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Two sepreate loops overkill?

K

kerblammo

n00b
Joined
Jun 16, 2009
Messages
26
Hey everyone

I know the i7's run alot more hot then the previous models so I decided to keep it simple and just have the CPU and NB watercooled.

I was thinking of installing a sepreate watercooling loop for my graphic cards that I will be eventually getting. which will be 2 ATI HD 4870x2's. As space inside the case is already a little restrictive I saw an interesting watercooling model called the Reservator

http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/Product_Read.asp?Idx=183

so its a pump, reservoir, and radiator all in one. and I can have this sitting outside my case which will be easier to keep the clutter inside my PC down to a minimum.

Is this a good idea or am I going overboard? Or is there a better suloution?
 
I don't have any experiences with those, so I can't say for sure how good they are. I personally prefer that the pump, reservoir, radiator be separate, so that its easier and cost less to upgrade or replace a part if it breaks down. Though I never had my parts breaking down or change and upgrade a part because it is a lot of hassle for very little improvement.

If you prefer a simple install, then I don't see any problems with the zalman just make sure that your room has good convection or put a big fan need the radiator.
 
Most of the people on this board are going to recommend against the zalman solution. Like Olivorloll said, if you buy separate parts, you can find the pump, res, and radiator that are appropriate for your configuration.

As for the 1 or 2 loops question, there's only one good answer. TWO LOOPS. If you're really planning on dual 4870X2s, that's a lot of heat, and you'll need at least a nice tri-120mm rad to handle those alone.

As for the CPU, that depends entirely on how much voltage you plan on running, and how quiet you want your machine to be. You could get away with a single 120mm rad, but you'll get more headroom with a larger radiator.

You should look at some of the watercooled cases on this forum for ideas - really, the pump and res. do not take up much room. Most people with cramped cases run external radiators, which generally sit behind the case.

It's unclear if you've already setup your CPU watercooling, or if you've just decided that you know you want to water cool it.

Don't bother with watercooling if you want a quick, painless cooling solution. There are great air coolers out there that can handle a nice OC on an i7, for a fraction of the cost of water cooling.

If you really want to watercool, take the time to plan out good hardware for your machine, and consider that hardware a long-term investment - you'll be able to reuse your radiator(s), pump, tubing, and res.

That's my suggestion, anyway. ;)
 
Is that zalman radiator aluminum on the inside too? You don't want any aluminum in the water path. Metal ions leech into solution, and unfortunately aluminum and copper are not compatible in this regard.

I'd also question whether or not it's worthwhile to watercool 2 behemoth video cards at the end of a video-card cycle. Considering that those cards will likely be eclipsed by single-GPU solutions in the next cycle, and that GTX 285 is already competitive... I, personally, would choose water only for the CPU.

If it's just for the hobby and fun, then go ahead of course.

You will need a LOT of radiator (dual 3x120mm rads). You could use 2 loops and it wouldn't be overkill due to the heatload. Don't think that a cheap solution will cool this monster setup of yours. Think of the TRUE 120 HEATSINK. It has a lot of surface area and is sufficient to cool an i7. Watercooling has similar surface area requirements for the radiator.
 
I'm sorry. I dont think I was very clear from the beginning. I have already made my first loop that is currently cooling the i7 and the NB. And I get nice idle temps around 35C


http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/kerblam_2007/HF1.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/kerblam_2007/HF2.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/kerblam_2007/HF3.jpg

Regarding the two cards. I'm thinking it might be possible to get a differnt high peforming fan cooler that expels the heat out of the case. The problem is that I tend to run out of room for the 2nd graphic's card slot.

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb42/kerblam_2007/exampleofmotherboard.jpg

Would using the 3rd PCI-e Slot for the 2nd card work? I suppose this would be a stupid question and I should know the answer =/
 
Using the 3rd slot unless the lane is physically x4, it should run @ x16 speed with no problems.

An MCR320 or Black Ice Pro III with nice fans should be able to control your heat dump for the cards.
 
if I remember correctly, the third pcie-x16 slot on a x58 chipset most definitely runs at x8 electrically and the hd4870 2x requires x16 electrical, so no it doesn't work, but check the manual to be sure.

Can you tell us why you need to get crossfire? When new GPUs comes out faster than CPUs, I just don't see the point of spending so much money on it. Then again maybe its because I don't have that much money and I am jealous
 
Reading up on the manual the user guide states to install the 2nd card in the 4th PCI-e slot. and all three PCI-e slots on the DFI board I have now supports x16 GFX cards.

the reason is that I suppose I just want to get a decent rig that can run Crysis on max settings without breaking out in a sweat. Although I admit I tend to be a bit naieve when it comes to lack of research so I might be going the wrong way about it. But I will be making sure that it works before splashing out on a card thats not compatible.

But saying that if I did my research properly I wouldnt of got the DFI DK version but the UT instead as its an improved version of the board I have now.
 
I have not posted in this section in a while, but I definately have a opinion about this. I currently have a E6750 in the same loop as an 8800GTX. E6750's run really cool and 8800GTX's run very hot. After my setup i definately recommend running two loops if cooling performance is key. My CPU idles hotter on water then it does on air, but runs cooler under load then air would. The reason is, my 8800 raises the water temp aobut 10C. If they were on separate loops the e6750 would run really cool and the 8800 would pry be about the same.

The moral of the story, GPU's will considerably raise the temp of all components on the look if they are on the same loop. Keep them separate if possible. However, if you are looking for a happy median between cooling performance and quiet (which as i get older i like quiet much more then cool) then keep them in the same loop to reduce the number of fans and pumps and put in a big Radiator.
 
I'm gonna catch some zzz and have a think about this tomorrow. But I decided another loop would be too much hassle so I will be looking into a better fan cooling for the graphic's.

Thanks for all your replies. your advice was appriciated :)
 
I think a decent fan/heatsink solution for gpu is the best way to go too. Way back when I had a 6800gt that cost $400 and was the top performer, it would average 60 to 70 C on load. I got a zalman copper cooler and it dropped a whole 15 degrees! That was then and stock cooler has gotten better, so a big YMMV. Also make sure you check to see if they are compatible with your card.
 
I'm having a look for a new high peforming fan cooler for my ATI now.

Do differnt retail versions of graphic cards share the same design? Or can the capacitors be placed differntly

Reason im asking is I cant seem to find the same retail design as my current card. And I want to keep it as compatible as possible so I wont need to worry if the fan cooler heatsink will be able to fit both
 
The real value in Zalman are the large aluminium passive radiators. You can always use an external pump if the one in the unit goes bad. I've water cooled 4 or 5 systems over the past 7 years. I've used seperate parts building water cooled systems and finally ended up buying zalman units because they are easier to handle.

The only problem I've found is that you need seperate loops because of the low flow rates and degassing the Reserator 2 is a bitch. I'm not a fan of the low flow rates (or the price of the systems), but I am a fan of how quiet the systems are. Zalman is not ideal for extreme OC builders, but for quiet systems, Zalman is hard to beat. I have a collection of Reserators, V1, V2 and the Reserator 2. At this time I use two of them as seperate loops.
 
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