Video card overheating problem

[Osaka]

Here are some pics of my setup:

http://s207.photobucket.com/albums/b...20Cooled%20PC/

After about 5 min of running any 3D games, I will get artifacts and strange geometry distortions. My CPU never seems to get over 55c and idles in the 40s, but the video card gets up in the 65-70C range during gameplay.

Do I need a bigger pump or something?

[jaydee]

I would suspect flow rate with that rad setup. What are the specs of that pump?

[Osaka]

Its from the Thermaltake 745 kit...

"The P400 is an in-line pump and from the specifications we see the pump is rated for 400 L/hr, which is roughly 106 G/hr. This far more than the previous Big water at 90 L/hr and slightly more than the average kit. Thermaltake doesn't mention the PSI output. The P400 provides 2.10 m of lift using 10.8 Watts of power."

[jaydee]

Originally Posted by Osaka

Its from the Thermaltake 745 kit...

"The P400 is an in-line pump and from the specifications we see the pump is rated for 400 L/hr, which is roughly 106 G/hr. This far more than the previous Big water at 90 L/hr and slightly more than the average kit. Thermaltake doesn't mention the PSI output. The P400 provides 2.10 m of lift using 10.8 Watts of power."

Yeah, adding that large restrictive rad on top of the case probably killed your flow rate. Not a very strong pump.

[Osaka]

So gravity is killing me and I should set it on the ground, or just get rid of it?
Or get a new pump?

[billbartuska]

Originally Posted by Osaka

"... the pump is rated for 400 L/hr,
... provides 2.10 m of lift "

I think you're a little confused about pump specs. When your pump is running in your loop, it supplies neither 400 L/hr. nor 2.1m of pressure. With pumps, as the pressure they have to put out increases, the flow rate they will supply decreases. (see attached chart) Here are some flow rate curves for some typical pumps:
http://www.procooling.com/index.php?...s&disp=38&pg=1

I hope this gets you started off in the right direction.
As for your temps, it's kind of hard to comment on them when I have no idea what components you are using.

Here is a thread that describes how to choose a pump.
http://forums.procooling.com/vbb/sho...to+choose+pump

And hers is some info on estimating the flow rate you will need:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=151627

[jaydee]

Originally Posted by Osaka

So gravity is killing me and I should set it on the ground, or just get rid of it?
Or get a new pump?

I just looked up the kit you have. http://www.thermaltake.com/product/L...6/cl-w0076.asp

Strangely that large radiator is apart of the kit. I was thinking it was something you added yourself.

I am not seeing that it is supposed to be used by more than just a CPU water block though. Adding in the GPU water block is probably pushing it to much.

A larger pump will probably help some but if those radiators are only designed to handle a CPU's heat load it might not help alot. Might try just water cooling the GPU and air cooling the CPU.

[ibmkg]

Osaka:

Whats the ambient temp (room temp and system temp)?

I am a rookie so I cannot say much than,

a) Is your pump getting 'any hot'? If the water flow rate is low, it should be hot.

b) If you have a digital thermometer, check out the rad temp, GPU Block temp. [Becareful not to short anything, make sure you and your PC is grounded and that you are static free]. Touch the thermal probe of thermometer to the exposed Cu area of the block and report back the temp under load and idle.

[Hansfragger]

Originally Posted by Osaka

So gravity is killing me and I should set it on the ground, or just get rid of it?
Or get a new pump?

If you brought the rad assembly down to the level of the Video card this would allow you to shorten your tubing runs netting you better performance with your existing pump.

Something else you might want to look into is making sure the components on the video cards pcb are not overheating. When you remove the stock air cooler and replace it with a wb and "spot heatsinks" some areas of your card are not getting the benefit of flowing air from the stock cooler. I was having some problems with my set-up, so I added a low speed 120mm fan to blow across the card and my overclocks went up along with stability.