Single loop build with (2) gtx 480 sli and i7 980x ?'s

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fickesdb

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Mar 17, 2005
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Good afternoon all,
First let me say i have been researching this topic as much as possible before i start building my new machine. I could not find a solid answer on this so decided to ask the experts. Parts are coming in now so before I start cutting up my case and what not want to make sure i do it right the first time.

With that said yes i know dual loops is the standard but ill be honest and say i did not want to go that route if a single loop will be fine for me. Im not trying to win over-clocker of the year (probably just hit 4gigs on the chip at most) and i will be leaving the gpus at stock settings. Based off of research i purchased the following items.

Case: Corsair 800d (for the 120.2 going to do a side mount on the bottom cutting the side back panel and using a rad guard)
Pump: Swiftech MCP655 with speed thingy
Rads: XSPC RX360 & XSPC RX240 (going to do push/pull with gentle typhoons)
Blocks: Swiftech APOGEE XT
EVGA gtx 480 hc ftw x2 (already blocked)
EK Full board block for the ASUS Rampage 3 extreme
Bitspower Water Tank Z-Multi 250
Barbs: 1/2
Tube: 1/2 ID 3/4 OD UV Green
Liquid: Distilled water and silver killcoil (wasted $40 on Feser 1 UV green before i saw what that crap does. Really want the cool liquid color but not worth the risk so leds and colored tubing will have to do :(

So now that you know what i am working with and the fact I am not trying to push the system to the max i assume this will be fine. Based off of this would my assumption be correct? Just want to make sure my temps wont be close the max and will be in a safe range. Lastly with all the blocks the pump will be able to push just fine correct? I keep reading yes but again confirming this. Thank you for taking the time to read this and look forward to hearing back from you guys/gals.
 
You should definitely be in the safe range. Since you're not overclocking, a single RX360 would probably be enough to keep things in a safe range. With the RX360 and RX240, you're going to be keeping things in the cool range, not just safe.

The MCP655 is one of the best pumps out there. I have mine pushing through a CPU block and two GPU blocks, and it has more than enough flow.
 
Thank you Tsumi for the response. Guess only one way to find out and thats to just do it which has already began. Was hoping for more feed back so hopefully I will get some today
 
I'm thinking of building a loop with the same rads in my 800D but for 3X 480's and no CPU. Please report back results.
 
I plan on building it this weekend so hopefully with any luck i will have some info on how it goes :)
 
what you should consider is that the CPU generates alot of heat and has to be kept cooler(less than 70 degrees, idealyin the 50's) than the VGA's(less than 80 degrees, idealy in the 60's). So with that in mind have the 3X rad feeding the CPU than to the 2x rad then to the VGA's then to the reservior.
I use a double bay reservior which holds alot of water, my system holds about 2 litres.
These are my opinions and any feedback to the contrary would be appreciated.
 
That should be enough for rads and the pump should be strong enough hopefully.

Worse case you have to get another pump and go two loops.
 
I'm running an OC'd i7 965 + two OC'd 480GTX's with one loop and no problems.

CPU - Swiftech Apogee XT
GPUs - Danger Den 480GTX block
Motherboard - Koolance Rampage 2 Extreme blocks
PSU - Koolance PSU-1300ATX (watercooled PSU)

The pump is a Liang DDC and the radiator is Koolance's 3x120mm unit with 3/8 tubing.
 
been doing a lot of research on water cooling lately and it looks like OP's parts should be good. those rads should be some of the tops for the fans he's planning on (would probably suggest the ap-15 model and a fan controller), at least according to skinnee's testing here; http://skinneelabs.com/radiators.html
 
You will be fine with that setup. If possible go pump----->Rx360---->CPU----->Mobo---->Rx240----> GTX480--->GTX480.

Your pump will be fine.

The Res does not matter, but feeding the pump makes life easier when filling and bleeding.

That looks like it will be a beast of a system. Make sure you post some pics once it is done.
 
bubblethumper said:
I'm running an OC'd i7 965 + two OC'd 480GTX's with one loop and no problems.

CPU - Swiftech Apogee XT
GPUs - Danger Den 480GTX block
Motherboard - Koolance Rampage 2 Extreme blocks
PSU - Koolance PSU-1300ATX (watercooled PSU)

The pump is a Liang DDC and the radiator is Koolance's 3x120mm unit with 3/8 tubing.
Click to expand...

What speed and voltage is your i7 and GTX's at?

Thanks,
Eddie
 
Update:

Well finally completed my build. Was overall really fun with a few OH SH** moments :p Snapped off a ton of pics on my phone and plan to do a build log here and will def link it in this post for those interested.

So far just installing Win 7 and the EVGA Precision tool it would appear idle my GPUs are staying at 31c and the 6 cores using Real Temp GT are showing between 18 - 25 depending on the core. Have not stressed anything yet so that will be the true test.

With the machine on about 3 hours just in OS I expected hot air to be coming out the top and the sides. I had to cut out the push/pull since my rad is so thick even in the Corsair 800d but was able to do push/pull for the bottom 240 rad. I mounted my sideways improving on the traditional bottom mount and cutting the backside of the case to vent the air out. To my surprise the air coming out was actually still cold on the top and the sides.

So until i can do some stressing of the system i wont know for 100% certain that all is fine but i think it is safe to say you can run the above equipment on one loop and not have anything to worry about :D
 
Cold air coming out is normal, especially at those temps. I would estimate that the water temperature is only about 1-2 C above ambient, if not at ambient temperatures with your cores/GPU's idling at those temperatures. On average, I think, the GPU's tend to run between 10-15 C above the temperature of the water, and CPU's tend to run around 10 C above. Of course, this comes down to how well your waterblock is transferring the heat.
 
Here is a pic of my computer while leak testing. Thought the Corsair 800d was supposed to be HUGE, but ummmm i managed to fill it up and still had more stuff i wanted to do :D

I think later on this year i will rerun the tubing and maybe find a better place for the pump. For now it works and only my first attempt at this build. As the saying goes, a computer is never 100% complete to someone that takes the time to visit forums like this :p

Going to get a few more pictures and than do a work log so hopefully it gives people new ideas on how to build out their cases. It seems most people build the 800d roughly the same way so wanted to be a little different. I do know I have one mod i have not seen anywhere. Right behind the pump i used a 1" hole saw and cut a hole for the speed controller. Was going to use the Bitspower passthrough to fill in the hole leaving a tiny hole to adjust the speed thing but alas i measured wrong. So i used the rubber passthough to cover it so it looks stock if you did not know it was supposed to be there. I have pics of that too and will include in the build log. Hope you guys/gals enjoy.

leaktest.jpg
 
Looks very nice. I thought the same thing when I got my Cosmos 1000 case, that it was huge, and yet I also managed to fill it up.

The 800D was built with many features in mind, so people tend to use those features before going to modding cases. Cases that don't sport too many features that water coolers like us desire are the ones that have unique mods.

And you're right. For people like us, a computer is never finished being built, especially our main, personal systems. For me, it started out with a Thermaltake kit off of ebay for CPU cooling, then expanded to full custom build using parts from D-tek, HWLabs, etc for CPU + GPU cooling. Gradually, I want to expand to motherboard cooling, but I need to get my GTS 420 radiator into my Cosmos 1000 first =D
 
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