EVGA 770 SC 3 X Way Sli Water Cooling Solution – Help Needed

[DarkSouls]

Hi Guys,

I’ve Just upgraded my rig with 3 new EVGA 770 SC (ACX Version) cards and I’m having some serious issues with high temperatures (overheating using stock air-cooling – Goes above 90 c’s).

I managed with the help of some of the great guys here in this forum to fix the heat issues temporarily. You can view the thread from here:

EVGA 770 SC 3 X Way Sli overheating issues

Now, I’ve decided (after getting a good wake-up call from the guys here) that it’s time to invest in water-cooling and I’m looking for a permanent and very reliable solution by installing GPU loop for the 3 cards.

I’m a heavy gamer and do tones of rendering as well. Furthermore, I upgrade my graphic cards every generation or so (depending on the performance boost .. etc) so in average I won’t keep the cards for more than 12-18 months.

I have read a lot about water-cooling (including the awesome guide on this forum) but never had the time/nor/the nerves to do it.

I would appreciate it if you can advise on which parts/brands do I need to get to make this work. Please note that I live in Dubai and we don’t have access to that many water cooling retailers here. I usually order everything from frozencpu.com as it’s one of the few sites that directly ships to Dubai.

My budget is fixed at $ 800 for this project and I won’t be doing the CPU or anything else (I’m happy with push-pull H100i setup that I have)
I’m installing the radiator/radiators in the lower part of the case after removing the HDD bays.

So Far, I considering the following parts, but I really need/appreciate your input :

GPU Blocks:

3 X EK Geforce GTX 770 VGA Liquid Cooling Block - Acetal + Nickel (EK-FC770 GTX - Acetal+Nickel)


GPU Bridges:

Again I have no Idea, on the optimal layout and wot parts/brands/quantities do I need ... HELP plz : )


Reservoir:

1X EK-MultiOption RES X3 250 - Liquid Cooling Reservoir (6 Total Ports)


but I’m afraid the 250 is out of stock, would the 150 one do ? for the GRP loop or do I need the 250 one

1 X EK-MultiOption RES X3 150 - Liquid Cooling Reservoir (6 Total Ports)


Radiator:

Ok guys, once again please help here, would one 240 radiator do the job or do I need 2 of them, and I’m thinking of getting the :

1 X Koolance Dual 120mm Copper High Flow Radiator - 30 FPI - Black (HX-240XC) (No Nozzles)


Fans:

Please recommend some for me and I’m going for a push-pull config. If you said that its ok to go with one 240 radiator only for this loop

Screws:

I have no idea which is the best and how many do I need from each for :

1- Radiator
2- Fans
3- Pump

Pump:

1 X Swiftech MCP655 Variable Speed 12v Water Pump w/ G1/4 Thread Ports (Perfectly Tapped)

Fittings:

I have no idea which is the best and how many do I need from each, this is the least area that I’m Knowledgeable about and your help is much needed here guys (I’m going with ROG Red and Black theme)

Tubing :

I have no idea which is the best and how many do I need from each
• Type
• internal and external diameters
• Length

Coolant:

I have no idea which is the best and how many do I need from each
Please note that I live in Dubai and I’m not sure wot the carriers policy when it comes to shipping coolant liquids internationally, any idea guys if its ok or even allowed, have you tried to order some ?

Furthermore, I just ordered a clear door of the Cosmos II case and I’m going with ROG Red and Black theme, so I’m thinking that a red colour coolant will do that job

Once more, I would like to thank you all for your help on this matter, which is much appreciated

Cheers

DS

 

[EarthDog]

If you flip cards that frequently, you may want to go with a generic block, otherwise you will have to plunk down $ for new blocks each time you upgrade your card.

As far as coolant...distilled water + silver kill coil or Ptnuke(biocide).

You will need a lot more rad that just 240. Even with high FPI, high speed fans, 3 770's are 680W of heat to dissipate. I would say 2x 2x120mm rads would be sufficient.


Take a read of the stickies as it has a lot of answers to these basic questions.

 

[InhumanSkills]

I think the Cosmos II can fit an Alphacool XT45 360mm radiator up top and an Alphacool UT60 240mm radiator in the bottom where the HDD bay is. That should be enough radiator to take care of your GPU's, and maybe even your CPU if you decide to add it later.

Only other problem I can see is the fact that you will be running water through three consecutive cards. I suppose that by the time water hit's the third card it will already be pretty warm, so you might have to look into doing two loops?

Also like ED said you might want to look into universal GPU blocks. Normally you are looking at about $120 per GPU block and if you uprade as often as you say you do that might become expensive.

 

[EarthDog]

In a properly radded, but specifically, properly flowing loop (1GPM+), the temperature difference is only a couple C at any point in the loop. A separate loop is not needed. I would imagine the third card to be a couple C warmer though, sure.

 

[InhumanSkills]

In a properly radded, but specifically, properly flowing loop (1GPM+), the temperature difference is only a couple C at any point in the loop. A separate loop is not needed. I would imagine the third card to be a couple C warmer though, sure.

I'm going to test that when I build my loop here soon. Adding temp sensors before and after each rad. Should be pretty cool.

Sorry I kinda went off topic here.

For tubing you can't really go wrong. As long as you order it from Frozencpu you should get pretty good stuff. They sell 10ft packs for $25 just get that in the color and size you want. Size is mostly personal preference. Some people base the size of the tubing on the size of the case, larger case -> larger tubing. Also smaller tubing bends easier but is also prone to kinking.

Obviously the fittings have to be the same size as the tubing. Barbs are cheaper but can come undone if not done correctly. Compession fittings look nicer but are also more expensive.

Distilled + killcoil is the way to go.

Side Note:
Are you like some oil tycoon to afford this kind of stuff?

 

[EarthDog]

People already have. But more information never hurts!

Loop order matters. Choose a layout that puts the reservoir or T-line/fill-line immediately before the pump inlet to get the best filling. Pump filling is important to prevent the pump from running dry since the pump cools itself with water and a dry pump can equal a dead pump in a short time. Otherwise loop order is rarely important. The loop flow-rate is usually high enough in simple loops that water temperature varies by 1°C or less inside the entire loop. In high-performance loops, some record differences of several degrees. On EOCF, one water-cooler with a very high-performance system and 2 VGA cards in SLI tested the second VGA card 3°C to 5°C hotter than the first when in series but got equal temperatures with VGA cards in parallel. For most water-coolers, a few degrees rarely matters. Route tubing to avoid clutter and preserve air-flow. Avoid kinks to preserve water-flow. For complex loops, discuss it on your forum thread.

 

[Conumdrum]

You want two fittings per component, get 4 as spares. You ALSO will want some 90 degree and 45 degree Bitspower rotary fittings for tube routing, say 6 of each rotary.

Primochill Pro tubing, 1/2" ID 3/4" OD. Buy red tubing.

You don't want 30 FPI rads. Please read the stickies and learn more.

You should get the Swiftech 35x pump instead.

You want Scythe Gentle Typhoon AP-15 fans. You'll need 4 for the radiators. You will also want a fan controller to adjust the speed of the fans.

 

[InhumanSkills]

You want two fittings per component, get 4 as spares. You ALSO will want some 90 degree and 45 degree Bitspower rotary fittings for tube routing, say 6 of each rotary.

Primochill Pro tubing, 1/2" ID 3/4" OD. Buy red tubing.
You should get the Swiftech 35x pump instead.

You want Scythe Gentle Typhoon AP-15 fans. You'll need 4 for the radiators. You will also want a fan controller to adjust the speed of the fans.

+ 1

Unless of course you get a 360mm at the top then get 6 fans for the top. I'm sure you can figure the fan count out. Gentle Typhoon AP-15 fans are awesome, you can link them together with something like this Phobya Y Cable Splitter and then connect them to your fan controler, letting you control all "grouped" fans at once.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

In a properly radded, but specifically, properly flowing loop (1GPM+), the temperature difference is only a couple C at any point in the loop. A separate loop is not needed. I would imagine the third card to be a couple C warmer though, sure.

+1 Agree.

As far as coolant...distilled water + silver kill coil or Ptnuke(biocide).

You will need a lot more rad that just 240. Even with high FPI, high speed fans, 3 770's are 680W of heat to dissipate. I would say 2x 2x120mm rads would be sufficient.


Take a read of the stickies as it has a lot of answers to these basic questions.

+1 Agree again!

I'm going to test that when I build my loop here soon. Adding temp sensors before and after each rad. Should be pretty cool.

I've already done this as many others have by adding a coupler temp sensor on the IN and OUT from the radiator and noticed only a .5c-1c difference TOPS! Water reaches an equilibrium so there really isn't a huge difference in the loop in general as stated before.

Primochill Pro tubing, 1/2" ID 3/4" OD. Buy red tubing.

PrimoChill Advanced LRT is what Con meant. Pro is the much older tubing. Steer away from the Pro because it could be one of the tubings from a batch batch they had.