Cooling experts, need some advice please

[masaville]

I accidently posted this is cooling, rather than watercooling so hopefully this one will get read instead.

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I am switching to water cooling because my rig runs too hot on air. On a cool day it's not so bad, but on a warm day it's pushing the limits. My setup is as follows;

E6700 with Zalman 9700
evga 680i MB
2 x evga 8800 GTX in SLI
4GB PC6400 800MHz DDR2
CMS Stacker 830
Lots and lots of fans (tried every combination you can think of)

The CPU idles around 40c or so on a cool day and the motherboard around 44c. The GPUs are the real problem because it appears that they heat up everything significantly, particularly the motherboard. They tend to idle around 70c and hit up to 90c on load. On a warm day add 5-7c to the CPU, 10-15c to the MB, and 20c to the vid cards. When the MB hits 55+ degrees I tend to start to see lag in games and artifacting in some cases.

What I'm trying to find out is what would be the best setup for the above rig in terms of watercooling - something that's cool and quiet at the same time. I was considering grabbing two of Danger Den waterblocks and don't know a) if a need to bother with the CPU and b) what other parts (i.e. tubing, clamps, pumps, etc.) I need.

I'm new to water cooling so any suggestions would be great, including what to avoid and what problems I might run into. Thanks!

 

[Arcygenical]

The Danger Den waterblocks are great.

Get a Fuzion waterblock for the CPU, and an MCW30 (or Maze4 Chipset) for your NB.

For tubing, go for the 7/16" masterkleer stuff (makes an airtight seal on 1/2" barbs)

Get a MCP655 or D5 pump, the Modded petras pump (that I'm sure will get suggested here) is overkill with such a good CPU block.

For radiator, get either a triple BIP with 6 Yate Loon fans at 7v (3 on each side) or a Thermochill PA series double radiator (with 4 of the yates).

The Thermochill is about as powerful as the triple BIP, but only takes the space of 2 120mm fans rather than 3.

When the MB hits 55+ degrees I tend to start to see lag in games and artifacting in some cases.

I don't think this is your MB temp causing this... A GPU loading over 95c will artifact pretty easily.

 

[masaville]

Good point, I guess MB wouldn't be the problem considering how hot those cards are getting. I saw the temps hit 92c yesterday afternoon so that probably explains it.

 

[R1ckCa1n]

double post

 

[R1ckCa1n]

Matters what your ultimate goal is by watercooling.

If you want cool and quite you can look at the Corsair unit, which is very easy to install. You can look at all the new Euro blocks on the market as they will cool very well or go with the newest king of the hill Fuzion block. Each has it's own pro's and con's so it really is up to what you want both from a cooling/noise perspective, looks, and ease of installation.

 

[Sideroxylon]

If you want cool and quite you can look at the Corsair unit, which is very easy to install.

It may be easy to install but I doubt it has the cooling power to cool 2 8800's plus any other components he wants to cool. I think temps would be disappointing. Buying an inadequate wc system is just a waste of money and you'll wish you put together a custom setup in the first place.

You spent a lot of money on your rig, don't skimp on the cooling. Do some research on these forums and get an idea of what it takes and what you want to do with your comp. You'll need to figure out if you want the entire system in your case or not. What size rad your case can handle, I'm thinking a triple rad for all that you want to cool, and many other decisions. Take a look at the watercooled case gallery to see how peeps are setting theirs up.

 

[[BRO]Alaskan]

Your main problem seems to be getting the heat from your 8800's your of the case. You could try removing the PCI brackets next to the GPU's (next to the exhaust side) and set your case cooling so you have a positive pressure ventilation (lots more air blowing in than being sucked out). This would cause hot air exhausted from the GPU cooler to be blown out of the case through the opening where the PCI bracket was and not recirulated through the GPU or CPU cooler.

 

[masaville]

Your main problem seems to be getting the heat from your 8800's your of the case. You could try removing the PCI brackets next to the GPU's (next to the exhaust side) and set your case cooling so you have a positive pressure ventilation (lots more air blowing in than being sucked out). This would cause hot air exhausted from the GPU cooler to be blown out of the case through the opening where the PCI bracket was and not recirulated through the GPU or CPU cooler.

It's definitely the GPUs that are heating it up. As soon as their temps start to rise everything else goes right along with them. The main problem I'm going to have is come summer, I won't be able to boot this thing and run any games without it overheating, artifacting, etc. so low temps is my focus.

I have 4 fans facing the cards and CPU right now, along with 1 rear fan, 1 top fan and one HD fan. I've tried pretty well every configuration you can think of and adjusted each and every fan speed to try to reduce temps. Unfortunately, those 8800s are simply too hot.

Not many slot covers to remove as both of those cards are dual slot and with my X-fi in there, there's only 1 or 2 slots that could be removed (I'll try that anyway). I think at the end of the day I'm going to have to get some serious water cooling gear.