Water cooling GPUs

[dan]

Was wondering if anyone here was water cooling their GPUs and if so, what their experiences and setups were. Looks like you get a single card form factor and I might actually get 3 in a box without cooking the middle one.

Dan

[Fire$torm]

JPM is running WC GPUs. Start here ---> http://www.setiusa.us/showthread.php?200-Maxwell-Spanker-vs.-Silver-Hammer-vs.-Annihilatrix-pt.-2&p=13873&viewfull=1#post13873

[John P. Myers]

In another thread, i'm being pressured to produce pictures of my 2nd radiator. I'm not quite ready to do that so i'll describe how i have the "loop" setup.

In my setup, i have 2 radiators. One is a 3x120, so we'll refer to it as 'small rad'. The other is bigger, so we'll refer to it as 'big boy rad' :D

...Pump1 >> CPU >> small rad >> 590(#1) >> big boy rad...

...Pump2 >> 590(#2) >> big boy rad...

With the 590s, you don't get the single-slot benefit because the 3 DVI connection take up both sides of the double-wide bracket, though there is still a nice gap between the cards themselves.
With the 580 though, you can go pure single slot. Also with the 590s, the RAM is on the back of the card and must be air cooled. With the 580, all RAM is under the waterblock. I'm able to achieve temps of ~40C on the 590s with a 14% OC, though 'big boy rad' is absolutely pinnacle :D It weighs 17 lbs. empty and with no fans.

[Fire$torm]

In another thread, i'm being pressured to produce pictures of my 2nd radiator. I'm not quite ready to do that so i'll describe how i have the "loop" setup.

In my setup, i have 2 radiators. One is a 3x120, so we'll refer to it as 'small rad'. The other is bigger, so we'll refer to it as 'big boy rad' :D

...Pump1 >> CPU >> small rad >> 590(#1) >> big boy rad...

...Pump2 >> 590(#2) >> big boy rad...

With the 590s, you don't get the single-slot benefit because the 3 DVI connection take up both sides of the double-wide bracket, though there is still a nice gap between the cards themselves.
With the 580 though, you can go pure single slot. Also with the 590s, the RAM is on the back of the card and must be air cooled. With the 580, all RAM is under the waterblock. I'm able to achieve temps of ~40C on the 590s with a 14% OC, though 'big boy rad' is absolutely pinnacle :D It weighs 17 lbs. empty and with no fans.

You and your "Drop a clue here...... Drop a clue there........" arrrrrg!!!!! Very maddening indeed.

So the BIG clue is the call out of 17 pounds. I wonder if its that rad JerWA mentioned on the old forum? It used 120mm fans in a 4 x 4 arrangement. So. am I getting warm??????

[YoDude9999]

Show the pics DAMNIT!

[YoDude9999]

Have you entertained the idea of pump 1 >> [590 #1, 590#2] in PARALLEL rather than series? >> Big Boy Rad
Pump 2 >> CPU >> Small Rad?

[Duke of Buckingham]

Someone called me?

211

The Duck

[John P. Myers]

Have you entertained the idea of pump 1 >> [590 #1, 590#2] in PARALLEL rather than series? >> Big Boy Rad
Pump 2 >> CPU >> Small Rad?

If i only had 1 pump, that's what i'd do. But since i have 2, it's very inefficient to pump the water that's already been through 1 of the 590s into another 590. It would cause the 2nd 590 to run alot hotter than the first. The way i have it set up is the most efficient way possible. Or were you talking about pump1 >> Y splitter >> [590 #1, 590 #2] >> big boy rad? That would reduce the flow to each of the 590s, lowering cooling abilities.

Or maybe you haven't realized the big boy rad has 3 inlets and 3 outlets, not just 1 of each like a standard rad. :) both pumps pull water from 2 different rad outlets and finish the circuit by sending the water back to the big rad through 2 different inlets. There are no Y splitters slowing down the flow.


So the BIG clue is the call out of 17 pounds. I wonder if its that rad JerWA mentioned on the old forum? It used 120mm fans in a 4 x 4 arrangement. So. am I getting warm??????
No not that big lol, but you're getting warmer. And mine uses 140mm fans :p

Edit: I'll just try to type this again a little clearer:

big boy rad (outlet#1) >> Pump1 >> CPU >> small rad >> 590(#1) >> big boy rad (inlet #1)

big boy rad (outlet#2) >> Pump2 >> 590(#2) >> big boy rad (inlet #2)

[YoDude9999]

Well, the next time I do a water cooled system, I'll post up some pics and my findings as I do some experimentation with the system.
The only system I've done so far was with an Athlon X2 and a pair of 7900GTs. I had good results with that but these newer graphics cards will very likely require more attention to detail in order to gain optimum performance with heat transfer.

[Fire$torm]

So the BIG clue is the call out of 17 pounds. I wonder if its that rad JerWA mentioned on the old forum? It used 120mm fans in a 4 x 4 arrangement. So. am I getting warm??????


No not that big lol, but you're getting warmer. And mine uses 140mm fans :p

You dirty dog.......... I'll fix ya' good!!! =)) j/k.

So how warm is this puppy? -----> Watercool MO-RA3 9 x 140mm LT Extreme Radiator - Black Powder Coat (22120) (http://www.frozencpu.com/products/12552/ex-rad-211/Watercool_MO-RA3_9_x_140mm_LT_Extreme_Radiator_-_Black_Powder_Coat_22120.html?tl=g30c95s667)

That rad weighs in at 7500 grams which equates to 16.535 Pounds.

[John P. Myers]

You dirty dog.......... I'll fix ya' good!!! =)) j/k.

So how warm is this puppy? -----> Watercool MO-RA3 9 x 140mm LT Extreme Radiator - Black Powder Coat (22120) (http://www.frozencpu.com/products/12552/ex-rad-211/Watercool_MO-RA3_9_x_140mm_LT_Extreme_Radiator_-_Black_Powder_Coat_22120.html?tl=g30c95s667)

That rad weighs in at 7500 grams which equates to 16.535 Pounds.

Haha i knew you'd be the one to dig enough to (almost) find it. It's actually this (http://www.frozencpu.com/products/12551/ex-rad-210/Watercool_MO-RA3_9_x_140mm_PRO_Extreme_Radiator_-_Black_Powder_Coat_22120.html?tl=g30c95s667) one, though the description of the one you posted is accurate (they got them switched backwards).


The MO-RA3 is the uncompromising successor of the successful MO-RA 2 series. The cooling performance was improved even further over the already potent successor. The numbers speak for themselves, over 36m of copper tube and 3.0 square meters of fins are used to make a MO-RA3. The coolant flows parallel four times through 80 channels. The fins of the MO-RA3 were specially optimized for use of slow-spinning fans. The gigantic surface area of the radiator and efficient geometry guarantee extreme cooling performance.

Weight: approx. 7700g


Is it overkill? Yep. But it leaves me room to expand without ever having to worry about needing a bigger rad.

[Fire$torm]

Yahoo, I got! At least close enough for a cookie. Make mine a double chocolate, thank you.


Man, that is one sweet rad. How do you intend to set it up, in regards to its proximity to the computer?

[John P. Myers]

Yahoo, I got! At least close enough for a cookie. Make mine a double chocolate, thank you.


Man, that is one sweet rad. How do you intend to set it up, in regards to its proximity to the computer?

lol i'll have to get a couple dozen cookies so there will still be one left for you by the time they're delivered. I know myself well enough to know i'll be eating them in transit. :p

For mounting the rad, it's gonna be a headache, but it just seems so wrong to me to not have it attached to the computer case. So i'm gonna whip out my dremel and do just that. Hopefully it won't cause the computer to tip over with all that weight on one side :/

The rad comes with standoffs so it can be mounted to the case and still draw in air. I have a HAF X case which comes with 3 ports in the rear to run hoses through. Unfortunately, i have to run 4 hoses with my setup, so i'll have to cut an additional hole in the case for that. Also, 9 140mm fans need to get power from somewhere. And i don't want it to look messy, so i'll also need to cut 2 or 3 more holes to run those wires through. To plug all those fans in, i posted about these nifty gadgets (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812195004&cm_re=sunbeam-_-12-195-004-_-Product) on the old forums and i'm still a firm believer in them. I have 3 of them now, all for the HAF X. To power all of the fans plugged into those, including the case fans, i'll be using that 450W drive bay PSU. It will also be used to power the pumps.

[YoDude9999]

it's very inefficient to pump the water that's already been through 1 of the 590s into another 590. It would cause the 2nd 590 to run alot hotter than the first. Yes, this would be a series connection and I would never connect two or more graphics cards in this configuration. I don't know why anyone would really want to.


Or were you talking about pump1 >> Y splitter >> [590 #1, 590 #2] >> big boy rad? That would reduce the flow to each of the 590s, lowering cooling abilities. This is a parallel configuration. The pump feeds both 590s at the same time and then the output of the 590s goes to the rad. This is how I had my 7900GTs configured and it worked quite well. But more to the point, why don't you just have little rad setup on the CPU only and let big rad handle the 590s?

As for BigRad....Damn! You could prolly connect 3 entire systems to that one rad and it would do just fine cooling them all.

So, what did you do with it?...I mean, is it in a vented cabinet, open air, hanging out the window? Show the PICs!

[John P. Myers]

Yes, this would be a series connection and I would never connect two or more graphics cards in this configuration. I don't know why anyone would really want to.

This is a parallel configuration. The pump feeds both 590s at the same time and then the output of the 590s goes to the rad. This is how I had my 7900GTs configured and it worked quite well. But more to the point, why don't you just have little rad setup on the CPU only and let big rad handle the 590s?
The big boy rad is handling the 590s and the little rad is handling the CPU only lol


As for BigRad....Damn! You could prolly connect 3 entire systems to that one rad and it would do just fine cooling them all.

So, what did you do with it?...I mean, is it in a vented cabinet, open air, hanging out the window? Show the PICs!

I did have it balanced on top of my printer before, but i really need to mount it to the case. The amount of hose it would save having it nearby will be very helpful in making it easier to remove the air bubbles. And i have no pictures yet because i haven't attached it yet :p

[YoDude9999]

Ok, well you had me confused because of your earlier post that states....


...Pump1 >> CPU >> small rad >> 590(#1) >> big boy rad...

...Pump2 >> 590(#2) >> big boy rad...

Which makes me think.....Pump1 to CPU, CPU to small rad, small rad to 590#1 then to BigBoy and then back to the pump.

[John P. Myers]

Ok, well you had me confused because of your earlier post that states....



Which makes me think.....Pump1 to CPU, CPU to small rad, small rad to 590#1 then to BigBoy and then back to the pump.

That's correct. Meaning the small rad only cools the CPU and 590#1 receives cooled water at 100% flow, as does 590#2.

Edit: I could do this setup:

CPU >> small rad >> Pump >> Y Splitter(split) >> [590 #1, 590 #2] >> Y Splitter(join) >> big boy rad

And if these were 580's (or smaller) that's probably what i'd do. But i didn't want to risk cutting the flow in half to the 590s since they are pretty notorious for creating huge amounts of heat.