Advice on water cooled PC *spawn*

[Mize]

Single 7970....

So it begs the question, Why haven't you got one already?

Really it was stuff like having no crossfire for Crysis 2 for weeks...texture shimmer in multiple flight sims...broken crossfire in multiple AAA games throughout 2011...more pronounced microstutter...

So I went 2x 580s simply to get away from AMD. Based on [H] review of crossfire on 7970 it doesn't sound like it's gotten much better.

So in Summary:
Crossfire support sucks
SLI support sucks less
7970 is great as a single card
7970 isn't so good in CFX
7970 x1 won't beat 2x 580 99% of the time
What will Kepler do? Will a single 680 beat 2x 580? If so, that's a better route than 1x7970

Is there any way to sell stuff to fellow B3Ders? No marketplace, eh?

 

[almighty]

I know loads of people that run dual or even tripple 7970's and have no micro stutter and no problems at all....

 

[Mize]

I know loads of people that run dual or even tripple 7870's and have no micro stutter and no problems at all....

Let's not rehash. Loads of people aren't bothered by microstutter, that doesn't mean it's not there. Besides that doesn't address the poor support. Right now how many games are not supported by CFX on 79xx?

 

[Mize]

This:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1666851
Makes me think that sticking with my SLI 580s might be a good idea. Remember, I am running 3x 1920x1200 so one 7970 will be slower than 2x 580.

 

[almighty]

As I said, apart from [H] no other review has had any serious problems and over at over clock.net on the 7970/7950 owners club thread there's no major problems reported by any of the owners.

Because 1 article states they're bad should been you take it as gospel...

 

[Mize]

As I said, apart from [H] no other review has had any serious problems and over at over clock.net on the 7970/7950 owners club thread there's no major problems reported by any of the owners.

Because 1 article states they're bad should been you take it as gospel...

There are threads on overclock.net about 7970 CFX issues and the link is to a long thread of 7970 CFX users with issues, not an article.



-- Sent from my Palm Pre3 using Forums

 

[Mize]

Okay, I finalized my build and ordered parts...here're the details:

Cosmos II

1/2" barb fittings with hose clamps throughout (No windows no LEDs, this is function)
Black Ice Stealth GT 360 radiator up top with 3x GT AP15s pull and 2x GT AP15s push (no room for third).

XSPC RX240 radiator below with push pull GT AP15 fans.

Koolance CPU-370 cpu waterblock
2x XSPC Rasa universal GPU waterblocks

XSPC single 5.25 bay reservoir (no room for double)

Enzotech T to Bitspower valve and plug for drain at the bottom

Tygon Silver-loaded .5" ID/.75" OD tubing.

Kill coil.

Swiftech MCP35X PWM pump.

Should have it all in time to build next weekend.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

Remember that pics are necessary

 

[almighty]

Okay, I finalized my build and ordered parts...here're the details:

Cosmos II

1/2" barb fittings with hose clamps throughout (No windows no LEDs, this is function)

Black Ice Stealth GT 360 radiator up top with 3x GT AP15s pull and 2x GT AP15s push (no room for third).

XSPC RX240 radiator below with push pull GT AP15 fans.

Koolance CPU-370 cpu waterblock
2x XSPC Rasa universal GPU waterblocks

XSPC single 5.25 bay reservoir (no room for double)

Enzotech T to Bitspower valve and plug for drain at the bottom

Tygon Silver-loaded .5" ID/.75" OD tubing.

Kill coil.

Swiftech MCP35X PWM pump.

Should have it all in time to build next weekend.

Change that stealth GT to a better radiator, Either a XSPC EX360 or Thermochil TA 120.3 if you can afford it.

Ditch that koolance block, Best block out there by far ATM is the EK supreme HF.... Blows every other block out the water!!

 

[Mize]

Thanks for the suggestions almighty, but the Thermochill is too thick and the Stealth is 6 mm thinner than the XSPC so I'm hoping to be able to get a sixth slim fan on it. Remember I'm push pull on all but one spot with GT AP15s that have very good radiator performance compared to most fans. As for the CPU block the 370 and EK trade top spots depending upon the review with the 370 having the better mounting system and threads cut into steel, not plexi or acetal.

Photos and - more importantly - temps will follow

 

[almighty]

Thanks for the suggestions almighty, but the Thermochill is too thick and the Stealth is 6 mm thinner than the XSPC so I'm hoping to be able to get a sixth slim fan on it. Remember I'm push pull on all but one spot with GT AP15s that have very good radiator performance compared to most fans. As for the CPU block the 370 and EK trade top spots depending upon the review with the 370 having the better mounting system and threads cut into steel, not plexi or acetal.

Photos and - more importantly - temps will follow

That's weird, I have a Thermochil PA 120.3 which is the same thickness as the TA 120.3 in the original Cosmos S with fans in push pull so surely the S2 should manage it?

 

[Mize]

That's weird, I have a Thermochil PA 120.3 which is the same thickness as the TA 120.3 in the original Cosmos S with fans in push pull so surely the S2 should manage it?

With most motherboards the Cosmos 2 mounts them too close to the top for more that about 40mm of radiator. Some that have low or no heat sink along the top edge can accommodate thicker. See the thread at OCN for pictures. Most people are only running pull, but I'm going to do 3x pull & 2x push with the GTs and try to fit one more slim push if it will fit. If the stealth doesn't cut it I'll go xspc.

 

[Mize]

The gear is here

Cosmos II with doors and lower drive cages removed:

Fun toys to install into above case while cursing profusely at times:

 

[DuckThor Evil]

When do you expect it to be up and running?
Plenty of room to work in that case

 

[Mize]

When do you expect it to be up and running?
Plenty of room to work in that case

Most likely this weekend sometime. This is a slow build between a bunch of other things. I have the 360 and 240 rads installed...had to elongate four holes in the top of the case as the fan mounts weren't perfectly spaced for a radiator...removed all the LED cables from the fan controller (not huge on LEDs). Ghetto modded the Swiftech pump with a heat sink on the bottom...installed the reservoir. Next up I need to get some screws cut for a second set of fans on the 240 (the Cosmos ii mounting system precludes 4 fans with standard 30 mm bolts so I have to go buy some longer ones and cut them to about 35 mm) and then cut two #6 screws to mount the pump (case->neoprene vibration pad->heat sink->pump - ordered from the bottom up).

At that point it's time to tear down my current rig, transfer parts, plumb the loop, fill and leak test and then game away.

I just finished my baseline temps bench.

In my HAF932 case with a Mugen II CPU cooler on an i2600k @ 4.5 GHz and 2x Gigabyte 3GB GTX580s with those three-fan Gigabyte coolers I hit a max cpu of 70 C and max GPU of 65 C when running Prime and FurMark simultaneously. Those GPU temps might be hard to beat, but it should be quieter.

 

[Mize]

After reviewing some reviews of GTX 580s, I fear I can't beat the temps I'm getting now on air cooling. 65 C after 10 minutes of Furmark...most reviews are 85 C and up...

 

[DuckThor Evil]

After reviewing some reviews of GTX 580s, I fear I can't beat the temps I'm getting now on air cooling. 65 C after 10 minutes of Furmark...most reviews are 85 C and up...

Do you mean reference air cooled cards are getting 85c? or what reviews do you mean? The cooler in those Gigabytes seems pretty good. I had an Arctic Accelero Extreme on my OC'd 570 and temps were quite a bit lower than even that 65c, but the board couldn't handle the voltage I gave it...

I don't know much about watercooling, but I'd think you should get pretty good cooling performance out of your setup.

 

[Mize]

One was a galaxy 580 and one was an Asus mars thing with 2x 580 on the card...

 

[DuckThor Evil]

I've seen the Galaxy review as well. It's weird the card and the cooling looks really good, but apparently it's performance isn't very impressive compared to other custom solutions. Your Gigabytes are good and MSI lightning has even better cooling system.

I'm now very curious to hear what sort of temps you are going to get with the water setup.

 

[Mize]

I hope they are at least a little lower...