First time water cooling; need to dissipate ~1200w of heat constantly

Fever · Sep 2, 2013

Hi guys,

Need some advise here. I'm familiar with the concepts of water cooling, but have never set up a water cooled rig before. I'm reading through the awesome stickies right now, but I would like some component suggestions from the pros for the following:

3930k
4x reference 7970s

The 3930k will be running 100% load with F@H, which overclocked should lead to around 200w of heat I estimate.

The 4 7970s will be running 100% load mining litecoins, putting out an estimated 220-250w of heat each.

I'm working with a Corsair 900D, so plenty of room for radiators and everything else.

Obviously the GPUs will be the biggest challenge, and I was thinking that Watercool's heatkiller full blocks would be the way to go?

Should I bother water cooling my Big Bang Xpower 2?

Looking forward to your advice.

Thanks,

Fever

ShrimpBrime · Sep 2, 2013

I use 120.2 with a GTX 480 and another for the 3770K. 940mhz + Gpu 5ghz + cpu.

So like 120.10 or equivalent in rad surface area. The more fins on the rads the better.

Fever · Sep 2, 2013

ShrimpBrime said:
I use 120.2 with a GTX 480 and another for the 3770K. 940mhz + Gpu 5ghz + cpu.

So like 120.10 or equivalent in rad surface area. The more fins on the rads the better.

Thanks for the info. Any particular brands I should look for in rads? Or are they all pretty much equivalent and the difference comes down to fins per inch?

Scout · Sep 2, 2013

Is noise a factor ?

Fever · Sep 2, 2013

Scout said:
Is noise a factor ?

Well, I would like to keep it quiet if possible, but I can tolerate noise. It isn't exactly quiet right now with 4 blowers running at 75%.

Edit: Forgot to mention that I already have a used EK 7970 water block. Do I have to stick to EK water blocks for the other 3 cards, or can I use 3 heat killers + the EK?

Conumdrum · Sep 2, 2013

You really need the same ones for the hoses to line up. There is an EK 4 way Xfire WC bridge I think, the EK ones would be perfectly fine as blocks. It looks nice with the bridge.

Fever · Sep 2, 2013

Conumdrum said:
You really need the same ones for the hoses to line up. There is an EK 4 way Xfire WC bridge I think, the EK ones would be perfectly fine as blocks. It looks nice with the bridge.

Yeah, that's what I figured. Guess I'll look into EK blocks instead of the heat killers. Should be easier to buy in Canada.

Here's what I'm thinking so far:

Res (Any will do?)
Pump (Thinking strongest Swiftech model?)
4 fan rad up top (Model?)
CPU block (Model?)
1 fan rad back of case (Model?)
4 7970s (EK copper)
4 fan rad bottom (Model?)
back to res.

Since I'm looking at quite a bit of restriction with the 4 GPUs, should I look into running 2 pumps instead of 1?

GTXJackBauer · Sep 2, 2013

If it was up to me, and dam the case has room, I would stick a 120.4 on push on the bottom, on the PSU side I would stick a 120.2 and stick a 120.3/120.4 up top. 120.4 if you're not using the most top bay since the fan will be in the way and if you are using all 4 bays than I would just go with a 120.3 in whatever fan configuration you choose to go with.

My radiator preference is the Black Ice SR-1 series since they are low FPI for low-mid RPM Fans. (800-1500 RPM) That will give a nice quiet operation. Rule of thumb is 120.2 per chip.

If you go high FPI you will need high RPM Fans. (2k-3k RPM) Noisy.

Fever · Sep 2, 2013

GTXJackBauer said:
If it was up to me, and dam the case has room, I would stick a 120.4 on push on the bottom, on the PSU side I would stick a 120.2 and stick a 120.3/120.4 up top. 120.4 if you're not using the most top bay since the fan will be in the way and if you are using all 4 bays than I would just go with a 120.3 in whatever fan configuration you choose to go with.

My radiator preference is the Black Ice SR-1 series since they are low FPI for low-mid RPM Fans. (800-1500 RPM) That will give a nice quiet operation. Rule of thumb is 120.2 per chip.

If you go high FPI you will need high RPM Fans. (2k-3k RPM) Noisy.

Yeah, it's good quite a bit of room lol. So you wouldn't stick a 120.3 in front? Figured I might have to use all available rad space with 4 GPUs. I'm only using the top most bay for a DVD drive, I would relocate it to acomodate a 120.4 rad.

One thing that concerns me is the water's temperature once it reaches the 3rd and 4th GPU, wouldn't it be pretty hot by then? Or would the last GPUs only be a few c warmer than the first?

I'm going to look up the Black Ice rads now. Hopefully they carry them either at NCIX Canada, or dazmode. Pretty much the only e-tailers that sell water cooling equipment in Canada, I think.

GTXJackBauer · Sep 2, 2013

Fever said:
Yeah, it's good quite a bit of room lol. So you wouldn't stick a 120.3 in front? Figured I might have to use all available rad space with 4 GPUs. I'm only using the top most bay for a DVD drive, I would relocate it to acomodate a 120.4 rad.

If you're not using the HD bays than yes you can add another thin radiator (Thin radiators usually are high FPI.) in the front but I think you might not have room for a 120.4 and 120.2 on the bottom. I could be wrong but you can stick a 120.2 in the front with the existing ones on the bottom. You'll have to double check that to make sure. You don't have to add a radiator in the front but it's up to you. I would put 3 nice fans in the front or use the existing Corsair ones to bring in fresh air for the top radiator while warm air is coming from the bottom.

Fever said:
One thing that concerns me is the water's temperature once it reaches the 3rd and 4th GPU, wouldn't it be pretty hot by then? Or would the last GPUs only be a few c warmer than the first?

Water temp will only be 1-3c difference from first to last so no worries there. Water will reach a equilibrium in the loop after say 30 mins.

Fever said:
I'm going to look up the Black Ice rads now. Hopefully they carry them either at NCIX Canada, or dazmode. Pretty much the only e-tailers that sell water cooling equipment in Canada, I think.

I believe those 2 are the only ones in Canada as well.

||Console|| · Sep 2, 2013

I havent used this site yet but I plan on it soon they seam to have ok prices for CND water cooling gear .

http://www.dazmode.com
-edit lol nm see what happens when you dont read the whole post =)
I think sidewinder will ship to canada
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/

Fever · Sep 2, 2013

GTXJackBauer said:
If you're not using the HD bays than yes you can add another thin radiator (Thin radiators usually are high FPI.) in the front but I think you might not have room for a 120.4 and 120.2 on the bottom. I could be wrong but you can stick a 120.2 in the front with the existing ones on the bottom. You'll have to double check that to make sure. You don't have to add a radiator in the front but it's up to you. I would put 3 nice fans in the front or use the existing Corsair ones to bring in fresh air for the top radiator while warm air is coming from the bottom.

Water temp will only be 1-3c difference from first to last so no worries there. Water will reach a equilibrium in the loop after say 30 mins.

I believe those 2 are the only ones in Canada as well.

Thanks for the info, going to continue my research.

Any suggestions on what the best pump might be? Will one pump suffice, or should I look at 2 pumps in the loop?

Conumdrum · Sep 2, 2013

Use a SLI bridge setup in parallel flow for the GPUs. The cards will cool just fine like that, and the first card will pretty much be the same temp as the last one. It will also help with flow rate on the full loop, which except for the parallel GPUs, the rest will be all series.

Conumdrum · Sep 2, 2013

Fever said:
Thanks for the info, going to continue my research.

Any suggestions on what the best pump might be? Will one pump suffice, or should I look at 2 pumps in the loop?

You're going to be spending close to $1000+.

Don't you think you should read the stickies for a few days if not weeks? Picking a pump is very very easy if you take the time to learn. You're going on a massive ride here, it's your stuff, you don't want to screw it up. And asking about something basic like a pump means you're still in grade school for the knowledge you need to know.

Slow down, CYA next week or so, maybe 2-3 weeks, really. :-/

GTXJackBauer · Sep 2, 2013

Fever said:
Thanks for the info, going to continue my research.

As you should sir. :salute:

Fever said:
Any suggestions on what the best pump might be? Will one pump suffice, or should I look at 2 pumps in the loop?

As for pumps, being a big complex loop with many components and radiators, I would go with the MCP-35X2 (Best pumps in the market imo) as that will enable redundancy for the loop (Say you're away from the PC while its on full load folding and one pump fails, the other will pick up the slack.) and have enough pressure/flow to go through that loop. I have them and they are great.

Fever · Sep 2, 2013

Conumdrum said:
Use a SLI bridge setup in parallel flow for the GPUs. The cards will cool just fine like that, and the first card will pretty much be the same temp as the last one. It will also help with flow rate on the full loop, which except for the parallel GPUs, the rest will be all series.

Huh, didn't know parallel was even possible. Definitely going to look into that.

Conumdrum said:
You're going to be spending close to $1000+. Don't you think you should read the stickies for a few days if not weeks? Picking a pump is very very easy if you take the time to learn. You're going on a massive ride here, it's your stuff, you don't want to screw it up. And asking about something basic like a pump means you're still in grade school for the knowledge you need to know.

Slow down, CYA next week or so, maybe 2-3 weeks, really.

I'd say kindergarten might be a better description lol. :rofl:

But you're right, I'm in no rush to put this together and I will be spending lots of time reading before pulling the trigger on anything. This thread is part of my research.

GTXJackBauer said:
As you should sir.

As for pumps, being a big complex loop with many components and radiators, I would go with the MCP-35X2 (Best pumps in the market imo) as that will enable redundancy for the loop (Say you're away from the PC while its on full load folding and one pump fails, the other will pick up the slack.) and have enough pressure/flow to go through that loop. I have them and they are great.

Thanks for the link, think that will be my pump. Love the fact that one can fail without taking everything down!

Appreciate all the responses so far guys. I'm only starting to realize what I'm getting into here, and I'm sure I'll have a few bumps along the way. Counting on you guys to make the ride a little smoother! :thup:

Conumdrum · Sep 2, 2013

Great! We have seen many over the years rush it, mistakes and after 75 posts in a thread where some use 7 posts and build the same WCing rig, any help and efforts you make makes you a very valuable member. We have had some doozies for sure.

Have fun. Ohh, something I wrote long ago for a new member. Bit outdated with some of the links, but you the gist.

Glad you are here. We'll do you right.

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6489396&postcount=3

Fever · Sep 2, 2013

Conumdrum said:
Great! We have seen many over the years rush it, mistakes and after 75 posts in a thread where some use 7 posts and build the same WCing rig, any help and efforts you make makes you a very valuable member. We have had some doozies for sure.

Have fun. Ohh, something I wrote long ago for a new member. Bit outdated with some of the links, but you the gist.

Glad you are here. We'll do you right.

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6489396&postcount=3

Wow! Thanks for putting that post together Conumdrum! Going to read through everything you've got there. And I plan to do my best to avoid mistakes, which probably means I'll make a few. :rofl:

mokrunka · Sep 3, 2013

FWIW, I used 120.9 of the Hardware Labs SR1 rads. They are a bit on the thick side (maybe around 1.25-1.50 in), but you can use low speed fans to keep the noise down. Believe me, you may think noise isn't an issue, but you haven't heard noise until you've got 12 120mm fans spinning at 3k RPM.

Check out martin's liquid lab, or skinnee's website for a TON of good information and performance reviews about the different rads. They are not all created equal, and you need to be informed enough to pick the right one for your setup/needs.

Conumdrum · Sep 3, 2013

Skinneelabs.com is gone. I guess Cameron gave up on watercooling. Not sure what happened to him.

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