3 way SLI GTX 580 Hydro Copper 2 w\o watercooling?

[Anthias]

Due to a ridiculous amount of luck I have come upon three of these babies. However, I don't know about\want a water cooling system. Is it still possible to use these cards without water cooling them? Would they heat up too much? Can I safely remove the water blocks on the cards?

 

[cuecuemore]

You could put aftermarket air coolers on them, but you couldn't run them without any kind of cooling.

Edit: But for the price of three aftermarket air coolers you could put together a quality watercooling loop to take care of all three of them, since your cards already have the waterblocks in place.

 

[Anthias]

I don't have any water cooling experience, and where I live water cooling supplies other than self contained CPU coolers are scarce and very expensive.

I've never used VGA coolers before. Won't I need to remove the waterblocks first to install them? Will they fit in a 3 way SLI setup? My mobo is an Asus Rampage III Extreme.

 

[cuecuemore]

Yes, you'll have to remove the waterblocks. Whether or not they fit depends on what coolers you get. If they're double-slot you should have no problem, but triple-slots won't work.

 

[spentshells]

Sell them all ! get 2 new cards and pocket the rest

 

[brandondiep]

Sell them all ! get 2 new cards and pocket the rest

Yeah this is what I would do, why would you even need 3?

 

[Anthias]

Hmm. Selling them is a great idea. What is the best place to sell such hardware? Ebay?

 

[cuecuemore]

Yeah, eBay them.

 

[tinmann]

It would be a shame to pass up the chance to run 3 580's in tri-sli, no it would be a sin. I'd do the research and build a custom loop. Swiftech is a good place to start looking. I don't know what kind of case you have but check this out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbwoggSbCxo

 

[cuecuemore]

It would be a shame to pass up the chance to run 3 580's in tri-sli, no it would be a sin. I'd do the research and build a custom loop. Swiftech is a good place to start looking. I don't know what kind of case you have but check this out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbwoggSbCxo

I still feel this way as well.

 

[Anthias]

I have an Obsidian 800D. If you guys can direct me to a good water cooling installing guide, I will give it a shot.

 

[cuecuemore]

Good start right here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/265776-29-watercooling-info-faqs-links-stickies

And then there are sites that are dedicated to enthusiast overclocking, which obviously includes DIY watercooling:
http://www.overclockers.com/beginners-guide-water-cooling/

And many others, but that should get you started.

 

[Anthias]

Best answer selected by Anthias.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey