Water cooling really tames gtx470/480

[extra]

I know this has been said before, but just wanted to re-iterate this...especially with gtx470 price deals that keep edging down toward $250. (Please don't turn this into an nvidia vs amd thread, I love amd as well and have a 5770 in another box, it's great too!)

Anyway, this is on a single loop with an i7 870 (4.4ghz) and a gtx470. (Don't make fun of me for buying the 870 *giggle* it only cost me $100--yay friends lol). Radiator is an mcr320 (ie, the lowly inexpensive $60 one). Yate loon medium fans in push/pull ($2 each during some special). CPU block is an EK supreme HF, GPU block is also an EK unit (low priced stuff, but nice imho). I know people sometimes say that a single low end triple radiator isn't enough for an i7 and high end video card, and that you should put the video card on its own loop, but meh. CPU temps aren't effected much by the video card at all, honestly (less than 5c during gpu load). Loop order is pump-->cpu-->gpu-->radiator-->pump. Thermostat says it's about 25c in here, so let's go with that for ambients.

GPU at 900mhz (remember, stock is 607mhz, so this is about a 50% overclock!). Voltage is 1.15 (I used a modded bios to uncap it). Stock voltage on my card was .9something. Before water cooling, if I didn't use a custom fan profile, the card would hit 100c during load. Scary! But now:

I haven't tried to see how high it will go, but this is a nice comfortable 24/7 clock.

Basically I just wanted to point out that water cooling really really lets gtx470 and 480 cards open up and let loose. I feel that they have a ton of potential. Keep them cool and the sky is the limit. If you wanted to try water cooling your card but were worried that you'd need to get another radiator and make a second loop, don't worry about it. Fermi isn't nearly as scary as you'd think!

 

[zerocool84]

Of course water cooling is always the best but any decent water cooling set-up is going to cost as much as two video cards.

 

[nitromullet]

Of course water cooling is always the best but any decent water cooling set-up is going to cost as much as two video cards.

This.

I sold my water cooling parts, picked up a second GTX 470, and still have almost $400 left over.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

I was able to get similar "taming" results with 3rd party air cooling on my 5850 for less than $40 total. I hope I can do the same for my GTX470

I'd love to have the time and money to put into an awesome water cooling setup but I simply cannot justify it at the moment.

Of course water cooling is always the best but any decent water cooling set-up is going to cost as much as two video cards.

I'd rather not mess with the downsides of running two+ cards. But yeah, watercooling to gain performance rather than investing it in faster parts isn't a reason to go for water cooling.

 

[rolodomo]

Those are lower end cooling parts, no way they cost the price of two decent gpus, thus (according to this thread), your water cooling must suck. Never mind you're getting 51 under load at a 33 percent overclock (sarcasm).


I have the same loop as yours, except an i7 920 and gtx480. I get about 54 max load and an 850 overlook. I know this is really going to blow some minds here, but I re-used my old loop back from my q9550 days. All I had to buy was a $100 ek block (when I replaced my 4890), so evidently my loop isn't that great either.

 

[Bill Brasky]

I was able to get similar "taming" results with 3rd party air cooling on my 5850 for less than $40 total.

Just out of curiosity, what cooler did you use and did you keep the stock baseplate or use 3rd party VREG cooling?

Very nice overclock, by the way! I've always been interested in water cooling because I'm fairly sensitive to fan noise, but the price and time investment just don't seem worth it to me.

 

[Kenmitch]

Those are lower end cooling parts, no way they cost the price of two decent gpus, thus (according to this thread), your water cooling must suck. Never mind you're getting 51 under load at a 33 overlook (sarcasm).


I have the same loop as yours, except an i7 920 and gtx480. I get about 54 max load and an 850 overlook. I know this is really going to blow some minds here, but I re-used my old loop back from my q9550 days. All I had to buy was a $100 ek block, so evidently my loop isn't that great either.

I think the thing that holds water cooling back is the assumption that one needs to purchase the best of the best to get good results....Even tho it's far from the truth 🙂

I also run a single loop with my sig system and it seems to have pretty good results too. At clockspeeds in sig my 5850 has gotten into the mid 40's but only during Furmark. If I push my cpu up into the 4.3-4.4ghz range it will hover around the low 80's during severe stress testing.

The downside of water cooling is video card full water blocks as they are card specific. Of course this doesn't effect those who keep cards for years tho. For me it was a no brainer as I was already running water and picked up a used block for $80.

The biggest plus would be my system sounds the same from idle to severe loads. My rig is as quiet as a stock HAF 932 which doesn't make much noise at all.

 

[extra]

I have the same loop as yours, except an i7 920 and gtx480. I get about 54 max load and an 850 overlook. I know this is really going to blow some minds here, but I re-used my old loop back from my q9550 days. All I had to buy was a $100 ek block (when I replaced my 4890), so evidently my loop isn't that great either.

Yeah. That's the thing--once you've got it set up, it's like a great case, or great psu, or great monitor, etc: you can use it over and over. Now, you will need to buy a new GPU block each time, if you use full contact ones (but the $80-$130 or so for that isn't nearly enough to buy a 2nd gpu).

Anyway, yeah, people can debate the value of wc forever (if you don't think 'tis worth the money then don't consider it, obviously!) but meh, I just wanted to make this thread to point out what a huge difference it makes on fermi, and that if you have a cpu only loop you should really check it out--you might have thought that with the huge heat output of fermi you'd need to add a second loop, but you very well may not need too.

 

[SHAQ]

1.15v is a lot. What is the VID? My .95v VID card would artifact at 1.087v immediately while it was still cold. It will do 800 at .98v but it's too hot for stock cooling.

 

[MrK6]

The GF100-based chips are high leakage and therefore respond well to voltage as long as you can keep them cool. I'm looking for my next project and threads like these don't help (thinking about going water again), nice results! 😀

 

[extra]

Default was .95 I believe (may have been .97, I don't remember---I think .95 though). It's flashed to a different bios which has a different "stock" VID, so I can't check. It was .9something though, 100% positive. 90% sure it was .95. And really? I ran it at 1.087 with the stock cooler, at 800mhz, 1800 on the ram. I used a custom fan profile though, because if not it would go to 100c immediately. EVGA said 1.087 was safe to use, so meh. Downside was that the fan, once above 75%, was really friggin annoying. However, even at stock voltage it got so hot that I wanted the same custom fan profile. During gaming, in order to keep it below 95c, even at stock voltage, the fan would often be above 80%. So loud, lol. At least it wasn't a horrible pitch like some older cards.

If raising the voltage caused artifacting I'd be really concerned. You sure your PSU is okay and such? Then again, if it'll hit 800 at such a low voltage, who cares. 🙂

 

[extra]

The GF100-based chips are high leakage and therefore respond well to voltage as long as you can keep them cool. I'm looking for my next project and threads like these don't help (thinking about going water again), nice results! 😀

Haha, I'm tellin ya, the trick is to be resourceful rofl. I'm kind of a dirty bastard, though...for example...

Friend of mine from work had an old water cooled powermac g5. Mobo was dead. Case was beat up and needs repainted. So I got it from him. Used one of the cpu boards as a showpiece for a desk project I'm working on, and then dis-assembled the cooling system, etc. Don't have money to sand down and paint the case at the moment 🙁.

Anyway, did you know...the pump in them is like the mcr355 (except from the actual manufacturer, so it's a laign DDC something). Cleaned it up, guess and checked on the weird connection, little bit of solder to a molex connector, and voila lol..."free pump". Has a nice vibration reducing mount, too! Plus two little water blocks to use for a peltier project or something someday, lol. There's a radiator as well that's decent, but I think it's aluminum and not copper--I painted it black, figure it might be useful someday (maybe for that someday peltier project, lol).

Moral of the story: friend with a dead g5 powermac=free water cooling pump.

 

[hellotyler]

Are the watercooling systems included in the prebuilt systems (from Cyberpower for instance) not of the same quality ? Every single one of their rigs comes with WC and they still manage to be dirt cheap ~ my little brother was thinking about purchasing one but are they using bad WC equip ?

 

[Idontcare]

Are the watercooling systems included in the prebuilt systems (from Cyberpower for instance) not of the same quality ? Every single one of their rigs comes with WC and they still manage to be dirt cheap ~ my little brother was thinking about purchasing one but are they using bad WC equip ?

You'll no doubt get some good answers from the VC&G crowd here, but I'd also recommend asking around in the Cases & Cooling forum because there is more likely to be a poster or two in that thread who has direct experience with the rigs you are mentioning.

 

[RussianSensation]

Great results. Even a great stock cooler such as the one on Zotac GTX480 AMP! drops load temperatures 27*C, right in line with the 5870.

Fermi chips do run pretty hot, but it's also a function of crappy stock coolers. 5870 and GTX470 for example have almost the same size heatsink but one GPU is about 529mm2 and the other is 334mm2!!

Awesome results though - 900mhz is a crazy overclock!

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Just out of curiosity, what cooler did you use and did you keep the stock baseplate or use 3rd party VREG cooling?

I used the stock reference base plate, there's a heatpipe built into it specifically for the digital VRMs on the reference design that is pretty much necessary for proper cooling. Stick-on heatsinks simply didn't cut it and I almost killed my card before I realized this nearly fatal mistake.

The cooler for the GPU is an Accelero S1, with some fins modded to allow it to fit - the double stacked DVI ports get in the way and some fins had to be bent/cut to clear it, which was easy enough with just simple bends or cuts with nail clippers. I have a 120mm fan zip-tied to it for active cooling. Of course such a configuration essentially eats up 3-4 slots but the GPU stays under 60C load @ 1000MHz and idles in the upper 20s/lower 30s depending on the ambient temp.

I'm inclined to do the same for the GTX470 but I can't help but feel that GF100 will be an entirely different animal so I'm a bit hesitant.

Great results. Even a great stock cooler such as the one on Zotac GTX480 AMP! drops load temperatures 27*C, right in line with the 5870.

Fermi chips do run pretty hot, but it's also a function of crappy stock coolers. 5870 and GTX470 for example have almost the same size heatsink but one GPU is about 529mm2 and the other is 334mm2!!

Awesome results though - 900mhz is a crazy overclock!

Yeah, I'm actually of the opinion that they should have made the reference 480/470 cooler a 3 slot design but I understand they stayed two slot for SLI and reputation reasons, the fanboys would have had a field day with that just like when the 5800Ultra debuted with a then unheard of dual slot design. Although the 5800Ultra deserved it not necessarily because it took up two slots, but because it took up two slots and still was a relative screaming banshee, it would have been completely different if it was extremely quiet.

 

[nitromullet]

I don’t want to be naysayer about wc, but my main issue with it was the price combined with the spotty quality control of some manufacturers. Think about it, if you have leak because of one crappy part you might end up destroying your whole rig.

Look around on forums.... you'll see problems with all the major manufacturers.... ek, swiftech, koolance, even heatkiller and thermchill.

 

[nitromullet]

Dp

 

[Kenmitch]

Look around on forums.... you'll see problems with all the major manufacturers.... ek, swiftech, koolance, even heatkiller and thermchill.

I've only had one problem with a leaking 2 bay xspc resevoir. I just run distilled water but do to the cases drive bay design the water ran forward ran down the side of the 200mm fan and drained out the bottom. I doubt Cooler Master planned it that way tho 🙂

 

[happy medium]

How fast is a gtx470 @ 900? I 'd love to see some game benchmarks. It must be more quiet, cooler then a gtx480. It might be worth installing a waterblock on a $250 card for that kind of result.

 

[extra]

I don’t want to be naysayer about wc, but my main issue with it was the price combined with the spotty quality control of some manufacturers. Think about it, if you have leak because of one crappy part you might end up destroying your whole rig.

Look around on forums.... you'll see problems with all the major manufacturers.... ek, swiftech, koolance, even heatkiller and thermchill.

The problems are often (not always I'm sure, but often) caused by people who take the blocks apart and then don't put them back together again properly...but anyway...it's super easy (getting into more cooling and cases forum stuff here but):

once it's set up, you just disconnect power from the motherboard and gpu. Then, you plug the computer in. Take a little wire and on the 24 (or 20 or w/e you have) atx plug simply find the green wire. Take your little wire and bridge the green wire to one of the black ones (any one). Voila, computer starts up without power going to anything. I lay down paper towels to make leaks easy to spot. Then go about your evening. Check couple hours later. I've never had any leaks though, so shrug.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

How fast is a gtx470 @ 900? I 'd love to see some game benchmarks. It must be more quiet, cooler then a gtx480. It might be worth installing a waterblock on a $250 card for that kind of result.

Its not just the block, which will likely be very expensive on its own, you need the rest of the parts, and any quality water cooling setup will run in the hundreds. At that point it would be prudent to buy another 470 for SLI and underclock them if necessary. 470s in SLI, even when underclocked, will destroy a 900MHz single 470. And while it will likely be faster than a 480, probably by a comfortable margin, a $250 470 + decent water cooling parts will likely end up costing more money and a lot more time.

Water cooling has pretty much never been a legit method of getting better performance for cheaper than straight up buying faster parts, its always been about making the best of the best even better and/or turning the hottest of hot/loudest of loud into cool and quiet.

Most of the people I know who water cool get more out of it as a hobby than functional practicality.

 

[Puffnstuff]

All I can say about wc is that I'll never go back to air cooling again.

 

[Kenmitch]

All I can say about wc is that I'll never go back to air cooling again.

+1

The only downside I see to it once you get up in running is the video card as the blocks are card specific. Other than that just gotta keep an eye on the res once in awhile. Using distilled water gives some protection but the possiblility of water damage is there if you don't catch it.

For me it's the quietness that got me hooked....Price wise if you shop around and don't go for the absolute best of the best then it can be reasonable. The cost rapidly climbs if you go for the compression and angle's fittings which I draw the line on. I just want the benefit so I don't get into all the niche items involved with water cooling.

As far as overclocking goes you get a lot more overhead with the biggest plus of no noise increase at all. Nothing sucks more than knowing your cpu or gpu will run highter but you can't because of temps 🙂

 

[extra]

As far as overclocking goes you get a lot more overhead with the biggest plus of no noise increase at all. Nothing sucks more than knowing your cpu or gpu will run highter but you can't because of temps 🙂

With Fermi the annoying thing is the overcurrent protection lol. If you clock it too high and give it too much voltage it will eventually kick in and reset the card--rather annoying.