S340 radiator advice

Kooziguy · Nov 27, 2015

Hello,

Doing my first custom loop. I've read various guides on radiator needs. However, I found a lot of information contradictory and confusing. I just wanted to ask your thoughts.

I'm going to be running a 4790k and a 980ti full block, and I intend to overclock both. The s340 has space for a 280mm/30mm radiator and a 120mm/30mm. I might be able to mod the case for a 140mm/45mm on the bottom. What is sufficient for my needs? If I wanted to sli a 980ti what would I need? Assume quality fans/radiators.

Thanks,
Kooz

Conumdrum · Nov 27, 2015

Basically you need 120 x 120 mm radiator area per 100 watts. So I'd say 370 watts, so 120x4 for your setup. Or 140x3 might do. SLI? Add another 200 watts minimum.

You need a bigger case........

Have you read our extensive list of stickies?

EarthDog · Nov 27, 2015

As conum said, a minimum of 3x120mm, but for better temps and quiet operation (the point of watercooling for most), 4x 120mm is what I would do. For a single card... 5x120mm for SLI.

Definitely check out the guides we have!!

Kooziguy · Nov 29, 2015

Thanks a bunch guys! Will run a single card with 2x 140 and 2x 120.

Kooz

EarthDog said:
As conum said, a minimum of 3x120mm, but for better temps and quiet operation (the point of watercooling for most), 4x 120mm is what I would do. For a single card... 5x120mm for SLI.

Definitely check out the guides we have!!

rts2468 · Nov 29, 2015

For 2 blocks the 240mm Radiator will do fine.

EarthDog · Nov 30, 2015

rts2468 said:
For 2 blocks the 240mm Radiator will do fine.

The number of blocks do no matter so much as the wattage that needs to be cooled. I wouldn't cool well over 300w with 2x120/140mm rads.. those fans would need to be spinning fast, creating more noise (another reason people go water) and temps wouldn't be much better than air after the loop saturates.

rts2468 · Nov 30, 2015

EarthDog said:
The number of blocks do no matter so much as the wattage that needs to be cooled. I wouldn't cool well over 300w with 2x120/140mm rads.. those fans would need to be spinning fast, creating more noise (another reason people go water) and temps wouldn't be much better than air after the loop saturates.

EDIT:What I meant to say, those 2 blocks, a 240mm rad should be fine. If you have good air flow, you shouldn't have to push those fans past 1600 rpm in a push/pull with negitive pressure in the case. I have 5 blocks with about 650w needed to be cooled, and a 360mm and a 240mm is all I need, and if I am not overclocking the 360mm alone would do just fine, just like in my system. I do not go over 60c on my GPU's, and my CPU, NB, and RAM does not go over 45c. If all you are doing is bench-marking and overclocking, yes 240mm rad would not be enough because your GPU's are always max'd out. But in 99% of video games, you will not max out your GPU's and you will not be putting the MAX wattage into those radiators, so it really depends on what you want to do with the system. I might be outside the meta of 100 watts per 120mm x 25mm radiator surface area. But from my experience you only need to stand by the formula if you are trying to get the highest score on 3DMark. My system doesn't just continue to heat up, once the GPU's drop off, the single 360mm radiator instantly brings the coolant temp down (Coolants temps range from 32c to up to 40c). Its not ideal, but its still good enough to get the heat out and not continue to heat up on idle. To me Air Flow is more important then radiator surface area. I might be wrong, but like I said, in my experience I never needed the extra radiators.

Here are a couple picture of my system, please don't hate if you think my opinion is completely wrong, its only my opinion.

Currently Speeds:
CPU @ 4.8Ghz
GPU's Core Clock @ 806Mhz
GPU's Memory Clock @ 2150Mhz

EarthDog · Nov 30, 2015

rts2468 said:
What I meant to say, those 2 blocks, a 240mm rad should be fine.

And I will say again...

It wouldn't cool well over 300w with 2x120/140mm rads.. those fans would need to be spinning fast, creating more noise (another reason people go water) and temps wouldn't be much better than air after the loop saturates.

rts2468 · Nov 30, 2015

EarthDog said:
And I will say again...

Read my edit please.

EarthDog · Nov 30, 2015

Read it.. but since I have no idea what parts you have....................its hard to reply.

That said, I had a 295x2 and a 5820K overclocked (so around 625W) and used a total of 5x120mm worth of radiator (one a thick radiator like yours). Temps on the GPUs barely broke 60C, the CPU at 4.2GHz broke 60C as well... that said, the water temp was 40C after gaming for a couple of hours. I needed to crank my fans to keep things cool.

Again, the point of water cooling is better than air and quieter. Depending on the case airflow, ambient temps, etc is as to it will work or not. You also have a 'thick' radiator in there as well which helps capacity.

Dont you also have a push/pull config too on that top radiator?

rts2468 · Nov 30, 2015

EarthDog said:
Read it.. but since I have no idea what parts you have....................its hard to reply.
PC Parts:
MB: ASUS Crosshair V Formula
CPU: AMD FX-6300 @ 4.8GHz
RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600 16GB (4x4GB)
GPU: 2x EVGA GTX 470 Core Clock @805Mhz Memory Clock @ 2150Mhz
PSU: Seasonic MI12 Bronze 850w Modular
SSD: (1) Corsair Force GT 120GB SATA III (2) Lite-On 128GB SATA III
HDD: (1) Seagate Barracuda 3TB SATA III (2) WD Green 2TB SATA II (3) WD Blue 1TB SATA II
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Full Tower

Water-Cooling Parts:
Reservoir: (1) 1x Koolance 452X2 Dual 5.25'' Drive Bay Reservoir/Dual Pump Combo - (2) 1x Bitspower Water Tank Z-Multi 150 Full Clear
Pump: 2x XSPC D5 Vario Pump
Tubing: Bitspower PETG 12mm OD
Fittings: (1) 16x Bitspower Deluxe White MultiLink Adapter (2) 2x EK-AF 90° Black Chrome (3) 1x EK-AF 45° Matte Black (4) 4x Alphacool 90° Revolvable Deep Black (5) 2x Bitspower 90° Rotary Matte Black (6) 3x EK-AF Extender 8mm F-F Matte Black (7) 2x EK-AF Extender 6mm M-M Matte Black (8) 1x Bitspower Extender M-F Matte Black (9) 1x Bitspower Extender M-M Matte Black (10) 2x Koolance Coupling Adapter M-M Chome (11) 1x Koolance 45° Swiveling
MB Block: 1x EK-FB-ASUS-C5F Acetal+Nickel
CPU Block: 1x XSPC Raystorm AMD
GPU Block: 2x EK-FC470 GTX - Acetal+Nickel
RAM Block: 1x XSPC Universal Memory Copper Waterblock with 4x RAM Side Plates

I hope this helps.

- - - Updated - - -

EarthDog said:

Read it.. but since I have no idea what parts you have....................its hard to reply.

That said, I had a 295x2 and a 5820K overclocked (so around 625W) and used a total of 5x120mm worth of radiator (one a thick radiator like yours). Temps on the GPUs barely broke 60C, the CPU at 4.2GHz broke 60C as well... that said, the water temp was 40C after gaming for a couple of hours. I needed to crank my fans to keep things cool.

Again, the point of water cooling is better than air and quieter. Depending on the case airflow, ambient temps, etc is as to it will work or not. You also have a 'thick' radiator in there as well which helps capacity.

Dont you also have a push/pull config too on that top radiator?

Click to expand...

Yes I do, As I mentioned in my reply. My Room Temp ranges from 23 to 27c. The XPSC Radiator is 360mm x 35mm. So yes, it helps a lot more than the normal sized ones.

EarthDog · Nov 30, 2015

Yeah, you have around 600W with everything fully cooking and 5x120mm worth of rad... however that 360 is a double decker so that helps. You also have a push/pull setup on that radiator.

As I said, I had around 650W+ in my system with 5x120mm worth of radiator and seeing 40C water temps wasn't really a good thing regardless of temps. That system was pumping out some WARM air through the rads. He will be fine, but more (5x120mm for SLI) is optimal IMO. 3x120mm will also be Ok for just the CPU and single GPU.

rts2468 · Nov 30, 2015

Could you by any chance criticize my system. I always love constructive criticism. This is my 20th build (5th personal rebuild) I have done 15 other watercooling builds for various customers. My main work ranging from 6' rack servers to basic workstations. I don't find many customers wanting watercooling, so i do not have a whole lot of experience in watercooling, but in the decade since I started my company, I've always tried to give my customers the best bang for the buck, and I have found that if you are going to use the 120mm X 120mm X 25mm per 100w, you are going to use that system for mainly benchmarking. I have only once used that formula to make a system and yes you will never go above 45c on your GPUs while gaming, but the add costs to make that happen to me are not worth that 10c less in temps. Only benchmarking will see that big off a difference, and if you want to do benchmarking, you are better off with a liquid helium or nitrogen setup.

That's my opinion, but please criticize my system I would really appreciate it, and could you send a pic of your case so I could see what you are working with to see if you have enough air flow in that case to have the 980ti SLI dream come true.

- - - Updated - - -

EarthDog said:
Yeah, you have around 600W with everything fully cooking and 5x120mm worth of rad... however that 360 is a double decker so that helps. You also have a push/pull setup on that radiator.

As I said, I had around 650W+ in my system with 5x120mm worth of radiator and seeing 40C water temps wasn't really a good thing regardless of temps. That system was pumping out some WARM air through the rads. He will be fine, but more (5x120mm for SLI) is optimal IMO. 3x120mm will also be Ok for just the CPU and single GPU.

So basically what I just said, if you are going to have only the 2 blocks, the 240mm/280mm X 30mm (thickness) would work, I would recommend any size larger then the normal 25mm thickness

By the way, it's good to have hot air coming out, that means it is working, lol. Cooled air would only occur if you had that electro thermal pads on the blocks and had the polarity backwards, lol

EarthDog · Nov 30, 2015

This isn't your thread... but to quickly answer...

Look great... I just would not have watercooled such outdated cards. They don't have enough vRAM to run 1080p titles (and SLI/CFx does not combine memory).

and I have found that if you are going to use the 120mm X 120mm X 25mm per 100w, you are going to use that system for mainly benchmarking. I have only once used that formula to make a system and yes you will never go above 45c on your GPUs while gaming,

Its not just for benching... And you will go above 45C on your GPUs while gaming there as well.

My case is a Thermaltake Core X9. It has plenty of airflow. I have no dreams of running 980 Ti SLI as I don't need it at 2560x1440 resolution. My single one, on air cooling, is fine. It is the OP that wants this, not me.

Again, this isn't the thread to critique your system or discuss mine.

By the way, it's good to have hot air coming out, that means it is working, lol. Cooled air would only occur if you had that electro thermal pads on the blocks and had the polarity backwards, lol

Yeah, I get that.......... :-/

rts2468 · Nov 30, 2015

Kooziguy said:
Hello,

Doing my first custom loop. I've read various guides on radiator needs. However, I found a lot of information contradictory and confusing. I just wanted to ask your thoughts.

I'm going to be running a 4790k and a 980ti full block, and I intend to overclock both. The s340 has space for a 280mm/30mm radiator and a 120mm/30mm. I might be able to mod the case for a 140mm/45mm on the bottom. What is sufficient for my needs? If I wanted to sli a 980ti what would I need? Assume quality fans/radiators.

Thanks,
Kooz

IMO, the 280mm X 280mm X 30mm will do just fine for those 2 blocks, if you SLI, you will have to add a 120mm X 120mm X 30mm or 140mm X 140mm X 25mm. It will keep your system cooler than air and more quite. Yes when you have your system at load your temps will raise and fans will rpm up, but when playing games you will not notice the extra db, only when benchmarking will you notice those details, because benchmarking is all about those tiny tiny details.

GTA V runs at 75fps(Framelocked,144Hz monitor) at ultra, it is capped on GDDR5 memory when play, but for the current games, I have still not find a reason to upgrade my GPUs, fallout 4 plays at 60fps. Also I have had these GPUs since 2012. So I cannot say that these are outdated. I know 1280MB do not combine but they are enough to play the game at high to custom ultra settings.

EarthDog · Nov 30, 2015

If you insist...

There isn't an informed soul on this site that would bless 1.28GB of vRAM to play modern games at high/ultra settings (which includes AA) at 1080p. We had testing done here in 2012 that showed the majority of titles out then were using well over 1.2GB of vRAM and use has gone up since then.

But, I digress... this is not our thread to talk about this stuff. You are welcome to message me if you would like to continue to discuss the matter, or start a different thread.

rts2468 · Nov 30, 2015

EarthDog said:
If you insist...

There isn't an informed soul on this site that would bless 1.28GB of vRAM to play modern games at high/ultra settings (which includes AA) at 1080p. We had testing done here in 2012 that showed the majority of titles out then were using well over 1.2GB of vRAM and use has gone up since then.

But, I digress... this is not our thread to talk about this stuff. You are welcome to message me if you would like to continue to discuss the matter, or start a different thread.

It was never my intention to take over this thread, I was only using my system as an example of the reason why you do not need to use the 120mm x 120mm x 25 mm /per 100 watt formula. It just got out of hand.

FOR THE VRAM issue; I totally agree with you, 1280MB even back in 2012 was not enough to put every feature on, and get all the Tessellation with it, but to be able to play the game at "high" settings and have 25MB remaining, when tweaking other settings like Viewing Distance and other features that most of the time Nvida Experience turns off for "Optimal Settings". Allows me to play 2015 Current games just as good as 2012 Current games. That is why I say they are still not outdated. Because IMO, having a 3 year old card that to me keeps up with todays cards is a good reason not to upgrade yet. I am a "futurist" I build to upgrade my system, I tried a 770 4GB from EVGA, but I messed up and got the only one that does not come with a Full Cover block, so i went back, and when I did. my 2 470's played better than the single 770 4GB, because I can over clock the hell out of these things, and have high FPS, a little lower detail.

ONCE AGAIN SORRY FOR THE INVASION..

EarthDog · Nov 30, 2015

Yes, I am assuming people want to actually run High or Ultra without tweaking it (which wouldn't be High or Ultra if you tweak settings...). The GTX 470 will be a SIX year old card come 3/2016. You asked my opinion, I wouldn't have built with them. Lack of vram and power use compared to a modern card are my reasons.

No worries on the threadjack, just trying to get it back to where we need to be so the OP doesn't get scared and run off, LOL!

rts2468 · Nov 30, 2015

EarthDog said:
Yes, I am assuming people want to actually run High or Ultra without tweaking it (which wouldn't be High or Ultra if you tweak settings...). The GTX 470 will be a SIX year old card come 3/2016. You asked my opinion, I wouldn't have built with them. Lack of vram and power use compared to a modern card are my reasons.

No worries on the threadjack, just trying to get it back to where we need to be so the OP doesn't get scared and run off, LOL!

I understand where you are coming from, but imagine back in 2012, when these were almost the best besides the 480 for Nvida. And You watercool your system and have 2 470's all the way back in 2012. Now imagine playing all the great games from 2012 to 2015, and all that time you have not upgraded your GPU's and yet for the little details you are missing out on, you are still able to play all these awsome games without having to upgrade and spend around $500 ($300-$400 for card $100-$150 for Block) for something you don't need yet. I am about about the details, I HAVE A RAM BLOCK (lol no reason to need it). But for those tiny details that my monitor (asus vg278he) will not even display, IMO is not worth that huge purchase for maybe 30fps on the high end. going from 75 fps to 144 fps will be a lot better, but not worth it in my eyes.

THANK YOU though for your advice, this coming x-mas I am going to be upgrading to a 970 reference (SO I KNOW I CAN WATERCOOL IT). No reason to pay more for a cooler I wont use. I am trying to wait as long as I can so prices go down. The only good part about electronics pricing, is when buying.

EDIT: GTX 490 was the best "card", but was only 2 460's on 1 PCB.

Kooziguy said:
Thanks a bunch guys! Will run a single card with 2x 140 and 2x 120.

Kooz

IMO, the 280mm X 280mm X 30mm will do just fine for those 2 blocks, if you SLI, you will have to add a 120mm X 120mm X 30mm or 140mm X 140mm X 25mm. It will keep your system cooler than air and more quite. Yes when you have your system at load your temps will raise and fans will rpm up, but when playing games you will not notice the extra db, only when benchmarking will you notice those details, because benchmarking is all about those tiny tiny details.

EDIT: GETTING BACK ON TRACK

EarthDog · Nov 30, 2015

EDIT: GTX 490 was the best "card", but was only 2 460's on 1 PCB.

I never knew a 490 existed. Now, there was a GTX 460 2WIN which is two GTX 460's, but never a 490. There was a 590 though, but that wasn't two 460's either.

The terminology is a little odd in how you mention 280x280mm. I wouldn't want him to go get a square radiator that likely wouldn't fit in a case. Typically we say X x 120/140mm instead of alluding to a square radiator of which only a couple exist.

Merged your double posts again.

EDIT: Looks like it was a twinkle in their eye, but never became more than that: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/10/visualized-nvidias-dual-fermi-card-that-never-was/

EDIT2: My apologies for being so literal. I have seen mistakes happen on this front before is why I am mentioning it.

S340 radiator advice

New Member

Member

Gulper Nozzle Co-Owner

New Member

Registered

Gulper Nozzle Co-Owner

Registered

Attachments

Gulper Nozzle Co-Owner

Registered

Gulper Nozzle Co-Owner

Registered

Gulper Nozzle Co-Owner

Registered

Gulper Nozzle Co-Owner

Registered

Gulper Nozzle Co-Owner

Registered

Gulper Nozzle Co-Owner

Registered

Gulper Nozzle Co-Owner

Similar threads