May have to dive into water cooling for the first time. Any advice?

[X82]

For at least 4 years, I’ve been having various issues with gaming. I used to use a GTX 590 and constantly got crashes to desktop because of the “device driver has stopped responding but has recovered” message. This effected me in BF3, BF4, Arma, WoW and now Shadows Of Mordor.
6 months ago I got 2 new cards, XFX 280X 3GB in crossfire.

I’ve had no real issues but perhaps due to the recent weather and my lack of proper cooling, I think the problem is happening again. The cards creep up to 80 degrees C and hold there for a while but I know a crash is coming.
Now, while these crashes may have nothing to do with temps, I fear they could be. So I now have to take the plunge into the unknown world of water cooling.

I have an i7 (exact specs escape me, I’m at work) which would also require cooling, but with tanks and pipes etc, I have no idea where to even start, nor is it even worth doing?

I do feel the heat and even a slight smell when my two cards to full throttle.

Any pointers and advice would be really helpful.

 

[Greebo]

AIO are great for people starting off but dont cool quite as well as a bespoke system.

A lot depends on the case you have and how many/big radiators you can fit.

 

[X82]

After doing some mild research myself, it seems that my two cards are not compatable with a lot of cooling components. Typical.
I did find this but that is nearly $300 for the pair, not uncluding the pumping system and CPU block also. I never realised how expensive this all is.

 

[MrMD]

After doing some mild research myself, it seems that my two cards are not compatable with a lot of cooling components. Typical.
I did find this but that is nearly $300 for the pair, not uncluding the pumping system and CPU block also. I never realised how expensive this all is.

Those blocks are so expensive as the 280x is an old card now,and the blocks are no longer in production.So if you are able to find one new its likely to be overpriced.

If your looking for 280x blocs your best bet is the auction site or elsewhere 2nd hand.Or even go for a pair of universal blocks.

A nice quality setup with good parts for a CPU and a pair of GPU's is gonna set you back around £400-£500

 

[C64]

You only need to watercool the top card whats more important in multi card setups is having as big a gap as possible between top and bottom cards.

Baffles me why designers put the unsusable slower pci-e slot at the bottom of the board the secondary pci-e slot should be at the bottom and the slowest in the middle.