Watercool GTX 460s in SLI

[boiler1990]

Here's my current setup:
Core i7-930 2.8GHz CPU
EVGA FTW3 X58 Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188065&Tpk=FTW3
2 EVGA GTX 460s, SLI + OCed: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130566
Antec Earthwatts 650W PSU
DVD burner and Blu-ray Reader
NZXT Sentry2 Fan Controller
1 SSD and 1 HDD
Antec 300 Mid Tower Case + 5 case fans (2x120mm HDD intake, 1x120mm side intake, 1x140mm top intake, 1x120mm rear outtake)
Titan Fenrir CPU cooler + 120mm fan (blowing out the rear fan)

My CPU runs pretty cool (under 40C while gaming), but my GPUs have started overheating and shutting off video output. Is there a way to watercool just my video cards, or do I need to do the whole system, which isn't quite necessary and I can't afford it. I was hoping somebody knew of some kits or something that I could use for my GPUs.

Thanks!

 

[Ubrales]

I noticed something - the top fan must be an exhaust fan. You state that it is an intake fan. Is this a typo? If not, this might be part of the problem.

The typical setup is as follows:

Side, Front, Bottom (if any) ---- Intake fans

Rear and Top ---- Exhaust fans

 

[fishyfinners]

something like a koolance Aquian ICM-509 u would need to buy gpu blocks though it can do 1010watt cooling

 

[babybudha]

Here is a idea that may help if it's a overheating issue.

Try placing your videocards in the 1st and 3rd PCI-E slots. When you have them in 1&2, it's hard for the first card to suck in and cool air, and it will get hotter due to this.

I understand that only the first 2 slots are 16x slots, and the third is a 8x slot, but I just encountered and article this morning that show the performance difference between these choices when in SLI.

http://hardocp.com/article/2010/08/16/sli_cfx_pcie_bandwidth_perf_x16x16_vs_x16x8/5

The performance lose is slight, but it will save you in the wallet if it works out.

Hope this helped.

- Budha

 

[boiler1990]

I gave that a shot and it seems to be working so far. My max temp on either card is 60C, and that's after playing Portal and Mirror's Edge for about an hour on max settings.

 

[rubix_1011]

For the record, you can watercool only what you want...you could watercool your soundcard if you really wanted to and could find a block. But, something no one would ever suggest doing.

With that being said, your issue (as you discovered) was airflow within your case. This is one of the first things that needs to be addressed and sorted out in order to determine how you setup and design a watercooling loop anyway.

 

[boiler1990]

I didn't understand why the GPUs were overheating so much, since they are the external exhaust models.

Anyway, I've been looking at upgrading to the Silverstone Raven RV02, and that will pair perfectly with the external exhaust GTX 460s.

 

[rubix_1011]

You have to be able to pull in cool air in order to push out hot air. If you are lacking that airflow, you are of course going to get hotter temps.