with low-med rpm fans such as the 1450rpm gentle typhoons. The MCP655 pump has a variable switch so you can select rpm based on your requirements and it's pretty quiet.

 

[Simonsta]

Thanks both. I've edited my post / sig to comply with rules (hopefully).

I was looking at the pre-built GPU solution to avoid any leakage disasters (as this is my first dip into the water cooling world), and primarily to preserve a warranty on the card.

Any thoughts as to what size / type of reservoir I would need?

 

[s7cn]

Any size or type of reservoir is appropiate, it depends on how you want to configure your loop e.g space save, aesthetics etc. There is no conclusive evidence that a larger reservoir will lower your temps so go with my point.

While the pre-built solution might seem like a good idea, leaks might still occur from assembly, but likewise to a self assembled unit, you would leak test before finalizing your loop anyways.