New to liquid cooling set up

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About a week ago, I finally decided to get rid of my old Zalman Fatal1ty FC-ZE1 computer case & replaced it with a cheap CM Storm Enforcer computer case as it's just impossible for me to mod my old pc case for a liquid cooling set up. With the upgrade includes a new AsRock Fatal1ty Z68 Professional mobo replacing my old Asus Maximus IV Extreme P67 mobo. I got (4) 5.25" drive bays on my new computer case. On the (2) top drive bays I've placed a dual bay Aerocool V12XT touch screen LCD fan controller. On the 3rd drive bay I've placed my Lite-On Bluray optical drive. The last bottom 4th drive bay I've placed my old Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series sound card controller.

I been thinking of getting a Koolance RP-401X2 single 5.25 liquid cooling reservoir for my liquid cooling set up & get rid of my sound card controller so I have an extra drive bay to put my liquid cooling reservoir. Another plan is to get rid of my Aerocool fan controller so I have extra drive bay to put a single bay Aquacomputer Aquaero 5 Pro USB fan & pump controller that I've purchased last year but never used. But after watching a Youtube video of Aquaero 5 Pro I decided not to go with it as it's not so easy to set up.

With my current set up, I don't have any remaining drive bays to put a dual pump controller. Is a pump controller really necessary? Any inside mount dual pump controller that you can suggest? Any suggestions on what liquid cooling component is the best? I will be liquid cooling only my (2) old Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 X2 video cards on quad CrossfireX set up. My CPU (Intel Core i7 2600K) is being cooled my a CoolIt Vantage ALC hybrid liquid cooler. I'm thinking up replacing my CPU cooler with an Antec Kuhler H2O920 hybrid liquid cooler hence it's by far a very efficient hybrid liquid cooler. I'll also be adding a 200 mm radiator on the front of the pc case on a push & pull configuration.

Any info as to where I can purchase a thermal pad? I've clean the inside of my 2nd Radeon HD 4870X2 video card & somehow pealed off the old thermal pads that hardened & cracked.

My Asus Maximus IV Extreme P67 mobo is for sale by the way. PM me if you're interested.

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rubix_1011

Contributing Writer
Moderator
Is a pump controller really necessary?

No, not really. Most of us just set our pumps (if they have speed adjustment) and leave it.

Are you going the route of a new loop? You mentioned the pump/res bay...but then mentioned replacing the Kuhler 920 with the CoolIT? I don't think you'd see a lot of difference between the two...they are relatively similar. You also mentioned another radiator...were you going to mod the LCS? Not sure I follow where you are going, or if you were going to keep the LCS on the CPU and maybe build a WC loop for the Crossfire setup? If so, you'll need more than a single 2x120 rad...you'll need at very minimum...at least twice that much... especially for the X2's...you are effectively looking at 4 GPUs.
 
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Nop, I'm not going to include the CPU in my liquid cooling set up. I'm sticking with hybrid liquid cooling with my CPU cooling. I mention Antec Kuhler 920 as a replacement for my CoolIt Vantage ALC if I need so as it's way better than CoolIt Vantage ALC. It got a much thicker radiator unit. I also read some positive reviews of it.

My plan is to liquid cooled my (2) old Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 X2 in quad CrossfireX set up using a Koolance RP-401X2 single 5.25 liquid cooling reservoir connected to a 200 mm radiator at the front 200 mm fan unit of my computer case. The front fan unit also accepts a double 120 mm radiator set up but I'm going with just a single but bigger or even thicker 200 mm radiator. I saw a 200 mm radiator unit made by Antec (Antec 200 mm radiator).
 


That's too bad - a CPU is relatively easy to fit in and would most likely cost less than a new closed LCS.

My plan is to liquid cooled my (2) old Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 X2 in quad CrossfireX set up using a Koolance RP-401X2 single 5.25 liquid cooling reservoir connected to a 200 mm radiator at the front 200 mm fan unit of my computer case. The front fan unit also accepts a double 120 mm radiator set up but I'm going with just a single but bigger or even thicker 200 mm radiator. I saw a 200 mm radiator unit made by Antec ([url=http://store.antec.com/Product/cooling-cooling_fan/200mm-radiator/0-761345-75210-7.aspx]http://store.antec.com/Product/cooling-cooling_fan/200mm-radiator/0-761345-75210-7.aspx[/url]).

As Rubix said, a single 200mm isn't going to be enough (and/or better than air) for a quad-GPU setup. I'd probably say a good 120.3 or 2x120.2 rads would be plenty to keep them cool.

As for blocks, I am pretty sure almost every major block manufacturer makes 4870x2 blocks. EK has been my preference so far (2xFC6970s and EK Supreme HF), but they are a bit pricey compared to some others (bought the Supreme and one FC6970 used). Also depends on where you get them.
 
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There's actually several online vendors selling 4870 X2 liquid cooling blocks. In fact, I've purchased recently a 4870 X2 liquid cooling block made by Bitspower.

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I really doesn't have any interest in including my CPU in my liquid cooling set up. It's mainly because I really like the CPU hybrid liquid cooling system. It really looks cool & modern & in terms of performance, a CPU hybrid liquid cooling system is good too.
 

rubix_1011

Contributing Writer
Moderator
For one of your cards, maybe. You'd need 2 of those for both X2's.

Considering the TDP for each card is ~286 watts and considering an RX360 has an average of 575 watts of heat dissipated with 1800rpm fans; and averaging a delta-T of 10 degrees...which is very average (but the RX240 is only 66% the size of the RX360)so, you can take 575w x .66% = 379 watts able to be dissipated by a single RX240.

Consider getting 2.
 
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Man you got me confused here with this TDF values & calculation you presented. I'm new to this liquid cooling stuff I have to Google the net to learn more of this TDF. Anyway, while I was googling I found a link about this Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 X2 Atomic Edition being cooled by a hybrid liquid cooling system including the CPU with just a single & much thinner 120 mm radiator.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2008/12/19/sapphire-ati-radeon-hd-4870x2-atomic-review/1

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In the final performance analysis, the person who conducted the review of the above video card concluded...

"Its watercooling loop is also able to keep the GPU remarkably cool, significantly more so than a stock card and much quieter in doing so as well."

The liquid cooling radiator I presented is a double wide dual 120 mm radiator & you said it can only be able to cool a single dual GPU 4870 X2. That dual 120 mm radiator (being double wide) is about 4x the size of that radiator used in Atomic cooling both the video card & CPU. It's not even in a push & pull configuration.

There must be wrong in your calculation man.
 

rubix_1011

Contributing Writer
Moderator
So, its an H50 with a GPU block...and they are simply relating tests to a 130w TDP CPU. They do not, however, mention the TDP in watts for the X2 (that I saw on the review).

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-4870-x2-review-crossfire/3
"The TDP for this product is set at 286 Watt, which indeed is quite a lot."

That is per card.

http://skinneelabs.com/xspc-rx360-v2/
Skinnee Labs review of the XSPC RX360 radiator (the 3x120 version of the RX240 you have listed above)

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If you look at the 10 degree Delta chart at about 1800RPM (the speed/CFM range for good/decent fans) no shroud, about 575watts...this is for the RX360. The RX240 is 33% smaller, so you'd need to calculate watts based on 66% of the total watts dissipated for the RX360 to get that of the RX240:

575w x .66% = 379watts per RX240. Recall that TDP at load for each 4870 X2 is approximately 286 watts.

I guess if you want to go that route, go for it. I'm just trying to help you see what kind of info you need to process in order to plan out a watercooling loop that performs to your expectations.
 
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I have only 2 choices. Either use a 200 mm or double wide dual 120 mm radiator on my set up (I choose the later). I got a mid tower PC case cuz I like a mid tower set up. I don't have extra space to add another radiator unit. Maybe adding a high speed 120 mm fan on both side panels of the case will help cool it down further. Anyway, I think it's possible to just use a single double wide dual 120 mm radiator on my set up.

Thanks a lot guys for the info on liquid cooling.
 
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Lol, externally mounted radiators is not really my thing. I think it's ugly. I want my case to look clean & simple. My plan as I said before probably is to put a fan on each side panel of the case in an internal mount. I already removed the revited hard disk rack mounted behind the front fan unit using pliers so I got plenty of space to put the double wide dual 120 mm radiator unit. adding 2 fans will cool the radiator unit.
 

rubix_1011

Contributing Writer
Moderator
If you are only going to run a single 2x120...I very strongly suggest a thick rad like a XSPC RX240 or a TC PA radiator...and then maybe fans in push/pull or one set of really good fans (1800 RPM+). Is it not possible to find space for 1 more? Thinking it would be beneficial, if so, but if you can run one of these thicker rads, you'd be ok and get decent temps...not superb, but not as bad as air cooling.