Need a Recommendation on a H2O setup for Dual NV6800's (SLI) and an AMD FX-55 - Page 3

Josh_Hayes · 02-12-2005, 03:30 PM

ARGH! Decisions, Decisions...

Here's another setup... I can't decide... I think this might be it unless someone sees a problem with it:

These radiators are low resistance, I'm pressed for room, and you guys think that a single radiator isn't going to be enough. So Im thinking about using two Black Ice Pro radiators on a single loop using a MCP600/50z Pump to cool the CPU and both GPU's.

Please tell me there are no problems with this setup... I want to buy!

black_dante · 02-12-2005, 04:41 PM

i think that the acetal topped block is considerably lighter and does not put as much stress on the card/motherboard

Josh_Hayes · 02-12-2005, 08:27 PM

Well I finally committed and went ahead and ordered the following parts for this setup:

www.sidewindercomputers.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Swiftech MCW6002 CPU Waterblock $ 45.00
Swiftech MCX159 Chipset Heatsink $ 32.95
2 x Black Ice Pro Radiators with 1/2" barbs $ 81.90
4 x Radiator Shrouds $ 35.80
Swiftech 5 1/4" Reservoir with 1/2" barbs $ 18.95
10 feet of Tygon R3603 1/2" ID - 11/16" OD tubing $ 20.50
HydrX Algicide and Anit-Corrisive Additive $ 3.29
4 x 80mm Fan Guards $ 7.80
120mm Fan Guard $ 1.95
20 Black Fan Screws $ 1.25
Shipping $ 13.00
Subtotal $ 262.39

www.cooltechnica.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AquaXtreme 50Z-DC12 Waterpump $ 79.00
20 black plastic tubing clamps $ 10.00
Shipping $ 10.45
Total $ 99.45

www.dangerdenstore.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 x Danger Den Maze4 GPU Waterblocks (Acetal) $ 92.90
Shipping $ 9.65
Total $ 102.55

Grand Total $ 464.39

I'll take some pics and update the thread as they arrive and I install them.

MaxxxRacer · 02-13-2005, 04:48 AM

that setup looks good. Im curious as to what the temp diff between the water coming from the pump and the water going into the cpu block.

Cathar · 02-13-2005, 06:57 AM

Looks good.

A very strong recommendation. You really want to have your radiators drawing in fresh cool air from the outside of the case, and every other fan in your case exhausting air from the case.

Have not known of a single situation where drawing in air from outside the case is ever worse than sucking air from the case to blow through the rads, and more "generally" is around 2-4C cooler (lower water temps), although of course YMMV.

Josh_Hayes · 02-13-2005, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cathar

Looks good.

A very strong recommendation. You really want to have your radiators drawing in fresh cool air from the outside of the case, and every other fan in your case exhausting air from the case.

Have not known of a single situation where drawing in air from outside the case is ever worse than sucking air from the case to blow through the rads, and more "generally" is around 2-4C cooler (lower water temps), although of course YMMV.

I was thinking about turning the fans at the top to sucking in, but wouldn't that work against the flow of heat?

Either way, it seems that its going to be sucking in warm air from the rear exhausts and just be recirculating the warm air. I wish this case had more room on the bottom and front, but I opted for this case rather than the stacker.

Any other ideas short of drilling holes in my 5 1/4" slot covers?

I'm sure I haven't thought of them all...

pauldenton · 02-13-2005, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cathar

Looks good.

A very strong recommendation. You really want to have your radiators drawing in fresh cool air from the outside of the case, and every other fan in your case exhausting air from the case.

Have not known of a single situation where drawing in air from outside the case is ever worse than sucking air from the case to blow through the rads, and more "generally" is around 2-4C cooler (lower water temps), although of course YMMV.

and probably even more so with the pcp&c PSU exhausting into the case i'd imagine.....

Josh_Hayes · 02-13-2005, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pauldenton

and probably even more so with the pcp&c PSU exhausting into the case i'd imagine.....

I can always remove the secondary PSU if no one thinks its needed. So far its only cost me one DVD-ROM and $10.

Again, any suggestions are welcome!

DryFire · 02-13-2005, 11:21 PM

Yeah I'd remove teh second psu 520W should be good if you only have one hd (or 2). It would also allow you to position your res more conviently.

I thought your post over at spcr looked somewhat familiar.

Josh_Hayes · 02-17-2005, 01:41 AM

Well my parts have arrived... Now I just have to go get plumbers tape and the motivation to install all this stuff.

Any tips or suggestions before installing my first watercooling system?

HenryHL · 02-17-2005, 02:06 AM

Just curious, does that NB chipset cooler clear your GT's? Tight fit if she goes, eh...

Josh_Hayes · 02-17-2005, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HenryHL

Just curious, does that NB chipset cooler clear your GT's? Tight fit if she goes, eh...

It should fit nicely in between them. I know of a few people that are using this cooler on this motherboard.

Josh_Hayes · 02-18-2005, 01:29 AM

I installed the MCX159 on the chipset, removed the secondary PSU, and cleaned up the wiring a little...

Josh_Hayes · 02-20-2005, 02:39 AM

Well I finally got around to installing all the components and am in the process of leak testing for 24 hours...

I unpacked all the part and began installation by mounting the top radiator. This ended up being the most difficult part of the installation. Lining up the screws with the fan, shroud, and radiator proved be to quite a challenge.

After installing the first radiator, I figured the second would go smoothly so I unpacked the second radiator and to my horror it wouldn't fit! There was no way to mount the radiator in the rear, even with the radiator rotated 90*. So I did some thinking and decided to mod the front fan mount and HDD cage. I drilled out the rivets and rigged the radiator, fan, and shroud to mount into the drive rail assembly.

In the end I am happy with the way the mod turned out and now have one radiator sucking cool air in from the front of the system. I used the DVD-ROM chassis to remount the HDD Cage and mounted a fan to the front of it as well to allow active cooling for the Hard Drive.

After mounting both radiators, I installed the two GPU blocks and the CPU block without issue. I then started routing and cutting my tygon tubing which took a couple of hours to do. BTW, Tygon tubing does not do sharp angles well at all. I had trouble avoiding kinks in the tubes.

After completing all the tubing I proceeded to fill the system...

I stood back to inspect my work and was horrified to find that I had run all my tubing the wrong direction! Well I had gone through all 10 feet of tygon tubing and basically wasted $30. I also found out that I had no way of draining my system. I eventually just pinched off the supply hose for the pump, disconnected it, and drained the system.

Today I went to Lowes and found some braided, reinforced 1/2" ID PVC tubing for $0.84 a foot and purchased 12 foot of it. This stuff is VERY Stiff but very heavy duty (its double-walled with a mesh lining in between them and is made for high preasure loops). This tubing is nice as it wont kink, even at extreme angles! After fighting with it for a few hours, I was very pleased with the outcome and even managed to add a T-line for easy draining of the system.

I am now leak testing the system (only the pump and fans are plugged in) and will post pics once I get access to a computer which supports my Digicam.

I want to thank you all for your help! I also hope the results are well worth the time, effort, and expense... :scared:

-Josh

KAMIKAZE-FREAK · 02-20-2005, 04:51 AM

cant wait to see the pictures

XTATDSM · 02-20-2005, 05:49 AM

good luck and hurry up with some pics and temps

nexxo · 02-20-2005, 01:12 PM

OK, a bit late for me to join the thread since you've built it all, but I've been busy... Anyway for future reference, here goes:

My advice: keep it simple. A lot of agonising is going on here about number of pumps, ID of tubing, sequence to mount things in, yada, yada...

First of all: a single PC Power & Cooling PSU 500W will comfortably feed all your stuff. Even your OCZ 520 will probably manage.

Second, there is not much benefit to choosing 1/2"ID tubing over 3/8" ID tubing, especially if all your components have 3/8" ID barbs. But whatever you do, go for the thick walled (1/8" aka 3mm) stuff to prevent kinking.

Mount blocks in the sequence that produces the shortest, least complicated loop. As long as you put the res last, you're OK. Some people prefer to put the rad firstafter the pump, and there is some logic to that.

A BIX2 will comfortably cool your whole setup. You can even get away with quiet low-flow fans. Push and pull fans will give you little gain over pull alone.

A single MCP600 pump will comfortably supply your system. Don't obsess about flow.

Post pics. Lots of pics.

Josh_Hayes · 02-20-2005, 04:16 PM

Pics...

Josh_Hayes · 02-20-2005, 04:17 PM

More Pics...

Josh_Hayes · 02-21-2005, 01:29 PM

Few more pics right before I started her up for the first time...

-Josh

Josh_Hayes · 02-21-2005, 01:30 PM

Idle Temps (nTune)...

Single GPU Load Temps (Running RTHDRIBL & nTune)...

Highest GPU Temp (Display Properties) Note that the ambient (RAM) temp is higher than the GPU!

I ran RTHDRIBL for 15 minutes for the above tests. The difference between Idle and Load seems too low... I am installing Half-Life 2 now to test temps with SLI.

Josh_Hayes · 02-21-2005, 01:31 PM

GPU1 : Half-Life 2 for 15 mins with SLI enabled...

Click for full size image.

GPU1 : Prime95 + RTHDRIBL for 20 Minutes...

Click for full size image.

GPU2 : Prime95 + RTHDRIBL for 20 Minutes...

Click for full size image.

GPU1 : Prime95 + RTHDRIBL for 20 Minutes (Execution Halted)...

Click for full size image.

I can't seem to get the GPU Temps any higher than 46*C...

Josh_Hayes · 02-21-2005, 01:40 PM

My CPU Temps have gone from 41*C Idle to 32*C Idle and 52*C Load to 38*C Load. My GPU Temps have gone from 52*C Idle to 39*C Idle and 92*C Load to 46*C Load. That is a HUGE difference, I'm very pleased.

DryFire · 02-22-2005, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josh_Hayes

My CPU Temps have gone from 41*C Idle to 32*C Idle and 52*C Load to 38*C Load. My GPU Temps have gone from 52*C Idle to 39*C Idle and 92*C Load to 46*C Load. That is a HUGE difference, I'm very pleased.

and an almost $500 cooling system I'd expect a big improvement.

02-13-2005, 04:48 AM	#54
MaxxxRacer Cooling Savant Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Los Angeles, Ca Posts: 310	that setup looks good. Im curious as to what the temp diff between the water coming from the pump and the water going into the cpu block. __________________ Excuse me, I believe you have my stapler.

02-17-2005, 01:41 AM	#60
Josh_Hayes Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Round Rock, Texas Posts: 39	Well my parts have arrived... Now I just have to go get plumbers tape and the motivation to install all this stuff. Any tips or suggestions before installing my first watercooling system? Last edited by Josh_Hayes; 02-27-2005 at 03:53 PM.

02-17-2005, 02:06 AM	#61
HenryHL Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: California, USA Posts: 7	Just curious, does that NB chipset cooler clear your GT's? Tight fit if she goes, eh... __________________ Life is bittersweet, women like semisweet, and I can't find my keys...

02-18-2005, 01:29 AM	#63
Josh_Hayes Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Round Rock, Texas Posts: 39	I installed the MCX159 on the chipset, removed the secondary PSU, and cleaned up the wiring a little... Last edited by Josh_Hayes; 02-21-2005 at 01:18 PM.

02-20-2005, 01:12 PM	#67
nexxo Cooling Savant Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Brimingham, UK Posts: 385	OK, a bit late for me to join the thread since you've built it all, but I've been busy... Anyway for future reference, here goes: My advice: keep it simple. A lot of agonising is going on here about number of pumps, ID of tubing, sequence to mount things in, yada, yada... First of all: a single PC Power & Cooling PSU 500W will comfortably feed all your stuff. Even your OCZ 520 will probably manage. Second, there is not much benefit to choosing 1/2"ID tubing over 3/8" ID tubing, especially if all your components have 3/8" ID barbs. But whatever you do, go for the thick walled (1/8" aka 3mm) stuff to prevent kinking. Mount blocks in the sequence that produces the shortest, least complicated loop. As long as you put the res last, you're OK. Some people prefer to put the rad firstafter the pump, and there is some logic to that. A BIX2 will comfortably cool your whole setup. You can even get away with quiet low-flow fans. Push and pull fans will give you little gain over pull alone. A single MCP600 pump will comfortably supply your system. Don't obsess about flow. Post pics. Lots of pics. __________________ "There is a thin line between magic and madness"

02-12-2005, 03:30 PM	#51
Josh_Hayes Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Round Rock, Texas Posts: 39	ARGH! Decisions, Decisions... Here's another setup... I can't decide... I think this might be it unless someone sees a problem with it: These radiators are low resistance, I'm pressed for room, and you guys think that a single radiator isn't going to be enough. So Im thinking about using two Black Ice Pro radiators on a single loop using a MCP600/50z Pump to cool the CPU and both GPU's. Please tell me there are no problems with this setup... I want to buy!

02-12-2005, 04:41 PM	#52
black_dante Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: nyc Posts: 48	i think that the acetal topped block is considerably lighter and does not put as much stress on the card/motherboard

02-12-2005, 08:27 PM	#53
Josh_Hayes Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Round Rock, Texas Posts: 39	Well I finally committed and went ahead and ordered the following parts for this setup: www.sidewindercomputers.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Swiftech MCW6002 CPU Waterblock $ 45.00 Swiftech MCX159 Chipset Heatsink $ 32.95 2 x Black Ice Pro Radiators with 1/2" barbs $ 81.90 4 x Radiator Shrouds $ 35.80 Swiftech 5 1/4" Reservoir with 1/2" barbs $ 18.95 10 feet of Tygon R3603 1/2" ID - 11/16" OD tubing $ 20.50 HydrX Algicide and Anit-Corrisive Additive $ 3.29 4 x 80mm Fan Guards $ 7.80 120mm Fan Guard $ 1.95 20 Black Fan Screws $ 1.25 Shipping $ 13.00 Subtotal $ 262.39 www.cooltechnica.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AquaXtreme 50Z-DC12 Waterpump $ 79.00 20 black plastic tubing clamps $ 10.00 Shipping $ 10.45 Total $ 99.45 www.dangerdenstore.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 x Danger Den Maze4 GPU Waterblocks (Acetal) $ 92.90 Shipping $ 9.65 Total $ 102.55 Grand Total $ 464.39 I'll take some pics and update the thread as they arrive and I install them.

02-13-2005, 06:57 AM	#55
Cathar Thermophile Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 2,538	Looks good. A very strong recommendation. You really want to have your radiators drawing in fresh cool air from the outside of the case, and every other fan in your case exhausting air from the case. Have not known of a single situation where drawing in air from outside the case is ever worse than sucking air from the case to blow through the rads, and more "generally" is around 2-4C cooler (lower water temps), although of course YMMV.

02-13-2005, 11:21 PM	#59
DryFire Cooling Savant Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: USA Posts: 148	Yeah I'd remove teh second psu 520W should be good if you only have one hd (or 2). It would also allow you to position your res more conviently. I thought your post over at spcr looked somewhat familiar.

02-20-2005, 02:39 AM	#64
Josh_Hayes Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Round Rock, Texas Posts: 39	Well I finally got around to installing all the components and am in the process of leak testing for 24 hours... I unpacked all the part and began installation by mounting the top radiator. This ended up being the most difficult part of the installation. Lining up the screws with the fan, shroud, and radiator proved be to quite a challenge. After installing the first radiator, I figured the second would go smoothly so I unpacked the second radiator and to my horror it wouldn't fit! There was no way to mount the radiator in the rear, even with the radiator rotated 90*. So I did some thinking and decided to mod the front fan mount and HDD cage. I drilled out the rivets and rigged the radiator, fan, and shroud to mount into the drive rail assembly. In the end I am happy with the way the mod turned out and now have one radiator sucking cool air in from the front of the system. I used the DVD-ROM chassis to remount the HDD Cage and mounted a fan to the front of it as well to allow active cooling for the Hard Drive. After mounting both radiators, I installed the two GPU blocks and the CPU block without issue. I then started routing and cutting my tygon tubing which took a couple of hours to do. BTW, Tygon tubing does not do sharp angles well at all. I had trouble avoiding kinks in the tubes. After completing all the tubing I proceeded to fill the system... I stood back to inspect my work and was horrified to find that I had run all my tubing the wrong direction! Well I had gone through all 10 feet of tygon tubing and basically wasted $30. I also found out that I had no way of draining my system. I eventually just pinched off the supply hose for the pump, disconnected it, and drained the system. Today I went to Lowes and found some braided, reinforced 1/2" ID PVC tubing for $0.84 a foot and purchased 12 foot of it. This stuff is VERY Stiff but very heavy duty (its double-walled with a mesh lining in between them and is made for high preasure loops). This tubing is nice as it wont kink, even at extreme angles! After fighting with it for a few hours, I was very pleased with the outcome and even managed to add a T-line for easy draining of the system. I am now leak testing the system (only the pump and fans are plugged in) and will post pics once I get access to a computer which supports my Digicam. I want to thank you all for your help! I also hope the results are well worth the time, effort, and expense... :scared: -Josh

02-20-2005, 04:51 AM	#65
KAMIKAZE-FREAK Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 1	cant wait to see the pictures

02-20-2005, 05:49 AM	#66
XTATDSM Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: UAE Posts: 26	good luck and hurry up with some pics and temps

02-20-2005, 04:16 PM	#68
Josh_Hayes Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Round Rock, Texas Posts: 39	Pics... Last edited by Josh_Hayes; 02-21-2005 at 01:18 PM.

02-20-2005, 04:17 PM	#69
Josh_Hayes Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Round Rock, Texas Posts: 39	More Pics... Last edited by Josh_Hayes; 02-21-2005 at 01:18 PM.

02-21-2005, 01:29 PM	#70
Josh_Hayes Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Round Rock, Texas Posts: 39	Few more pics right before I started her up for the first time... -Josh Last edited by Josh_Hayes; 02-21-2005 at 01:37 PM.

02-21-2005, 01:30 PM	#71
Josh_Hayes Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Round Rock, Texas Posts: 39	Idle Temps (nTune)... Single GPU Load Temps (Running RTHDRIBL & nTune)... Highest GPU Temp (Display Properties) Note that the ambient (RAM) temp is higher than the GPU! I ran RTHDRIBL for 15 minutes for the above tests. The difference between Idle and Load seems too low... I am installing Half-Life 2 now to test temps with SLI. Last edited by Josh_Hayes; 02-21-2005 at 01:37 PM.

02-21-2005, 01:31 PM	#72
Josh_Hayes Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Round Rock, Texas Posts: 39	GPU1 : Half-Life 2 for 15 mins with SLI enabled... Click for full size image. GPU1 : Prime95 + RTHDRIBL for 20 Minutes... Click for full size image. GPU2 : Prime95 + RTHDRIBL for 20 Minutes... Click for full size image. GPU1 : Prime95 + RTHDRIBL for 20 Minutes (Execution Halted)... Click for full size image. I can't seem to get the GPU Temps any higher than *46C**...

02-21-2005, 01:40 PM	#73
Josh_Hayes Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Round Rock, Texas Posts: 39	My CPU Temps have gone from *41C Idle to 32C Idle* and *52C Load to 38C Load. My GPU Temps have gone from 52C Idle to 39C Idle* and *92C Load to 46C Load*. That is a HUGE difference, I'm very pleased.

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