Advice on water cooled PC *spawn*

[Mize]

I got the loop installed, filled, drained and refilled. Running an overnight leak check with paper towels packed in. Good news is the Black Ice radiator paid off as I was able to run 6 fans on my 360 where most folks cannot (motherboard heat sinks interfere. I also got 4 fans on the 240 but I'm not terribly pleased with how much the door/dust filter cuts air flow. Might take the filter out.

I'm also thinking of getting one of those SLI/CFX bridge plumbing things. The hose from one card to the next is my only kink spot and prevents me from running GPU fans on the door. I have a fan on the back side of the drive cages blowing on the GPUs though.

Photos tomorrow as this computer (my media server) has no SD card reader for my good cameral shots and I can't stand anymore mobile phone shots.

 

[Grall]

Hey Mize, what fans (all 50 of them! ) are those?

Very interesting impeller design, if I may say so... High static pressure model?

 

[Mize]

Hey Mize, what fans (all 50 of them! ) are those?

Very interesting impeller design, if I may say so... High static pressure model?

Scythe Gentle Typhoons, 1850 RPM, AP-15s. Known for low noise and high static pressure and can be very hard to find at times.

 

[Grall]

You're using the same high SP fan everywhere then, and not just in the radiator? Any particular reason, other than convenience? Shouldn't there be flow-optimized AND quiet fans suitable for ventilating the case itself?

 

[almighty]

GT's are the best fans there is IMO... Water or air cooling they're unbeatable aand very quiet.

 

[Mize]

Actually, the aren't even 100% of the radiator fans. I have two radiators, one 360 with six 120 fans (push/pull) and one 240 with 4 fans in push pull. I only have 7 of the GT fans so one on the 360 is an Enermax and two on the 240 are cooler masters. There are 4 non-radiator fans (yes, that's 14 fans in total): a silent 140 exhaust on the back, a silent 200 and a quiet 120 intakes on the front and a silent 120 inside blowing on the graphics cards to cool regulators and ram.

It's actually much easier on the ears than my HAF932 as those GT fans have a low pitch hum and no whine at all. I've run it with the pump and all fans. Today I power up the rest.

 

[MfA]

In my opinion anything over 800 RPM isn't low noise.

 

[Mize]

In my opinion anything over 800 RPM isn't low noise.

...and anything under 800 RPM won't push air through a radiator enough to do much good. Fortunately this isn't my HTPC - it's a gaming rig.

Actually I tend to rate fan "noise" as a combination of dB and pitch. I've had 18 dB fans that annoyed me far more than some 28 dB fans based solely on pitch. For example the SIX fans that cooled my Gigabytes did one hell of a job (see above), but when they wound up during gaming it was best to use headphones to block out their noise. Running the pump and all the fans in this new rig at max is significantly less obtrusive...I just hope it cools the GPUs as well as those six fans

Also, the vast majority of these fans are connected to a fan controller and can be run at less than max rpm when not needed - even the pump is PWM so it can slow down when things aren't so warm.

Here's a video of the AP-15 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=of2Qnz-1OIw&feature=related

 

[almighty]

In my opinion anything over 800 RPM isn't low noise.

That 800rpm family could be noisey in restrictive situations.

My fans are a prime example

 

[Mize]

Here's a shot from last night's leak check with fans running (notice no wires connecting anything and no PSU in the case...the LED fan on top is the Enermax.

 

[Mize]

Nice improvements.

CPU went from 70 C -> 52 C
GPUs went form 65 C -> 50 C

About the same volume but lower pitch.

 

[Mize]

I can run fans and pump on low and still run basic windows stuff and prime and keep highest vcore < 37 C and Vcpu <23 C. Me likey water.

 

[almighty]

Currently re-building my rig as well...

2x 360mm HW Labs radiators
2x Laing DDC pump
2x XSPC Laing DDC pump top reservoirs
EK Supreme CPU block
EK Single cover GPU blocks
Black nickel plated fittings

 

[Mize]

Strange thing about that PWM Swiftech-branded pump is that it runs insanely slow most of the time. Can't even see movement in the reservoir...until you start gaming or running Prime

 

[Mize]

Currently re-building my rig as well...

2x 360mm HW Labs radiators
2x Laing DDC pump
2x XSPC Laing DDC pump top reservoirs
EK Supreme CPU block
EK Single cover GPU blocks
Black nickel plated fittings

So you're doing two independent loops? Do you have a case that can fit both 360s inside?

 

[Mize]

Here's the finished build:

Had to remove the 6th fan from the 360 owing to the second power connector. I will mod it eventually and put it back in I think.

 

[almighty]

God damn I want money for a Cosmos S2, I have to make do with the original

Mine isn't progressing too bad, Just waiting on some parts to finish it up, There's going to be a second pump top reservoir next to the one in the picture, Fluid will be UV Blue because I use Intel and either red or green depending on which GPU team I decide to go with

 

[Mize]

almighty, you use 3/8" tubing? What type?
So it's two independent loops then?

I really like my drain Tee. I wanted an easy way to flush the new rads without the "pull the tube and rush to drip it over a bowl/bucket" and it's soooo easy.

I decided to take the "armor" off my Sabertooth P67 rather than go with a noisy fan or nothing at all.

What the best multi-card loop adapter? I can't fit GPU fans on the door with that hose I've got there...

 

[almighty]

almighty, you use 3/8" tubing? What type?
So it's two independent loops then?

I really like my drain Tee. I wanted an easy way to flush the new rads without the "pull the tube and rush to drip it over a bowl/bucket" and it's soooo easy.

I decided to take the "armor" off my Sabertooth P67 rather than go with a noisy fan or nothing at all.

What the best multi-card loop adapter? I can't fit GPU fans on the door with that hose I've got there...

Yea it's 3/8" tube, I think it just looks the best as 1/2" can look way to 'fat'

It will be two loops yes

- Reservoir > Pump > CPU block > Radiator
- Reservoir > Pump > GPU block > Radiator

Benefits of the radiators being cross flow is that the tube doesn't have to be on show and all over the place.

Draining is easy, Just take one of the blocks off and hold it over a funnel/bucket and you're good to go

This will be the first time I've run this board on anything but phase cooling so I'll have to check my temps under the armour.

I never actually used fans on the side panel when I used single cover blocks as they wasn't needed, what is GPU-Z reporting your VRM temps at during load?

 

[DuckThor Evil]

Thanks Mize for delivering with the pictures! Always nice to follow people building their rigs and nice temp improvements . Almighty's system looks to be quite a stunner! I'm getting excited here, might have to use water cooling for my next rig also , but that's not going to be in near future.