Watercool Phantom 3GB 580's or wait for next gen...?

Michaeljcox24

Michaeljcox24

Michaeljcox24

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For anyone like me who's running these on air in SLI, you'll appreciate they are very loud when they get hot and personally, I find it very distracting when you're on a game like Far Cry 3 trying to creep around with a vacuum cleaner running next to you. So much so that in the Summer I have to game with headphones on.

So much so that for the past few weeks I've been a stone throw away from putting a loop together for my rig. Thanks to the help of the 5UB and RJK at OcUK, I'm pretty sure I know what to get for a Haf-X.

- The OCUK Techlab 360 kit
- The EK-FC5X0 vga blocks for the cards
- A 140 rad for the back of the case
- Already got 4 gentle typhoons on push pull H100 so I wouldn't to buy any fans
- Connecting block for the cards
- Maybe an extra roll of hosing
- Around 6 extra barbs (two for 140 rad, two for top card, two for bottom card)

All in all the investment would be around £550 for a quieter PC. However, hereby lies my problem. You hear so many times on these forums, 'not to invest in old tech', and I can't help but think in the back of my mind, would it be a better idea just to wait for the next gen cards like the 770's and purchase a couple of windforce (which have far far superior coolers)

Or sell the 580's, and put the money into one pre watercooled 690 + the kit (purely because it't newer tech) If I spread the cost over 12 months it's an affordable option.

Or go with my original plan, and watercool this rig?

I game on 3D vision for a few games, so need the SLI for my rig otherwise I'd only be running one card.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated
 
I don't watercool but this is how I see it.

Most of the cost involved switching to watercooling is in your initial outlay for pump/rads/fittings and blocks. If I was you and had the outlay for watercooling now I would make the switch then budget an additional couple hundred when you're looking to upgrade your cards in the future for new blocks. Feel free to disagree though.
 
Mitzy said:
I don't watercool but this is how I see it.

Most of the cost involved switching to watercooling is in your initial outlay for pump/rads/fittings and blocks. If I was you and had the outlay for watercooling now I would make the switch then budget an additional couple hundred when you're looking to upgrade your cards in the future for new blocks. Feel free to disagree though.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I'd do, and I have watercooled my PC :)

Start by getting your CPU done with top hardware, then when you come to do the GPU the only thing you'll need extra is perhaps another RAD and the GPU block :).

Get the 360 kit or an alternative (depends what components you want) and just do the CPU, it'll be overkill running a 360 rad for your CPU, but when you do the GPU it'll be good (assuming you have 1 gpu, if you have more you'll want to look at more rads without a doubt).
 
@ Mitzy: I did consider this, but after fitting the rads in, I wouldn't be any further forwards in terms of getting rid of the noise of the cards.

@ Addicted: Max rads I can fit without getting the drill out is a 360 in the top and in a 140 in the back. Same as above though, I would still be deafened by the cards when I've got a half decent game on (and thats with the Haf-X's huge 200mm side fan blowing into the side of them too)
 
Personally I find watercooling the GPU to give much better gains in terms of overclocking(maybe not with kepler) and reducing the amount of noise it sound.

I would sell the gtx 580's and grab a newer single gpu card, no point in dumping £100+ on blocks you will soon end up replacing. I would go with a single watercooled gtx 670 and if you need more horse power buy another one.
 
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