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Waco
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Re: Anybody watercooling their GPU?

Thu Jun 14, 2012 4:21 pm

mortifiedPenguin wrote:
I seem to remember one of the boutique manufacturers submerging a full system (minus HDD) in mineral oil a few years back with decent results for zero noise. Supposedly they just left it running in their lobby for a few years before decommissioning it.

edit: I knew I should have bought a bigger case (800D?)

http://www.pugetsystems.com/submerged.php :)
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UltimateImperative
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Re: Anybody watercooling their GPU?

Thu Jun 14, 2012 7:41 pm

edit: I knew I should have bought a bigger case (800D?)


One possibility: put the Phobya 200 mm rad in front, like this guy. There's also a Magicool 180 mm rad that would fit.
i5-750 @ 3.3 GHz; Asus P7P55D-E Pro; Thermalright Silver Arrow; Antec P183; 4 GB; 2x Radeon HD 6950; Corsair HX650.
 
mortifiedPenguin
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Re: Anybody watercooling their GPU?

Thu Jun 14, 2012 10:48 pm

UltimateImperative wrote:
One possibility: put the Phobya 200 mm rad in front, like this guy. There's also a Magicool 180 mm rad that would fit.
I saw that but didn't want to lose the second drive bay (4 drives). It's worth considering, though; I can always use a 5.25" bay converter or just tape the SSDs somewhere.

mortifiedPenguin wrote:
I think I can fit an RX120 or similar where the rear outtake fan is... assuming my Gentle Typhoons aren't in the way.
The Gentle Typhoons are in the way. Heh, should have expected that.
2600K @ 4.8GHz; XSPC Rasa/RX240/RX120 Phobya Xtreme 200; Asus P8Z68-V Pro; 16GB Corsair Vengeance 1333 C9; 2x7970 OC w/ Razor 7970; Force GT 120GB; 3x F3 1TB; Corsair HX750; X-Fi Titanium; Corsair Obsidian 650D; Dell 2408WFP Rev. A01; 2x Dell U2412m
 
cynan
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Re: Anybody watercooling their GPU?

Fri Jun 15, 2012 12:16 am

Well, since we're showing pics now...

360 + 240 rads, CPU block, VRM block, HD 7970 block, everything inside an old Antec 1200.

Loop: Front bay res/pump -> 360 rad directly below -> VRM -> CPU -> 240 rad -> GPU -> res

Front: Yeah, I know the grey packing foam looks awful. Thought I'd stick something between the rad and case until I found something more aesthetically pleasing.
Image

Image

Back of res: See "U" turn going straight from the pump output into the 360 rad below. Thought it might limit flow, but didn't seem to too much.
Image

Image
 
mortifiedPenguin
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Re: Anybody watercooling their GPU?

Sat Jun 16, 2012 1:24 pm

Cynan, is it just the foam holding the front 360 rad in place?

I found this. Looks like Swiftech makes a HS specifically for the VRAM and VRMs, not under water but should do far better than the tiny little 15mm2 stuff I see available. I think I'm starting to solidify my plans. Now to see if I really feel like throwing a grand at GPUs and cooling solutions. :P
2600K @ 4.8GHz; XSPC Rasa/RX240/RX120 Phobya Xtreme 200; Asus P8Z68-V Pro; 16GB Corsair Vengeance 1333 C9; 2x7970 OC w/ Razor 7970; Force GT 120GB; 3x F3 1TB; Corsair HX750; X-Fi Titanium; Corsair Obsidian 650D; Dell 2408WFP Rev. A01; 2x Dell U2412m
 
cynan
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Re: Anybody watercooling their GPU?

Sat Jun 16, 2012 3:42 pm

mortifiedPenguin wrote:
Cynan, is it just the foam holding the front 360 rad in place?


No. I have 4 "L" brackets bolting the rad to the walls of the 5.25 drive bay column (you can see the heads of 2 of the small bolts in the second picture above). The other end of the "L" brackets are screwed into the rad with the fan mounting screws. The foam is completely useless - I though it might dampen the noise a bit, but it doesn't really as the biggest culprit is the pump under the reservoir. It's really not that loud though. I hear it can be the luck of the draw - some pumps, even the same model, can be louder than others.

Those full-body heat sinks look interesting, but to get any performance out of it, you'r still going to have to add a fan(s).I don't know, if I was contemplating spending a grand on an upgrade, I'd probably just go for the full block. For double the price of that heatsink, you're getting into full block (See XSPC block for $90) territory. If you tend to keep your GPUs for a couple of years or more, it might be worth it?
 
UltimateImperative
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Re: Anybody watercooling their GPU?

Sat Jun 16, 2012 5:35 pm

Here's mine:
Image
It's in a FT-02B. The rad is at the bottom; it's a Magicool 3 x 180 mm. I'm using XSPC full-cover blocks on 6950s (flashed to 6970s), and an XSPC Rasa on my i5-750. The tubing and fluid are not supposed to be white: it's a known issue with the stuff I'm using. I could make the loop a bit cleaner by going pump -> rad -> blocks instead of the other way around, to avoid the criss-crossing tubes, but I haven't found the motivation recently.
i5-750 @ 3.3 GHz; Asus P7P55D-E Pro; Thermalright Silver Arrow; Antec P183; 4 GB; 2x Radeon HD 6950; Corsair HX650.
 
mortifiedPenguin
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Re: Anybody watercooling their GPU?

Sat Jun 16, 2012 6:09 pm

cynan wrote:
For double the price of that heatsink, you're getting into full block (See XSPC block for $90) territory. If you tend to keep your GPUs for a couple of years or more, it might be worth it?
You're probably right, I do tend to keep my cards for a while. I'm thinking I might just do one 7970 and overclock it for now - a grand all at once is a bit hard to swallow. Especially since I have a few other hobbies that are demanding my attention (and wallet!).

UltimateImperative, what tubing are you using? I want to make sure I avoid it if/when I pull the trigger.

edit: XSPC gear is more popular than I expected. I am thinking this is because it seems to have a very good price/performance ratio?
2600K @ 4.8GHz; XSPC Rasa/RX240/RX120 Phobya Xtreme 200; Asus P8Z68-V Pro; 16GB Corsair Vengeance 1333 C9; 2x7970 OC w/ Razor 7970; Force GT 120GB; 3x F3 1TB; Corsair HX750; X-Fi Titanium; Corsair Obsidian 650D; Dell 2408WFP Rev. A01; 2x Dell U2412m
 
UltimateImperative
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Re: Anybody watercooling their GPU?

Sat Jun 16, 2012 6:44 pm

Indeed, XSPC stuff tends to have a really good price/performance ratio. My clouded tubing is Primochill Primoflex 3/8" ID - 5/8" OD.
i5-750 @ 3.3 GHz; Asus P7P55D-E Pro; Thermalright Silver Arrow; Antec P183; 4 GB; 2x Radeon HD 6950; Corsair HX650.
 
cynan
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Re: Anybody watercooling their GPU?

Sat Jun 16, 2012 7:15 pm

UltimateImperative wrote:
Here's mine:

It's in a FT-02B. The rad is at the bottom; it's a Magicool 3 x 180 mm. I'm using XSPC full-cover blocks on 6950s (flashed to 6970s), and an XSPC Rasa on my i5-750. The tubing and fluid are not supposed to be white: it's a known issue with the stuff I'm using. I could make the loop a bit cleaner by going pump -> rad -> blocks instead of the other way around, to avoid the criss-crossing tubes, but I haven't found the motivation recently.


Ohhh. I love how that massive 140mm rad fits at the bottom like that. Really clean. The 90 deg rotated config of the motherboard is also interesting - but I don't really get how having all the ports at the top is supposed to work. All of your rear ports look like they're in front of a case fan?

Really nice looking case for watercooling though, and nice build: I think I'm going to have to get a second GPU just for the bling factor :D (though with my single 2560x1600 display, my single overclocked HD 7970 seems to be doing fine for now...). And you even have room for an optical drive. I could put one in mine above the res, but that would mean having to slide out the res for filling and going without my "custom" USB 3.0 front port addon :lol:

Edit: That's not a 140mm rad, it's a 180mm! I didn't know they made those...

Edit 2: Ahh, I see how the case works - it's got a false top. Might get tricky if you have video port adapters, but otherwise, pretty slick.
Last edited by cynan on Mon Jun 18, 2012 7:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 
mortifiedPenguin
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Re: Anybody watercooling their GPU?

Sat Jun 16, 2012 9:35 pm

cynan wrote:
That's not a 140mm rad, it's a 180mm! I didn't know they made those...
They've got some pretty extreme configs out there. Check out FrozenCPU's "Extreme Radiators" section.
2600K @ 4.8GHz; XSPC Rasa/RX240/RX120 Phobya Xtreme 200; Asus P8Z68-V Pro; 16GB Corsair Vengeance 1333 C9; 2x7970 OC w/ Razor 7970; Force GT 120GB; 3x F3 1TB; Corsair HX750; X-Fi Titanium; Corsair Obsidian 650D; Dell 2408WFP Rev. A01; 2x Dell U2412m
 
UltimateImperative
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Re: Anybody watercooling their GPU?

Sat Jun 16, 2012 10:01 pm

Actually, I don't believe in optical drives :P -- that's a 3.5" hot swap bay. I have a project to add a 120 mm thick radiator on the exhaust, some sensors, and to replace that tubing. Maybe this summer. The foam under the pump is memory foam from a mattress that an upholsterer gave me.
i5-750 @ 3.3 GHz; Asus P7P55D-E Pro; Thermalright Silver Arrow; Antec P183; 4 GB; 2x Radeon HD 6950; Corsair HX650.
 
mortifiedPenguin
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Re: Anybody watercooling their GPU?

Wed Jun 27, 2012 1:18 am

So, for anybody still interested, I ultimately went with a pair of 7950s. They were on sale at Amazon and I managed to get them for about $305 a piece after a rebate. I figure I should be able to OC the heck out of them to 7970 levels. :D

I also went with the following parts for my loop upgrades (from Performance PCs):
- 2x XSPC Razor 7970/7950
- XSPC RX120
- Phobya Xtreme 200mm
- DangerDen DreamFlex tubing 1/2" ID 3/4" OD (retail "value pack")
- Phobya 2 slot variable length SLI/Crossfire bridge
- Various fittings and angle adapters

One 7950 has arrived, the other is still somewhere in Amazon's warehouses. WC stuff is on its way from Florida.

A brief review of Performance PCs for those who haven't shopped there: good prices and decent shipping rates. Only trouble is that I walked away after configuring my kit and it emptied my cart after an hour or two :x. The solution is to make an account first and save the cart there. Not ideal if you don't know if you want to buy there yet, but there you go.
2600K @ 4.8GHz; XSPC Rasa/RX240/RX120 Phobya Xtreme 200; Asus P8Z68-V Pro; 16GB Corsair Vengeance 1333 C9; 2x7970 OC w/ Razor 7970; Force GT 120GB; 3x F3 1TB; Corsair HX750; X-Fi Titanium; Corsair Obsidian 650D; Dell 2408WFP Rev. A01; 2x Dell U2412m
 
jaychen
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Re: Anybody watercooling their GPU?

Fri Jul 13, 2012 10:00 am

How about a setup like the PNY's H2O cooled 580s?

http://www3.pny.com/font-color999999GTX ... 5C396.aspx

Interested to hear people's experience with something like this.

J
 
Waco
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Re: Anybody watercooling their GPU?

Tue Jul 17, 2012 7:51 am

jaychen wrote:
How about a setup like the PNY's H2O cooled 580s?

http://www3.pny.com/font-color999999GTX ... 5C396.aspx

Interested to hear people's experience with something like this.

J

Waste of time, money, and space IMHO.
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mortifiedPenguin
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Re: Anybody watercooling their GPU?

Sat Jul 28, 2012 3:31 am

So, I've been meaning to post an update on the build but got lazy after finishing it last week.

The only major change was that the 7950s were swapped out for a pair of 7970s. I originally ordered a pair of XFX 7950 DDs since they were on sale at Amazaon based on TR's review which said that the DD Black Edition was a reference board:
TR wrote:
This card is based on the same circuit board design as the reference cards—board makers haven't yet had a chance to build enhanced or cost-reduced versions of the PCB—but otherwise, it has been transformed with XFX's own cooler and a swanky custom expansion slot cover with a red DVI port.

It turns out, my Razor 7970 waterblocks (supposedly compatible with 7950s) won't fit on the 7950 DD. Either the regular DD uses a non-reference PCB or there are TWO reference designs for the 7950 - one based off of a modified 7970 and the one the XFX DD Black Edition used. My guess is that there are two. In any case, I gave them to my brother and bought some HIS 7970s which were the lowest at Amazon at the time. The blocks fit perfectly on these guys.

After slaving away for a few nights to get everything right, I get this:
Image

No case permanent case modifications (i.e. cuts) were made. I removed the SATA dock, ditched one of the HDD bays, moved one fan to the outside of the case and that's all I needed to get all the rads inside. I also added an externally mounted outtake fan where the dock used to be. Zip-ties, twist-ties, and double-sided tape proved to be very good friends in this build.

Temps:
CPU
-idle: mid 20s to low 30s depending on ambient
-load: high 50s to low 60 depending on ambient

GPU (Core @ 1125, Mem @ 1575, 1.2V)
-idle: high 30s
-load: high 50s to low 60s using FurMark. 50 C or less in most games (played mostly bf3). Worth noting that these cards were hitting 90C+ in BF3 with the stock HSF installed at stock clocks. Cracking the HSF off to install the waterblocks showed me that the technician who assembled them put WAAY too much TIM - obviously that isn't an issue now.

Both on load:
CPU - high 60s
GPU - low 60s

Ultimately, the temps aren't quite as low as I'd like under "high stress" conditions but under regular conditions, I think this loop works just fine.
2600K @ 4.8GHz; XSPC Rasa/RX240/RX120 Phobya Xtreme 200; Asus P8Z68-V Pro; 16GB Corsair Vengeance 1333 C9; 2x7970 OC w/ Razor 7970; Force GT 120GB; 3x F3 1TB; Corsair HX750; X-Fi Titanium; Corsair Obsidian 650D; Dell 2408WFP Rev. A01; 2x Dell U2412m

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