another water cooling question

[NINaudio]

I'm looking into water cooling my pc as it may be getting moved to the bedroom. I have a chieftec dragon full tower case , it has two 80 mm intakes and two 80 mm exhausts, as well as an 80mm side intake. I have an Ultra X-connect PSU with bottom and rear fans. I guess my main question is this: is it necessary to watercool the ram on my video card, or can I get away with just w/c'ing the gpu and placing ramsinks on the ram since the side intake blows over the video card? As far as the radiator goes I was looking at the black ice micro 2 and mounting it where the rear fans are. Would I be better off enlarging that area to accept a 120mm single radiator? I do some mild o/c'ing as well.

Thanks for the help.

 

[imported_Kensai]

You don't *have* to watercool your ram, ramsinks should be fine.

 

[NINaudio]

Originally posted by: Kensai
You don't *have* to watercool your ram, ramsinks should be fine.

Obviously watercooling would keep them cooler, but is it worth the added cost of that kind of video card watercooling block over one that just covers the gpu? Would it have a large effect on the oc I could achieve with the video ram?

 

[HeaterCore]

Probably not. The MHz ceiling of GDDR3 is usually determined by the process, not temperature, because the chips don't generate nearly as much heat as the GPU. Decent ramsinks with airflow will probably cool the ram chips just fine, give or take a few MHz.

-HC-

 

[NINaudio]

what about the radiator? which would be the best in terms of silence/effectiveness?

 

[HardWarrior]

Originally posted by: HeaterCore
Probably not. The MHz ceiling of GDDR3 is usually determined by the process, not temperature, because the chips don't generate nearly as much heat as the GPU. Decent ramsinks with airflow will probably cool the ram chips just fine, give or take a few MHz.

-HC-

The strange thing is that I've heard it described both ways. GDDR3 is either blazing hot or not a worry at all. No, RAM WC'ing is a luxury, you don't have to do it. NI, you'd probably be better off with a 120mm rad, if you feel like modding. The correct 120mm fan is going to be quieter than 2x80mm's.

Another option: Both of my rads have Vantec Thermoflow fans attached and the loudest single sound emitting from my box is my pump. These fans are relatively quiet until things get warm enough to automatically spin them up, and even then they aren't that bad. 2 of these on a BIM 2 would be be enough, if you aren't prone to cutting your case.

 

[NINaudio]

I was hoping I'd here from you....lol. I've read your replies in some other threads and you seemed very helpful and knowledgable. For mild oc'ing would I be able to get away with a single 120mm radiator or should I just get a double one to be safe? with my case, I would have to put the radiator at the rear exhausting air through it to the outside of the case. I have heard that this isn't necessarily the best way to do it because the case temps are not going to be as cool as ambient temps. How much truth is there to this if I am planning on wc'ing the cpu and gpu?

 

[HardWarrior]

A 120mm with the right fan will get you by a mild overclock and a GPU block. If it were my choice I'd go for the 120mm rad\core. It's going to be more slightly more efficient and easier on the ear than something like a BIM 2. Don't worry about pulling air through your case to feed your rad. As long as you have sufficient intake capacity you'll be by fine. The extra half C added to your temps would matter only to the most anal water-cooling Nazi.

 

[NINaudio]

lol....thanks HW. I think I've settled on going with a Dtek 120mm heater core for now and I'll use the 120mm fan I'm currently using on my xp-120 for that. Intake should be ok. I will have at least 2 80mm intakes, and possibly a third unless that gets too noisy. Or unless I decide to convert the side intake to a 120mm fan.......

Now I just need to decide amongst the water blocks and pumps....lol. Looking at both thermalright and dangerden blocks. They both seem to be high quality and should suit me well. I'm looking at the little flat pumps that they both offer.

 

[HardWarrior]

Thermalright water-block? Do you have a link? It's hard to go wrong with a TDX for good performance (noxxle 4) at a reasonable price. Flat pump? Do you mean the DDC at Dangerden? I like those too and they're supposedly low-noise compared to the D4 and every bit as sturdy.

 

[NINaudio]

Sorry, I meant to say swiftech waterblock.....like this one here. And yes, the DDC is the pump I was talking about. It seems as though several companies are buying them from the same vendor and selling them. Although....I'm having issues now getting my pc to even run with the new setup.....but that's for another post.....lol.

 

[HardWarrior]

Ah, okay. I've heard nothing but good things about the swifty blocks. I'm sorry to hear that, I hope you get it sorted soon, NIN.

 

[NINaudio]

thanks.....I hope I get it working soon too

 

[NINaudio]

Alright, I've finally got my new pc up and running. All I had to do was buy a new mobo and it worked like a charm! lol. I went from the Asus a8v to an MSI k8n neo 2 plat. Here is what I've decided on for my watercooling setup:

DD TDX block
DD Maze 4 gpu block
DD Maze 4 chipset block
DDC pump
3/8" ID 5/8" OD Tygon tubing
BIX 120mm rad. w/ fan
Fluid XP
and this reservoir

I will just modify the rear of my case to accept a 120mm fan. Time to play with the dremel!

Now for some questions:

Will it be ok to have the reservoir lower than the radiator?
Does the waterblock order make any difference what so ever?
Should I just run from one block to the next or should I run to a T or Y to split the stream to the gpu and chipset, then rejoin them to go to the cpu?
Would it be ok to mount the radiator on the back of the case with the fan inside pushing air through it?

Here is a pic of my old setup in the same case to give you an idea of it.

 

[HardWarrior]

Glad to here you're up, and welcome to the world of water.

1. Yes
2. Not too much of a difference as long as you don't have a hot pump, which you don't.
3. Stay away from T and Y fittings if at all possible.
4. Pull air through the rad, and use a shroud if you can. This configuration allows more of the rads surface area to be blown.

 

[NINaudio]

I'm glad to be up and running too, very glad....lol. Thanks for the welcome.

1. cool
2. cool
3. done
4. doh! I guess I didn't run across this in my readings.....I knew to get one if I went with a heater core. So I should mount it like this: case:fan:rad ?

 

[HardWarrior]

Luckily push mounting isn't going to make a huge difference. Yup, just like that. Cores don't have any plenum space, so you have to use a shroud. Most rads have a tiny plenum, but every little bit (more) helps.

 

[NINaudio]

in case I want a shroud in the future, where can I get one for a 120mm rad? Also, does the order of the blocks matter, or should I just connect them in the way that requires the least tubing? I was thinking of going like this if connection order matters (coolest to hottest):

pump, chipset, cpu, vid card, radiator, reservior, pump.......

or like this if it doesn't matter:

pump, chipset, vid card, cpu, radiator, reservior, pump.......

 

[HardWarrior]

I bought mine here. Order matters some, but not enough to sweat it. I read some place that the most restrictive block should be first. I'm not sure why this makes sense, but it does.

Since your DDC is a relatively cool pump, I'd suggest:

pump>CPU>GPU>chipset>rad>res>PUMP

If you want to shave off maybe (at best) a C you can try:

pump>rad>CPU>GPU>chipset>res>PUMP.

Try not to worry too much about using lots of tube, within reason. It comes in handy if you have to change something. BTW, good choice on the maze 4 blocks. :thumbsup:

 

[NINaudio]

You definitely recommend going to the cpu first though? I was hoping I could go there last as that will be closest to where I was planning to place the radiator.

 

[HardWarrior]

I think so, but that doesn't mean you can't experiment. That's the cool thing about hobbies like this.

 

[NINaudio]

Alright, got my liquid cooling all set up!

Decided on going pump> cpu> chipset> gpu> rad> res> pump. For now the radiator is sitting outside of my case....because of how mine is designed, I decided that it would be better to buy a new one than to cut into it. I will do some research on a good case next....I am currently leaning towards the Thermaltake Tsunami series since it already has a 120mm front and rear, so I should get good airflow and have room for a second radiator if I desire it.

My temps now are pretty good, 34 idle/43 load, with the cpu at 2.45 ghz and 1.5v.

Thanks for all your help HW, it is much appreciated!

 

[crimson117]

While we're talking about watercooling...

What's the maintenance like? Do you need to change the coolant periodically? Clean down the components ever?

 

[NINaudio]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.....

from my understanding, some periodic maintenance is necessary. This consists of flushing out the old coolant mixture, cleaning (with a bleach water mixture), rinsing everything, and then replacing the coolant mixture. The frequency of this all depends on what your coolant mixture is, and what your components are made of. If all your components are made of copper, you can probably get away with flushing less often than if they are a mix of metals.

 

[HardWarrior]

Correct on all accounts, NIN. Except I wouldn't use bleach in any shape or form.