How many radiators for build?

Hardware Hub Overclocking
1

Hi Tek,

I have been thinking about scavenging parts and turning it into this:

  • CORSAIR Graphite 600T
  • ASUS P8P67 mobo
  • Intel Core i7 2600K @ 3.40GHz
  • 4 x 4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3
  • HIS Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition IceQ X² 3GB GDDR5 

 I was thinking of building a  Pump > CPU > VGA > radiator water cooling loop. Watercooling because I want to try it at least once in my life, overclocking just to lengthen the 'game-span' of both card and cpu, but nothing extreme. Got some questions tho:

a) I can fit a 240mm radiator on top with2 x 120mm fans below them. Will that be enough to cool both?

b) In case that is that is not enough should I build 2 separate loops or stich with one long one ? (There is room in the front of the case to put an extra 120mm radiator + fan and the pump/reservoir can fit in the 5.25 drive bays)

If u have a totally different solution that includes WC + OC, I'm all ears. B.t.w. the graphiscs card is the only cheap one I can easily find WC-parts for, tried to look for a HD 7950, but either insanely expensive or not the right card for the WC-parts I can find, so it'll have to be that one.

 

Thx for the replies :D

2

It is 1x 120mm rad space per component, plus an additional 120mm for headroom/overclocking.

The 7970 X2 Turbo is a really good cooler, I would just leave that on air and WC the CPU.

You can fit additional radiators in the bottom of the 600T, I happen to have that chassis. You will need an additional 240 rad to cool the GPU in addition to he CPU.

In the loop, all you have to do is ensure your reservoir goes before your pump. After that, you can place anything in any order you want.

3

Where are you purchasing your GPU from? I could probably find you a decent 7950. There really isn't much point going for a 7970 because they are $100 more expensive for a 2% performance gain. Not worth it, even if WC parts are easier to come by.

4

If watercooling is a must for the gpu you might have to go for a reference or it would be pretty hard for you to find a waterblock for the HIS IceQ.

5

Glad you guys bring this up ! How the hell does one know if a card has a reference PCB without buying it and removing the cooler ?

I looked for hours and the more I looked the more scared I got about people's stories that bought a card but ended up not being able to fit their cooling block, because it was non reference. So I did the reverse: on the EK Waterblocks site you can get a list of supported brand models per APU type (no idea if those were reference or not). Then I took that list and checked if any of those models were on sale in Belgium. The his was 350 EUR, all the rest (inluding 7950's) were way above 400 EUR and I'm not paying that amount for a card.

If only I knew how to spot a reference card from a non reference before I buy it! Then I can buy my stuff from Watercool in Germany, wich is the country next door to me and I would be the happiest man alive :P

 Oh, I was thinking of getting a pump/reservoir combo, does that change anything in building the loop ? Because I just wanna cool that apu with a full WC-block just because I could lol.

6

Reference is just your basic bog standard card. Without a manufacturers custom aftermarket coolers. e.g ASUS has the DCUii cooler, HIS has the IceQ and IceQ X2.

Top is reference, below is the XFX aftermarket cooler. Should be cheaper. It seems pointless to buy a card with a good cooler, just to remove it.

7

Don't know if this one will work:

http://de.pcpartpicker.com/part/powercolor-video-card-ax79503gbd52dhv4

7950s aren't expensive. I'm surprised the only 7950s you can find are over 300 euros. The MSI TF 7950 is less than £200 UK, and $200 in the US.

8

Ok cool ! Back to the drawing board and in search of something that looks reference.

9

Yes, with a beefy 240mm cooler, you could easily fit a 2700k and 7970. However, I would rather use 360mm of total radiator space, which you can easily fit in that 600T. Were I in your case, both literally and metaphorically, I would get a 240 for the top, and a 120 for the bottom.

The 600T is not the best case out-of-box for watercooling. It is a modders' playground, though, with plenty of room to fit a 360 in the top, if you cut your own mounting holes, and cut out some metal/plastic in the way from the 5.25" bays. If you haven't bought the case already, I would look into a Switch 810 for a cheap, but option filled case. The H630, as well, is a great case for watercooling. They aren't the best build quality, being quite a bit made of plastic, but it is still fantastic for watercooling.

Radiator-wise, if you need to use the 600T, then you would need a thin radiator up top, which means a 240 alone couldn't handle the entire loop. The XSPC EX240 is one of the best slim rads out there, in terms of build quality, price/performance, and overall cooling performance for the size. It is a double-pass radiator, and uses only copper and brass. Good stuff, very good stuff. For the bottom 120, if you use the 600T, a thick 120 would be nice, something like an RX120, Alphacool NexXxos Monsta 120, or an NexXxos UT60 120. If you use a different case, one that can hold a single, larger radiator, liek a 360 or 480 up top, then you can save some money by getting a single radiator. Again, I recommend the XSPC EX and RX360s, but I especially recommend essentially every radiator coming from Alphacool, especially the UT60 "full copper" 360. The Monsta 360 is fantastic as well, better than the UT60, but is so insanely thick, it doesn't fit in too many cases.

Are you buying a kit, or going for a ful custom loop, buying each part individually? If you are buying each part individually, I have a lot more recommendations, but radiator-wise, I think I have covered it.

10

Yo brennanriddel,

So sorry for not replying m8, been out due to having to work on my bachelor test (final your of college). Yes I'm going to install a custom loop. Actually I was planning on building something like this :

Corsair 600T custom WC loop
H2O014.jpg800x600

With this setup I don't have to mod the case (I'm gonna loose fingers trying that, I'm clumsy) The guy who built this says he used an XSPC RS240 on top and an XSPC RX120 in the back (and a Phobya Xtreme 200mm in the front). I looked up the dimensions of both. The RX120 is 2.4 inches thick and correct me if I'm wrong, but the 120mm rad in the back looks a lot slimmer. For the top rad I was thinking of buying a Black Ice GT Stealth 240, because its even slimmer then the one you suggested (1.14 inch). From what I could gather on different forums, the top rad is the real troublemaker, depending on the layout of the mobo one is using. Anyways, I was even thinking of buying the 120mm and 240mm model of those Black Ice GT Stealth's, hoping that those and the Phobya Xtreme 200mm will be enough to cool a CPU and max 2 graphics cards in SLI.

Thing is I'm so in love with the 600T I'll probably gonna use it for a long time, and since a WC loop is quite an investment I'll use it in the future too. I sent the same question and pic to the WatercoolingUK shop, where I'll be getting all my stuff, but you seem to know this stuff just as well, so I'm all ears !

P.S. Got a little smarter since my last post and realised fan RMP and the noise they make are equally important. If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears - btw the tubing on this pic is retarded, I know :-P 

12

Yes, a 200, 240, and 120 will be way, way more than enough for two GPUs and a CPU. Now, if only there were good 200mm fans ;)

And yes, that tubing job is terrible; crossed tubes, and about half a meter too much of it.

 

13

Haha I know. I looked allover for better fans for the 200mm rad, but the Phobya fan that comes with it will have to do.

I got to ask before I press the 'pay' button : if CPU and 2 GPU's are OC'ed, will this setup still do the job, even with those slim rads ? 

14

I would prefer to see thicker rads, but, even with shitty fans on your 240 and 120, you should be fine with dual GPUs and a CPU.

16

Allright !! Time to spend some moneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey ! ! !

Big thanks for all the replies guys :D