• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

NEED: Quiet, small, efficient WC setup

S

Smitty2k1

Gawd
Joined
May 31, 2005
Messages
651
Here is the deal:

I've got SLI gfx, a processor and a chipset that need to be watercooled. It doesn't need to be a godly setup, but something that is cheap (but not trashy quality) and QUIET! I don't overclock and am only going with watercooling to make my system silent for an HTPC setup. I want the setup to be small enough to fit inside a case.

I would like to stay under $150 for the setup, I honestly don't know if that will get me a low end setup or a high end setup, I honestly don't know anything about watercooling.

Reccomendations? Thanks!
 
Man for SLI that kit is not gonna cut it... Under SLI you pretty much NEED a dual radiator... 150$ is a tough mark to hit.


I'd try to get a TDX off of the FS/FT forum for cheap, a Maze4 too... And get 2 of the low profile maze4 GPU blocks from jab-tech.com. Maybe a D5. Jeesh, SLI is the breaker here...

Some Masterkleer tubing, a Tline and you're done.
 
for that price and demand you will need to buy used parts from the for sale section. Many people have great parts for much less than new...

I know one particular thread that is selling a Danger Den D4 pump, Danger Den Double Heatercore with shroud and some Panaflo fans for $85 shipped. ;) That would be a great starting point and would only leave tubing, blocks, and t-line. Also, saw someone one OCforums sold two lp maze4 gpu blocks for $50 shipped.

So you can do it... you just have to be patient and look for great deals.

EDIT: No need to WC the chipset... just slap a passive heatsink on that baby...
 
sub-$150 to cool SLI, CPU, NB, small enough to fit inside a case, and be quiet enough for HTPC? That'll be impressive since you'll probably spend $30-$60 per GPU for waterblocks and you're still not working on anything else... toss in another $40 for a very low end CPU block and $30 for the NB and you're at your limit before you've bought a radiator, a pump, fans, coolant, hose and clamps, etc.

In my opinion, I'd sell off one of the GFXs and use the money to invest in a high quality water cooling set-up. SLI for HTPC seems like overkill and the advantages you'll get by not cheaping out on your cooling will be a MUCH higher payoff.

For $150 I'd invest in some good, quiet fans, and a REALLY long s-video cable... you don't have to worry about the PC being quiet if it's in a different room than where you're watching movies. :D

Just my $.02 though.
 
I'd go with some nice silent fans for the gpu's, and a cpu-only watercooling. Also, consider soft-mounting your drives, it'll help with the vibration noise. Same goes for the power supply fans. Just void the warrentee, swap out the fans for some nice quiet yate loon's, and you're set.

For SLI, I suggest the V1-ultra for the upper card, and the Zalman VF900 for the lower. The v1-ultra, paired with the zalman fanmate, will provide you with dead silent cooling that's very good, and it draws the air from the abve the card instead of in between two cards.
 
There have already been some good suggestions here, just to give you an idea of what prices things tend to run...

Decent pump : 40-50$
Good pump : 75$

Radiator : 30-35$ No less than a dual 120mm radiator will do for that many components

CPU Waterblock : 35-50$
GPU Waterblock : 35-50$
NB Waterblock : 30-40$

Tubing / Misc Components : 20-30$ Depending if you include fans and stuff.


I would say at the very least you are looking at spending about 250$ for a loop that cools everything you wanted it to cool. If you were to get the decent pump (I was thinking along the lines of the MAG pumps since they are DC and pretty small/quiet) then you need to chose waterblocks with low restriction. Since the loop you want is somewhat lengthy--including lots of waterblocks--a weaker pump needs all the help it can get to keep a good flow rate through the loop.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top