Building a custom liquid cooling loop. Please help.

Mayhems coolants

http://mayhems.co.uk/store/

Sold at all US WC retailers

Pick a coolant and done, nothing else required unless ya wanna alter standard colors

You don't need a kill coil, just use distilled water and some anti-microbial drops. Some of them are made as a solution of copper sulfate (PT Nuke) and some are chemically based like benzalkonium chloride (PT Nuke PHN). However, anything that is designed to prevent microbial growth in a warm water environment should work. I use some stuff I picked up at the pet store...have used it for a few years, no problems.

Is a 420mm Alphacool UT60 radiator enough to cover an overclocked 4690k and overclocked SLI 980 Ti cards?

Click to expand...

Likely yes, with good fans and/or push/pull. UT60 is pretty thick.

I think the forum only allows a single BA per thread, so pick whomever you'd like. Personally, doesn't matter to me as I have plenty of BA's on watercooling over the years, 1 isn't going to cramp my style any.

The key to keeping the pH from dropping is to keep it from prolonged exposure to air. Alphacool Rads have the best features (Screw protectors, 7 ports) but they are reported by coolant vendors as the worst for left behind flux and residue. The Mayhems Blitz Kit is highly recommended. At the very least I would soak the rads in an acidic solution (strong vinegar / water) for 2 hours, followed by a base solution (sodium bicoarbonate)..... Then flush with alternating hot / cold tap water a few times and finally DW.

To figure required rad size see this

http://www.overclock.net/t/1457426/radiator-size-estimator

Which 980 Ti > .... I'd wait till the factory OC'd ones arrive as they (at least MSI and Gigabyte) have numerous PCB modifications and extra cooling features which will facilitate overclocking. Without them, the value of water cooling is constrained a bit. And it's important which one you pick

Reference 980 Ti draws 238 watts in Metro LL, 277 under Furmark
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_980_Ti/29.html

Reference 980 draws 184 watts in Metro LL, 190 under Furmark
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_980/24.html

Asus 980 draws 194 watts in Metro LL, 193 under Furmark (possible throttling)
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GTX_980_Matrix/26.html

MSI 980 draws 205 watts in Metro LL, 207 under Furmark
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_980_Gaming/23.html

Gigabyte 980 draws 204 watts in Metro LL, 342 under Furmark (wow)
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GeForce_GTX_980_G1_Gaming/25.html

Obviously you might wanna think about a different Rad if you have the Gigabyte

But since the MSI pulls about 10% more than the the reference 980, let's add 10% to the 980 Ti

Non-Reference 980 Ti draws 262watts in Metro LL, 305 under Furmark. They got a 26% overclock but let's assume the aftermarket cards will already have much of that build in. Let's assume you use Afterburner and have a 110% power limit.

GFX = 305 x 2 = 610 x 1.1 = 671
CPU = 135 watts (4790k @ 4.8 Ghz assumed)
MoBo = Assummed no MoBo block
RAM = Assummed no RAM blocks
Pump = 22 watts

That gives us 829 watts about 60% of which needs to be consumed by the Rads or 497 watts.

I will note here that the UT60 will not fit in the Enthoo Primo w/o hitting / obstructing access to the MoBo if using fans in push / pull. Using the Phanteks fans ans assuming a Delta T (coolant => ambient) of 10C .....

An UT60 will give you 256 watts of cooling w/ 1 set of fans 309 watts in push / pull
An XT45 will give you 250 watts of cooling w/ 1 set of fans 302 watts in push / pull

As you can see the XT45 is the better choice with 2 fans (302 watts), than the UT60 is with 1 (256 watts). Your MoBo may fit however if it doesn't have tall heat sinks or has the EPS cable socket down low.

So...what does that mean.... essentially at full tilt, your Delta T will be (497 / 302) x 10 = 16.45C. So with a ambient of say 22C (72F). Your coolant temp will be about 38.5C

The 10C is just a target used by enthusiasts to serve as the basis of the calculations

< 10C = Extreme
10C = High End
20C = Mid-range
30C = Entry level

The SC has historically been a reference PCB with a nice cooler.... no special VRMs, Chokes or thermal pads.... the later of which you can correct when you add the water block. I did read the Hightech Legion review and suffice to say I could not disagree more with a statement they made therein

You really need to look under the cover, not the PCB or the GPU but the warranty, customer service, tech support and RMA process

Click to expand...

A review which doesn't look at the PCB, the VRM, power deliver / VRM, how chips are cooled etc. is one I find not worth reading.

I expect that the SC will draw very close to the reference card

238 x 1.10 x 2 = say 524 + 135 + 22 = 681 x 60% = 408

Yes, Using the UT60 will likely prevent the addition of any fans in pull.... just the push on top. You would need an XT45 I think to do P/P. The 420 rad will give you 256 watts of cooling or about 60% of the 408 required to hit a Delta T of 10C .... anticipated coolant temps at full GPU / CPU loads would be estimated at 16C

I'd gran some extra Gelid Extreme TIM, that's what EVGA supplies with the blocks but there isn't enough in the WB kits, at least in my experience to cove the GPU and all the thermal pads for memory and VRMs.