Will this cooling build survive?

[Grayscale]

This is a hybrid crunching and gaming system...

I've done a lot of research on the parts, but I'm not sure if the water setup will perform well in practice. I definately want to overclock the watercooled components, do you think this will work well?

Core system:

Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 Conroe 2.93ghz
Asus P5N32-SLI Premium
4gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2 1066 PC2-8500 double pairs
2x 150gb WD Raptor X 10,000 RPM SATA in RAID-0
2x XFX Geforce 7950GX2 1gb GDDR3 PCI-e 16x Xtreme in Quad-SLI
Creative SB X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS 7.1


Case/power/cooling:

VapoChill LightSpeed for Socket 775
Lian-li PC-65b
Mushkin Enhanced 650W SLI Quad Modular Power Supply

Artic Silver 5
2x AquagraFX 7950GX2
Alphacool NB-SLI
2x Koolance RAM-30-VO6
Alphacool AP1510 Water Pump - 396 GPH, 19' head
2x80 Black Ice Micro w/ Vantec Tornados - 168 cfm (Intake)
1x80 Black Ice Micro w/ Vantec Tornado 84 cfm (Exaust)
XSPC Reservoir
1/4" Tygon

The setup will be as follows...

Reservoir > Pump > 2x80mm Intake Radiator, Bottom GPUs, Top GPUs, 1x80mm Exaust Radiator, North Bridge, Memory, Reservoir

I figured this would maximize the cooling to the hottest components on the loop (GPUs) by putting them directly after the biggest intake radiator, with the pump right behind it for the highest pressure point. It would also remove a bit of heat with the second, smaller, exaust radiator before going past the NB since it doesn't need cooling as much, finally finishing with the memory which need little if any cooling. Most components will be on this cooling system, but the remaining drives, south bridge, sound card, and PCB will be air cooled obviously - 168 cfm in, 84 cfm + PSU out.. this should create a fairly good ammount of positive pressure (as I'm sure the PSU isn't 84 cfm), so I am leaving the top 80mm blowhole empty. The pressure should stay at the ideal slightly above positive from the sheer CFM in/out difference relieved to a more neutral ammount by the empty blowhole.

I understand the radiators aren't very big, but they'll have 80 cfm Vantec Tornados, plus the WC loop doesn't have a CPU on it as that's being cooled by Vapochill. Do you think this should be sufficient, or do you think it won't be able to handle the heat? I'm a little concerned as it's going to be 4 overclocked GPUs.


Any thoughts appreciated


ADDITION:

Additional math to consider... (theoretical)

1x120mm radiator - 14,400 cm^2 - 33% less surface area

3x80mm radiator - 19,200 cm^2 - 252 cfm - 0.013125 cfm/cm^2

2x120mm radiator - 28,800 cm^2 - 33% more surface area


Based on this, a single 120mm fan radiator would need a 336 CFM fan to equal the proposed setup, and a double 120mm fan radiator would need two 84 CFM fans.

I'm not sure if the math is right... however also consider that the heat dissipation is split in the loop, so that may allow for better efficiency.

 

[White_Pawn]

your rig looks insane. However, even with a X6800, i doubt you'll unbottleneck your quad SLI. Did you already buy it? If you have the money, which it seems like you do, i think woodcrests would be a good choice.

 

[Grayscale]

your rig looks insane. However, even with a X6800, i doubt you'll unbottleneck your quad SLI. Did you already buy it? If you have the money, which it seems like you do, i think woodcrests would be a good choice.

Eh, like I said, it's a hybrid system... even though I think I can scratch the Conroe up to 4.3+ I don't expect it to match 4 GPUs and 2 gigs of video memory, but then again, games are much more dependant on graphical processing anyways. It's just got to be able to crunch network simulators one second (overclocked Duo Core Extreme and 4gb of memory should do the trick) and crush games the next (Quad-SLI, 1920x1200 native resolution).

I've been planning and tweaking the system for a while, ordered the parts recently and they're coming in over this week and the next. The WC was mostly planned around a clean setup, not so much pure performance (smaller tubing, compression fittings, etc) since the case will already be very *ahem*... crowded. I just wanted to know what I could expect here...

Basically, do you think this particular setup (No CPU, 4 GPUs, NB, memory, 3x80mm high CFM radiators, high pressure 1/4") will perform well. I have only setup a few water cooling setups ever, and none similar to this, so I wouldn't know.

 

[(Clanger)(DOA)]

looking forward to seeing this.

 

[Grayscale]

looking forward to seeing this.

The last parts are scheduled for delivery in 2 weeks exactly. After that, I'm planning on taking at 2 or 3 days to compile the different systems together on Sunday and after work Monday and Tuesday.

Definately the nicest system I've built, so I'm going to do it perfectly... soak and scrub the blocks and flush the radiators, then test run that, while that's going I'll put together the Vapochill and mount everything. Probably going to take a good day or so to overclock all the different things and get the OS tweaked (planning on using Vista RC1).

I used to post on this forum several years ago, I'll try to get pictures up of the assembly and final project, maybe even some benchmarks... not really sure if the 3dmark scores will be impressive, the main advantage of the setup is raw power at high resolutions, competative settings won't really show the true power of the system.

 

[(Clanger)(DOA)]

Why Nforce.....? You can use a Intel chipset with SLi, just with hacked drivers....
My next board will not be nforce.

 

[Grayscale]

Why Nforce.....? You can use a Intel chipset with SLi, just with hacked drivers....
My next board will not be nforce.

Several reasons - full support for quad-SLI (I have seen a few cases of very good results with dual 7950 on this board, which cant be said about most) and most importantly, ideal layout for cooling. Simply put, many boards do not have adequate space between the video cards for waterblock fittings. This motherboard also has performed very well in benchmarks. I wasn't really able to find any other motherboards that fit all these criteria.

Perhaps in the future a 590 board would be ideal, but even then... as boards progress, old technologies are phased out, meaning less AGP and PCI slots. This water cooling setup requires 2 slots between the top and bottom PCIe16x slots for the bottom card's fittings.

 

[(Clanger)(DOA)]

So there your not going to oc very much, 3.2-3.3 range. Or will that board do more?

 

[Grayscale]

So there your not going to oc very much, 3.2-3.3 range. Or will that board do more?

X6800 is unlocked...

I know it's not a FSB monster, but it should be able to do about the settings you specified... multiplyer adjustment will easily put me over 4 ghz, I'll keep the memory sync'd then just tighten the timings.

 

[(Clanger)(DOA)]

nice, good luck with that.

 

[Grayscale]

nice, good luck with that.

Thanks.

Added some theoretical math to consider

 

[Phrenetical]

why would you use 1/4 inch tubing?

regardless of pressure, you should be using 3/8 or 1/2'

 

[Grayscale]

why would you use 1/4 inch tubing?

regardless of pressure, you should be using 3/8 or 1/2'

I had to cater to small ID of the quad-SLI blocks... they're kinda exotic. Pretty much only have 1 choice for waterblocks on Quad-SLI, though they apparently perform very well, they're from Europe and use G1/8 - yea, I made a face too.

edit: Eh, found out the P5N32-SLI Premium (590) could be preordered, so I'm on the list for that, should have it by my scheduled deadline (yay for fast shipping!) if it ships on Sept 11 as promised. I'm just going to refund the P5N32-SLI 570 when I get it. I checked the layout and it would work with the WC block layout, and is Quad-SLI ready, hopefully it works, but... I'm taking a risk that they don't have too many bugs.

 

[JackNSally]

What os are you going to run? If you're going to use win XP, you're waisting money on the ram, it can't handle more than 3-3.5gigs.

 

[killermiller]

He is planning on using Vista RC1. Besides, does it look like this guy is strapped for cash?

 

[Grayscale]

What os are you going to run? If you're going to use win XP, you're waisting money on the ram, it can't handle more than 3-3.5gigs.

I'm aware... I was planning on using Windows XP x64 but Vista RC1 will be ready by then.

He is planning on using Vista RC1. Besides, does it look like this guy is strapped for cash?

Hehe... well, I'm spending a lot of money on this, but it's a major investment/project for me, I'm not really made of money.

 

[Moto7451]

You don't have to have a lot of money to have fun toys. He wants to do some number crunching on it so I think its a work machine as well as a fun machine. If thats the case the machine will pay for itself.

My boss has a saying that applies here. When you're trying to make money, a $5 tool that doesn't do the job was an expensive purchase. A $200 tool that works perfectly is a bargain.

 

[Grayscale]

You don't have to have a lot of money to have fun toys. He wants to do some number crunching on it so I think its a work machine as well as a fun machine. If thats the case the machine will pay for itself.

My boss has a saying that applies here. When you're trying to make money, a $5 tool that doesn't do the job was an expensive purchase. A $200 tool that works perfectly is a bargain.

Haha, QFT!

However, I think with computers, money best spent is on products well researched. I spent almost 2 weeks reading through everything I could on different options for this project, including the spacing of all the components.

 

[hitbyaprkedcar7]

Pshhh thats not even worth 500$. Ill give you a bargain, 750$ for the whole setup.



Damn. I want pics when your done. And benchys.

 

[Grayscale]

Pshhh thats not even worth 500$. Ill give you a bargain, 750$ for the whole setup.



Damn. I want pics when your done. And benchys.

I'll get some pictures...

...at least, I'll try, it may eat me after I turn it on.

If I'm not back in 2 weeks with pictures, you can probably assume the worst