cooling the new 2900XT

When I originally bought my new Sapphire HD 2900XT, I had intended to put some quiet air cooling on it like the Thermaltake HR-03/R600. But, things have changed and I decided to watercool this sucker. Trouble is, my CPU loop is exactly how I want it right now and I don't think it could handle the addition of a GPU block from a hot running 2900XT.

So, I ordered up a complete separate loop just for the vid card consisting of a Swiftech MCW60 block, MCP350 pump, and MCR120 rad. Just gonna make a T-line and plumb the loop with some extra 3/8" tubing I have laying around. My case is huge and if I measured correctly, I can fit it all of the second loop in with no problem.

Input? I'm assuming a 1X120mm rad can handle a single vid card. But, what if I decide to go crossfire later. Think this loop could handle a second MCW60 block? Is this a crazy idea? Who else has a separate loop for their vid card(s)?

If you are going to add a second card temps probably wont be so great with a single rad. You would probably need a double rad to keep temps down where you want 'em. Anyway, that setup should do fine for your 2900XT. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

and of course we want pics as always.

Isn't that card over 200 watts? That's way more than most CPU's so I would think you would need a double rad for sure.

Maybe you should just triple rad the whole mess and go with one pump.

Sounds fun though, let us know what temps you get, I think I read they had 90c off that video card at full speed.

I thought about the same thing as far as setting up a seperate loop just for my 2900 due to the amount of heat that beast generates. Instead I went with a 120x3 tripple rad setup however I havent hooked the 2900 into the loop yet, that comes later this week. I'm still benching it on air.

A decent single 120mm rad should be able to handle that 1 card just fine as long as that's the only thing in your loop. However as stated above, I would upgrade to something bigger if you intend to run dual cards in crossfire.

I've seen a tad over 70 degrees when benching, but that was with the stock fan manually set to 100% which is loud. The problem is that I don't have room for a second double and a triple means completely redoing everything. Well, since I already ordered the single rad, I'll see how that works out first.

Did you order up a couple dozen ramsinks?

Yep, I also ordered 16 nice little copper RAM sinks. I should have enough extra stuff laying around here to sink up the Vcore mosfets and Vcore series inductors, just like ViperJohn recommends. I'll definitely post pics when I'm done, probably next weekend.

just conect it all together and strap it to a car rad lol...problem sorted.

i recon 2x120mm would be ok for crosfire. but i dont kno that much bout wcing.

I started leak testing my new vid card loop and coolant gushed out from the block body o-ring. Turns out I had put it together wrong (embarrassing). Guess that's why we leak test outside the case. It's all back together again and I'll let it run for a while more. I should have it assembled in the case by late morning tomorrow. Here is a pic of the 2900XT all sinked up (the chrome adapter plate on the MCW60 is supposed to be on top, not like it's shown in the pic).

Here's the completed pic. Don't mind the messy wires. Pump for the CPU loop is out of sight behind the HDD cage. I have a bay res for the CPU and a T-line for the GPU. Temps on the 2900XT seem to be 25 to 30 degrees cooler so far.

wow....that looks awesome.

Nice work, looks clean and I like the different colors for the two loops. What kind of OC's are you getting on that 2900xt?

yes don't tease, what is your OC on the card and temps also please

I can bench at 914/1089 if I bump voltage up on the card. Running my system at 4 gig with vid card at max overclock results in 53 degrees while running 3Dmark2006 with both side case intake fans and the GPU rad fan all on medium speed. If I use high speed on all the fans, then load GPU temp drops to about 49 degrees. The lower temps I listed earlier was for my old E6600 @ 3.6 and the vid card at default speed and default voltage.