Watercooling the new Titan X

Hagrid

Hagrid

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Nov 23, 2006
Messages
9,163
So this build is not for me but my son. He wants full water cooling and I have never even dabbled in it.
Is there a full Titan X water block available? Also are there water cooling kits that have everything you need to build one?
Thank in advance.
 
Hagrid said:
So this build is not for me but my son. He wants full water cooling and I have never even dabbled in it.
Is there a full Titan X water block available? Also are there water cooling kits that have everything you need to build one?
Thank in advance.
Click to expand...
With the Titan X (Pascal) or the Titan X (Maxwell), you could try what I am going to do. I am going to order from EK a Predator 360 AIO kit along with a Titan X full cover block pre-filled and with quick disconnects compatible with the Predator. I do not have it in me to build a custom loop, but this should be a close second. They also have custom loop kits that include everything you need to get started. Their address is ekwb.com. Hope this helps.
 
Sorcerer_Tim said:
With the Titan X (Pascal) or the Titan X (Maxwell), you could try what I am going to do. I am going to order from EK a Predator 360 AIO kit along with a Titan X full cover block pre-filled and with quick disconnects compatible with the Predator. I do not have it in me to build a custom loop, but this should be a close second. They also have custom loop kits that include everything you need to get started. Their address is ekwb.com. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Yes, it does indeed! Thanks! He ordered 2 but his case is big enough so that could work much easier!
 
Yeah, EK is the only full cover block available that I have heard of thus far.

They are taking pre-orders now. Release is on August 16th,

Keep in mind, their full cover blocks are not compatible with the backplates that come on the Titan X, so you'll have to order theri backplates as well. Those don't ship until the end of the month.

You'll have to order from the EKWB webshop in Slovenia. Sounds bad, but shipping here is actually pretty quick.
 
So I found the blocks, but they don't seem to have a kit that goes with it?
Dam I know nothing about water cooling........
 
Hagrid said:
He plays for NRG. CS:GO.
He also used to play for CLG and Liquid.
He also doesn't pay rent.
Click to expand...

Lol. But CS:GO is such a light title. It would practically run at full performance on integrated graphics. No need for dual Titans.

Besides, the SLI might actually increase his input lag, and do him a disservice :p
 
Hagrid said:
So I found the blocks, but they don't seem to have a kit that goes with it?
Dam I know nothing about water cooling........
Click to expand...

So, usually if you build a water cooling system, you are putting everything together from scratch. You buy radiators, blocks, a reservoir, a pump, fittings for all of them and tubing as well as your coolant separately, and integrate it all yourself.

There are some kits that make it easier though.

For EK that kit is called "Predator" as mentioned above. It comes pre-filled with quick-disconnect lines.

If you want to make it easier to use this kit, you can check a box when ordering the water blocks on EK's website, in which you pay extra for them to pre-fill the block, and add tubing and quick disconnect connectors to it, so you can just plug it in to your predator and start running without having to custom build the water loop yourself.

If you are not interested in the challenge/art of building a custom water loop, this might be a good alternative.

I would try EK's "configurator" on their webpage. It can be quite helpful.

Also, if you don't want to build a custom water loop, something like the EVGA Hybrid solution might be an option. They haven't officially released a Pascal Titan X version yet (but they claim one is coming), but the old cooler still fit if you remove the shroud. Vega did this over in the Titan X thread.
 
On a side note, despite EK saying that their new Titan X water blocks would be ready on the 16th, mine shipped this morning, so they must be ahead of schedule!

Looks like I will have it on Monday! Too bad it couldn't come during the weekend to give me more time to work on it!
 
You can also get kits from EK that are open loop. It will come with everything you need to get going for a cpu loop, so you'll just need to get the block, backplate, and the fittings.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Lol. But CS:GO is such a light title. It would practically run at full performance on integrated graphics. No need for dual Titans.

Besides, the SLI might actually increase his input lag, and do him a disservice :p
Click to expand...
He uses it for gaming on a 1440 144hz monitor.
 
Hagrid said:
He uses it for gaming on a 1440 144hz monitor.
Click to expand...

My 980Ti averages 70+ with max settings on my 1440p75Hz in GTA V. CS:GO isn't even close to that kind of fidelity. He's overkilling, and it's going to hurt him
 
alxlwson said:
My 980Ti averages 70+ with max settings on my 1440p75Hz in GTA V. CS:GO isn't even close to that kind of fidelity. He's overkilling, and it's going to hurt him
Click to expand...

To be fair, he might be doing it for other titles.

It's not going to hurt him if he disables SLI in CSGO. He'll get the same frame rate (pinned to 144 on the monitor) but with less input lag and stuttering.

CSGO is so incredibly basic it doesn't need much from the GPU at all to hit high frame rates.

Testimonials elsewhere suggest 1440p at 144fps is doable even on a single old GTX770 or Radeon 280. A single Titan will likely be down clocking itself to the lowest power settings and turning it's fans way down or even off in CSGO at 1440 and 144fps.

That's what my Titan X does now in Fallout New Vegas at 4k 60hz. It just sits there at minimum clocks of 1200mhz with the fans off, at an ambient of 74F, like it's taunting me to throw something more demanding at it. :p
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
On a side note, despite EK saying that their new Titan X water blocks would be ready on the 16th, mine shipped this morning, so they must be ahead of schedule!

Looks like I will have it on Monday! Too bad it couldn't come during the weekend to give me more time to work on it!
Click to expand...
Do you have to have the back plate to put the block on it and add it to your loop, or is mainly cosmetic?
 
Sorcerer_Tim said:
Do you have to have the back plate to put the block on it and add it to your loop, or is mainly cosmetic?
Click to expand...

My understanding is that the backplate is mostly cosmetic. It does have some thermal pads in one area from what I recall (back of VRM's? No idea.) but it has been suggested to me that it is of minor effect only, and in some cases you might actually do better without it with natural airflow on the back of the card.

I ordered the backplate either way, but I won't be waiting for it to do my install. I'll be attempting to install it after the fact. I'm hoping that doesn't mean I have to take the block off.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
To be fair, he might be doing it for other titles.

It's not going to hurt him if he disables SLI in CSGO. He'll get the same frame rate (pinned to 144 on the monitor) but with less input lag and stuttering.

CSGO is so incredibly basic it doesn't need much from the GPU at all to hit high frame rates.
Click to expand...


Correct, I was just referring to his competitive play. Since his pops is on here instead of himself, I would assume that he's lower in tech knowledge, so either creating profiles or playing musical chsirs inside NVCP may not be his thing.

Also, make that boy pay some damn rent! From the day I turned 16, I paid the parents rent, car insurance, and cell phone. Didn't have much left, but I learned the value of a dollar. When I graduated high school, they have it all back to me to get my own appartment. :)
 
alxlwson said:
Correct, I was just referring to his competitive play. Since his pops is on here instead of himself, I would assume that he's lower in tech knowledge, so either creating profiles or playing musical chsirs inside NVCP may not be his thing.

Also, make that boy pay some damn rent! From the day I turned 16, I paid the parents rent, car insurance, and cell phone. Didn't have much left, but I learned the value of a dollar. When I graduated high school, they have it all back to me to get my own appartment. :)
Click to expand...


Ditto. No one ever gave me a car, paid my car insurance, paid my cell phone bill, or paid for my college.

I never had to pay rent when I was living with my parents, but they wanted to encourage me to focus on my studies (I went to the IB in High school and had no social life, no entertainment time. If I wasn't sleeping, I was either studying, eating or in class.) So I didn't have a paying job in High School. My job was my studies. After high school I went off to college and never lived with them again, but if I had, I'm pretty sure I would have paid rent. :p
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
(I went to the IB in High school and had no social life, no entertainment time. If I wasn't sleeping, I was either studying, eating or in class.)
Click to expand...

Side note: I don't recommend this to anyone. It is a one way ticket to burneoutville.

I did fabulously well academically in High School to the point where I exempted out of a ton of requirements in college (pretty much all chemistry and physics requirements and many math requirements) and was able to graduate with an engineering degree at the top of my class with honors in college, but after that I just petered out. Couldn't keep up the pace anymore. I needed a good long break. Actually, 15 years later I still think I'm a little burned out from the experience. I never quite was able to return to that level of motivation and work discipline again.

Steady wins the race.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Side note: I don't recommend this to anyone. It is a one way ticket to burneoutville.

I did fabulously well academically in High School to the point where I exempted out of a ton of requirements in college (pretty much all chemistry and physics requirements and many math requirements) and was able to graduate with an engineering degree at the top of my class with honors in college, but after that I just petered out. Couldn't keep up the pace anymore. I needed a good long break. Actually, 15 years later Is till think I'm a little burned out from the experience. I never quite was able to return to that level of motivation and work again.

Steady wins the race.
Click to expand...


I hear you. My Jr and Sr years of high school were soente at the community college, or at VoTech earning college credits. I graduated high school and college at the same time. Now, I'm back in school working on my B.S. EE at UK, and at the community college working on a certificate in Industrial Maintenance (Electrician), plus working full time in my field as a field support engineer. I'm way beyond burnt, but I see that six figure income in two more years.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
My understanding is that the backplate is mostly cosmetic. It does have some thermal pads in one area from what I recall (back of VRM's? No idea.) but it has been suggested to me that it is of minor effect only, and in some cases you might actually do better without it with natural airflow on the back of the card.

I ordered the backplate either way, but I won't be waiting for it to do my install. I'll be attempting to install it after the fact. I'm hoping that doesn't mean I have to take the block off.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I will order the block and predator today and worry about the block later.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
On a side note, despite EK saying that their new Titan X water blocks would be ready on the 16th, mine shipped this morning, so they must be ahead of schedule!

Looks like I will have it on Monday! Too bad it couldn't come during the weekend to give me more time to work on it!
Click to expand...
Which block did you order? The research I have done did not indicate a performance difference between them, but I am leaning toward the nickel.
 
Sorcerer_Tim said:
Which block did you order? The research I have done did not indicate a performance difference between them, but I am leaning toward the nickel.
Click to expand...

I went with the Nickel+Acetal version. I have no need to see the coolant inside my block. I prefer it black.

The performance should be the same. The Nickel blocks are just Nickel plated. Still the same copper underneath. Everything I've read suggests the performance is the same. Nickel just doesn't tarnish like Copper does over time, so you won't have to do the ketchup/vinegar clean when you rebuild your loop :p

Some people still don't trust EK's nickel plating, as they had a spectacular failure a few years back, in which Nickel was corroding off their blocks. They didn't handle it as gracefully as they could, essentially blaming their users for the problems. I can totally understand how that would piss people off.

That being said, they have since introduced a brand new Nickel plating process that doesn't have the same issues, they have the only full cover block for the Titan thus far, and their CPU block seems to perform better than anyone else's in just about every review I have read featuring it, so I decided to give them a chance.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I went with the Nickel+Acetal version. I have no need to see the coolant inside my block. I prefer it black.

The performance should be the same. The Nickel blocks are just Nickel plated. Still the same copper underneath. Everything I've read suggests the performance is the same. Nickel just doesn't tarnish like Copper does over time, so you won't have to do the ketchup/vinegar clean when you rebuild your loop :p

Some people still don't trust EK's nickel plating, as they had a spectacular failure a few years back, in which Nickel was corroding off their blocks. They didn't handle it as gracefully as they could, essentially blaming their users for the problems. I can totally understand how that would piss people off.

That being said, they have since introduced a brand new Nickel plating process that doesn't have the same issues, they have the only full cover block for the Titan thus far, and their CPU block seems to perform better than anyone else's in just about every review I have read featuring it, so I decided to give them a chance.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I'm in. Hope to see some better OC than what I am getting on air, but if not, it will still be fun to put together.
 
A Titan X Pascal is 250w TDP. A typical good 360mm rad dissipates around 250w to 350w depending on delta. If you are going sli TxP, you're always going to be well behind on radiator surface area. You could be looking at 20-30c deltas where 10c delta is preferred.
 
thesmokingman said:
A Titan X Pascal is 250w TDP. A typical good 360mm rad dissipates around 250w to 350w depending on delta. If you are going sli TxP, you're always going to be well behind on radiator surface area. You could be looking at 20-30c deltas where 10c delta is preferred.
Click to expand...

It will certainly not be ideal, but at the same time it is just about guaranteed to be better than the stock cooler, judging by the type of improvements people are seeing with their hacked EVGA Hybrid kits, which are just a single 120mm radiator, 27.5mm thick.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
It will certainly not be ideal, but at the same time it is just about guaranteed to be better than the stock cooler, judging by the type of improvements people are seeing with their hacked EVGA Hybrid kits, which are just a single 120mm radiator, 27.5mm thick.
Click to expand...

CLC units don't cool very well compared to a proper loop, it's like training wheels. That said, I already wrote what his temps will look like, 30c deltas meaning 60-70c loads but a lot quieter. Though, who knows how long till saturation before having to max the fans...
 
thesmokingman said:
CLC units don't cool very well compared to a proper loop, it's like training wheels. That said, I already wrote what his temps will look like, 30c deltas meaning 60-70c loads but a lot quieter. Though, who knows how long till saturation before having to max the fans...
Click to expand...

Something about this feels wrong.

In the other thread people are reporting 55C-60C load temps overclocked using the wee little EVGA AIO kits. A custom loop with 3x120mm should be able to do much better.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Something about this feels wrong.

In the other thread people are reporting 55C-60C load temps overclocked using the wee little EVGA AIO kits. A custom loop with 3x120mm should be able to do much better.
Click to expand...

60c load is 30c delta. And look at his components, lol. CPU, two GPU.

And as I wrote a proper loop should net 10c delta on gpus, not 30c. 10c delta is the goal or it should be otherwise what's the point, just go CLC.
 
Sorcerer_Tim said:
Thank you. I'm in. Hope to see some better OC than what I am getting on air, but if not, it will still be fun to put together.
Click to expand...

OP, I suggest you google the watercooling guides and read for a bit. Custom watercooling can be fun with that whole erector set action, but it can also be fraught with disaster especially when components are this expensive. Read the guides, study them, know the pitfalls, and remember don't be in a hurry as cutting corners leads to problems in wc'ing.
 
I dropped 28°C on my 980Ti by going water. And, I already had a massive cooler on it to begin with. Doesn't break 42°, previously would get damn close to 70°
 
alxlwson said:
I dropped 28°C on my 980Ti by going water. And, I already had a massive cooler on it to begin with. Doesn't break 42°, previously would get damn close to 70°
Click to expand...

Now there's a good delta. I'm guessing you have 30c idle, maybe sub 30c depending on ambient around 24c? Your loop is returning a 12c delta, very comfortable temps.
 
thesmokingman said:
Now there's a good delta. I'm guessing you have 30c idle, maybe sub 30c depending on ambient around 24c? Your loop is returning a 12c delta, very comfortable temps.
Click to expand...


My Fluke 52-II is reading 23.5ºC as ambient temp, and GPU-Z is reporting 25º idle.
gpu-z.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top