HEATKILLER® GPU-X³ 58X0 - Water Block Initial thoughts and temps

[Kenmitch]

Been wanting a water block for my 5850 for awhile now. Looked around for some reviews online but couldn't find anything. I once had found a review with 10 of them but just couldn't find it again. So I took a gamble on a used HeatKiller from this forum.

HEATKILLER® GPU-X³ 58X0 with Artic Silver Ceramique as the TIM. This stuff is kinda hard to work with. Only other thing I had was Arctic Silver 5 which they say is semi conductive so it was a no go for me.

Initial results from last night. Didn't get much testing done last night as my daughter stayed up too late. Fell asleep getting her to sleep

I made a couple of Furmark benchmark runs real quick just to see the temps.

Clocked at 950\1300 (1.1875v) the core was 36 and the vregs in the mid 50's
Clocked at 975\1300 (1.1875v) the core was 38 and the vregs in the upper 50's

I thought the temps looked pretty good and best part was no fan noise

Ambient temps are kinda up now here. Got a HAF 932 and am gonna redo my loop with better rads. Most likely still keep it a single loop. My main rad is a whimpy one currently about 1" thick 120.2

This AM I had a chance to boot her up and do some more testing before my daughter woke up. Looks like the TIM had a chance to settle in overnight and improve the temps somewhat. Must have been the pressure from sitting overnight as the system was turned off. Maybe the temps will drop a little after it gets some use.

Heaven2 benchmark at 980/1300 (1.1875v) the core was 34 and the vregs 40
Furmark benchmark at 985/1300 (1.1875v) the core was 37 and the vregs 44-46

Looks like the jump to 1000 on the core will be possible on water. Just gotta mod my bios again to give the core some more juice. Furmark was good to 990 but crashed at 1000. Didn't do the Heaven run again as my daughter woke up.

Just thought I'd share for those who are looking for a water block and are considering the HeatKiller as an option.

Thanks,
Ken

 

[MarcVenice]

Pics ?

And you're saying that under load the gpu is 35 degrees Celsius on average?

That's pretty crazy...

 

[Kenmitch]

Yep looks like it so far....Temps are taken from GPU-Z current version and are looking pretty good so far

I figure once the TIM has a little more time on it the temps will improve a little more. Pretty much just the pressure from overnight alone has improved them. I figure once it has some use on it and bonds better they may drop a couple more degrees.

Not the best photos but you'll get the idea at least. I was a little scared to take the plunge on the HeatKiller but I figure it's doing it's job pretty damn good.

I forgot to get some screenshots with the temps if that is what you wanted. I'll get some next time I play around with it. Maybe late tonight as I work till 8PM.

 

[smackababy]

Pics ?

And you're saying that under load the gpu is 35 degrees Celsius on average?

That's pretty crazy...

I wouldn't say it was too crazy. On a good loop, GPU temps are usually cut in half.

 

[HumblePie]

Nice, I've been tempted to jump over to water. I want to do two loops. Once for the CPU and one of my two 5870s.

My biggest gripes has been cost, maintenance, and weight. The performance boost you get over air isn't that much every time I've seen benchmarks, but the drop in noise levels would be much appreciated. Still, not sure if several hundred bucks is worth the noise reduction especially considering that used water blocks don't sell so well.

 

[thilanliyan]

Like the setup. Only thing I don't like about full cover blocks is that you can't reuse it. I've been running this DD Maze4 acetal block since 2006 on a X1800XL, skipped my 8800GTS 640, then to a 8800GT, and now this 4870 1GB, and I will probably go one more round with it.

 

[Kenmitch]

Yep water does cost some bucks to get up and running. I debated on doing the video card as my CPU was already under water. Found the heatkiller used for $80 shipped so figured I'd give t a shot. My loop is a single one but seems to do the job.

To keep the heat down the stock cooler needed 70% which is so loud it wants to make your ears bleed

Nice, I've been tempted to jump over to water. I want to do two loops. Once for the CPU and one of my two 5870s.

My biggest gripes has been cost, maintenance, and weight. The performance boost you get over air isn't that much every time I've seen benchmarks, but the drop in noise levels would be much appreciated. Still, not sure if several hundred bucks is worth the noise reduction especially considering that used water blocks don't sell so well.

 

[nitromullet]

Yeah, water isn't really a value proposition in terms of time/money. For the money I spent on water cooling my i7 920 and GTX 470, I could have easily been running i7 920 and GTX 470 SLI on air. I am happy with the results though. On air my clocks would be 3.6 on the cpu and 650/1300/1700 on the GTX 470, as opposed to the clocks in my sig. They both will go higher on air, but the noise level increases considerably beyond those clocks to maintain what I consider reasonable temps.

The thing about it is that the start up cost is pretty high. For a dual loop setup you need two pumps and a fair amount of radiator space, not to mention all the fittings and miscellaneous stuff. However, I think once you have a good case with rads, pumps, and reservoirs installed these should last you a few generations of video cards, especially if you over build a little. From what I can tell a water cooled case is actually one of the few things you can actually future proof somewhat.

In the end water cooling is still a costly enough thing that it boils down to whether you really want to do it or not as opposed to it being a way to get more bang for your buck.

 

[smackababy]

Water cooling is not a practical, as far as value is concerned, option for most people. I, personally, enjoy doing it and think the results are fabulous. Yes, I get higher clocks at lower noise levels, and yes, I pay a lot more for it.

nitromullet pretty much hit the nail on the head about the start up cost. After you get most of the base parts, updating your loop for the newest hardware is usually a lot less costly.

 

[KILLER_K]

Sorry for bringing this thread back up. But i'm torn between this block and the ek full block. I already have a heatkiller 3.0 cu cpu block, so it is a hard call now.

 

[Kenmitch]

Sorry for bringing this thread back up. But i'm torn between this block and the ek full block. I already have a heatkiller 3.0 cu cpu block, so it is a hard call now.

I was pondering between the 2 of them also. I went with this one for 2 reasons.

First I got a good deal on it used. Second it'll fit both 5850/5870 I figured if I ever wanted to sell it or trade it it would double the possibilities. I doubt I'd ever upgrade my 5850 to a 5870 tho as it's a good overclocker.

 

[smackababy]

From what I've seen EK's QA can be iffy at times. I've never had a problem with either vendors, but that is just what I've read about. I, personally, would go for the Heatkiller.

 

[Puffnstuff]

For me water is the only way to go if you want cooler temps on your components. I was hoping that watercool would have blocks for my 480 but I ended up with ek's instead and they are nice blocks.

 

[nitromullet]

Sorry for bringing this thread back up. But i'm torn between this block and the ek full block. I already have a heatkiller 3.0 cu cpu block, so it is a hard call now.

I personally opted for the EK because I wanted nickel plated blocks, which is something you can't get directly from HK. I had originally planned on getting an HK cpu block, but after seeing this thread on RRTech, I decided against it.

Now I have an EK Supreme HF (Nickel/Acetal) and the EK GTX 470 full cover block (Nickel/Acetal), and I've been happy with both of them.

I think most of the top end full cover GPU blocks tend to be very close performance wise, so I think the conventional wisdom is to just go with whichever looks the best in your opinion.

5870 water block roundup: http://translate.google.com/transla...870-oc.html&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com

 

[KILLER_K]

Wow that heatkiller block looked bad. All i'm running is feser tubing and distilled water and pt-nuke also though.

If i got the ek which seems to have a better vrm thermal resistance. Then i will have to either sale or trade my heatkiller for EK Supreme HF clear top block. And i'm not sure anyone will be willing to do that.

Plus i hate heatkiller for not being able to do two rotary fittings side by side. But then i hear ek's mounting system is old and outdated.

This is bothering me now...........

@ nitromullet, thanks for the link.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

<- watercooling noob. Koolance any good?

 

[Meghan54]

<- watercooling noob. Koolance any good?

Some of their new stuff is as good as any other company's products.

Take Koolance's new cpu block, the CPU-360. From testing results per Vapor at XS, it competed very well with the EK Supreme HF, Swiftech XT, and HK 3.0.

In fact, it finished I believe second only to the EK Supreme HF for overall temps, but had a much higher quality of finish as compared to the EK block. That's one thing about Koolance products, even when they were crap, they were machined and finished very, very well.

Koolance's previous generation radiators, which were aluminum, weren't seen as very good despite any marketing Koolance attempted....and Koolance tried hard.

Now, Koolance seems to be moving completely away from aluminum, thank goodness, and their new line of copper/brass radiators, the HX-CU line, competes pretty well with other brands. But, the Thermochill, XSPC RX line, Swiftech's MCR line (probably THE best bang-for-buck performing rads on the market, just not the "sexiest"), and the Hardware Labs SR-1 all perform equally well, depending upon fan speed you choose to run.

If you don't mind a lot of fan noise, you can't beat the Hardware Labs GTX line.....but its tight fin spacing requires high speed fans and that creates a bit of noise. But if you can stand the noise, you cannot beat a GTX...it kills everything else with high speed fans.


I'd forget about anything else Koolance, though. Their pumps are simply rebadges of other manufacturers. And as for chipset blocks, some Koolance choices are OK, but again, watch out for aluminum......Koolance still sells a bit of alu. parts. And there are a host of other choices in this area, too, like Bitspower and EK.


If you're going to get into watercooling, budget at least $250 to start. That'll keep you from buying cheap junk that'll just have to be replaced further down the road. Why spend your money twice when you don't have to. True, $250 isn't cheap, but you'll keep what you buy and not have to replace any of it.....unless you, too, get bitten by the upgrade bug, like the rest of us.

 

[KILLER_K]

I went with the ek gpu block and it should be here tuesday. Don't get me wrong i like the heatkiller but they are just too heavy for my liking now.

 

[konakona]

I am too lazy to deal with maintenance, too much of a wuss to worry about the risks involved, and cheapass to pay for the added cost of WC setup

Your clocks and temps look real good compared to mine though, I am getting mid 80ish on GPUs and mid 100s for VRMs doing 935/1270 @1.125v. VRMs seem a bit high, so I even put some copper shims on them, which is how I got them down to 100s instead of 110s I was getting earlier. Still a touch too high (could have pushed it further with higher voltage otherwise)

 

[KILLER_K]

What risk are you talking about? If the cpu gets to a certain degree it will shut off via the motherboard. The distilled water is non-conductive also.

Everything comes with a risk though. I just think water cooling is addictive. As you always see something and go i need that and you really don't but you buy it.......

I like it because it is hot here all the time and it is almost emits no sound. And get good temps, could be better though but i always want it to be better though.....

 

[Patrick Wolf]

A quiet gaming PC is the real benefit. Lowering temps so you can play with uber overlocks is reserved for enthuisants as you can get excellent overclocks with aftermarket air coolers.