Watercooling core i7 GTX 580 tri SLI rig

[jonathann1818]

Hi everyone,

As the title says I am looking to watercool my rig. My rigs main components are:

Core i7 930 @ 4.0 ghz
Corsair Obsidian 800d Case
ASUS P6X58D-E Mobo
EVGA GTX 580 x 3 in tri sli

I have decided that I want to get the hydro copper blocks from EVGA.

What I want to know is what water cooling loop would suffice for this rig (radiators, pumps, kits etc). I do not intend to overclock the 580's very much. All I am looking for is a kit/loop that will give me pretty good temps (not necissarely the best) but above all be quiet.

I have also considered just running my cpu on air and running the 580's off of this kit alone.

I have taken a look at the XSPC RX360 kit and others. My main concern is whether the 360 rad would be enough for this rig or not.

Your advice will be greatly appreciated. I am completely new to water cooling so I need all the advice I can get.

Thanks

 

[SushiDragon]

The 360 will fit perfectly in the Obsidian.
EK waterblocks are pretty good, have you looked at aquacomputer's waterblocks? They perform quite well.

(Donate a GTX 580 to me?)

 

[Homeboy2]

Hi everyone,

As the title says I am looking to watercool my rig. My rigs main components are:

Core i7 930 @ 4.0 ghz
Corsair Obsidian 800d Case
ASUS P6X58D-E Mobo
EVGA GTX 580 x 3 in tri sli

I have decided that I want to get the hydro copper blocks from EVGA.

What I want to know is what water cooling loop would suffice for this rig (radiators, pumps, kits etc). I do not intend to overclock the 580's very much. All I am looking for is a kit/loop that will give me pretty good temps (not necissarely the best) but above all be quiet.

I have also considered just running my cpu on air and running the 580's off of this kit alone.

I have taken a look at the XSPC RX360 kit and others. My main concern is whether the 360 rad would be enough for this rig or not.

Your advice will be greatly appreciated. I am completely new to water cooling so I need all the advice I can get.

Thanks

No, a single 360 won't be able to handle 3 580's and an I7. Would you consider external rads or do you want everything to fit in your case?

 

[jonathann1818]

The 360 will fit perfectly in the Obsidian.
EK waterblocks are pretty good, have you looked at aquacomputer's waterblocks? They perform quite well.

(Donate a GTX 580 to me?)

Well i appreciate the suggestion. I have heard that EK waterblocks are good but I just love the look of the evga version and that they cool the entire card (kinda an evga fanboy i know). So my mind is already made up on that.

 

[jonathann1818]

No, a single 360 won't be able to handle 3 580's and an I7. Would you consider external rads or do you want everything to fit in your case?

Thanks for the reply.

Well I want everything to fit internally. That is the main reason I got the 800d case. I just hate the look of external radiators.

Do you think that a 360 rad like the rx360 in the top and an rx120 in the back would be enough? They would all be internal.

I have also seen a mod where there is a 240 rad mounted inside on the bottom of the 800d. Do you think that a 360 + 240 would be enough?

 

[Homeboy2]

Thanks for the reply.

Well I want everything to fit internally. That is the main reason I got the 800d case. I just hate the look of external radiators.

Do you think that a 360 rad like the rx360 in the top and an rx120 in the back would be enough? They would all be internal.

I have also seen a mod where there is a 240 rad mounted inside on the bottom of the 800d. Do you think that a 360 + 240 would be enough?

The 360+ 240 would be enough for the 580's. If I were you, I would put a Silver Arrow on the Cpu, and watercool the 580's with the 360 + 240.

 

[SushiDragon]

Or if you want to watercool your CPU anyway, put a 120/140mm rad on the back.

 

[jonathann1818]

Or if you want to watercool your CPU anyway, put a 120/140mm rad on the back.

Yeah that is definitely an option. Would be a great way to get just a little bit more radiator to keep everything cool.

 

[Homeboy2]

Or if you want to watercool your CPU anyway, put a 120/140mm rad on the back.

Well he said he didn't want an external rad, and a 120 would be really pushing it for an I7, however if I were going to do that I would use this 240, which is a cool looking all copper rad and it would give him a res too.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/14204/ex-rad-289/Magicool_Elegant_Dual_120mm_Full_Copper_Radiator_w_Reservoir_Rev_2_MC-RADI240MODII.html?tl=g30c97s709

 

[jonathann1818]

Well he said he didn't want an external rad, and a 120 would be really pushing it for an I7, however if I were going to do that I would use this 240, which is a cool looking all copper rad and it would give him a res too.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/14204/ex-rad-289/Magicool_Elegant_Dual_120mm_Full_Copper_Radiator_w_Reservoir_Rev_2_MC-RADI240MODII.html?tl=g30c97s709

Well I was thinking of using this kit:

http://dazmode.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=178_179&products_id=1079

with this 240 rad:

http://dazmode.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=154_69&products_id=1006

I am trying to keep everything black. Do you think this setup would work well?

 

[SushiDragon]

RX Series Radiators give very good performance ratios. Maybe stick a few of those in the case. That SHOULD support all of his components.

 

[jonathann1818]

Well he said he didn't want an external rad, and a 120 would be really pushing it for an I7, however if I were going to do that I would use this 240, which is a cool looking all copper rad and it would give him a res too.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/14204/ex-rad-289/Magicool_Elegant_Dual_120mm_Full_Copper_Radiator_w_Reservoir_Rev_2_MC-RADI240MODII.html?tl=g30c97s709

I just took a look inside my case and I think it might take a little more work than I want it to to make the 240 rad fit in the bottom. If I removed the CPU from the loop and just cooled the graphics cards, do you think that RX360 would be enough to cool just the GPUs? Along as it will be quieter than running them on air and be reasonably cool, I will be happy. I already have a cpu cooler that I am happy with and its really the GPUs that I want to water cool.

 

[Homeboy2]

I just took a look inside my case and I think it might take a little more work than I want it to to make the 240 rad fit in the bottom. If I removed the CPU from the loop and just cooled the graphics cards, do you think that RX360 would be enough to cool just the GPUs? Along as it will be quieter than running them on air and be reasonably cool, I will be happy. I already have a cpu cooler that I am happy with and its really the GPUs that I want to water cool.

Should work as long as you aren't expecting really low temps.

 

[jonathann1818]

Should work as long as you aren't expecting really low temps.

Good to know. Do you think that it could be reasonably quiet? I dont care so much if the temps arent ideal.

 

[Homeboy2]

Good to know. Do you think that it could be reasonably quiet? I dont care so much if the temps arent ideal.

as long as you have quiet low rpm fans

 

[jonathann1818]

as long as you have quiet low rpm fans

Cool. Thanks for your help. Ill get the RX360 kit and the EVGA Blocks.

 

[rubix_1011]

GTX 580's put out around 244 watts @ 100% load. You are going to run 3...that's 732 watts. The RX360 really only handles about 575 watts or so with 2000 rpm fans.

Where is the other 157 watts going to go? You may likely see better temps than air cooling, but your delta is going to suffer (possibly a great deal) by running more watts into your loop than it has the ability to dissipate out.

 

[jonathann1818]

GTX 580's put out around 244 watts @ 100% load. You are going to run 3...that's 732 watts. The RX360 really only handles about 575 watts or so with 2000 rpm fans.

Where is the other 157 watts going to go? You may likely see better temps than air cooling, but your delta is going to suffer (possibly a great deal) by running more watts into your loop than it has the ability to dissipate out.

Well i know that running more watts than capacity is not good. Having said that, what would you suggest? Keep in mind i dont want any external rads or do any modding to my case.

 

[rubix_1011]

Do you have room for a 140mm or a 200mm? Most of those larger cases do, and either would be a great addition. A 200mm rad is almost the same size as a normal thickness 360 rad.

 

[jonathann1818]

Do you have room for a 140mm or a 200mm? Most of those larger cases do, and either would be a great addition. A 200mm rad is almost the same size as a normal thickness 360 rad.

Sorry for the noob question but do you mean the thickness of the radiator?

 

[rubix_1011]

I mean total surface area. Most 200mm rads are 'thin', and their dimensions work out to around similar volume as a 360 slim rad. WxLxH

 

[jonathann1818]

I mean total surface area. Most 200mm rads are 'thin', and their dimensions work out to around similar volume as a 360 slim rad. WxLxH

Well there isnt really much more room. I have heard of a mod in the bottom of the 800d case but that is not something i want to do. I would have room for an rx120 rad at the back in place of the pre-installed case fan.

 

[jonathann1818]

I mean total surface area. Most 200mm rads are 'thin', and their dimensions work out to around similar volume as a 360 slim rad. WxLxH

Also keep in mind that I am not looking for really low temps. All that I want is something that will be reasonlby cooler than air (10 degress or so), but much quieter than air cooling.

 

[rubix_1011]

Isn't there a bin or extra HDD rack that can be removed? I know a LOT of people put in 240's down there...without much effort other than making the room.

 

[jonathann1818]

Isn't there a bin or extra HDD rack that can be removed? I know a LOT of people put in 240's down there...without much effort other than making the room.

Well that invloves removing the rivets (not screws) and cutting a hole in the bootom for air flow. I understand that a 240 would really help but i just dont have the tools or the interest in doing that.