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HAF X watercool fitting problems

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jmcginley129

New Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2011
Hi guys its my first post, i'm currently in the planning stages of my first water cool build. Having researched most of the available components i opted for a sandybridge mobo with the i7 2600k for its impressive OC performance. I also hope to trifire 3 6970's.
i have purchased the Coolermaster haf x with the intention of some minor modding (paint job, window kit and key switch)

Anyway heres my question, i want to cool the cpu with a corshair h70, mounting the 120mm rad on the rear exhaust fan, however i also want the cool my 6970's with a custom cooling setup using a 360mm rad on the top of the case (under the two 200mm fans but with 3 120 fans underneath in push pull config)

Basically will this setup fit without any modification, and considering there's 120mm cooling surface per component will this be adequate?
thanks guys =)
 
I'm not sure if it will fit.

That will not be (imho) enough cooling for 3X 6970s. Find a place for 2X 120.3 rads and you may be OK.

Have you gone here to calculate your heatload? How much time have you spent on skinnee's website (skinneelabs.com)?

And btw :welcome:
 
Tbh i dont think that 120.6 can cool 3 beasts like that either. TDP of the 6970 is 361W if i am not mistaken. Assuming that a good 360 rad will dissipate 400W with a dT of around 8 degrees i would suggest a 360 rad per card in order to keep that thing chill. Of course i might be wrong, any pro could perhaps enlighten us here cause im a bit curious, im going to grab another card myself anytime soon.
 
here are a few things to concider....

Cooler master sells a full windowed left side panel for the HAFx/HAF932 look on there site for the HAF 932 Black edition. That is IMO better then modding the window you have.

Also i highly doubt you will be able to mount the rad up top without removing the 200mm fans.


Try maybe doing 120.3x2 by placing hte second 120.3 on the bottom with a radstand. You wil have to remove some drive trays.
 
Tbh i dont think that 120.6 can cool 3 beasts like that either. TDP of the 6970 is 361W if i am not mistaken. Assuming that a good 360 rad will dissipate 400W with a dT of around 8 degrees i would suggest a 360 rad per card in order to keep that thing chill. Of course i might be wrong, any pro could perhaps enlighten us here cause im a bit curious, im going to grab another card myself anytime soon.

TDP as per ATI is 300W.

OP: if you're willing to sacrifice a bit of performance, you could probably get by on 120.3, but you're gonna see little improvement in temps, should get a decent improvement in noise though...I'm just eyeballing the numbers, you're gonna have to do the calculations yourself.
 
thanks

Should have mentioned the gpu cooling is purely for noise reduction purposes so long as i don't cook my cards and they're opperating at reasonable temps im happy.
With this in mind is a 120.3 suitable for the 3 6970s at factory clock? Im also willing to sacrifice one card if it comes to it but really want to avoid external rads :S
 
how do you plan on utilizing the 3 cards. I mean unless you are gaming on a huge screen or multiscreen you might be better with 2x cards./
 
So, a single 360 rad is able to handle 3 gpus? Assuming that the 3 cards will work on a full load for about an hour, wont this boil the water?
 
Im simply going by your join date here so please dont take offense.


If this is your first time messing with watercooling please dont make any decisions until you had read all teh stickies in the watercooling sub forum. there are a lot but trust me if you say you read them all and you didnt someone will call you on it. Go there first and most of your questions (especially concerning heat load ) will be answered
 
OP, meaning the jm guy.

Your run too little rad, you might as well keep stock.

You 'DO' know the costs of cooling THREE 6970's? Blocks alone is over $300 easy. Add easy another $300 for parts. And you DO want full cover blocks dude with three blocks. Trust me.

Your looking at $800, and your case will have to be sold. Buy a MM, or A corsair, or a Casemods etc.

Runnng 3 of those, you have moved to the Majors, you better have a clue of what your doing. I can almost smell the smoke dude. $500 goes pooffff. No RMA...

Summary. You dreaming or you NEED 3 of those cards? If your running eyefinety ATI max I agree, other wise it's stoopid, two of them is plenty.

TWO 6970 in it's own loop with a quality HIGH FPI RAD AND some 2000+ RPM fans will be just fine.

Face it. your video card dream with watercooling is WRONG for your case. TWO 6970's I can see in your case.

DUMP, trash the big fans. Put a BIG quality 140x3 rad in the top, with QUALITY 120mm fans AND shrouds, you will be fine,and quiet.

$600 easy............ For TWO cards.... And buying a new case...............
 
not to be pesimistic, but i would really concider scrapping the whole idea for now. Go back to the drawing board. Identify your needs and your wants. Calculate your heatload , look at products needed for the job to get a clue of price ranges, then set your budget

Its sound counterintuitive, but its almost better to look at possible builds before you set your price limits. People go in wanting to spend XXX amount of dollars without fully understand what it is they will need to cool there loop.

If you purchase this without fully understanding the logistics of the BEAST that is watercooling, you will take 2 steps forward and 5 steps back
 
Ah, sorry excuse my ignorance it seems i have have massively underated the need for a much larger cooling surface. Either ways i'll try and answer a few replies here.
Yes the 3 card setup is to enable 3 screen eyfinity at 2xhd for gaming with a 60" 1080 tv for movies etc. Obviously overkill for the tv but necessary for the eyefinity setup.
also yes i have every intention of using full cover blocks
Finally regarding the budget, there isn't really a budget. So long as the system lives up to its purpose i'm happy. I suppose i'm doing this build purely for enjoyment, last time i did a build processors came on their own card. :-S

Anyway i want to thank everyone for their input, i've realised i'm behaving like a spoilt brat, sadly the laws of thermodynamics won't change just for me and i've put too much priority on aesthetics and less on the requirements of the system.

Right have decided to give the i7 its very own 120.2 rad in the top of the case and will treat the 6970's to the phobya xtreme nova 1080. Gonna mount it outside the case, maybe i can save on my gas bills this winter =)
 
Right have decided to give the i7 its very own 120.2 rad in the top of the case and will treat the 6970's to the phobya xtreme nova 1080. Gonna mount it outside the case, maybe i can save on my gas bills this winter =)

Ah, someone who isn't afraid to go external! That is a rare and admirable quality.

Are you dead-set on the 240? 280 might be better. Just saying.
 
Ok, xzo you are gaming on a 60 inch tv screen. I dont think i have seen a 60 inch sreen that supports 2xHD resolutions yet. remember no matter how much GPU power you have you can not puzh your tv past its max resolutioin
 
No i suppose the bigger the better, slightly concerned about loosing my top two drive bays but then again can allways fit my fan controller at the top should just be able to squeeze it in in front of the top rad.
Does anyone know if there are any decent external rad stands for the 1080 or is it best to use mounting brackets to secure it to the side of the case?
If it comes to it i suppose i can make some kind of casing for it at work but would rather order somthing specially made for that purpose.
Btw will be sure to document my build in a new thread once i get started for those interested.
 
Oh to dougshell sorry i didnt write that clearly, what i meant was i will be gaming on a samsung md230x3 which supports the 2x hd. The 60" tv is purely for watching movies or just general internet surfing so i can do it from the comfort of my bed rather than my desk. And as you correctly said 60" tvs so far as im aware currently only display in 1080.

correction the 230 only runs at 1080, apparently linus tech tips has lied to me =/
 
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in that case i would definitely not go with teh 6970x3. That is massive overkill if you are only gaming at 1920x1080
 
Does anyone know if there are any decent external rad stands for the 1080 or is it best to use mounting brackets to secure it to the side of the case?
If it comes to it i suppose i can make some kind of casing for it at work but would rather order somthing specially made for that purpose.

If you're looking for accessories, I'd check into the Mo-Ra 3 rather than the Phobya.
http://watercool.de/wbb/board1-watercool-support/4067-produktpreview-mo-ra3-360-serie/

They come in 120.9, 140.9, and 180.4. More expensive than Phobya, but the quality is outstanding.
 
granted but still at 3x eyefinity plus full AA it might still prove a challenge for the cards, if not a little future proofing never hurt. And ilden thanks for the link, seems the stands are readily available in the uk and the rads definately an acceptable price for the quoted performance. This cooling systems really starting to take shape now :).
the last issue i suppose would be a power supply for the fans on the rad, i dont fancy routing power cables out of the case from the psu so an external power supply would be preferable.
Do you think 18 fans for the rad push pull would be overkill? Dont want a wind tunnel for a bedroom, would 9 suffice and also are you guys aware of any external power supplies, so i dont have to buy a second albeit cheaper psu to sit buzzing away on my desk?
Thanks
 
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