Please spec me a watercooling system

NutterzUK

NutterzUK

NutterzUK

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Joined
18 Feb 2010
Posts
940
Hi,

I would really appreciate any help.

I have 3 290s (these to be precise: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-015-VX).

They are in an obsidian 800d case with an i7 920, all running at stock. At the moment, on load the graphics cards are getting to around 85 degrees on air, they never go higher but it makes an awful lot of noise. They are being used 24/7 and i'd like to keep them cool and stable, I am not too fussed about overclocking, just keeping the noise and temps down mainly.

Currently I also have a Corsair h50, I would be happy keeping this and just water cooling the 290s if it's much cheaper, but if not then I can remove that and replace it.

I was looking at one of the kits, but it then said I needed extra fittings and GPU blocks which I found, but then I saw something about crossfire connectors and got a bit confused. If someone could put together a basket for me which would all work together and in the 800d case for the 3 cards, I'd really really appreciate it.

I am looking for around £500 max, but I totally understand if it needs to be more, it will just mean me waiting a short while.

Thanks,
 
Going to be pushing it at £500 I think, half of that budget will be spent on the GPU blocks alone!

As for using an AIO for the CPU. Would not bother. Will cost you minimal amounts to add in CPU. Tubing is cheap, fittings are cheap so the only extra real cost will be the CPU block itself.

Secondary to this the AIO is going to eat up rad space you could otherwise use for your 290s.

The 'Crossfire connectors' you are referring to are SLI/Xfire bridges. They are not NECESSARY but they do help add in some rigidity to multiple cards and arguably look better. There are other options to links your 3 cards though.

- Regular tubing, however this can be hard to cut and fit at times
- Rigid tubing, like Crystal Links but will require rigid tubing fittings
- Specially designed solid metal fittings which slide out to length required between cards
- Or, as mentioned, a bridge

I'll let somebody else with more intimate knowledge of a 800d spec radiators. But I would image you want to be looking for at least multiple 360 or 480 for a triple card system and CPU running 24/7.

Rad thickness is not a big issue. But which ones you choose will depend on what you want. If you want out and out cooling performance without too much concern for noise then a thicker rad with faster fans will perform better. Otherwise thinner rads with a suitable FPI/Split Fins with slower RPM fans will be a better choice.

Tubing width, choose on aesthetic preference. As long as your fittings match your tubing that is the only concern from a compatibility standpoint.

Fittings - Compressions, end of. Monsoons looks awesome but carry a price premium. I use EK compressions and they are nice and simple, subtle and work well while being reasonably priced.

Blocks - Stock availability for 290s might dictate what you end up buying. Aquacomputer and EK are the 2 major brands people tend to use. CPU blocks? might as well just get an EK Supremacy and be done with it unless you fancy something different.

Coolant - Mayhems, choose on aesthetic preference. I use Clear Premix. Cheap, contains all the necessary anti corrosion inhibitors and biocides. Good stuff, not expensive either.

Tubing - I use PrimoFlex ADVANCED LRT. Easy to work with, clear, supposedly stain resistant and well priced. No branding/printing on the tubing to detract from looks. Cannot suggest any other brands as I have not worked with it.

Pump - Whether you go for a Pump/Res combo or separate pump and res I would recommend the D5. Variable RPM and plenty powerful enough.

Reservoir - Size makes no difference. Choose on looks and port options that will work best with your chosen loop design. Many choices depending if you want a pump built in or not.

Fans - For rads you want good static pressure. Corsair SPs are what I use but there are many other options. Noctua has some Static Pressure fans as well as Gentle Typhoons. I think the Typhoons are going EOL though.


What I would suggest is when ordering, order more tubing than you expect to use and more coolant. Rather too much than not enough. Both tubing and coolant is cheap.

You will also require distilled/purified water to flush your radiators before use so factor that in. It's also cheap though. Another consideration is what you will use for fan control. Step down speed with resistors? Fan Controller? Many choices!
 
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Sin_chase, I really appreciate all that information. It's an awful lot to take in and there are some bits which I will need to look up but that's really putting me in the right direction. Thank you!

I looked up the sizes of the fan grills on the top of the 800d which I currently have gentle typhoons in (perhaps these can be re-used), and on the corsair website it says:

The Obsidian Series 800D has pre-drilled support for top-mounted single, dual, and triple radiators, or up to three additional 120mm fans.

I think actually you have given me plenty enough to go on to start building my own basket. I'll give that a go and post it up, and would really appreciate if anyone could tell me if something won't work. I only read today something about mixing metals being bad, it's things like this I probably won't know at all and want to avoid :).
 
Beautiful specs you have there :)

I'd suggest maxing out your rad space for 3x290 which I believe is a 360+240mm without mods and another 240mm if you don't mind a dremel. I'd reccomend hardwarelabs sr1 or gtx with some hearty fans to get the temps down.

Which scythes do you have?

From what I've read they're rather hot GPUs.
 
NutterzUK said:
Sin_chase, I really appreciate all that information. It's an awful lot to take in and there are some bits which I will need to look up but that's really putting me in the right direction. Thank you!

I looked up the sizes of the fan grills on the top of the 800d which I currently have gentle typhoons in (perhaps these can be re-used), and on the corsair website it says:

The Obsidian Series 800D has pre-drilled support for top-mounted single, dual, and triple radiators, or up to three additional 120mm fans.

I think actually you have given me plenty enough to go on to start building my own basket. I'll give that a go and post it up, and would really appreciate if anyone could tell me if something won't work. I only read today something about mixing metals being bad, it's things like this I probably won't know at all and want to avoid :).
Click to expand...

You should avoid mixing metals, in so far as if you get nickel plated CPU blocks then try get nickel plated GPU blocks.

However, modern premix coolant has corrosion inhibitors in to prevent mixed metal issues and it's not the big problem it was many years ago.

All modern fittings, radiators and blocks will be fine with one another when using a premix. Just try match up the plating and/or metal in use.
 
Running copper and nickel blocks in the same loop is fine.

If they weren't, people would have trouble running nickel blocks and copper rads for example, and seeing as most rads are copper...
 
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there are some metals you really wouldn't want to use... but watercooling parts are not made out of these so it's a pretty mute point. the inhibitors do the job with the metal available
 
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Thanks for this, I really appreciate the help from
everyone, I love this forum. I did have most of my basket set up and ready to post for other people's views when my Superflower power supply started making sounds similar to that of a banshee (I posted a video for anyone's amusement in a different thread) but looks like I'm using my phone for a few days so I apologise for any fat finger mistakes or auto correct.

It's good to know I don't need to worry too much about metals, but I'll try to match if I can (I might as well). I don't mind modding my case, now is the time since my partner and I just moved into our first house and have powertools everywhere.

I think it is correct that i can get a 360 on the top and a 240 on the back (I'll check the back again though). Does the power of the pump matter at all? I rather like the pump and reservoir combos for simplicity, particularly the ones which can go in the bay slots, is there a particular one which is recommended, and is one pump enough? I was considering one like the ones in the kits available on here.
 
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Go with a Laing d5 or my personal favourite a 18w DDC both have the power to push through such a loop. I'd avoid the 750 as it will be severely restricted with 3 gpu blocks.

D5 higher flow rate/ 5 speeds set via dial on back.

DDC greater head height / can be controlled via fan controller. (My favourite because of fan control set the noise to your own liking or ramp up with temps).

Edit: these two combined is perfect in my opinion;

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-165-XS&groupid=962&catid=2133&subcat=2134

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-047-AC&groupid=962&catid=2141&subcat=2142
 
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I've got an 800D and you can fit a 360, 240 and 120 in it with minimal modification.

The 360 will fit in the top, the 120 at the rear and then you can fit a 240 in the bottom as long as you don't mind losing the bottom drive bay mounting cage.

You can either remove the whole cage and then cut a hole in the bottom of the case (for air flow) to mount the rad on the bottom of the case.

Or you can do what I have done and mount the 240 rad on it's side inside the bottom drive cage with a tiny mod to the cage - removing the mount 'rail' from one side of it.

Hope that helps :)
 
cahonis said:
I've got an 800D and you can fit a 360, 240 and 120 in it with minimal modification.

The 360 will fit in the top, the 120 at the rear and then you can fit a 240 in the bottom as long as you don't mind losing the bottom drive bay mounting cage.

You can either remove the whole cage and then cut a hole in the bottom of the case (for air flow) to mount the rad on the bottom of the case.

Or you can do what I have done and mount the 240 rad on it's side inside the bottom drive cage with a tiny mod to the cage - removing the mount 'rail' from one side of it.

Hope that helps :)
Click to expand...

Ah, that's really good to know. I don't mind modding the case, that's no problem at all. I think what you have done sounds like the most aesthetically pleasing way, so I'll probably go with that. I have a jigsaw and some drills.. and a Wickes store just down the road :). Since my PC is having some problems at the moment which are going to set me back some money, I'll need to wait for a little until I can actually set everything up, but I want to get ready for it. I'll post up a log as I build too, it will be a fun project.
 
 
Or, without the CPU in the loop and leaving the H50 on the back which means 1 less radiator and not needing the CPU block or backplate... and I think a couple less fittings (I may have too many or too few):

YOUR BASKET
3 x EK Water Blocks EK-FC R9-290X - Acetal £79.99 (£239.97)
1 x Aqua Computer Laing D5 Pump with Tachosignal £73.99
1 x XSPC Acrylic Dual 5.25" Reservoir for Laing D5 £49.99
1 x EK CoolStream Radiator XT 360 (120.3) £48.98
1 x EK CoolStream Radiator XT 240 (120.2) £38.99
1 x Mayhems Pastel - Ice White Coolant 1L £14.99
3 x Primochill Primoflex Advanced Tubing 16/11 - Clear £5.99 (£17.97)
12 x EK Water Blocks EK-CSQ Fitting 12/16mm G1/4 - Black £5.99 (£71.88)
Total : £566.34 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
cahonis said:
I've got an 800D and you can fit a 360, 240 and 120 in it with minimal modification.

The 360 will fit in the top, the 120 at the rear and then you can fit a 240 in the bottom as long as you don't mind losing the bottom drive bay mounting cage.

You can either remove the whole cage and then cut a hole in the bottom of the case (for air flow) to mount the rad on the bottom of the case.

Or you can do what I have done and mount the 240 rad on it's side inside the bottom drive cage with a tiny mod to the cage - removing the mount 'rail' from one side of it.

Hope that helps :)
Click to expand...

Hi, sorry to be a pain... If you don't mind please could you post a picture of the mod you made for the 240 radiator? It would really help me.
 
NutterzUK said:
Hi, sorry to be a pain... If you don't mind please could you post a picture of the mod you made for the 240 radiator? It would really help me.
Click to expand...

I don't have a picture, sorry. I'll try to explain it though:

At the bottom of the case there is a bay for mounting drives, three I think? Each one has metal 'rails' that the drive sits on. Those rails are connected to the rest of the bay/cage by sheet metal about 3mm wide - those can be cut with heavy wire cutters. If you cut the ones that are on the side of the case that the mobo is mounted you can mount a 240 rad to the mesh of the side of the cage. The rad fits in quite nicely, that's how I've done mine.

I hope that explains it well enough :)
 
cahonis said:
I don't have a picture, sorry. I'll try to explain it though:

At the bottom of the case there is a bay for mounting drives, three I think? Each one has metal 'rails' that the drive sits on. Those rails are connected to the rest of the bay/cage by sheet metal about 3mm wide - those can be cut with heavy wire cutters. If you cut the ones that are on the side of the case that the mobo is mounted you can mount a 240 rad to the mesh of the side of the cage. The rad fits in quite nicely, that's how I've done mine.

I hope that explains it well enough :)
Click to expand...

I think I know exactly where you mean... I'm going to go and investigate with my case (My PC is in bits anyway)... brb :).
 
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