Hi guys,
I'm building a new system very soon and have decided to go watercooling. I intend to overclock both my graphics card and processor. However I don't know the best block for either.
I've heard that the Swiftech Stealth and the Zalman ZM-GWB8800GTX are both good but I don't know which one to get or if I should buy the thermaltake vga cooler.
I also stumbled across this 8800gtx
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Pro [...] tID=552274 and am wondering whether I should go with that or to buy a cheaper PNY 8800GTX XLR8 edition and buy one of the aftermarket coolers I mentioned above and overclock it that way.
Ok well your best bet would be to build your own water cooling rig from a company like Swiftech, DangerDen, EK, or Petra's Techshop rather than buying a Tt liquid cooling setup.
The Tt liquid cooling rigs leave alot to be desired. They have serious problems with Galvanic Corrosion, and the reserviours tend to crack and leak. Also they tend to have low power pumps and restrictive radiators.
For a little more you could build a nice cooling setup that uses 1/2" inner diameter tubing, a powerful yet quite pump, solid copper water blocks, a high quality radiator, and good fans. A cooling rig like that would keep your equioment very close to ambient air temps and allow for a much higher overclock.
PS the water block o nthe 8800 you linked is made by Dangerden. So if you want to do that go buy a non water cooled BFG or eVGA 8800GTX and buy the block from Dd and put it on yourself. It will save you around $100.
Message edited by ouch1 on 08-28-2007 at 05:36:45 PM
Taking into account that you do intend on o'clocking both your CPU AND your GPU, then you need to decide how you are going to approach developing a cooling loop.
You didn't mention what type of CPU you had (AMD, Intel, dual-core, quad-core) . What we do know so far, though, is that an 8800GTX is hot when o'clocked. To be on the safe side we'll just assume you have - at least - a dual-core (and possibly a quad-core for future proofing).
It is advisable that you have 2 rads - one for each component (CPU, GPU). The reasoning behind this is that if you run with one rad, one of the waterblocks will have to deal with the heat from the source it is attached to PLUS the heat from the other waterblock in the loop. In other words, one component will have to deal with its own heat as well as the heat from another source in such a loop.
With two rads, you can place a rad after each waterblock which will allow for the heat to be dissipated BEFORE it gets to the other component.
Reservoir - Pump - CPU - Rad - GPU - Rad - Back to Pump
That kit with the modified pump isn't really that powerful. In fact, it's weak as far as pumps go. At 500 lph that is equivalent to around only 132 gph - somewhere in the neighborhood of an Swiftech MCP350 pump. For your purposes, it would be much more ideal were you to use something like an MCP655 which has a flowrate of 317 gph (1200 lph).
To make a more efficient cooling loop you want to promote as good a flowrate throughout the loop as possible. That means as few restrictions as possible. Fullbody waterblocks for your GPU are nice but they are hell on flowrate because of the many bends and tight turns in their channels. I use to use that very DangerDen block that you provided a link for on that 8800 GTX/waterblock combo and I was getting around 53 degrees celsius on idle and 56 - 58 on load. However, I switched over to the Swiftech Stealth and my idle temps dropped to 44 degrees celsius on idle and 46 - 48 on load.
I highly recommend the Switech Stealth. As far as I can tell, it is the only GPU core specific waterblock (non-fullbody) that covers the ENTIRE GPU core.
All this is just food for thought from experience.....
To make a more efficient cooling loop you want to promote as good a flowrate throughout the loop as possible. That means as few restrictions as possible. Fullbody waterblocks for your GPU are nice but they are hell on flowrate because of the many bends and tight turns in their channels. I use to use that very DangerDen block that you provided a link for on that 8800 GTX/waterblock combo and I was getting around 53 degrees celsius on idle and 56 - 58 on load. However, I switched over to the Swiftech Stealth and my idle temps dropped to 44 degrees celsius on idle and 46 - 48 on load.
I highly recommend the Switech Stealth. As far as I can tell, it is the only GPU core specific waterblock (non-fullbody) that covers the ENTIRE GPU core.
All this is just food for thought from experience.....
Actually Phreejak there is another gpu block available. Some people have been using a Maze4 with a custom made hold down and getting temps that are around the same as you get with the Stealth (check out Dd's forums about it). I myself would still prefer a fullbody block since I would not have to buy ram sinks for everything else on the board. Plus getting an RMA is pretty easy when you just pull the water block off, clean the card, and slap the stock cooler back on. Rather than having to remove ram sinks along with the rest of the steps, and hope you don't pull a chip too hard and crack a chip or a trace.
Thanks For the help and replies guys. Sry i should've added my system specs.
Processor: Q6700
Graphics Card: 8800 GTX possibly PNY 8800GTX SL8 Edition (recommended?)
RAM: 2gb OCZ FLEX Watercooled pc-6400 ddr2
Motherboard: Asus P5K Deluxe OR possibly the new asus board with the X38 chipset.
PSU: Corsair HX620 620W PSU
Soundcard: X-fi Fatality 7.1 Soundcard
Case: Was going to be the Thermaltake Kandalf LCS
(If Not the kandalf LCS then is the thermaltake kandalf good? Any other recommended cases?)
Hardrive: Western Digital Caviar 500gb
So If I get a Swiftech Stealth then what 8800 GTX card is recommended? Also What waterblock would be best for my Processor as i posted above I heard that the swiftech apogee GT/GTX are very good but I have no personal experience and would love to hear from you guys.
The thing I liked about the kandalf LCS apart from its looks and size is the integrated cooling system. Is there any way I can mount a similar system inside that same case eg. have that swiftech radiator sitting where the thermaltake one was?
