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Need suggestions for smaller radiator

WarYur

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Need suggestions for smaller radiator
« on: May 23, 2011, 10:18:58 am »
So now that I have tentatively decided to install a smaller radiator into my Corsair 800D case for in between the two GTX 480 video cards I have, does anyone have a suggestion for one that might especially be a good one for this or that would be best for my case in particular?  I have seen some people installing a rad down on the bottom of the case on the opposite side of where the PSU is but that takes quite a bit of modding the case to be able to install one there.

Then would it be that great of a benefit to have one there? 

Dark Mantis

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Re: Need suggestions for smaller radiator
« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2011, 12:38:30 pm »
Hi WarYur

Yes I do think that if you are runing a multi card setup then to have a single radiator in the loop between tha cards is a good idea. Otherwise ther eis a lot of heat going through form the CPU, Northbridge, top GPU before it even gets to the bottom card. An intermediate cooling solution would definitely help. I would be looking to use a single low restricted rad like a Black Ice and just situate it inside or outside the rear 120mm fan.
Gigabyte X58A-UD7
i7 920
Dominators 1600 x6 12GB
6970 2GB
HX850
256GB SSD, Sam 1TB, WDB320GB
Blu-Ray
HAF 932

Gigabyte Z68X-UD5-B3
i7 3770K
Vengeance 1600 16GB
6950 2GB
HCP1200W
Revo Drive x2, 1.5TB WDB RAID0
16x DLRW
StrikeX S7
Full water cooling
3 x 27" Iiy

Badbonji

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Re: Need suggestions for smaller radiator
« Reply #2 on: May 23, 2011, 09:35:19 pm »
Sounds good if it will fit. What are you planning on cooling with it?

Alternatively you could mount the radiator on the back of the case using a mounting bracket. This is my setup:

Core i7 965 @ 4.35Ghz 1.37Vcore
6Gb G.Skill 1600Mhz DDR3 @ 1740Mhz 8-8-8-20 1T
HIS HD5970 @ 800/1100
Gigabyte Extreme X58
X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty
256GB M4 + 150GB Raptor
EK Supreme HF/GTX480/MCP655/EK Res :D

Dark Mantis

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Re: Need suggestions for smaller radiator
« Reply #3 on: May 23, 2011, 09:59:26 pm »
Hey Badbonji it's looking a bit crowded in there now! No wonder the radiator's been tagged on the back. ;D
Gigabyte X58A-UD7
i7 920
Dominators 1600 x6 12GB
6970 2GB
HX850
256GB SSD, Sam 1TB, WDB320GB
Blu-Ray
HAF 932

Gigabyte Z68X-UD5-B3
i7 3770K
Vengeance 1600 16GB
6950 2GB
HCP1200W
Revo Drive x2, 1.5TB WDB RAID0
16x DLRW
StrikeX S7
Full water cooling
3 x 27" Iiy

WarYur

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Re: Need suggestions for smaller radiator
« Reply #4 on: May 23, 2011, 10:19:33 pm »
Thanks DM!  I believe that And yes that is one of my concerns too is over crowding everything and then too my three fan rad (or actually 6 fan because that will be a push/pull up there) will be on the top of the 800D.  Thanks for the suggestion though Badbonjii.  I have seen the way Koolance has a set up to attach the rad/fan assembly back there but I also have space issues  to think about as my apartment is not all that big for a one bedroom so where a dining table should go is a larger desk for this build and then another place for my old rig and the laptop.

 I really want to concentrate on having minimal cables showing as well, and then the ones that do show will be sleeved.  I already have most of that done.  Since it was the first time I had done that is was slow going.

You know I was actually looking on frozencpu last night and one of the rads I was looking at was that Black Ice single as well as some other ones for placement in that back fan space.  I can go for 140mm back there too and probably another push pull for optimal air through the rad.

This rig ought to look really sweet if I can pull it off.  Not to mention faaaaassst!   ;D


Dark Mantis

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Re: Need suggestions for smaller radiator
« Reply #5 on: May 23, 2011, 10:27:12 pm »
I am sure that it will be tremendous! It is always a problem trying to fit ewverything in nice and neatly. I have had to put one of my radiators on top of my system. It's only a dual but it does give me a bit more space.

I have just starterd reviewing a nice Phobya cooling system that I will post once completed. I think you will like it! :)
Gigabyte X58A-UD7
i7 920
Dominators 1600 x6 12GB
6970 2GB
HX850
256GB SSD, Sam 1TB, WDB320GB
Blu-Ray
HAF 932

Gigabyte Z68X-UD5-B3
i7 3770K
Vengeance 1600 16GB
6950 2GB
HCP1200W
Revo Drive x2, 1.5TB WDB RAID0
16x DLRW
StrikeX S7
Full water cooling
3 x 27" Iiy

WarYur

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Re: Need suggestions for smaller radiator
« Reply #6 on: May 23, 2011, 10:59:57 pm »
Cool!  I'll check back later. Do you get to keep the products you review?  

EDIT:  Just got through doing some drawing and trying to figure out how that will work with the two cards below the rad/fan assembly and it kindof looks like something out of Dr. Seuss.  LOL...  I think it will work though with the right hardware in there.  I sure hope that the tubing i have (Alphacool Pro UV blue 3/8" ID x 1/2" OD) has a bit of bend in it though.

DM says; "Otherwise there is a lot of heat going through form the CPU, Northbridge, top GPU"

From an earlier post didn't  you say that I  probably wouldn't need cooling through the NB.  Am I wrong in that and should I include the NB then?  Not a problem if I should but I like the board the way it sits right now as far as the color scheme but then I guess a black NB water block wouldn't be too bad if they are making them for this board which I wouldn't doubt that someone is.  It's just going to be REALLY crowded in there then...
« Last Edit: May 24, 2011, 12:05:05 am by WarYur »

Badbonji

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Re: Need suggestions for smaller radiator
« Reply #7 on: May 24, 2011, 12:15:12 am »
Hey Badbonji it's looking a bit crowded in there now! No wonder the radiator's been tagged on the back. ;D

Yeah that was taken before any attempt at hiding cables. Now it looks more like http://www.nextnature.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/cable-art-530.jpg

My CPU PSU cable is a little too short to hide, and the HD5970 is too long so that I cannot do much with hiding the tubing :/

I think DM said the heat would be pushed through the radiator being mounted elsewhere? So it wouldn't be as effective at keeping the water temperature down. That is what I understood it as anyway...

I believe NB blocks can be very restrictive on flow. I don't think you will gain that much benefit cooling it with water anyway. You will have to take pics when it is done! I can't quite imagine how it will end up looking  :)
Core i7 965 @ 4.35Ghz 1.37Vcore
6Gb G.Skill 1600Mhz DDR3 @ 1740Mhz 8-8-8-20 1T
HIS HD5970 @ 800/1100
Gigabyte Extreme X58
X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty
256GB M4 + 150GB Raptor
EK Supreme HF/GTX480/MCP655/EK Res :D

WarYur

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Re: Need suggestions for smaller radiator
« Reply #8 on: May 24, 2011, 01:57:16 am »
LOL, TOO funny!  Hey I had one of those too!  About 3 builds ago and it still looks like that although I have to clean it up now as I am giving it to someone that needs a PC.  It has an AMD FX 60 CPU in it and a nvidia 6800 Ultra vid card and a lot of the very first Koolance solutions in it that were plastic of some sort.  That one in particular is extremely difficult to clean though as the Koolance all in one rad/res/pump was built into the top of an old Lian Li so trying to get the dust out was a real special treat.  I finally had to buy an air compressor to get it cleaned out properly. 

Anyway, I have a Corsair 800D full tower case, a three fan rad that will go on the top and then have another set of fans underneath the rad, the mobo is the Gbyte P67A-UD7-B3, CPU Intel 2600K,  2 x  EVGA GTX 480's (SC), 16GB (4 X 4GB) Corsair Vengeance RAM), now adding a Black Ice single rad on the back fan and will have 2 x 140mm fans to do another push/pull like the one on top.  This is a huge case so it won't be too bad. CPU over to the top right most hole in the Koolance water block and then out the left hand hole to the right hand side of the single rad on the back. 

Then out the left hand side of the single rad over to the first hole on the bottom Koolance water block, then out the other side of the block to the res, out the res directly to the 3 fan rad and there ya go.  As I said I will probably get some specific pieces of hardware (nozzles, barbs, etc) to do it with as there will be some tight angles that the tubing won't go for without.  There seems to be just enough room in the front of those cards to be able to put that line from the single rad to the bottom first hole of the water block too if you are having a hard time seeing it still.

I sure wish that they (whoever "they" are) made all black hardware becasue I plan on have at least a minimum of 2 sets of Koolance quick disconnects that will give me some play when it comes to taking out the video cards without having to tear the entire thing down and start over again. Those are all silver colored as well as most of the angled swivel nozzles that I have seen and I really did like the all black with the Alphacool UV Blue tubing that i bought. LOL, Only the Big Guy in the Sky knows how this will all end up though because what I am seeing is kindof a ballpark view of what I want to have happen.

The top fans are (6 of them) 120mm Yate Loons (D12H-12(F) UV blue, and the other case fans that are 140mm have been swapped out for Aero Cool Shark Blue with Blue LED 140mm.  The fans on the front and back of the single rad will be that same fan too.  Also for the case fans I will have black 140mm fan grills and on anything on the outside as far as fans go they will all have the mesh type fan grills becasue for some reason the end of my apartment where all my PC's are gets very, very dusty.  That is odd all by itself because it's my living room and looking outside is just  the parking lot and more apartment buildings and on the other end of my apartment where my bedroom is and where the main road passes by with all the cars and dump trucks, etc hardly gets any dust.

I know, I know, why don't I move everything to my bedroom right?  'Cuz besides everything else in boxes, dresser drawers there is also an electronic drum set that I used for practice back when.  Actually you can use it for  working too but it's much better as a practice set.  I also have a huge Loudspeaker that I was using for a monitor when I was still playing.  NO ROOM at the inn...

You are probably more confused now that you were before eh?  You are right though the NB won't be getting any water, or at least I hope not!   :o

Dark Mantis

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Re: Need suggestions for smaller radiator
« Reply #9 on: May 24, 2011, 12:36:22 pm »
Hi WarYur

No I wasn't suggesting that you watercool our northbridge it was jsut a general system description. There are plenty of decent NB waterblocks around though that don't impede the flow much.  Don't forget that there are whole board coolers for the more popular motherboards that make it very easy to watercool the complete system.

You can get most blocks in black if that is your thing. Check out here:

http://www.ekwaterblocks.com/index.php?page=water-coolers
Gigabyte X58A-UD7
i7 920
Dominators 1600 x6 12GB
6970 2GB
HX850
256GB SSD, Sam 1TB, WDB320GB
Blu-Ray
HAF 932

Gigabyte Z68X-UD5-B3
i7 3770K
Vengeance 1600 16GB
6950 2GB
HCP1200W
Revo Drive x2, 1.5TB WDB RAID0
16x DLRW
StrikeX S7
Full water cooling
3 x 27" Iiy

WarYur

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Re: Need suggestions for smaller radiator
« Reply #10 on: May 24, 2011, 07:35:17 pm »
Ya thanks DM and for the link as well.  That is what I figured anyway.  Black isn't necessarily my "thing" but with this motherboard in particular that is dark with gold tones I don't like the flashy silver colored hardware in it and the water blocks for my nvidia cards are silver Koolance ones as well as the quick disconnects that I feel are very necessary when you don't want to have to completely tear my system down every time that I want to add a part or upgrade  something.  I also have a silver Koolance drain (can't think of the word) valve that I may try and put out the bottom somewhere but I haven't thought that all the way through yet.

I did go and order a bunch of stuff from frozencpu.com last night though so I will finally be able to get this beast built.  This is the first time I have built a PC with a sub $1,000 CPU in it but this CPU is also faster than any of the ones I have had before too.  I can't wait to see what Intel comes out with in the next 5 years or so.  I haven't totally given up on AMD yet either though becasue they used to be king of the hill for great CPU's.  I still have an AMD FX 53 that was better at 2.4Ghz than the Intel Extreme Edition back then that I believe was running at 3Ghz stock, at least for gaming purposes anyway.

I ended up just getting the HK 3 copper and stainless steel CPU block becasue I am tired of waiting for that nickel one.  I can find all kindof of the socket 1366 version but zero 1156/1155 anywhere in the entire world but then I would bet that there is one somewhere but looking for it could take a long time.

I sure wish that I had seen those EX video card blocks a long time ago. I like the look of those.  You know what I wish is that video cards were made in such a way that the water block could be on top of the card as all you can see for the most part is the top of the video card with nothing but a circuit board that looks ugly.  Someone should at least make some kind of cover for the top of video cards so that it would be more aesthetically pleasing. 

Dark Mantis

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Re: Need suggestions for smaller radiator
« Reply #11 on: May 24, 2011, 09:24:10 pm »
Actually if you look through the listing that I posted for you you will find they do a backplate that is somewhat more pleasing to the eye than the open circuit board. I did notice that my latest graphics card the 6970 has one installed as standard so maybe manufacturers are starting to take notice now.
Gigabyte X58A-UD7
i7 920
Dominators 1600 x6 12GB
6970 2GB
HX850
256GB SSD, Sam 1TB, WDB320GB
Blu-Ray
HAF 932

Gigabyte Z68X-UD5-B3
i7 3770K
Vengeance 1600 16GB
6950 2GB
HCP1200W
Revo Drive x2, 1.5TB WDB RAID0
16x DLRW
StrikeX S7
Full water cooling
3 x 27" Iiy

WarYur

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Re: Need suggestions for smaller radiator
« Reply #12 on: May 25, 2011, 12:25:57 am »
 Darn, I guess that means that I won't be making that first million for inventing a "Forward" top plate for video cards.   :'(  It seems every time I get a good idea someone else has beat me to it.  Oh well, back to the drawing board...  I am surprised in a way that someone hadn't thought about doing that a long time ago.  You buy these expensive full water blocks and they sit on the underneath of the card where you can hardly see them.

I'm not sure but it seems like you have to have one of their water blocks to connect the top plate to it.  In the product overview all it says is; "TOP Acetal for EK-FC480 waterblock".  I am going to shoot off an email to their product support to see if they are proprietary or not but yes, I really like the acetal black ones.  They even have white ones!  Just in case I ever want to build a totally white computer.  LOL, I'll call it "Heavenly"

All by itself though they are including VAT, $21.06 USD.  Ya, and then about that much more for shipping right?  Ok, so I found the entire set up on frozencpu for $139.  It doesn't look like I will be getting a top plate any time soon because for now the Koolance blocks that I have are working pretty good although I do need to remember to clean them up a bit more before I go installing them again.

I have to wait until the next best thing comes out, whatever that might be and I am not tied in to any particular type or brand even although I have pretty much stuck with EVGA (oops, can I say that on here?) and nvidia for quite a long time now. 

Anyway, that is great and I hope that all of the water block companies start doing the top block and perhaps make a universal one as well.  I will go and check the Koolance web site to see if they have one but it's doubtful.  They do seem to be branching out and making black hardware and actually putting copper in their rads and the like.  I think they have finally started to come around.  I know their CPU block is a good one as I still have a CPU 360 on my Intel QX 9650.

Dark Mantis

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Re: Need suggestions for smaller radiator
« Reply #13 on: May 25, 2011, 11:26:09 am »
Quote
I am surprised in a way that someone hadn't thought about doing that a long time ago.  You buy these expensive full water blocks and they sit on the underneath of the card where you can hardly see them.


That is exactly why I fixed a mirror in the bottom of my X58 build soi that the underneath of the graphics card waterblock could be seen including lights. ;)

Or of course you could use a benchtest unit where you can see the whole machine from all angles.

There is also the option to spray the blocks any colour you want. They don't have to be open tot he air as a radiator would so painting is an option.
Gigabyte X58A-UD7
i7 920
Dominators 1600 x6 12GB
6970 2GB
HX850
256GB SSD, Sam 1TB, WDB320GB
Blu-Ray
HAF 932

Gigabyte Z68X-UD5-B3
i7 3770K
Vengeance 1600 16GB
6950 2GB
HCP1200W
Revo Drive x2, 1.5TB WDB RAID0
16x DLRW
StrikeX S7
Full water cooling
3 x 27" Iiy

WarYur

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Re: Need suggestions for smaller radiator
« Reply #14 on: May 26, 2011, 08:15:27 am »
WOW, that is a great idea with the mirrors DM!  I usually pick up on details like that but missed it on your build so I will have to go back and take another look.  I would also love to be able to build one of those bench-test units such as the one that you built there but alas, no tools to do it with and even more importantly, no room.  I think I could just go bonkers on building my own cases if I were able to have the big tools and a relatively basic
set of machines for tool and die work where you could build and improve upon your own water blocks.

Like that will ever happen and then I could throw cost effectiveness out the window as well. 

I hate it when that happens...   ;D

Hey, hows that review coming DM?