I'm surprised this isn't more popular here

BababooeyHTJ

Supreme [H]ardness
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Jan 21, 2009
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Well, I've always been a fan of aftermarket coolers for my video cards. If I know that I'm going to be keeping a card for a while I'll usually find a good cooler for it. Recently people on the forums have been throwing those self contained water coolers like the Antec 620 onto their video cards. I've been hooked onto these coolers for my cpu since I first bought an H50. Well I saw this thread and how easy it is to mount one of these onto a video card. I had to try that out and am I glad that I did. These things can even tame a GTX480 with the voltage slider all the way to the right in afterburner. Now I just have to edit the bios to see what these cards can really do.

Anyways I just wanted to see if anyone else here has tried one of these out. Here is what I did.

75Pypl.jpg
 
Jeebus that's a clean box. I've been wanting to try one of these self contained water coolers for awhile...on my CPU albeit. What case is that?
 
The reason is that you can make a custom loop that looks 10x better. It's cool I guess, but custom loops are often done for looks as well, not just for the cooling.
 
The reason is that you can make a custom loop that looks 10x better. It's cool I guess, but custom loops are often done for looks as well, not just for the cooling.

:rolleyes: Yeah, everyone has $400+ loops these days.

Its a $50 cooler that'll tame an overclocked GTX480 if thats not impressive I don't know what is.

Jeebus that's a clean box. I've been wanting to try one of these self contained water coolers for awhile...on my CPU albeit. What case is that?

Its a HAF932 advanced. I'm pretty impressed with it. There are actually a couple of other ways that I could have gone about placing the rads in that case. Its a nice step up from my FT-02 for these types of things.
 
:rolleyes: Yeah, everyone has $400+ loops these days.

Its a $50 cooler that'll tame an overclocked GTX480 if thats not impressive I don't know what is.

You asked why people don't seem to like it here/its not popular, I gave you a reason. I don't have "$400" either, but if you really care about watercooling and looks I don't think money is a problem. I would do this because I don't care much about looks because I don't have much to spend.
 
Nice build! Yeah I bought his old 560 2gb gpus and they look new. He takes care of his gear.
 
Antec 620 is a great cooling solution for compatible video cards.

It's so good that IMO Antec needs to rush out an adapter bracket to properly work with compatible video cards. I'm not a big fan of the tie wrap mount. I would look at the stock mounting bracket and see if it is possible to modify by screwing new holes to make fit with bolts and nuts for mount.

For $55 at Amazon Antec 620 is a great affordable option for water cooling.
 
The reason is that you can make a custom loop that looks 10x better. It's cool I guess, but custom loops are often done for looks as well, not just for the cooling.


When I got into water cooling I did it mainly for performance in cooling. I started with the Corsair H50. Then I wanted to water cool my GTX 470 so I made a big step to a full custom loop.

I did it mainly for performance gains by cooling. I really don't care about the appearanceas much as I do the function. Custom loop systems have many configuration options but it's not cheap.

Since building my first water cooled system I have stuck with it because it's fun and performs well.


I have never discarded the effectiveness or value of a self contained water cooling unit like the Antec 620. It is cutting edge water cooling technology.
 
You asked why people don't seem to like it here/its not popular, I gave you a reason. I don't have "$400" either, but if you really care about watercooling and looks I don't think money is a problem. I would do this because I don't care much about looks because I don't have much to spend.

I am from the "do it right the first time or don't do it at all" crowd.
 
the set up looks nice. im afraid of water:(

Don't be! All in one kits are a great way to dip your toes into water and begin to see the benefits.
These days they are reliable and with Antec or Corsair you'd be covered should it happen to leak and cause some damage, most of the time anyway.... :p
 
I actually just got into watercooling and I did it with 2 systems, one with an all-in-one antec 620 on my e6600 rig and a full blown custom loop for my new i5 rig. Both have their pros and cons. I like the antec 620 for its simplicity and it completely outperforms the Tuniq tower 120 that it replaced, much easier to work with that little CPU block and mount the rad instead of this huge chunk of a heatsink. On the other hand I love the look and expandability of my 480 rad and stronger pump. It was fun piecing together a custom loop but it's also nice to just mount the 620 and be done with it.
 
It's not quite as bad as it's going to sound, and works well in certain senarios, like yours. But there are a few reasons why it might not be picked over other usages (this isn't picking one over the other, it's bad point of multi coolers over normal watercooling, so will be very one side biased and a big list of bad points!):

  1. Short ranged transport. One of the great things about watercooling, is the heat can be transported wherever there is a fan. These coolers need 120mm fans pretty close to the source, so if you have the wrong case, then it's not going to work. Every card you add is going to need another 120mm fan hole within the limited range of these usually short tubes. For example 3x120mm rads/fans wouldn't be easy even for you, whereas 3x waterblock would be easy to cool on a single radiator, which would fit in that case.

  2. The pump units look like they go into the slot below, and then some (problem I had with the h50). Which might be problematic on some boards with SLI/other add in cards based on the slot arrangement, especially if the unit is going into the 7th slot. Normal waterblocks would only use a single slot so would allow for a greater range of possibilities, and allow the inbetween slots to be usable.

  3. There is a doubling/tripling/quadrupling of the pumps. Now I know that these pumps aren't as loud as a normal watercooling pump as they don't need to be as powerful, but a seperate pump unit can be properly isolated and decoupled to be practically silent. The more pumps you add, the louder it's going to be. It's also probably going to use more power overall.

  4. These units normally use high FPI arrangements. You cant have a single big low FPI (or even passive) radiator, and there isn't the possibility of upgrading the radiators. This will also mean that you lose acess to some of the more quieter/different radiator arrangements.

  5. Closed loops aren't modular. Now chipset cooling is pretty pointless in most usage senarios, but being able to add in other components, and expand the loop indefinately is useful sometimes.

  6. More stuff to go wrong. More pumps you add, the more likely one is going to fail. Now you could argue that a single loop pump would be more "catastrophic" in a failure scenario, but CPU header that and it would be auto shutdown and warn you. You could also go double pump for uptime security. Single pump on a card fails, you have no backup, there would be no obvious warning that something would be going wrong until the thermal cutoff/throttling/artifacting kicked in. (this one sounds much worse than it actually is!)

  7. Less options aesthetically. Possibly more tubes in more places with less routing options. Less choice of color/fancy stuff.

With all of that said, it is a nice idea, and one I was thinking about for a while, before I came to the conclusion it wouldn't work in my situation! :(
 
That's awesome. How often do you have to drain and change the water?

Ive been running my first H50 for close to a year now.. Never..

Its a sealed unit so if you open em, you'll have to replace the hose and clamps..
 

I have actually seen that now that you mention it. Probably one of the first people to pull that off.

With all of that said, it is a nice idea, and one I was thinking about for a while, before I came to the conclusion it wouldn't work in my situation! :(

Thats why I decided to change my case. I could have pulled it off in an FT-02 but it would have required some serious ghetto rigging. Its also not the first time that case had screwed me over with video card coolers.

Don't be! All in one kits are a great way to dip your toes into water and begin to see the benefits.
These days they are reliable and with Antec or Corsair you'd be covered should it happen to leak and cause some damage, most of the time anyway.... :p

Now that you mention it, I had heard of Corsair replacing peoples hardware that had been fried when a loop burst. Are there any reports of Antec doing the same?
 
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I love zip ties, I use zip ties all the time. This is not something I would trust to a bunch of zip ties. The plastic will stretch a little over time, and I have had them slip on me before. If there was a more reliable fastening system I might try this, but every chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and thats a thin plastic chain keeping your GPU from frying.
 
2 words... more photos! Specifically of the attachment method and what you are now using to cool the ram and vrm. :D Also.. how about some rig specs? What video cards are those?
 
2 words... more photos! Specifically of the attachment method and what you are now using to cool the ram and vrm. :D Also.. how about some rig specs? What video cards are those?

2 words. Click link!

:) the post on OCN has gotten a lot of traffic, it's a great mod and your case looks nice Babahooey.
 
Looks great and the results are fantastic! I'd worry about the stress on the PCB while trying to get a proper mount without a back plate.
 
2 words... more photos! Specifically of the attachment method and what you are now using to cool the ram and vrm. :D Also.. how about some rig specs? What video cards are those?

They are GTX480s. The case is an HAF932. The fans in the side panel should provide more than enough airflow for the vrm and memory sink.

Check the link it has better pics than I could provide of the attachment method. The guy did a really good job with that.

For a 7970 I'm not sure what I would do for the vrms. I never really found a good method of cooling the vrms on my 6950. I really wish that someone would make some full vrm sinks for reference cards. Kind of like the ones that Petra's tech shop used to sell for the 4870.

Looks great and the results are fantastic! I'd worry about the stress on the PCB while trying to get a proper mount without a back plate.

I know what you mean but most cards these days don't come with a backplate. For example I don't remember the Galaxy GTX560s that I was using having one.

That said there is a guy working on a mount for these coolers that he plans on selling. If so I'll buy a couple. I just don't think that the zip-ties are a deal breaker personally.
 
its a good solution to cool the GPU. However it doesn't cool the memory or the vrms.

there are other mounting methods, you just have to be creative.
 
Prob cause one should do this.. http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1672524.

But i understand the cost involved.. though using that on a $550+ card would scare some. I'd be more confortable using a normal GPU universal cooler that would cool better then one of these on a hot card. Though even after saying that no.. i've rather have them VRMs cooled better then that. One would have to have fans pointed at it to cool the other card areas and doing crossfire/SLI would be near impossable.
 
Its cool and neat. Glad to see people doing it. Thats what modding is all about. I was interested untill i realized i dont have room for 2 more 120 radiators in my case.

I also wont ever use zip ties on anything except bundling or securing cables to something.
 
Prob cause one should do this.. http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1672524.

But i understand the cost involved.. though using that on a $550+ card would scare some. I'd be more confortable using a normal GPU universal cooler that would cool better then one of these on a hot card. Though even after saying that no.. i've rather have them VRMs cooled better then that. One would have to have fans pointed at it to cool the other card areas and doing crossfire/SLI would be near impossable.

This cooler keeps my GTX480 at a lower temp than an HR-03 GT kept my GTX560 with one of the same fans at the same speed. You do realize that these little low cost liquid coolers outperform a true? I doubt that a stock accelero would outperform one of these coolers. Also, the stock vrm coolers that come with the accelero and most video card coolers are awful. The first pic that I ever saw of a popped GTX570 vrm was on an accelero heatsink.

As for the zip ties you do have to remember that most gpu coolers like the asus direct cu2 6950 don't even use a backplate and that is a ton of weight. I just don't think that its that big a deal.

What case is that? It almost looks like a modded Haf X

Its the HAF932 advanced.
 
I love zip ties, I use zip ties all the time. This is not something I would trust to a bunch of zip ties. The plastic will stretch a little over time, and I have had them slip on me before. If there was a more reliable fastening system I might try this, but every chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and thats a thin plastic chain keeping your GPU from frying.

only other option is to use the older h50/70 or antec kuhler models to make a custom bracket. http://www.corsair.com/blog/using-a-hydro-series-h70-on-a-nvidia-geforce-gtx480/

or might want to try contacting this person for something custom http://www.overclock.net/t/1221722/...t-antec-khuler-620-920-cooler-mount-prototype


seems like you are limited to just the 'round' bases. as far as i know, nobody has made a custom bracket for the newer 'square' hxx models.

but basically every other forum topic i've read, they all just use the zip ties. i was wary at first too, but so far i have not read about anyone having problems with them.
 
Looks like a nice way to go. I could do that! :D Screwdriver and zip ties, how easy can you get also very affordable mod! I might get a stock heatsink card next time and try this if I have the room in my case! Thx for the idea!
 
Hmm interesting. Might be worth it to pick up a reference 480 and try it on a 620 I have laying around.
 
only other option is to use the older h50/70 or antec kuhler models to make a custom bracket. http://www.corsair.com/blog/using-a-hydro-series-h70-on-a-nvidia-geforce-gtx480/

or might want to try contacting this person for something custom http://www.overclock.net/t/1221722/...t-antec-khuler-620-920-cooler-mount-prototype


seems like you are limited to just the 'round' bases. as far as i know, nobody has made a custom bracket for the newer 'square' hxx models.

but basically every other forum topic i've read, they all just use the zip ties. i was wary at first too, but so far i have not read about anyone having problems with them.

Yea, a bracket would be nice. I don't think you would have problems with the zip ties either, but bolted down always makes you feel more secure. The only thing I would be concerned about is all the other heat sinks you would need for the card and how much they would cost.
 
Yea, a bracket would be nice. I don't think you would have problems with the zip ties either, but bolted down always makes you feel more secure. The only thing I would be concerned about is all the other heat sinks you would need for the card and how much they would cost.

Thats the thing that keeps me from using aftermarket cooling most of the time. The memory is easy enough to sink but finding a good way to cool the vrms is always a pain. I never found a good way to cool the vrms on the 6950 for example.
 
Don't be! All in one kits are a great way to dip your toes into water and begin to see the benefits.
These days they are reliable and with Antec or Corsair you'd be covered should it happen to leak and cause some damage, most of the time anyway.... :p

i want to start but some of my friends had some leaks in theirs and yea, just air doesnt ruin componets, but limits you
 
Wish gpu blocks werent that expensive:/ My Fuzion cpu block has lasted me through e6600, e8400, and now is cooling my 2600k. Did not spend a dime extra on that loop in many years.
 
one thing i thought about with the zip ties, i wonder how much heat would effect them. being close to hot components, maybe the plastic would be effected some adverse way? i dont have any scientific evidence, just curious :p
 
one thing i thought about with the zip ties, i wonder how much heat would effect them. being close to hot components, maybe the plastic would be effected some adverse way? i dont have any scientific evidence, just curious :p

I've used them in greenhouses all of the time and never had an issue with black zip-ties. They're stronger than you might think. You could always reseat it every year if it made you feel more comfortable.
 
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