Noob watercooling question!

The second GPU is only a though, I'm by no means an expert on anything computer related, but why is two not better than one in this case?

Say I go for a 900D case - What water cooling components are recommended for reliability and performance? I'm guessing the in the case of radiators, the biggest is best?
 
Small memory bus capped with relatively little vram (in the grand scheme of things) means you would get very little gains from chips 3 and 4, less so with the 4th. Tri-SLI 4GB 680's would be the better option (if sticking Nvidia).

Biggest isn't always best with radiators, the XSPC AX range perform on a similar par to the RX range yet slimmer. Though the RX won't require high RPM fans and may perform slightly better.

As for packing a 900D, as I've not seen what exactly fits in the bottom (thickness wise) something like this:

Res - your choice, not many options for a tube res so probably looking at a bay res
Pump - D5
CPU block - Raystorm/Supremacy/Kryos probably some others too, performace is similar over the 3 I mentioned
GPU block(s) - Aquacomputer/Watercool (heatkiller)/EK
Radiators - RX480 (top), RX480 (Bottom), RX360 (front)/AX240 (bottom)
Fittings/tubing/fluid - Your call
Fans/controller - AP-15's, SP120's or cheap out a little with some yate loons, controller - aquaro for automatic or Lampton for manual.
 
Cheers for explaining that mate :)

The 900D has a triple rad slot at the top. Would that be sufficient to cool my CPU (3930K not overclocked) and a single 690 (which will be overclocked)? I'd like to keep things as neat and as simple as possible.

Sorry for all the questions, but I'd rather get something like this correct first time round lol.
 
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Had a look at your PC there Rich, so you are running the equivalent of a 5 fan size rad? What temps are you getting on your GPUs?

Your install looks really good by the way!
 
Had a look at your PC there Rich, so you are running the equivalent of a 5 fan size rad? What temps are you getting on your GPUs?

Your install looks really good by the way!

Yeah, both rads are quite thick too, top rad is 62mm and bottom is around 55mm, also bottom is a 280 so is cooled with 2 140mm fans and top is cooled with 3 120mm fans.

A typical game of bf3 all settings maxed, will see the gpu's max out at roughly 55'c but my gpu's are overclocked too. Also cpu is in that loop also overclocked to 4.4 at the moment. My system is quite close to a house radiator too, so can affect temps sometimes.

Thanks you :)
 
In that case (no pun intended) what model case would you guys recommend? I prefer cases with a subtle exterior - no lights/windows etc, just smooth clean lines.

What about this clean case for water cooling? Its nice and clean, but is definitely biased to low noise. It only has space for a 280 rad at the top though.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-087-BX&groupid=2362&catid=1850&subcat=

edited to say it may not have enough space or airflow for all the rads you guys are proposing!
 
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Yep, its about as future proof as a case can get :)

Support for all form factors, dual PSU's, quad GPU's and a hefty chunk of watercooling gear.
 
Ok decided that I may as well go ahead and buy some parts now. I'm going to leave the H100 for my CPU and just water cool the 690 using an external rad. When the 900D is release I'll install inside.

This is the list of parts I've got already

XSPC RX480 120mm Radiator - Black XSPC RX480 120mm Radiator - Black

EK 690 Full Cover Waterblock - Nickel Acetal EK 690 Full Cover Waterblock - Nickel Acetal

XSPC X2O 750 Dual Bayres/Pump (Black) V4 XSPC X2O 750 Dual Bayres/Pump (Black) V4
XSPC AX Radiator Desk Stand (Black) XSPC AX Radiator Desk Stand (Black)


I know fittings are missing, but I'll probably just get them locally once the parts arrive.

MY next question is about fan controllers -I take it I'll want 4 fans to go onto that rad? I've an ASUS P9X79 motherboard that has 4 fan connections on it (extra to the CPU ones) can I just use them for the 4 rad fans? Or is it best to run the rads fans off one of the PSU connections?
 
Run the fans from a controller, its a worthy investment when watercooling, as you can have the fans low/off most of the time and then fire them up when the system is under stress :)

I'm not sure how the AX deskstand works but I'm presuming it only works with the 'AX' series radiator? Appears as if the radiator needs to have some screw holes at the end to accommodate it.
 
aside from the watercooling question I would say that 2 690s is a total waste of money.

They are the nicest 2 card setup I have ever used (im not taking about performance when I say that). They are reasonably quiet, don't dump huge amounts of heat in the case and run very smooth. I also seen to get good scaling and GPU usage on the latest games providing im using the right drivers.

Comparing my other rig with a pair of HD 7970 matrix platinums its a different story. These boys produce a massive amount of heat that ends up in the case and the noise even @stock playing a graphics heavy game like Civ 5 is ear spliting (lucky im a bit deaf). Comparing the two systems is like beauty and the beast.

Having said all that though as you and a lot of other people would say 2 GTX 690s are a bit overkill a lot of the time. On the other hand you do get plenty of opportunity to use all the horsepower.

nah deffo wouldn't. all that gpu horsepower crippled by 2gbs of vram and a 256bit bus, epic fail.

Yes it is a epic fail

I have never had a problem though, I game @1600p so the vram is never a problem. But for anyone wanting to go above this it would be very unwise and a total waste of money.
 
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