Water cooling the HD5870

Sobtanian

Sobtanian

Sobtanian

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Joined
20 Apr 2007
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133
Hello all. Apologies for the long boring thread in advance.

First, some specs:
mobo - Asus Rampage II Extreme
cpu - intel i7 920 @ 4.2ghz
cooler - Noctua (forgot the model, sorry :))
ram - corsair 6x2gb DDR3 1600 @ 1600
vga - 2xPower Color HD5870 in CrossfireX
case - Antec 1200

The system is entirely air cooled (have never water cooled before). The above overclock is achieved by setting BCLK at 200mhz, and multiplying by 21 for CPU and 8 for RAM.
CPU idles at 30-40, active at around 50 (the Noctua is a great cooler!), northbridge is at 50-60 though (is that too much? It's right next to the VGA though)

My main gripe with the system is the noise (and heat!) the VGAs generate. when idle, they're at around 50 degrees with 5-6000rpm fans. BUT, the moment a game is on, one of the cards runs between 85-90, with a fan that can reach 11000! (and obviously is loud).

Everything is stable though, stress tests galore are fine, and prolonged 3D gaming sessions are all ok.

Nevertheless, I think that watercooling (especially the VGAs) is now the order of the day. I've never watercooled before, and hence will be going for a noob-friendly external solution. Here's what I had in mind:

1\ Zalman Reserator XT
2\ 2xEK HD5870 VGA blocks
3\ Zalman NorthBridge block

As the system is compatible with 1366 sockets out of the box, I thought I might as well remove the Noctua and water cool the CPU while I'm at it. So, in essence, I should end up with a water cooled CPU, NB, and both VGAs.

Having never watercooled before, I'd rather opt for this external solution, and if I like the idea then future builds can have an internal, better solution. But, for now, this is what I'd like to do.

And, on to the 2 questions (finally!)

1\ Does anyone know if the VGA blocks are crossfirex compatible? I can't find anywhere if they are or not, and physically to me they don't look like they're gonna block the crossfirex connection slots.

2\ Will I need any other fittings/accessories in order to attach the NB block and VGA blocks? If I do need something, can you kindly tell me exactly what it's called, as I have no clue what the lingo means :D

And thanks!
 
Sobtanian said:
CPU idles at 30-40, active at around 50 (the Noctua is a great cooler!)
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I can't help you with the watercooling I'm afraid but are you seriously saying the max temp your i7 reaches @ 4.2GHz is 50c, on air?!?.

Screenshots of CPU-Z, BIOS settings, and temp monitoring software please.
 
Yeah of course when I get home

The Noctua is one hell of a large, mean, air cooling machine! The fan revs quietly at 1360 or so RPM, and is bloody awesome.

I'll post pics later this evening.

EDIT - how am I gonna screenshot the BIOS though? Not gonna snap it with camera that's for sure. Perhaps the AI suite will show it. Will check.
 
If indeed you current temps are correct, which i do highly doubt tbh, then your only going to be disappointed with a reserator.

Your best of going with a custom set up if your wanting good temp. Some like Heatkiller cpu block, ek 5870 fullcover blocks, laing ddc pump, thermochill pa120.3 and reservoir of your choice :)
 
SpudMaster said:
If indeed you current temps are correct, which i do highly doubt tbh, then your only going to be disappointed with a reserator.
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are you talking about CPU temps or VGA temps?

I don't want to improve the CPU temps, I want to improve the VGA temps/noise. WC the CPU is just a side effect.

How would the reserator disappoint from a VGA perspective?

And, doubt it or not, that's the temp the CPU is reading, unless Everest + mobo sensors are broken.

I have no reason to want to OC/WC the CPU at all, it's the VGAs that are annoying - and heating.
 
When you said "Active at around 50c", what did you mean by active?

Those temps are extremely low for 4.2GHz, I have my chip watercooled, and at 4GHz my load temps hit 60c, that's using LinX to put 100% load on each core though, I suggest using RealTemp for monitoring your CPU's temps.

I know with apps like SpeedFan, or Gigabyte's EasyTune6, it reads the temps from a sensor in the CPU socket iirc, whereas with RealTemp and CoreTemp, it reads from a DTS in the CPU's cores..
 
50 degrees C in the bios is the right ballpark for 4.2ghz, for 50 degrees in real temp et al you must be in a very cold room indeed. Or defining active as browsing the internet while watching a film.

The reservator has a pretty weak pump, I don't think it'll cope very well with two graphics cards. I'm doubtful that the temperatures would be very good either, but we need ss to comment on this really. You'd do much better going the conventional route of air cooled radiators, preferably internal but otherwise hanging off the side of the case / embedded in a desk / just lying on the floor. What budget have you set, and what's your case?

p.s. a noob watercooling is one with dead hardware. Learn [at least approximately] what you're doing before buying the pieces.

offtopic/ Davy, are you folding yet?
 
I'm just using Everest to monitor, sorry! Not realtemp or anything like that.

Also, am talking about "general" activeness - for eg prolonged (4-6 hour) 3D gaming (it's a gaming PC first and foremost, don't do anything else on it really) the CPU is at the temps I mentioned (as measured by everest).

And by games I mean anything from TF2, L4D2, MW2, Shattered Horizon etc
 
JonJ678 said:
What budget have you set, and what's your case?

p.s. a noob watercooling is one with dead hardware. Learn [at least approximately] what you're doing before buying the pieces.
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Budget not an issue.
Case is in original post.

I've read and reread and read again for the last week re: watercooling, and because of the "dead hardware" thing, I came to the conclusion that an all-in-one external cooler might be the better option for me. And also, it's why I'm asking :D

And regarding the air cooled radiators etc, what exactly do you mean? I've got to clarify that I've never seeked alternative cooling methods before this build, hence it's all new.
 
JonJ678 said:
offtopic/ Davy, are you folding yet?
Click to expand...

I haven't gotten round to setting it up properly yet Jon, I'm not entirely sure how to go about it tbh..

I've done a few work units, but like I said, I don't know how to get the full potential out of my systems.

I'll shoot you an e-mail later on mate, so I can pick your brains about some stuff if you don't mind??

@OP, if you read up lots of stuff regarding watercooling, and ask for advice on forums (like you're doing here!) you really can't go wrong with water cooling..

I've recently made the move myself, and now I've got it up and running, I really don't know what all the worrying was about before!!

If you take your time when plumbing the loop, and make sure you leaktest everything first, you will be perfectly fine..

I personally tested all of my kit outside the case for a few hours before I fired it all in the case, just to make sure there weren't any leaky fittings, or blocks, I think this was a good move on my part.
 
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Yeah, go for it Dave. There's a risk I'll be asleep, in which case I'll get you an answer tomorrow. I know more about folding under linux than windows though, and iirc correctly you're a windows guy.

@OP, no budget does make things potentially quite exciting. I'll try to keep this sane though.
In short, the antec 1200 out of the box is not what you want for water cooling. Internal radiators either mean hacking holes in it or changing case. If changing case, the corsair one or silverstone tj07 are as close to perfection as anyone has come. However there's a more exciting option I'll cover in a bit.

Watercooling is fitting blocks where there used to be heatsinks, radiators wherever they will fit, a pump somewhere near a hole to pour water in and running tubes between them all. As long as you buy matched fittings and tubing and assemble it intelligently you can't go too badly wrong, almost everything has the same thread cut into it which helps. If you don't leak test, use tubing which doesn't fit the barbs, overtighten barbs so cracking the blocks, run the pump without any water in it, have electricity running through the board while water pours onto it... things can go very wrong. Hence the advantage to reading guides on how to set it up before starting. Too many people just want a list of what pieces to buy, and one fears they'll buy them, do a poor job of assembling them, kill their hardware and be very sad. It would be unethical if I didn't do my level best to push you towards researching this (not just by starting a thread) before you buy anything.

That said, the ideal is to put together what is colloquially termed a radbox. It's a box, often a computer case, which is solely full of radiators and fans. Sometimes a power supply, sometimes a pump. For preference it would be a smallish box with at least two triple radiators, fans and a pump. From this to your computer you run two 1/2" tubes and a wire with the fans and pump on one end and a molex connection on the other. You then put this box a fair distance away from your desk so that you can't really hear the fans. This has the considerable advantage that you don't need to find space to fit radiators in your normal case, which makes moving things around in it a lot easier later on and lets you fit more into the case. It also has potential for watercooling multiple systems, and for holding considerably more radiators than you could fit in even a very large case.

So in summary I'm agreeing that an external solution is a good idea, but I think it should be based on a lian li case, thermochill radiators and scythe gentle typhoon fans, and not on the zalman thing.
 
Well this is the thing Jon, I remember reading that the Linux client is better than the Windows one, in which case, would it be possible for me to just boot from my Ubuntu disk and fold like that, or do I have to install linux?

Or would it be possible to run Linux in a virtual machine?

If I had more disk space I would dual boot between Ubuntu and Win7, as I really enjoyed using Ubuntu when I tried it before, the Compiz-Fusion effects were amazing!!!

@OP sorry for hi-jacking your thread!! :)
 
If you have the money, space and balls then I would highly recommend getting a dual loop. One for the Motherboard (with mosfets maybe) and CPU. The other for the 5870 (two). Of course that would mean space for two radiators, so a case like the TJ07 or similar would be your best bet but when it comes to pumps and res' then look no further than HERE (when it comes back in stock...)
 
DavyBoy said:
Well this is the thing Jon, I remember reading that the Linux client is better than the Windows one, in which case, would it be possible for me to just boot from my Ubuntu disk and fold like that, or do I have to install linux?

Or would it be possible to run Linux in a virtual machine?

If I had more disk space I would dual boot between Ubuntu and Win7, as I really enjoyed using Ubuntu when I tried it before, the Compiz-Fusion effects were amazing!!!

@OP sorry for hi-jacking your thread!! :)
Click to expand...

Linux is far more efficient for folding on the CPU than windows, but the downside is that folding on GPUs under Linux isn't great as Jon will vouch for. However the best mix comes from either running a Linux distro/or a diskless folding iso in a virtual machine. With your system this would be the best bet since you will be able to fully utilize both your GPU. In regards to GPU Nvidia haven't released a 'stable' driver since the 186.18, since the newer drivers drop clock speeds to 2D whilst folding for many people. Have a once over this, explains how to fold on/under just about anything :) Sure Jon will be along later with a more comprehensive overview of CPU folding in Linux using the workunits designed for octocores :)

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=602978
 
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