Question about Kraken G10 and the Coolers that go with it

Hardware Cooling
1

So, I plan on buying a couple new graphics cards this year, and was hoping to watercool them using the Kraken G10 Adapter and couple cpu water coolers.

At this point I have:
A) Decided what cards I will likely buy
B) have decided to watercool them, because awesome, that's why
C) what case this will be going in.

That being said, I've come to a realization, the tubes in units like the H90 and Kraken X40 (I'm going with a couple 140mm rads) are designed to go a short distance, usually from the cpu socket to the back/top of the case, and what I was hoping to do was mount them with the two 140mm fans in the front of an Obsidian 750D, and use the included fans (from the cooler) to do push/pull. I'm curious if they will reach properly, and I'm hoping that either Wendell or a knowledgeable Tek fan can help me make sure this will work. I don't have the case yet, nor do I have my cards, or the coolers, or the Krakens, but I've made decisions every step of the way in preparation for this, so things may change if it  won't work.

From my cursory research, the H90 has a tube length of about 12", and the X40 has a tube length of about 15". Both are trusted brands (imho) but I'd rather go with corsair because I've dealt with their warranty folks and know they take care of customers, it's also about $20 cheaper right now (adding up to $40 for two units, for you math illiterate). The Corsair Obsidian 750D has a total length of about 21", but obviously the actual gpu core isn't squished up against the back of the case, and the fan mounts aren't all the way at the front either (recessed a bit, and the cooler would be even more inset).

So it comes down to this, can anyone with a 750D report on the length they have from their GPU core to the fan mounts in front, and anyone with a 140mm Closed loop cooler chime in with the lengths of their tubes, and if I'm lucky enough that someone reading this has a similar setup, let me know what worked for you!

Thanks guys, I'm hoping I've come to the right community regarding this, you guys all seem to be tek savvy (get it?) and I know Wendell and Logan work to foster a nice community. 

2

I have a Kraken X40 mounted on a GTX 780 via the G10 and the extra tubing comes in handy when mounting the rad in a NZXT Phantom 630.

More tubing = more options, besides, both coolers are made by the same OEM, Asetek. The X40 has software control (a.k.a. Kraken Control) and a usb header to make that work. It also has two PWM fan connectors on a cable coming from the pump itself as well as a three pin connector to power/control the pump. The H90 only has the three pin and no software control, so pick your poison.

Be warned, the G10 turns the card into a three slot behemoth, so make sure your mobo has the proper layout to facilitate the cards. Also, the stock fans on the X40 are loud as all hell. I replaced the fans on both my X40 and X60 with Noctuas. They may be ugly, but damn are they quiet!

3

Where did you mount the rad in your 630?

My main issue is that the x40 only has a two year warranty, while the h90 has a 5 year warranty, big difference, but it also seems to have a couple fewer inches of tubing. 

My motherboard will be just fine on spacing, that's not my concern.

4

My X40's rad is mounted at the back of my case on the top exhaust port w/ the fans set to push.

I honestly never even considered the warranty when I bought my X40, just the tubing length and the software control.

I have used both Corsair and NZXT AiOs and have never had one fail on me. Like I said, they are both from Asetek and the only difference is the different branding stamped on them.

I think the H90 would have enough tubing for your intended purposes, but it could be close. If warranty is your shtick then go H90, if compatibiltiy is paramount, then the X40 is your best bet.

5

I've been a fair bit sceptic about this kind of cooling for a graphics card. What about the VRM cooling? PCper did a review, an when they overclock the card the VRM1 hits temperatures over 100 C!

There is a downside though - the temperature of VRM1 was approaching 100C with the NZXT cooler installed but only reached 65-70C with the reference cooler.  Clearly the removal of heatsinks on the VRM is problematic and could cause issues with overclockability on some cards.  Increasing the speed of the 80mm fan might help this but I think a better solution is to purchase some generic stick-on heatsinks to use in addition to the fan. 

Pudget systems have some thermal images in their review

#ffffff ;">Our thermal image doesn't quite show the exact temperature since we are looking at the back of the card rather than the front, but we are still able to see that the VRMs are running at dangerous levels#ffffff ;">. In fact, GPU-Z is able to report thermal readings for the VRM on the R9 290X and reported temperature as high as 112 #ffffff ;">°C in Furmark! #ffffff ;">For reference, the same sensors on the R9 290X reported temperatures of only 84 #ffffff ;">°C when using the stock cooler.

#ffffff;">

#ffffff;">I would not use this kind of cooling without cooling the VRM:s somehow. Only a fan on them does clearly not cut it.

6

What about the cards like MSI's Gaming series or EVGA's ACX coolers that have a brace/vrm cooler on them?

7

I had actually already considered that, and was planning on buying some mini copper heatsinks with thermal tape and using that to spread the heat more efficiently. Everything I've read says that seems to do the trick.