Dual R9 290 Loop (first timer)

[Tatsugen]

I was hoping that there would be 6x120 radiator out there somewhere (if not just get 2x 3x120 radiators). I was planning on mounting the radiator to the case with a few L shaped flat metal bars with screws in the fan mount holes (on the side without the fans) on the radiator and the other section of the L screwed into the bottom of my case.

The Phobya one seems to be a little more budget friendly, but, with a radiator that size, would I have to increase my pump quantity or power? Or would a single MCP35X be able to handle that?

 

[GTXJackBauer]

MCP-35x should be able to handle that or you can wait for the new MCP-50x which isn't too far around the corner. The MCP50X is based on the existing design of the 35X, but with a stronger motor and mainly more pressure. I read that it runs noticeably cooler and quieter as well, and is supposed to be the same price or less expensive than the 35X's $99.99 MSRP.

 

[RnRollie]

I was hoping that there would be 6x120 radiator out there somewhere (if not just get 2x 3x120 radiators). I was planning on mounting the radiator to the case with a few L shaped flat metal bars with screws in the fan mount holes (on the side without the fans) on the radiator and the other section of the L screwed into the bottom of my case.

The Phobya one seems to be a little more budget friendly, but, with a radiator that size, would I have to increase my pump quantity or power? Or would a single MCP35X be able to handle that?

6x120 like the MC HEXA ? http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...t_info&cPath=59_457_667_670&products_id=30540

And yes, the single MCP35x handles it fine, and since the Phobya NOVA is less restrictive as the MO-RA, even a lowly eheim 600/1000 can handle it.

Come to think of it, i think the Shroud/Stand for the Phobya NOVA comes with pump mounting & fan splitter... need to verify that
EDIT: yup, pump & res holder : http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...t_info&cPath=59_457_667_975&products_id=30316



.

 

[Tatsugen]

@GTXJackBauer
Thanks for that information. I'll keep my eye out for the release, and if it comes out by the time I order my parts, I'll consider that if the price difference isn't significant.

@RnRollie
... Yep, I don't know how I missed that radiator, but that is pretty much what I was looking for. Though, for the price, that Phobya one is just about the same price, but also needs 3 more fans. But, it does look like I'll be going for the mid range rpm for fans, 900-1400 RPM.

It also looks like I can toss a 92mm radiator into my drive bay, it doesn't do too much, but I will have 2 PWM fans in push and pull to get the temps down a little before it hits my res and pump, so, I could probably pull off the 120.6 external configuration and get decent temps, though, with the 120.9, I'd get a bit lower temps. Below is my proposed loop. I still want to try and keep the price as low as possible.

(and it's supposed to say "Inside the Case"... stupid paint)

 

[GTXJackBauer]

You could find a nice housing and use QDCs which would leave the inside of the case left with just tubing and WBs. Keeping it simple and elegant looking. Check this here.

 

[Tatsugen]

As awesome as that exterior radiator stand would be, along with the ease of having the pump being able to attach to it, seems a little too excessive for me. If I got the radiator to fit that, I would have to get 3 more fans, increasing the cost around $120 (without shipping). Even if I do use it with the 2 rad system right now (and use a 9x120 bracket to hold them in place) is still way over what I was planning, which is about $6 and an hour or so to cut, bend and drill holes in it.

I also found a cheaper alternative, that isn't as large, but it still is more than I expected to pay, here. It still has the mounts for the pumps and other things. If I do end up getting a 1080 radiator, I'll probably consider one of these.

I'm leaning more towards a 120.6 rad setup with the 92mm in the drive bays. The reason being, my case has a height of around 212mm, so, it would look a little better with a 240mm rad height than a 360mm off the side. I'd still like to be able to access the inside of the case without disturbing the radiator.

I do like the idea of the quick disconnects though. I just had another idea on where to place my radiator and be able to remove it when moving the case or maintenance. I'll have to come up with ideas how on how to explain it better than saying something like a lid or something. It can be parallel to the top or it can open like a lid and be a massive radiator sail thing... I'll think of that more once I get the parts sorted out.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

I also found a cheaper alternative, that isn't as large, but it still is more than I expected to pay, here. It still has the mounts for the pumps and other things. If I do end up getting a 1080 radiator, I'll probably consider one of these.

Wow. Great find. Totally missed that. Think of it as a long term investment. That housing + a mora 1080 rad would be epic for anything you throw at it really with some nice QDCs. Of course budget permitting.

 

[Tatsugen]

Haha, yeah, that was in a different section of the site, I think under radiator accessories, while the other one is under the radiator section. It does look nice, but budget depending, I'll look into seeing how much I can actually spend.

I was thinking about the longevity of the radiators, on my next system build 3-4 years down the road, I would be able to salvage everything but the cooling blocks on the cpu and gpus. That would be able to handle my 2x R9 290's with cpu and oc'd a bit. I'm not sure if I want to put that much money forward, with my current system costing about $1800, and another $1000 in cooling, is a bit too much. I wasn't planning on OCing anything, but that depends all on the temps I get, and with a larger radiator, that wouldn't be a problem, but I am a noob with OCing as well... I've only ever OC'd a i7-920 with an H50 on it to 3.4 I believe. But I didn't really see that much of an increase in performance for the heat it was generating, so I removed it for a longer life.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

I think with that much raddage you might hit diminishing returns. Even with 120.6 you still have lots of elbow room for OCing and a low sound @ full load setup. I mean that's what most of us do. Its the pure silent operation that gets everyone. I think my fans are too load and they are all @ 1000 RPM. I will be going lower soon.

 

[Tatsugen]

My goal for this was to get better temps than the stocker coolers of the R9 290's and have the noise lower as well. With WC, I thought that would be very achievable... It's just a little more expensive that I originally thought I could pull off.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

With the said heatload, it is. If it was one GPU and say a 70w+ CPU would've been a different story.

 

[Tatsugen]

Haha, yeah. I wanted to go all out on this build... I needed the extra brute force in the GPUs because I also have a new 2560x1440 monitor. Which I am quite liking, minus the noise from the black box I call my computer, but my headphones do a fairly good job on blocking it out.

I think I'm going to go with a 120.6 and a 92mm radiator configuration. I'm going to have to go through the reviews of radiators and see what fans speed I want for what radiator. I was looking in the mid range of rpms, 900-1400, and probably use Scythe GTs, either the 800, 1150 or 1450 model. Or, I could do a mix, one that is great with the 1400's, to do the initial cool, then have the 800s do the final cool... Back to reading and looking at graphs.

Know of any good 92mm fans? I saw that there used to exist 92mm GTs... but they have since vanished.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

AP-15s or NB-Eloop B12s = God mode Only problem is that Scythe is out of business so whatever stock is out there left till it runs out and no warranty. I would love to upgrade all my fans to NB B12s but for a $250 price tag just for fans is what pushed me away.

 

[RnRollie]

a little note on the 92 mm rad... you do know it is going to do nothing for the temps -at best its going to shave off 0.2 °C.
What it will do however is add to the restriction of the loop and be a potentional leak/break point and an additional source for noise - even with 92mm PWM fans... Me, I wouldn't bother with it, except for "bling" value.

As for whatever rad you are going for; look for package deals, like these:
http://www.aquatuning.us/product_in...ilent-18-700rpm-RED-und-schwarzer-Blende.html
http://www.aquatuning.us/product_in...ilent-12-1500rpm-Red-LED-und-L-fterkabel.html
http://www.aquatuning.us/product_in...e--mit-3x-Alphacool-NB-eLoop-1200rpm---B.html
These kind of deal by aquatuning are "matched" quite well.
Otherwise, some of the best fans for 120mm are the Noiseblocker eLoops (PWM) ... but they dont come cheap.


As for "a box" for the radiator stand.... MDF ! (or even plexi)
The box/stand is in a way nothing more as 4 planks nailed together
The benefit being that you could build a "box" the same height & lenght as your PC case or whatever dimensions you like and fit rad + pump in there... way cheaper as an "off the shelf" radstand unless you get carried away with the customisation and want your radbox to look like a BORG cube (which i've seen done btw).

 

[Tatsugen]

I was going off of the 120.2 for every component with a 120 buffer, I was thinking the 92 (to replace the 120 buffer), with pwm's tied to the cpu, might help cool the coolant off a little before it goes to the res/pump. But, if it won't help that much, I could put that extra $70ish towards better fans and better 120 radiators.

Thanks for the links RnRollie, I haven't really looked at other sites too much, but if the package deals are cheaper than the individual components elsewhere, I'll consider getting it from them. I don't usually try and order from multiple places, just for ease of me figuring out where things came from.

As for the radiator stand, I'm still on the fence about it. I'm not entirely sure what MDF is, something called Medium Density Fiber-board, kinda like particle board? I think I'd rather go and get some sheet metal from home depot and take my dremel to it and bend the metal to make a box... But another option is I could design and 3D print one myself. It wouldn't be too hard to do, most of the manufacturers out there put out some kind of simplified technical drawing of it, wouldn't be too hard to design something. I still would like it to attach to the case than just have stand by itself.

I'm not looking for anything too fancy, I just want it to run cooler and quieter than it currently is. And if I can make it look nicer very cheaply, I might do that.

And, again, thanks for the input. I'll be mostly offline next week due to work, but I'll be posting a closer to final parts list soon.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

No one uses 92mm rads and fans anymore. Only if you love the sound of turbines, be my guest. lol

 

[Tatsugen]

Turbine you say? (video)

And, I already have a pair of turbines in my case (R9 290 fans), I can do well without them (which I am planning hopefully).

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Turbine you say? (video)

What in THE???! I WANT ONE! lmao That is the coolest thing. I could sit there all day and play with that. The sound it makes is just awesome. Well since were comparing "turbines", I got 2 GTX 480s (Fermis), enough said there and a DataVac.

Here's one GTX 480. Now imagine having 2 in SLI.


And heres my other "turbine".

And, I already have a pair of turbines in my case (R9 290 fans), I can do well without them (which I am planning hopefully).

I totally understand what you mean. I can envision it right now. (Watch video clip below)

 

[RnRollie]

Turbine you say? (video)

And, I already have a pair of turbines in my case (R9 290 fans), I can do well without them (which I am planning hopefully).

WTF?? is that a site for ChairForce jocks or what?

 

[Tatsugen]

I forgot where I saw that originally, I think on gizmodo.com or something. It is pretty awesome, but stupid expensive, like, $4k+. Everything on that site is stupid expensive.

This is the lastest and greatest parts list I made. I think I'll have to look for a fan controller and maybe some fan grills as well. Not sure if I should put them in push or pull configuration yet.

With CPU
2 EK-FC R9-290X Link $106.95 $213.90
2 Alphacool NexXxoS ST45 Full Copper 360mm Link $75.99 $151.98
6 Noiseblocker NB-eLoop B12-P 120mm x 25mm PWM Fan - 800-2000 RPM Link $26.95 $161.70
1 XSPC Raystorm CPU Waterblock - Intel Link $49.99 $49.99
1 Swiftech MCP35X-BK™ 12 VDC Pump Link $84.99 $84.99
1 Swiftech MCP35X Reservoir Link $29.95 $29.95
6 EK-CSQ Fitting 10/13mm G1/4 - Black Link $4.95 $29.70
1 Phobya Screw Plug G1/4 Inch Link $1.95 $1.95
6 Phobya 13/10mm (10x1.5mm) Compression Fitting 90° Revolvable G1/4 Link $5.95 $35.70
1 Swiftech G¼ Male-Male Lok-Seal™ Medium Extension Fitting Link $6.49 $6.49
5 PrimoFlex Pro LRT Clear Tubing -3/8in. ID X 1/2in. OD Link $1.60 $8.00
1 Prolimatech PK-1 Nano Aluminum Thermal Compound Link $9.99 $9.99
1 "Silver Bullet" G1/4 Plug Link $5.95 $5.95
1 Swiftech HydrX Coolant Link $1.99 $1.99
5 Black 0.50 (1/2") PET Cable Sleeving Link $0.89 $4.45
2 Phobya 13/10mm (3/8-1/2) (10x1.5mm) Compression Fitting 45° Revolvable G1/4 Link $5.95 $11.90
$808.63

So far, thats what I have and I think I need to get a fan controller since these are PWM.

Below is my revised tube and parts layout as well.

These are not final, but almost. I'm still up for any recommendations or things that can change. Won't be able to a lot more research for the next week or so.