Help with watercooling setup

ntemples1 said:
Ok guys slight change of plan, I now have 2 X GTX 480 in SLI!! So I will need to change my water plans, any suggestions as to what I might need to change, apart from the EK FC GTX blocks I know, but some people are saying I need to have a separate rad and loop for the cpu? to maintain its 4ghz overclock? any help would be appreciated, cheers.
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I would say that a Therm 120.3 on its own would cope quite adequately with 480SLI and an i7 @4ghz.

I managed to cool a QX9650 @4ghz, 2 x GTX260, NB, SB and 2 x mosfets without difficulty on a Therm 120.3 with Yate Loon fans. Yes I know the 480s run hot but I find people tend to overestimate the heat output of their components and to underestimnate the cooling potential of their radiators.

Just make sure you get a top quality pump such as a Laing 18w or a D5.
 
mike gunnz said:
I would say that a Therm 120.3 on its own would cope quite adequately with 480SLI and an i7 @4ghz.

I managed to cool a QX9650 @4ghz, 2 x GTX260, NB, SB and 2 x mosfets without difficulty on a Therm 120.3 with Yate Loon fans. Yes I know the 480s run hot but I find people tend to overestimate the heat output of their components and to underestimnate the cooling potential of their radiators.

Just make sure you get a top quality pump such as a Laing 18w or a D5.
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Good cos if it needs two loops things can get a bit cramped in these cases.
 
I dunno, I think a 120.3 rad will be cutting it close, you probably won't be able to overclock anything more than it is
 
mike gunnz said:
I would say that a Therm 120.3 on its own would cope quite adequately with 480SLI and an i7 @4ghz.

I managed to cool a QX9650 @4ghz, 2 x GTX260, NB, SB and 2 x mosfets without difficulty on a Therm 120.3 with Yate Loon fans. Yes I know the 480s run hot but I find people tend to overestimate the heat output of their components and to underestimnate the cooling potential of their radiators.

Just make sure you get a top quality pump such as a Laing 18w or a D5.
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That's great advice, so far I am looking at the following, please can you tell me which other bits I would need?

watercooling.jpg


Also this is my current system:

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ntemples1 said:
That's great advice, so far I am looking at the following, please can you tell me which other bits I would need?

watercooling.jpg


You will also need 10 x barbs or compression fittings (I prefer compressions). Your res may well come with EK barbs pre-supplied as may the gpu blocks.

A quality 120.3 radiator plus 3 120mm fans

I'd advise getting more than a metre of tubing, get 3/4 metres, just in case you want to experiment or make some mistakes. Its cheap so why not?

I would also advise getting an EK top fitted on that D5 pump. Google the following: EK-D5 X-TOP - Acetal G1/4 Rev.2

Edit/ Another thing to bear in mind is that Therm rads use barbs with non-standard thread sizes, 3/8" bspp I think so you'll need two of them and possibly 8 x g1/4"
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Ooh, going for a 120.3 with 2x480 and i7? I'd be interested to know how this works out! I wouldn't be 100% on you reaching you 4GHz clock back, and you defo wont be able to overclock the GPU's. I don't know anyone who's done that all off one 120.3!
I personally (in an ideal world) would go for a 120.3 for the GPU's and a 120.2 for the CPU in separate loops. Although to find a case for all that isn't the easiest and it starts getting a bit expensive!
One piece of adivce I would give, put the CPU first in the loop so it gets the coolest water possible!
 
on the note of the fittings, if you can afford to pay a bit(read a lot) extra it might be worth getting shutoff fittings
 
Higadeb said:
Ooh, going for a 120.3 with 2x480 and i7? I'd be interested to know how this works out! I wouldn't be 100% on you reaching you 4GHz clock back, and you defo wont be able to overclock the GPU's. I don't know anyone who's done that all off one 120.3!
I personally (in an ideal world) would go for a 120.3 for the GPU's and a 120.2 for the CPU in separate loops. Although to find a case for all that isn't the easiest and it starts getting a bit expensive!
One piece of adivce I would give, put the CPU first in the loop so it gets the coolest water possible!
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I suppose another way of doing it would be to get a corsair H50 for the cpu, and then have the 480's on a loop all of their own?

Or leave the CPU on air only and just water cool the 480s? they are the hottest and noisiest things in the case?
 
ntemples1 said:
I suppose another way of doing it would be to get a corsair H50 for the cpu, and then have the 480's on a loop all of their own?

Or leave the CPU on air only and just water cool the 480s? they are the hottest and noisiest things in the case?
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The 480's at stock will most probably be noisier (read much noisier) than the rest of the setup. I can't say what noise your current CPU cooler shoves out, but 480's in sli have been benched to top 65 db (it was 67 exactly I think). In sli they ran at a toasty 98'c under full load, if there is one thing you want to wc (well two I guess), it is these!
 
Higadeb said:
The 480's at stock will most probably be noisier (read much noisier) than the rest of the setup. I can't say what noise your current CPU cooler shoves out, but 480's in sli have been benched to top 65 db (it was 67 exactly I think). In sli they ran at a toasty 98'c under full load, if there is one thing you want to wc (well two I guess), it is these!
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Yeah I think that'd be the way to go, so what exactly will I need for just watercooling the GPUs?
 
ntemples1 said:
Yeah I think that'd be the way to go, so what exactly will I need for just watercooling the GPUs?
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Its a bad idea to only put the GPUs on a loop. I would still argue that a Thermochill PA120.3 can easily cool 2 x 480 and an overclocked i7 cpu. I don't see any reason to build two separate loops for the CPU and GPUs.
 
mike gunnz said:
Its a bad idea to only put the GPUs on a loop. I would still argue that a Thermochill PA120.3 can easily cool 2 x 480 and an overclocked i7 cpu. I don't see any reason to build two separate loops for the CPU and GPUs.
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OK well I suppose I can try it out and see what happens. worst scenario is that I would have to add something else, like another loop. So just a bit more reading before ordering really as I don't want to order something by mistake that I don't need!
 
I would not recommend running 2x 480's and an i7 @ 4+ in one loop with only the 1 120.3 rad. I run my i7 and northbridge on a 120.2 and my 4870x2 and mossfets on a sep loop on a 120.3 both loops delta runs at about 10deg above room temp.

edit: make sure you put a drain point in your loop! you will kick yourself later if you don't.
 
I have recently watercooled my SLI 480's, it has made a huge difference to the noise of my machine (plus 920core/1100mem is a brucie bonus). I used the following parts for the GPU loop:

Thermochill PA120.3
XSPC Laing DDC 200ml Reservoir Pump Top
Laing DDC-1+ Ultra 18W
EK480 blocks
(plus various fittings, tubing and fans)

That little lots keeps my overclocked 480's nice and cool, I have never seen the temps go above 63c (and that was with with furmark). Given the heat I can feel coming from the RAD when the cards are under full load, I would be very wary about adding an i7 into the loop.
 
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layte said:
I have recently watercooled my SLI 480's, it has made a huge difference to the noise of my machine (plus 920core/1100mem is a brucie bonus). I used the following parts for the GPU loop:

Thermochill PA120.3
XSPC Laing DDC 200ml Reservoir Pump Top
Laing DDC-1+ Ultra 18W
EK480 blocks
(plus various fittings, tubing and fans)

That little lots keeps my overclocked 480's nice and cool, I have never seen the temps go above 63c (and that was with with furmark). Given the heat I can feel coming from the RAD when the cards are under full load, I would be very wary about adding an i7 into the loop.
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I really like the sound of your setup, what fittings, tubing and fans did you use? I think I am going to go for the same and try and overclock my 480's after.
 
layte said:
Just standard 1/2" barbs with Masterkleer 7/16" Tubing. I used a dedicated SLI connector between the cards ( http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-183-OK&groupid=962&catid=1529&subcat=1747 ). For the fans, I picked up 3 Scythe S-Flex 1600RPM jobbies. I have a less than clear pic of the inside of my case here: http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~layte/pics/480-tape-lol.jpg
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Thats brilliant help thankyou very much! I notice you have a separate loop for your CPU is that with another Rad?
 
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