Water Cooling

[casualbuilder]

Hey guys, no poll this time, as i am interested in some learning. If you could, give me your opinion on the best water cooling systems out there. There are three things i want you to concentrate on:

1. Cost of the Unit.

2. Ease of Installation.

3. How efficient it is for Massive OC on the cpu, gpu, and ram.

When posting, please list newegg links to hte correct unit you are referring to. Also, if you have personal experience, please list some specs on load temps, size of the unit, and how you feel it has performed for your system OC's.

 

[casualbuilder]

Also, most of you will know my system rig from other posts, if needed i will post it. You might be able to see it if you can enlarge my profile pic. I will post if necessary. As of now, i am running load temps at 58c, running at 4.1GHz. My Air cooler is a Zalman 9900. This is what i will be basing off of upgrading my current cooling system to when i get the bulldozer, as i am looking to break the 5GHz mark with that chip at temps possibly as low as high 40s at load. Also, i would love to bring my temps down on this current 955BE chip to high 40's which i know is possible with a great cooling system, which will then allow me to OC it a bit farther.

 

[cats_Paw]

Then post the specs...

 

[casualbuilder]

Case: HAF X
PSU: HX750W
MoBo: Sabertooth 990FX
CPU: Phenom IIx4 955BE (OC to 4.1GHz)
HSF: Zalman 9900
GPU: ASUS GTX560 (OC to 950MHz)
RAM: Kingston HYPER X BE 8GB (2x4) @ 1480
HDD: Hitachi 1.5TB 7200rpm 64Mb cache
CD-ROM: LITE-ON CD/DVDRW 48X RW

 

[rubix_1011]

Moving to the water cooling forum.

 

[casualbuilder]

thanks rubix, i totally missed it at first glance. i apologize.

 

[rubix_1011]

No problem...just figured it would be better served here...over in the heatsinks forum, they all assume that watercooling is an H70.

For a good OC on GPUs/CPU with temps in the 40's Celsius, you are going to need an actual water loop. I'm not as familiar with AMD chips, but there are other guys on here that are...so maybe they can offer some input on temp expectations at those speeds.

What is your budget for the water loop? It looks like you are going to need blocks for CPU and GPU...no need for RAM other than just good case airflow...DDR2 and 3 both run very cool, even when clocked up. I'd say, $300 is a good, solid expectation of where you should start your budget on this loop.

 

[casualbuilder]

I think $300 is realistic, but definately at the high end of what i would like to spend. As far as the cpu, i understand you are not familiar, what would you recommend though for sli'd GTX560's at a 17% OC (810 to 950)? I have a HAF X, so i dont think space will be a huge issue for total enclosure, even for double or triple radiators. i have an idea to mount them in sequence using rods, but i have to do more research on that. Also, i want very good connectors as i am PARANOID beyond belief about my rig swimming one day from a compromised line. Right now, i am running a single 560 at that speed, and at load it runs appr. 61c with the fan almost maxed. Its an ASUS gpu. Also, not that my ram runs hot, but would it be that much more expensive to run a loop to include it? or is it really not necessary. I guess my interest is more for asthetics with including everything, as well as performance.

Lastly, do they make dyes for the coolant so they match the colors in the case?

 

[casualbuilder]

to help me out as well, what brand names are trusted/quality? Totally new to the watercooling thing.

 

[japps2]

in all honesty $300 is the start of what you will spend if you plan on cooling a CPU and 2x videocards. The GPU waterblocks are expensive (~$100 each) and you'll spend another $50-$70 on the CPU waterblock. Then maybe $100 on the radiator and $60 on the pump. + $50 or so on the incidentals (tubing, fittings etc,..) then you have to assemble and test yourself. Ask questions before you buy. check out the sticky's and some of the other web sites that have more overclocking/watercooling experts (Overclockers.net)

Oh, and as always Rubix is a great resource...

 

[casualbuilder]

yes he is. I just spent about $500 on a cooling system, including the 1080's younger brother, the 720. Would that be enough for the system i have going? right now i have a 955BE (will be upgrading to a Bulldozer pending benches and price) at 4.1GHz on a Zalman 9900, and obviously future upgrade to 560's sli. I feel my temps are keeping me from a much higher stable OC on my cpu, possibly even in the ranges of 4.5GHz, as temps are the only thing keeping me from testing with higher multipliers. i will check on OC.com, as i know they have a ton of "enthusiasts" over there. Thanks all for the input, and i will keep you all updated!

 

[casualbuilder]

This is what i have gotten so far. if anyone knows other sites to look at, or any ideas of distilled water, additives, amount of tubing/fittings i should look at, or extras i am missing? any help would be apreciated again.

http://www.frozencpu.com/cart.html

 

[rubix_1011]

Your cart shows empty, but likely because it will be specific to your logged in account (which is a security thing). Can you screenshot and post the image or list the components you have selected?

I feel my temps are keeping me from a much higher stable OC on my cpu, possibly even in the ranges of 4.5GHz, as temps are the only thing keeping me from testing with higher multipliers.

What temps are you seeing? They would have to be relatively high to be the cause of failed overclocking in most instances. Usually it has to do with correct voltages and RAM stability/timings/capabilities as you increase your multiplier.

 

[casualbuilder]

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/12503/ex-tub-788/XSPC_G14_Thread_12_ID_x_34_OD_Low_Profile_Compression_Fitting_-_Black_Chrome.html

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/11219/ex-res-232/XSPC_Dual_525_Bay_Reservoir_-_Laing_D5_MCP655_w_Blue_LED_Light_-_Clear_Silver_Black.html

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8522/ex-rad-145/XSPC_RX240_Dual_120mm_Radiator.html

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8525/ex-blc-569/EK_Supreme_HF_Universal_CPU_Liquid_Cooling_Block_w_Easy_Mount_Kit_-_Rev_2_-_Acetal_Sockets_775_1156_1366_939_940_754_AM2_AM2_AM3.html

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8523/ex-rad-146/XSPC_RX360_Triple_120mm_Radiator_Rev_2.html

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/13572/ex-blc-934/EK_GeForce_560_GTX_V2_VGA_Liquid_Cooling_Block_-_Acetal_Electroless_Nickel_Plated_EK-FC560_GTX_V2_-_AcetalEN_Nickel.html

 

[casualbuilder]

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/12807/ex-tub-840/PrimoChill_PrimoFlex_PRO_LRT_Tubing_12ID_34OD_with_18_Wall_-_10ft_Retail_Pack_-_UV_Red_PFLEXP10-34-R.html

forgot the tubing...heh

 

[casualbuilder]

in regards to your comment on your OC temps, as of now, i am a consistent 59c at load temps. a little higher than i would like to see, but since i dont do much cpu demanding, im ok with that stable oc and load temp combo. however, when i was able to clock much higher, say around 4.3 with the multiplier increased, i was not able to keep prime95 running (manually i shut it down) because temps were reaching into the 80's. Prime95 did not shut down though due to temps, or instability. My voltage right now is at 1.39v, and people say i have a magic chip, which i can understand. I've seen many people with my OC, and only 1 person is under 1.44v.

 

[casualbuilder]

are you folks familiar with this additive? and how would i mix it if i needed to mix it?

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/7509/ex-liq-96/Feser_VSC_Heat_Carrier_Liquid_Coolant_and_Fluid_Additive_-_500_ml.html

 

[rubix_1011]

So, to clarify...you are getting load temps in the 80's in Prime and 59C for the most part now...but this is on air, currently? Concerned about the 80's temps...those are pretty high for a CPU.

All good stuff you have in the cart... NOTE: that reservoir is just the res...it doesn't contain the D5 pump...you'll have to get that separately or chose it as an option. I think they have an option that includes it elsewhere, as well.

You can get those RX rads cheaper: http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=59_457_667_671 $70 and $85 at PerformancePCs vs. $73 and $95 on FrozenCPU.

Also can find the D5/MCP655 pumps fairly reasonable on PerformancePCs as well: http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=59_201&sort=20a&main_page=index&filter_id=48

Also, I don;t recommend 'coolant' additives as many (including Feser One) can degrade and clog components in your loop...mainly CPU blocks. They don't provide any increase performance; simply 'color'. You can go with colored tubing (which looks like you found ) or use dyes if necessary. I recommend distilled water with a killcoil and some biocide of your choice if you wanted.

 

[casualbuilder]

ok. and sorry for the misunderstanding. My load temps WERE 80's with the higher multiplier (e.g. 19 & 20), so i manually shut down Prime95. NOW they are running at 59c @ LOAD with a 4.1GHz frequency on my 955BE. My idle temps for this clock are around 36c. I apologize for the misunderstanding.

While we are on temps, load temps for my GPU is @61c LOAD. Reason i am looking into water cooling is obviously for better temps and room to OC my cpu, but also for noise reduction. Having the HSF and GPU fan cranked up almost to max or at max makes my relativesly quiet, almost silent rig sound like a jet engine.

 

[rubix_1011]

60C on a GPU is pretty good on the stock cooler, but I understand the noise issue.

Running BOINC processes on my machine with my Q6600 @3.4ghz CPU at 95% utilization and my SLI GTX 260's (stock speeds) at 100%, I see high 40's, low 50's on the CPU and mid 40's on my GPUs. Obviously, cooler ambient nets better load temps.

While Prime is a great testing tool for stability at load; it really doesn't correlate into anything real-world you'd see...even gaming. So, if you are solid under Prime, you'll be as good or better using most other software.

 

[casualbuilder]

yup. just want to make sure my load temps stay low. so, if i get this water cooling system, i can OC my cpu higher, and still keep the temps lower. This is my interest in a WC loop. goin to get a bite to eat, take care of my lady. ill be on again tomorrow. feel free to drop more threads. thanks again for everyone who posted!

 

[casualbuilder]

Best answer selected by casualbuilder.