My dual loop watercooling build

[Elganja]

Computer
-i7930 @ 3.80 Ghz (long story... but the i7920 is no longer with me)
-EVGA X58 SLI Mobo
-2x EVGA GeForce GTX 480 Hydro Copper FTW (gtx 295's are gone)
-Corsair 1000HX

Parts
Case:
-Corsair 800D (got the 10% off... still mad at myself missing the deal a few weeks ago)

Waterblocks ordered:
-Swiftech Apogee XT Extreme Performance CPU waterblock
-EK EVGA X58 Chipset Waterblock (only place that had them in stock)
-12G Artic Silver 5

Radiators:
-Black Ice GTX 360 Radiator (Loop 1)
-Black Ice GTX 240 Radiator (Loop 2)

Pumps:
-2x Swiftech MCP 355 12v DC Pump
-2x EK Waterblocks EK-DDC X-Top Rev 2

Reservoirs:
-2x XSPC Single 5.25" Bay Reservoir

Hoses and Fluids:
-12 feet of the Red (Loop 1)
-12 feet of the Blue (Loop 2)
-Blue Fluid
-Red Fluid

Fittings (I know I will have extras... just how my head works):
-10x Bitspower Compression Fittings 45deg
-10x Bitspower Compression Fittings

Temp Sensor Stuff:
-Bitspower G 1/4in. Temperature Sensor Stop Fitting
-Bitspower Matte Black T-Block
-Bitspower Matt Black Male to Male G 1/4 Fitting

Fans and Fan Controllers:
-Scythe KAZE MASTER ACE 5.25" Bay Fan Controller
-2x Cooler Master 120mm Blue LED Case Fan
-3x Cooler Master 120mm Red LED Case Fan

Loops
-Loop 1, Both GTX 480's
-Loop 2, CPU and X58 Chipset

Before, computer on air with a TRUE Ultra Extreme, push pull, lapped pretty loud setup

Bottom of the 800D, this a picture of the drive cage that I need to remove, my gtx240 radiator will go here (cpu loop radiator)

hole cut for radiator fan intake (you're looking at the bottom of the case here)

6 drilled rivets, 2 sanded down then punched out rivets, 2 screws, and some muscle = drive cage removed.

mounted the gtx240 radiator, the hole I cut matches very nicely and a 140mm magnetic fan filter covers it nicely as well. The fans on top of it, have blue led's

tubing ran to the gtx240 radiator, man was it a tight fit... but no kinks

psu mounted and the necessary cables were ran through to the otherside

gtx360 mounted and tubing ran, another tight fit... no kinks though... fans will have red led's

a pump with the stock top

new ek top (fittings were changed around a bit as you will see later)

view of the reservoirs and pumps

close up view of the pump and reservoirs

no kinks! luckily to fill the top reservoir I will just remove the optical drive above

no kinks here either. dumb luck allowed me to have just enough slack, to be able to pull the reservoir out to fill it

chipset waterblocks installed

cpu block installed and some tubing ran (note the routing changed later on as you will see)

motherboard installed and some more tubing ran... had to change the routing for the chipset and cpu so it wouldn't interfere with the rear fan and gpu

most of the tubing at this point was ran, just not connected as I waited for more parts to arrive

out with the old (2 gtx 295's) and in with the new... 2 EVGA GTX 480 FTW Hydro copper's

everything installed and working... in terms of fan flow, everything is intake except the 3 fans on the top radiator which are exhaust

how the tubes will be ran on the backside... nothing will overlap (although there is ample wiggle room)

front view of the case...
-fan controller settings are as follows (left to right)
--1 thru 3, top 3 fans
--4, bottom 2 fans on one knob
--temp sensor 1 - HDD cage (used one of the supplied thermos)
--temp sensor 2 - Loop 1 Fluid
--temp sensor 3 - Loop 2 Fluid
--temp sensor 4 - case temp (used one of the supplied thermos)
-all fans are run at 50% (trying to keep it quiet)

in it's final place... picture is a little over exposed

During this build i think i ran into every single problem someone can imagine... was it "worth" it? I'm not sure... lol

some info on temps:
the lapped TRUE push pull was a very efficent, albiet loud, setup.

Before:
CPU
-45C Idle
-65-70C Load

GPU (GTX 295's)
-58-60C Idle
-75-80C Load (fans running at 100%)

After
CPU
-41C Idle
-54-56C Load

GPU
-47C Idle
-54C Load (playing bc2)

Keep in mind, i have the 360 on my gpu's and the 240 on my cpu/chipset... I'm pretty happy overall

 

[zer0gravity]

wow...like the red/blue tubes!

 

[Kaldskryke]

I really like how you've run your tubing behind the motherboard to avoid the ugliness that would have resulted in connecting your GTX 360 to your GTX 480s etc. For a while I had been considering doing something similar but I couldn't figure out how I would run the tubing to make it look good. Seems like you've got that solved

However, I've recently been reconsidering the need to have the larger radiator on the GPUs. From what I've read, GPUs don't really gain a whole lot of overclocking benefit from switching to water, probably because we have so little control over voltage. Noise is reduced, of course, but you'd get the same benefit by keeping the GPUs on the GTX 240 even though temperatures would be higher. Your CPU on-the-other-hand might benefit more from the GTX 360.

What are your experiences regarding this?

 

[Elganja]

I really like how you've run your tubing behind the motherboard to avoid the ugliness that would have resulted in connecting your GTX 360 to your GTX 480s etc. For a while I had been considering doing something similar but I couldn't figure out how I would run the tubing to make it look good. Seems like you've got that solved

However, I've recently been reconsidering the need to have the larger radiator on the GPUs. From what I've read, GPUs don't really gain a whole lot of overclocking benefit from switching to water, probably because we have so little control over voltage. Noise is reduced, of course, but you'd get the same benefit by keeping the GPUs on the GTX 240 even though temperatures would be higher. Your CPU on-the-other-hand might benefit more from the GTX 360.

What are your experiences regarding this?

I went back and forth on this... in the end I chose, and was convinced, to do it this way because the gpu's in SLi have a lot more heat to dissipate then the cpu/chipset (and it's not even close)

In reality it probably doesn't make a big difference, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to make that claim...

 

[Cruiza]

Finally someone with a normal EVGA X58 SLI and the EK blocks! I have a question for which I have been unable to find an answer for a very long time. You know how the stock northbridge heatsink has that little metal protrusion on the left side to cool those little chips underneath? Does the EK block cool those chips or not? And does anyone know what those chips are anyway? More MOSFETs? Thanks!

 

[Elganja]

not sure i understand your question... are you talking about the chipset block or the mofset block?

 

[Cruiza]

Well the stock chipset heatsink is the one with the protrusion that covers the few small chips. I'm just wondering if either of the EK blocks covers them, or if they are left bare.

 

[Elganja]

The chipset block covers 2 chips...

the mofset block covers a few chips and is in an "L" shape as well as covering the mofsets

 

[Cruiza]

OK, it sounds like the MOSFET block covers the tiny chips I'm thinking of. If I'm unlazy enough I'll take a photo or two to show you exactly the area I'm talking about. Thanks for the replies!

 

[Loafdogg420]

Very impressive! sexy sexy.

Did you run into any air bubble problems with the single 5 1/4 reservoirs? I originally set up my loop with a single-bay res and had problems with the pump being too strong and forcing air around to the intake side.

 

[Red Falcon]

Nice setup and awesome cable/tube management!

 

[Elganja]

Very impressive! sexy sexy.

Did you run into any air bubble problems with the single 5 1/4 reservoirs? I originally set up my loop with a single-bay res and had problems with the pump being too strong and forcing air around to the intake side.

I did have a couple air bubbles, but nothing a little case tilting couldn't fix.

but nothing like what you are describing.

 

[thadman]

Awesome setup

How did you physically mount the GTX240 at the bottom of the case?

 

[Elganja]

Awesome setup

How did you physically mount the GTX240 at the bottom of the case?

just drilled some holes and used screws