Water coler for CPU and Video or its not worth it?

Hi,

I live at very hot place and when the temp is pretty high my room gets even higher.

The current specs are:

Corsair 400R / Artec 850W / MAXIMUS V GENE
i7 2700K / Corsair H100i / G.Skill RipjawsX DDR3 4x 4GB (16GB)
Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 Dual-X
OCZ Vertex 3 120GB (System/Apps) / Corsair Neutron GTX 120GB (Games)
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 64MB (Media/Others)

I currently have a H100i on the CPU which is great and keeps it at 41~45 average overclocked when the temp is high and when we have low temps around 25~36, the CPU is an i7 2700k.

However on this specific computer my video card still have the stock cooler DUAL-X from sapphire, the video card in question is a HD 7950.

Maybe the problem is not really with the Dual-X cooling the processor itself but perhaps the surround areas so I believe that with the change to a water cooler the hot air circulating inside it will decrease by A LOT or so I hope.

I would like to use a single water cooler on the CPU and VIDEO without know if that is possible and what I would have to do, would love some guidance if there is a ready to go device like the corsair ones or from any other worth buying brand that would do the job, and if not what would be the way to go for a dual water cooling on my computer as I doubt I will have space to fit both in and would have to get a new case and what case would you recommend me ?

My gpu block should be here in a few days. I'll let you know how much my cpu temps change after that. Comparing cpu and gpu's, my cpu puts out more watts and i think your gpu puts out more. Although, together we are probably producing similar total watts. Maybe i'm a bit higher. That said, i have a 4x120 compared to your 2x120. I'm hoping the combined loop heat will offset the case temps. I've documented my intake and exhaust setup temps in another thread, so, i should have enough data to give a definite answer. I usually stress with cpu/gpu at full load and ambient temps around 29-31.

Long story short, I should know more on Sunday or Monday as long as i get time to install it.

prixone said:

Hi,

I live at very hot place and when the temp is pretty high my room gets even higher.

The current specs are:

Corsair 400R / Artec 850W / MAXIMUS V GENE
i7 2700K / Corsair H100i / G.Skill RipjawsX DDR3 4x 4GB (16GB)
Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 Dual-X
OCZ Vertex 3 120GB (System/Apps) / Corsair Neutron GTX 120GB (Games)
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 64MB (Media/Others)

I currently have a H100i on the CPU which is great and keeps it at 41~45 average overclocked when the temp is high and when we have low temps around 25~36, the CPU is an i7 2700k.

However on this specific computer my video card still have the stock cooler DUAL-X from sapphire, the video card in question is a HD 7950.

Maybe the problem is not really with the Dual-X cooling the processor itself but perhaps the surround areas so I believe that with the change to a water cooler the hot air circulating inside it will decrease by A LOT or so I hope.

I would like to use a single water cooler on the CPU and VIDEO without know if that is possible and what I would have to do, would love some guidance if there is a ready to go device like the corsair ones or from any other worth buying brand that would do the job, and if not what would be the way to go for a dual water cooling on my computer as I doubt I will have space to fit both in and would have to get a new case and what case would you recommend me ?

Click to expand...

You'll need another case to fit the right amount of heat created.

Take a look at your yellow stickies intro to watercooling if you're really interested in water cooling your rig.

It would take roughly 120.4 to cool a CPU + GPU nowadays at low-mid rpm unless you don't care for noise.

jetboy said:

My gpu block should be here in a few days. I'll let you know how much my cpu temps change after that. Comparing cpu and gpu's, my cpu puts out more watts and i think your gpu puts out more. Although, together we are probably producing similar total watts. Maybe i'm a bit higher. That said, i have a 4x120 compared to your 2x120. I'm hoping the combined loop heat will offset the case temps. I've documented my intake and exhaust setup temps in another thread, so, i should have enough data to give a definite answer. I usually stress with cpu/gpu at full load and ambient temps around 29-31.

Long story short, I should know more on Sunday or Monday as long as i get time to install it.

Click to expand...

Looking forward to hear back from you.

I am slight confused about the meaning of 4x120, 2x120, is that about the radiator? about the fans spread? the case space?

I can also switch this with my HAF932 if that changes anything or will I need a new case and what would you recommend?

prixone said:

I am slight confused about the meaning of 4x120, 2x120, is that about the radiator? about the fans spread? the case space?

Click to expand...

It seems that 120mm fan radiators are most common, so, i find it the general average to use for cooling capacity. I've got a 360 and a 120 which equals 4x120 for cooling area. Thats all i meant by 4x120 and the 100i having a 2x120.

Gathering from most i've read, radiator surface area of 1x120 for each component then add a 120. From my experience going from a 1x120 to 2x120 (crummy second 120 radiator) i only got max a 1* decrease. Going to the 4x120 i only gained about 4-5 degrees. Just some figures to chew on.

prixone said:

I can also switch this with my HAF932 if that changes anything or will I need a new case and what would you recommend?

Click to expand...

The Corsair appears to be nearly identical to the HAF unless you wanted to mount a 3x120 on top. HAF can and (looking at pictures) the 400R can only fit a 2x120. If you ever wanted to expand, you still have a 120/140 you can add to the rear, or.... you can mount a radiator externally on the back and go larger.

BTW, i haven't been able to push my system yet and my ambient temps were closer to 22-23 (i usually stress around 29-31 range). I also still have bubbles in my system. I swapped my radiator fans back to exhaust which was giving my stress temps around cpu/56-57 and gpu/78-82. Intake was cpu/52-53 and gpu/88-91. That said, after 45minutes of Furmark and Prime, my temps are cpu/46 (add about 6-8 for higher ambient and i can calculate 52-54) and gpu/44 (add 6-8 and thats 52-54 ). I really need to stress it more, but, so far i'm thrilled.

prixone said:

Hi,

I live at very hot place and when the temp is pretty high my room gets even higher.

The current specs are:

Corsair 400R / Artec 850W / MAXIMUS V GENE
i7 2700K / Corsair H100i / G.Skill RipjawsX DDR3 4x 4GB (16GB)
Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 Dual-X
OCZ Vertex 3 120GB (System/Apps) / Corsair Neutron GTX 120GB (Games)
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 64MB (Media/Others)

I currently have a H100i on the CPU which is great and keeps it at 41~45 average overclocked when the temp is high and when we have low temps around 25~36, the CPU is an i7 2700k.

However on this specific computer my video card still have the stock cooler DUAL-X from sapphire, the video card in question is a HD 7950.

Maybe the problem is not really with the Dual-X cooling the processor itself but perhaps the surround areas so I believe that with the change to a water cooler the hot air circulating inside it will decrease by A LOT or so I hope.

I would like to use a single water cooler on the CPU and VIDEO without know if that is possible and what I would have to do, would love some guidance if there is a ready to go device like the corsair ones or from any other worth buying brand that would do the job, and if not what would be the way to go for a dual water cooling on my computer as I doubt I will have space to fit both in and would have to get a new case and what case would you recommend me ?

Click to expand...

Regarding the underlined above, Most fall into the same situation as what you're contemplating however adding the GPUs heat and combining that heat in the same loop as the CPU decreases the overclock headroom of the 2700K.

IMO running 2 separate loops seeing as how the CPU is already water cooled is the best option for cooling the graphics card, it will isolate the GPU cooling.

What most run into when they decide to combine it all in one loop is they don't choose enough radiator cooling field to handle the overclocked heat load, because most calculations are an estimate just to get by, not to allow you overclocking headroom.

So seeing as how you are already water cooling your CPU with a CLC cooling solution, if you desire to cool the GPU itself and do it right you're looking at worst case about $400.00 including a full coverage graphics card water block, because there are no graphics cooling kits available.

So are you still interested?

My journey to add my gpu to my loop. Before and after temps. Start around post #12. http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=737615

jetboy said:

My journey to add my gpu to my loop. Before and after temps. Start around post #12. http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=737615

Click to expand...

You do realize the OP is running an i7 2700K and you're running an AMD 940BE, and he starts out living in a hotter environment, right?

Yes. This is why i stress at about 32* ambient. Also, the i7 2700k is a 95w processor. My 940be is a 140w before i overclocked to 3600. Sitting ~155-160w as it is now. I also pointed out that i'm running more radiator area than he/she is. But, since the OPer said, "Looking forward to hear back from you." i figured i would update my experience.

I keep my fans pretty quiet which is why i have 4x120. If i was running faster fans i could still probably keep the delta equal with 3x120. I'm not sure how fast the fans would need to run to get by with 2x120.

Silver Surfer said:

You do realize the OP is running an i7 2700K and you're running an AMD 940BE, and he starts out living in a hotter environment, right?

Click to expand...

940be generates much more heat than a 2700k: a 2700k@5GHz draws around 125w while it's the power drawn by a phenom ii @3.4/3.5ghz.