How big of a radiator would you consider for an OC'd CPU? Also how big of a rad for 2 OC'd GPUs?

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The Kasafist

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2 simple questions! Read the watercooling sticky already. I was considering to ask you guys after discussing a couple things with a fellor member rubix. He felt a 240mm rad would be sufficient for cooling a CPU but not an overclocked one. So I am now curious if you think I should consider a 360mm or 420mm for the CPU alone. Also I want to cool my GPU and do some OCing as well with it. But eventually want a second GTX 670.

To cool both do you feel GPUs get hotter than CPU or the CPU still the hottest peice? Also should it be a 420mm rad for the 2 GPUs w/ a 360mm rad for the CPU, which is what I have been thinking? Or should I accommodate for each peice to have its own 360mm rad snatch a CM HAF Stacker and fit in 3 360mm rads somehow here and there to kool each piece with its own radiator? Let me know what your take is and what path you think might be best! Try not to be concerned with the money this is just the planning in advanced portion of the deal. The money will be there late on. Thanks peeps!
 
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Woah Woah, who said a 240mm radiator would not be good enough for overclocking? I have a 120mm radiator for a Phenom 2 x4 and it handled it just fine. I would suggest the 240mm instead since it does give you extra room to breath on higher overclocks. Given that GPU's can run hotter than most CPU's, I would strongly suggest 360mm and bigger radiator for 2 GTX 670's. This is seperate from the CPU rad. If it were me, I would go for 2 480mm standad size rad with 80CFM+ fans or 2 thick 140mm x 3 such as this one. This is just me though, and these would be my minimun since I would most likely overclock everything I could.
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OldSchool84

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Woah Woah, who said a 240mm radiator would not be good enough for overclocking? I have a 120mm radiator for a Phenom 2 x4 and it handled it just fine. I would suggest the 240mm instead since it does give you extra room to breath on higher overclocks. Given that GPU's can run hotter than most CPU's, I would strongly suggest 360mm and bigger radiator for 2 GTX 670's. This is seperate from the CPU rad. If it were me, I would go for 2 480mm standad size rad with 80CFM+ fans or 2 thick 140mm x 3 such as this one. This is just me though, and these would be my minimun since I would most likely overclock everything I could.
 
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nukemaster

nukemaster

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Not all rads are the same anyway.

Funny thing is that many users performing "The Mod" by placing all in one liquid coolers on video cards report very good temps for just a 120mm thin rad.

Now those are rather restrictive rads meaning more powerful fans can go a long way to remove the heat.

When doing a diy water loop you have all the options you want(power vs quiet ect).

Also it comes down to user preference if you want to have the cpu and video cards on separate loops or not. Think about it this way each part does not effect the other on separate loops, but with a shared loop a gpu or cpu loaded up with the other at a lower load level can lead to a sharing effect with the extra cooling performance left on either component.

Honestly you have no right vs wrong way to do it.

I have personally give this MOD a shot and it DOES work, but the VRMs can use some cooling because the stock fan will spin slower with the reduced temps.

Ghetto mod :)
Click \/
br17.jpg

Ghetto VRM cooling(not over the vrm's but takes heat from the stock plate)
Click \/
7dgp.jpg
Click \/
mhrg.jpg
 
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The Kasafist

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hmmm...that's very good to hear see I thought I found that farfetched so I brought it up here. I have a 120mm closed loop from Intel and it keeps my (non OC'd) CPU cool perfectly actually when I feel for the air it feels normal almost cool to the touch-ish.

I felt that good fans with 240mm would suffice but of course that would depend on how hard I would like to push the CPU. Yes GPU run hotter but hmm what doesnt make sense to me is how the arctic accelero hybrid manages to cool a video card so well and only sport the 120mm rad.

I know it also has a fan in the shroud as well so that could be the gist of it. Anyhow all notes aside lets say perhaps a 480mm for 2 GPU and a 360 for my CPU how would that sound?
 
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nukemaster

nukemaster

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480 for the video cards and 360 for the cpu should be awesome overkill :)

The rad on Arctic Cooling system will get hotter because the video card pumps out more heat than the cpu.

In my "mod" all in one cooler the rad gets quite a bit hotter than it does on a cpu.
 
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The Kasafist

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Hmm thinking I will go with a thin rad though but double up on the fans assuming I can fit it all of course. Will check my clearances ahead of time of course. Now to hunt for a case to accommodate a 480mm and 360mm rad hmmm..perhaps the Lian Li PC-D600 or CM HAF Stacker?!?!
 
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OldSchool84

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Though a standard thickness 480mm rad will be best for your GPU's, a 360mm is (as nukemaster put it) awesome overkill. A double rad will be plenty for a CPU unless you're running AMD's 220 watt furnace of a chip. Also remember that CPU's and GPU's regularly output more heat than the rated TDP. Here is a little table I use, and as you can see the biggest one is needed in order to keep low RPM fans and therefore much less noise. I do apologize if I assumed you wanted a quite setup, but with this you can make up your mind. Hope it helps.

23vyhax.jpg
 
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The Kasafist

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I think perhaps you forgot to include the table you intended to give. Which I would totally love to have right now haha! I like the advice but can't quite see what you w/o the table.
 
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ihog

ihog

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I personally would want a 360mm rad for the CPU. In my case, I've got a 240mm rad, and my i5 3570K is OC'd to 4.5 GHz at 1.48V. It barely keeps it under 95C. But, I would imagine you aren't willing to use such high voltages.
 
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OldSchool84

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At first I didn't see it either but I refreshed a few times and it popped back up. If you still can't see it, I will post it again. Ah, I'll just give you the link.... Table
 
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OldSchool84

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You are right, I am not willing to fry my CPU... :p
 
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nukemaster

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That is an awful lot of voltage for that type of cpu.

Have you thought about a de-lid and maybe removing the glue and using new thermal paste on the heat spreader to die area to lower the temps a bit?

Yeah video cards just have a higher TDP than many cpus so they DO need more cooling. They also tend to have large dies that allow more heat to transfer into the block. This may be why a 25mm thick rad keeps a 170+ watt cpu as cool as a 50mm thick rad on my i7 2600k @ 4.4.

You are going to get great thermals with a proper loop too :)
 
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The Kasafist

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At first I didn't see it either but I refreshed a few times and it popped back up. If you still can't see it, I will post it again. Ah, I'll just give you the link.... Table

Hey thanks I think it was that cheap computer I was on earlier. On my PC right now and I can see the table just fine much obliged!
 
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ihog

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Yes, I already am delidded, sadly. The next step to take, besides throwing in another rad to my loop, is to apply liquid metal between the die and IHS. And yeah, the voltage is pretty high, but I'm not too worried about it.
 
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nukemaster

nukemaster

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Please check the space between the die and ihs. some users are reporting the need for a thicker thermal paste(removing the stock glue from both parts should also make it fit better as would sanding the ridge around the edge of the ihs from the bottom).

@ The Kasafist. Remember to post some pictures in the Member Gallery after you are done.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/310222-31-hardware-member-system-gallery
 
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ihog

ihog

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I've researched delidding extensively (I know the gap was causing the heat problems instead of the paste Intel used), and yes, the space between the die and IHS is as minimal as possible. I've removed all of the glue. Thanks for your concern, though.
 
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