Liquid Cooling a GTX 295

zdarkprince

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Apr 1, 2008
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I would need advise on choosing a Liquid Cooling Kit. I am planning to liquid cool my CPU obviously and my Video Card.

So My Gaming Rig Specs are as follows:

- Core 2 Quad Q9550
- EVGA GTX 295 CO-OP Hydro
- ASUS Rampage Extreme
- Thermaltake ToughPower 1500W
- Chassis: Thermaltake Armor+

I will not be cooling any other parts of my PC (for eg. RAM modules) and also my budget is around $300.

I have had little experience in installing an LCS - not a custom made one however. It was the Thermaltake ProWater 850i. Temperature was around 40C with stock cooling, now it is at 33C. However, I feel that it would not be adequate to cool a GTX.

Any suggestions?
 

tomshardware user

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well for 300 i don't think you will be able to cool the pc and gpu,you have to choose either to cool the cpu only or save more money.i think that 33c for either the cpu or the gpu(since you didn't specify ) is good
 

Conumdrum

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Maybe Tomshardwareuser should hold off on giving advise on a WC rig for now.

 

zdarkprince

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What you guys think of the Swiftech H20-220 APEX ULTIMA liquid cooling kit?

Its around $250. I do not need the GPU waterblock since my GPU is already mounted with a waterblock.

Will it do the job properly?

And about the temperature, I was reffering about my CPU temperature.
 
usually you don't want kits, but that one isn't too bad (swiftech is a good WC brand)

if you want good cooling, i was looking into cooling my cpu and gpu(4870) and it was around 450 for a midrange setup (just the WC)
 
though read the sticky (and some other sites) to gain some basic knowledge before you post again
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/127565-29-introduction-watercooling

Conumdrum's usual copy and paste :

I'll just snip the whole thing, I just redid parts of it.


Us guys have done the WC thing, there are basics you gotta know. Take a look, don't take it as a diss on you or a rebuttal, look at as a friend saying "Dude, you gotta know what to say and how to communicate".
.......................................
CPU HS $65
GPU HS and air HS for vram and mosfets $95, full cover block, $100-$200
Radiator $60 min, up to $130
Pump $50 +
Resiviour $25
Hose, some barbs and clamps etc (min $25, more like $35)
Fans $15-30


I went top notch and spent close to $600 to cool my CPU and GPU.
First you gotta learn about WC. It's not like walking into Best Buy.
Spend a while (weeks is best for your sanity) at these links.
Look at the hundreds of loops close to your case and components in the stickies, read a couple 50 or so threads over the next week or so, you'll be on the ball to make the right choices and by then know how to put it together.
Not 'Roket Sience', but basic knowledge is required.
And you should spend a few hours on the listed sites reading threads. It's how we learn. Once the goodies show up on your doorstep your on your own.
For your benefit please spend a few days reading a LOT. At the busiest places for WC masters. Guys who have done it for YEARS at OC Forums and xtreme forums. It took me a while (I was OCing on air, aftermarket stuff, bios settings, best chipsets etc etc) to learn the language and the tricks to a easy install.


Don't expect miracles or SUPER DOOPER over clocks. What you will get is a quiet system that can handle OC to the max of your hardware IF you buy quality and buy smart. And minor maintenance too, a bonus for the water cooler.


Also while there please read on case mods etc. The radiators are not for small cases, pumps and hose routing, wire management and other things are important. Google your planned case and the word water-cooled in one line. You might get lucky.
............................
Edit: The next paragraph was from 2008. With the advent of the HOT i7 and bigger GPU's, it has changed. A 220 size MIN rad for an i7, you want big overclocks, better go 320 sized rad.
................................


IF you just cool your CPU and your NB if you want, you can get by with a 120.2 sized radiator (RAD). And MAYBE fit in inside depending on your mod skillz. You want to cool your GPU too, you'll need a 120.3 sized rad, and it probably won't fit inside. The rear external rad really works great. No matter what your adding 10lbs to your PC.


Once you got an idea of what is good/bad then start getting your system for WC put together and we'll be glad to help.
,…………………………………………………………
Here is the poop on solid info on air/water temps. The link is to an MCR320.
http://martin.skinneelabs.com/Swifte...20-Review.html
Scroll half way down and you can see the in/out air diff on the chart. It depends, like I said on fannage what the out air temp vs. the in temp is.


You can also see the water in/out is very close in temps. No more than 1.5 C. Amazing eh? I thought so too once I deciphered the charts.


So if you put a second rad with good airflow, you still get good results. Fannage needs to be higher to compensate for the increased air restriction. Meaning double fans on the rad setup, but it's a viable solution.


Equilibrium (tough word) means with a set heat load (idle/load) after an amount of time temps in a WC loop will stabilize. The heat load is the same, ambient air is the same, fannage is the same, pumps are the same, size of rads are the same, temps will stabilize for those conditions. Any of these parameters change, it has to stabilize. …………………………………………………………
Cleaning a loop, not a new loop: I do this once a year, I drain and refill at 6 months, the next time I do this……..
Wash hands very well, getting rid of hand oils.
For pumps and blocks, fittings, clamps, acrylic res/block parts.... not hose, tear it to smallest pieces, put in a bowl, heat water up not to boiling add 10% vinegar, when hot, pour over parts. Rinse in 10 min or so. Put aside.
The bocks will probably have some black oxidation. Take the copper parts out of the pile of parts you took out of the water. Dry well and pour ketchup on them, and set aside. Only the copper parts need this.
Rad cleaning: fill with very almost boiling hot water. Let sit 10 minutes, drain half out and shake for 5 min. Repeat till liquid is clean.
All the pump, block, fittings, and clamps, inspect, get in the tiniest corners with a tooth brush. Kind of meditative, time consuming, you learn a lot about o-ring size, how it all feels. Run a rag using a caat hanger and dish soap through the tubing, rinse well.
Rinse all the parts and hose with distilled, dry then really dry with an air compressor (nice extra step to get rid of water spots). Don’t need to dry the inside of the hose.
Now on to the copper parts, they should have been soaking an hour or two. A toothbrush and ketchup should clean much of the oxidation. It probably won’t be like new, but pretty darn good. Rinse, dry, and blow the parts.
That’s it.
………………………………………………………
Benching software and such is very varied. I use these for each purpose:
These are pretty standard and used by many.
Monitoring the PC temps overall: HWmonitor aka hardware monitor
CPUZ for CPU info
GPUZ for GPU info
CPU only: RealTemp
GPU only: ATI Tool, I have a Nivida GTX280, so it works on Nvidia


Loading/benching tools:
CPU loaders: Prime95 and OCCT
GPU Loaders: ATI Tool and the best one is Furmark, nothing pushes the GPU harder right now.
Benching for overall graphics/gaming performance is 3DMark06
……………………………………………………………
Guides
http://forums.extremeoverclocking. [...] p?t=282232 Pretty up to date info and buying guide
http://gilgameshreviews.com/index. [...] s&catid=40:eek:verclocking-and-cooling&Itemid=86 Another good guide
http://forums.extremeoverclocking. [...] p?t=312743 What to do once all the stuff is in the door


Forums
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/index.php? Not a noob site, but great stickies
http://www.ocforums.com/ My fav, good peeps, know their stuff, less hardcore
http://www.over-clock.com/ivb/inde [...] opic=20277 A GREAT Europe site
http://www.overclock.net/water-cooling/ Decent site


Tests on equipment, not reviews, truly scientific tests
http://translate.google.com/transl [...] n&ie=UTF-8 Info on rad testing
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forum [...] p?t=220593 More rad testing
http://skinneelabs.com/ Host for Martins lab and some newer tests
http://www.skinneelabs.com/MartinsLiquidLab/ Test results, very technical



Stores
http://www.dangerden.com/index.php [...] e&Itemid=1
http://www.petrastechshop.com/
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/
http://www.jab-tech.com/
http://www.performance-pcs.com
 

tomshardware user

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Jun 30, 2009
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i totally agree with you but i was trying to help :D :D :D anyway i am sorry because i shouldn't have replied since i only know little things about WC
 

It's a very good kit (as far as kits goes) but you are also trying to cool the GPU (I'm assuming on the same loop) and the rad that comes with the Apex may not be enough. You can swap out the rad with a Quad 120 or better.
Note: There is an Apex Ultima AND a Apex Ultima Plus (AFAIK, this one is only sold at FrozenCPU), which are 2 different kits.
The Apex kit includes:
A Swiftech GTZ (The best CPU clock right now)
MCP655 (aka D5)
Dual 120 rad (this would be the only weakness in a CPU+GPU loop)
Rad box, micro res,etc

For those that know, the GTZ + D5 is a very good combination. Like I said, only concern I have with the kit is the rad may be too small for a GPU + CPU loop. (I live by the saying of too much rad never hurts :D so I may be a little biased when it comes to rad sizes)



 

zdarkprince

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Apr 1, 2008
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Thanks a lot mindless728 and Shadow703793.

And yes I was planning to to cool my CPU + GPU using the same loop.

I think I will go with the Apex Ultima Kit and not the Ultima Plus since it comes with a VGA Waterblock (which I do not need in my case).

I'll look for the Quad 120.
 
G

Guest

Guest
this is how i roll, and i only have the cpu and gpu on liquid.

TIP: for every item add a 120 radiator.







AMD Phenom II 965
8 gig DDR3
2 X raptors in raid 0
2 X GTX 295's quad sli
MSI NF980-G65
Razer Barracuda sound card w/Razer headset
Kingwin 1220 watt psu
Liquid cooled (Koolance) cpu and gpu's
Thermaltake Armor + Case w/bigwater 780 I (moded)
Windows 7 Ultimate 64
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5roAxDFTMjo









 

rubix_1011

Contributing Writer
Moderator
Well, you'd be better off adding a 220 for each component if running more than one in a loop...at minimum. For those i7 users, a 320 should be considered standard for a CPU-only loop; adding a 220 for each GPU (that means per GPU...not card. A 295 has 2 GPUs...)