Gpu liquid cooling

[lookerup]

when i was playing Kingdoms of amalur my gpu jumped to 50C and that really scared me. It usually stays at 46 ~48 but never 50C.

i was wondering if i should a liquid cooling system to cool down my card( gtx 460 ). Even if i do get in to it, what parts should i get?

 

[jay2tall]

See: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-460/specifications

Nvidia rates the GTX460 GPU with a maximum temp of 104C, you are NO WHERE near this. 50C is extremely cool for a GPU in game. My 680 hits about 80C stock, 70-75C with a more aggressive fan profile.

There is no reason to liquid cool anymore except if you are doing extreme overclocking. Even the stock GPU coolers are really good lately. (remembering the ATI 1900 days and Geforce 6800 days).

Unless you are getting artifacts and strange anomalies, don't worry about it.

 

[geofelt]

+1^

 

[lookerup]

well in any case if i WERE to overclock the gpu what parts would i get?

 

[po1nted]

As mentioned above, I am not sure why you are concerned with 50 celcius. You are in no danger whatsoever of overheating the card.

By the time you setup a watercooling system for your GPU it would end up costing near or probably more than a better performing video card. For instance, a decent waterblock alone will cost around $100. This doesn't include the coolant, hoses, reservoir, pumps, radiator, etc. This is when you can find them available. The 460 is an "older" card and I see a lot of watercooling vendors out of waterblock stock for this generation of card.

You would be much better served spending the money on a higher end video card that produces less heat and performs better, perhaps a GTX560ti 448 core?

To answer your question regarding parts, you would need:

■Coolant
■Reservoir
■Hoses
■Fittings
■Waterblock
■Pump
■Radiator

That is a lot of work and cost to put into a card that is already 2 generations old. Even with watercooling and overclocking you would not be making a wise investment given the marginal performanc increase you would eek out of the thing while imparting a significant amount of risk, compared to simply replacing with a newer video card. Unless you already have a water cooled system and have the heat dissipation overhead to just add a video card waterblock into the loop and even then this would be a debatable choice.

I would definitely save the money planned for watercooling this older card and look at the newer gen 5xx/6xx cards as an investment instead.

 

[lookerup]

i was curious if i were to go into liquid cooling. I am aware of the pros and cons. So far the only liquid cooling i will have is for the cpu. Liquid seems interesting so i thought maybe i'd give it try maybe in the near future when i have the money to blow it off. As of now im broke.

 

[photonboy]

Adding an aftermarket cooler to this card is a waste of money IMO.

I think you can buy a good air cooler for $75:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/printpage/Arctic-Cooling-Accelero-XTREME-Plus-VGA-Cooler-Review/1230

Water coolers are very expensive for graphics cards.

Overclocking:
Another issue is, let's say you spend $75 on a cooler. Does your software allow you to overclock your card more than 5 or 10%? The cooler may allow it, but the software might not.

KINGDOMS OF AMALUR tweaking:
The best tweak is to reduce the Anamorphic rendering. My HD5870 went from 100FPS on LOW, to 80FPS on MEDIUM to 60FPS on HIGH. I used MEDIUM because at 60FPS it occasionally dropped below 60FPS which causes stutter with VSYNC on. Everything else was at maximum (1920x1080).

You should be aiming to tweak Amalur to run at about 70FPS with VSYNC off, then turn on VSYNC to cap at 60FPS to avoid screen tearing.

 

[jay2tall]

well in any case if i WERE to overclock the gpu what parts would i get?

None, you can OC with the stock cooler. What model 460 do you have, there are so many with better than stock coolers out there and I am guessing you have one if your game temps are 50C.

If you would go liquid you are looking at $200+ EASY. As mentioned you have to invest in a pump, radiator, fittings, hoses, and a water block at the minimum. It's not worth liquid cooling a card that is 2 gens old and on the lower end of the gaming cards. You are better off selling your card and upgrading.

 

[Graphite946]

If you think 50C is bad, my GPU is hitting 85C overclocked while playing BF3...

 

[lookerup]

yea that sounds terrifying

 

[lookerup]

Best answer selected by lookerup.

 

[rubix_1011]

If you are curious about watercooling, come visit us over in the watercooling forum and please be sure to read the watercooling sticky when you have an opportunity (if this is something you are considering).

Watercooling forum

WC sticky is linked in my signature below.