liquid cooling for 8800 gt sli and phenom 9850

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fantom-feltpen

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i am a complete newbie when it comes to liquid cooling.... im just looking for suggestions or recommendations.

im looking to liquid cool my 8800gt's in sli and my OC phenom 9850 black edition.

i am looking for a modest price ($120-$160) liquid cooling system... i am willing to buy extra blocks if needed, i just need recommendations of even where to start..

anything is appreciated =D
 
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orangegator

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If that is your price range, then forget about it. I am no expert, but I'm pretty sure it'll cost at least $300-$400 to do that. And if you try to cheap out with water cooling, you'll be disappointed with the results. Cheap parts typically result in poor water cooling.
 
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Superhal

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are you having an overheating problem? you might want to address those first, as it could be something easy to fix like voltage settings or case airflow.

as an intro to water cooling, i would recommend the coolit Pure ($125.) it's a hybrid-peltier, which means it uses thermoelectric cooling and can get below room temperatures. it's a one-piece system.

but, except for that, don't get any water cooler less than $200. the next 1 piece water cooling system that does outperform the top air coolers is the Zalman Reservator XT at $275.

overvolting is a common phenomenon with phenom chips especially with gigabyte or asus mobos. here's a guide to fix that:
http://forums.amd.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=11&threadid=98342&enterthread=y

if you want to check air hsf, here's a buyer's guide:
http://forums.amd.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=11&threadid=100223&enterthread=y

sli is notoriously hard to cool. most people usually give up and buy a gtx2x0 or hd 48x0. one big problem is that aftermarket gpu coolers won't fit on one or the other card in sli.
 
rubix_1011

rubix_1011

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The above are all true; expect to spend at least $350 or more for the setup you described with the GPU blocks and good pump/rad/CPU setup. There are good air alternatives, even for your GPU's if you wanted to go that route, but for water, your budget isn't going to perform like you would expect.

GPU blocks are usually the one part that causes headaches as full-cover blocks don't work on subsequent GPU boards. If you went with something like the MCW60 (GPU only) and got mounting brackets ($10) with some RAMsinks, you could move it to newer GPUs. (which is what I did...7800gtx, 8800gts 640, 9800gtx).
 
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fantom-feltpen

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thanks for the tips.. see like i said i had no idea.. really air cooling has been fine so far except while playing games like crysis and UT3.... then i get some high temps, but still in safe range. my 9850 is ok for now, i have never seen it over 55C, but i definitely need my sli configurstion cooled whether by air or liquid, i have overheated my 8800gt's more times than i would have liked.. this is due to my cramped case. i have good air flow (4 case fans), yet still my cards get raging hot untill my screen blacks out and a few seconds later i get the blue screen of death saying windows is shutting down to protect further damage to the system... temps measured before these crashes are between 80-85C for my gpu's, cpu is usually around 50C

i have looked up aftermarket gpu air coolers an found they are relatively cheap... is this a good option??


would something like this help me??

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835887009

 
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fantom-feltpen

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that is the air cooler i have currently installed, what a coincidence.... but why am i getting higher temperatures than you? is it because im using the crappy thermal grease that came with the HSF instead of arctic silver 3 or 5? my OC is 2.93 stable at 1.28 vcore voltage... are u using a lower or higher voltage? did u OC using FSB or multiplier instead of adjusting the cpu frequency (236) like me? are these things that are making me get 45C idle and 50C loaded?
 
rubix_1011

rubix_1011

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80-85C should still be quite acceptable for G92 8800GT's, I don't think they even throttle until ~120C? If you really wanted to go the budget route, get a good, high CFM 120mm fan 76CFM+, cut a hole in the side panel to fit the fan (remember, the circular portion only) and mount that sucker to blow right on your cards. 55C for that CPU isn't too bad, but it could be better. I would suggest a good air cooler unless you are dead set on liquid cooling. Just remember, its a pretty hefty investment. If you aren't sure, look into other options.
 
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fantom-feltpen

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ok thanks for the info. i have two 80mm side panel fans but they dont blow directly on my GPU's, one blows in at the front of the case and the other sucks out at the back of the case. i did this mod because my case is cramped and i have a lot of stuff in it, and the weak, low RPM 120mm fans that came with the case werent cutting it. should i put one of the 80mm blowing directly on the gpu's? actually if i turned both fans around, they would blow near enough to the front and back of the 8800's to give them a little wind, is this better than one in and one out?
 
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SchmuckofNI

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I just oc using the multiplier using stock voltages, well let me rephrase that, I just set the voltage to auto. I also have 5 fans on my case, one of them the vantec. 2 120 mm, 1 exhaust, 1 intake and 2 80mm intake and 1 80mm vantec as the exhaust. Artic Silver really does make the difference.
 
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