FRONTPAGE EVGA GTX 780 Classified Hydro Copper Waterblock Review

[Overclockers.com]

On the heels of our recent review of EVGA's GTX 780 Classified graphics card, today we're going to take a look at an eagerly anticipated accessory for said card - the Hydro Copper Waterblock. As we all know by now, overclocking Kepler-based graphics cards can be limited by GPU temperature and power target limits. This especially holds true when higher voltages are applied to the GPU.

... Return to article to continue reading.

 

[liqued]

Any word on vram temps with the block and without? Only one coffee in so might have missed it.

 

[hokiealumnus]

It's all in a chart about 3/4 of the way down the review. Temps were cut nearly in half with extra voltage applied.

 

[dudleycpa]

Hokiealumnus Lvcoyote- Nice review as usual! Nice to see "if you've spent $700 on a card - what's another $170? The results are spectacular!

Edited: If we knew how to do a strikethrough.
Edited II: You should know after being here eleven years, slacker. Tis [./s].

 

[hokiealumnus]

Thanks, but Lvcoyote wrote this one.

 

[wagex]

whew atleast you hooked a water loop upto it

 

[Ajay57]

Its really refreshing to see a WC review for a change and it was done perfectly. Quite amazing the Difference in Overclocking Temps, obviously you can see its worth the effort and cost to install a water block on your GPU.

Thanks for a excellent review Hokie!!

Edit: Sorry for the mix up there guy's i did not realize you take it in turns!!

P.S. Enjoy your new WC Card on that DimasTech Bench Unit!

Regards,

AJ.

 

[EarthDog]

Thanks for a excellent review Hokie!!

Lvcoyote reviewed this piece of hardware (as hokie already mentioned in post 5 I see, LOL)...and quite well per usual.

 

[hokiealumnus]

Lvcoyote reviewed this piece of hardware (as hokie already mentioned in post 5 I see, LOL)...and quite well per usual.

Yes indeed, Lvcoyote wrote this review and he did a great job on it too.

 

[Lvcoyote]

Thanks guys, the block was indeed fun to work with, and the results weren't bad either

As a side note, it seems a review that's enjoyed by most of you gets associated with hokie, and that's a testament to his knowledge and skill. I see it as a compliment when one of mine is mistaken for one of his!

 

[dudleycpa]

Thanks guys, the block was indeed fun to work with, and the results weren't bad either

As a side note, it seems a review that's enjoyed by most of you gets associated with hokie, and that's a testament to his knowledge and skill. I see it as a compliment when one of mine is mistaken for one of his!

It is a great review. It actually makes one think that maybe it great idea to water cool the GTX 780. Per the article you mentioned what wasn't stable on the ACX worked fine on the Hydro. Both used a 95C threshold. Interesting that it worked out that way.

Again I'm sorry about the mixup!

 

[Lvcoyote]

The misconception is that the card will run stable up to 95° C, and that's not what the threshold is all about. It simply means that when the 95° C threshold is breached, the card will begin to throttle...stable or not. In the case of the card I'm dealing with, I began to see instabilities well before the 95° C threshold ever came into play. Also, there really isn't a way to monitor memory and VRM temps, but I have a feeling with both of them also running much cooler it helped the overclock too.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Great Review Coyote! Funny thing is I was wondering if there was going to be a review on here.

One question I have. Are the pads on the block adhesive? I was wondering because I thought about taking my factory block off my 780 classy hydro to replace the TIM. Was worried I'd mess the pads on the block or at least rip them off accidently.

The misconception is that the card will run stable up to 95° C, and that's not what the threshold is all about. It simply means that when the 95° C threshold is breached, the card will begin to throttle...stable or not. In the case of the card I'm dealing with, I began to see instabilities well before the 95° C threshold ever came into play. Also, there really isn't a way to monitor memory and VRM temps, but I have a feeling with both of them also running much cooler it helped the overclock too.

I've heard from many on air that he GPU throttles @ 80c+ on many occasions on the EVGA forums. Lot's we're annoyed by that but the card worked as intended. Surprised you found it to have such a high throttle trigger temp or is that the GPU's limit?

 

[Lvcoyote]

They are thermal pad strips, I think you can get a good look at them by checking some of the pictures in the review. You might be able to remove the block without tearing them, but even if you do they can be put back together easy enough.

 

[TheHutchTTU]

Do you think 5 minutes is sufficient while testing the card in a water loop? It would seem to make more sense to test for at least 15 minutes to allow the water in the loop to reach equilibrium.

 

[Lvcoyote]

I think 5 minutes was plenty actually. TBH after just a couple minutes the temps maxed out and never changed during the last few minutes of the run. The temps stabilized rather quickly. It's not like they were continuing to rise at the 5 minute mark. It doesn't take long for GPU Burn In to get the GPU hot, that's for sure.

 

[EarthDog]

I don't think temps would have changed much, but they likely would have changed some (couple degrees). With air cooling, it takes about 15 minutes to saturate a heatsink. With watercooling, double that time to an hour, depending on the size of the loop, should saturate things.

 

[TheHutchTTU]

I don't think temps would have changed much, but they likely would have changed some (couple degrees). With air cooling, it takes about 15 minutes to saturate a heatsink. With watercooling, double that time to an hour, depending on the size of the loop, should saturate things.

15min x 2 = 1 hour

What sorcery math is this?!




P.S. I'm going to the game tonight.

 

[EarthDog]

Heh, bad sentence structure there... I meant 30 minutes to an hour (double 15 to get 30) to saturate a loop.

Again, we all won last night... LOL! Have fun at the game!

 

[Ajay57]

Sorry for the mix up!!