What GPU and CPU blocks for a large (lowflow) 7-block loop?

[daheri]

Hi,

I have been looking into watercooling for a good time now and i'm in the finalizing stages of my wc-project. This forum is by far the best i've come across so i guess you guys are the most qualified to answer my humble questions.

The project is to completely wc my computer in a lian-li pc-g70b case.
The main computer componets will be as follow:
c2d e6600
abit aw9d max mb
8800gtx

Radiator (thermochill pa 120.3) is to be mounted inside the case on top.
For the HDDs i am considering a dual HDD cage from AC (http://www.aqua-computer-systeme.de/shopsystem/product_info.php?cPath=7_10_15&products_id=1606&osCsid=f60e5073439d102b5cf091be30bb7ecc)
For the mb - components (nb, sb, 2xmosfets) I have the blocks for MIPS computer. (see image below. the cpu block is not included)
http://www.mips-computer.de/images/aw9_full_mounted.jpg

Ok, lets get down to my questions. What i am seeking information and ideas about is what kind of block i should use for my 8800gtx and my cpu. I want a fullcover-block for the gtx.
An important side-note to this is that i will be running this system with a low-power pump. This will be an "aquastream" from AC (modified eheim 1046).
Since the pump is going to be so "low-flow" i guess that most of the blocks should be blocks with low pressuredrop that works well with a low waterflow. Only problem is i cant really find any information on this..
Please if anyone can help me out i would be most happy!

A roughly drawn flow-layout can be found on the bottom. As you can see out of that my plan is to do the loop in one long series. I have been thinking about doing some blocks in parallell, but i am a bit worried that the flow of water will not spread evenly between the paths. Maybe im wrong, and if that is the case i would also be happy for advice on what components is best done parallell.

Since this IS the xtreme-systems i guess i will get quite a lot of stick for this kind of low flow system, but remember that this is a project with demands for an absolute minimum of noise (hence the aquastream pump and not some industrial strenght jet-engine). I could (and some may say i should) air-cool the mb, but i will rather fail at this and go back to air-cooling the mb than give up before i have started.

For tubing i will use 3/8 ID.

I will post a more detailed description with pictures at a later stage, but for now i only need some guidance on the blocks to use.

First draft of flow-layout (http://www.diskusjon.no/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=123003)


Thanks in advance for all the helpfull advice!:)

[IanY]

Wow. It looks pretty. Sorry I have no expertise in low flow systems. I'm the type that doubles up on pumps just to get that extra head pressure :)

I don't think many of the people in this forum are low flow system users either.

Those blocks still look pretty on that motherboard. Are you based in Europe?

Good luck.

[jellybeard999]

Id probably go with a swiftech 6002 or Apogee for the CPU, and a DD Maze4 or AquaXtreme MP-01 for the GPU.

[cdelong]

I'd be using 1/2" tubing for starters.

Secondly, I don't know if it's just your pic or how the layout would be, but I'd imagine you'd want the resoviour above the pump?

Seems to be a lot of components for a single loop?

[daheri]

Wow. It looks pretty. Sorry I have no expertise in low flow systems. I'm the type that doubles up on pumps just to get that extra head pressure :)

I don't think many of the people in this forum are low flow system users either.

Those blocks still look pretty on that motherboard. Are you based in Europe?

Good luck.
Thanks man! Yes, i'm based in norway, europe.



Id probably go with a swiftech 6002 or Apogee for the CPU, and a DD Maze4 or AquaXtreme MP-01 for the GPU.

I've thought of the swiftech-apogee myself. But i have really no idea how it compares to other blocks.. Not much updated info on the subject.
As for your GPU recommendation i want a full-cover 8800gtx block. So far the only i have found is the EK one and the AC one.



I'd be using 1/2" tubing for starters.

Secondly, I don't know if it's just your pic or how the layout would be, but I'd imagine you'd want the resoviour above the pump?

Seems to be a lot of components for a single loop?

It would be quite impossible to fit 1/2 tubing for all those components i think. 3/8 will have to do. I guess the main restricting problem is not in the tubing of my system anyway:rolleyes:
As for the reservoir on the flowlayout it is that thing labeled "tank". It will actually be on the same vertical level as the pump, not under it, the illustration is just a bit misleading.

And yeah, lots of components equals lots of fun right? :D

[[XC]Atomicpineapple]

Swiftech Apogee is a very good low restriction block. Also you wont find a better 8800GTX fullcover block than the EK.

[Solarfall]

good god... you will have one hell of a tube mess in your case. can't wait to see more pics ... hint, hint. :)

[IanY]

Would those MIPS Computer blocks even take 3/8" ID (10 mm) tubing ? Thought they were designed with 6 mm/8 mm tubing in mind.

The bottom line is that you are going to have a hard time mixing German style stuff (AquaExtreme/AlphaCool/MIPs, etc) with American style big tubing equipment (Swiftech, DD, EK etc.).

I really like that HDD cooler because it also works as a silencer, and its designed to be used with X15 Cheetahs.

Having said that, I am not used to German equipment and I find my silence while using big bore 1/2" ID tubing, high flow and multiple loops. I guess the low flow method has its own merits, just that I don't yet understand the German point of view.

I am a firm believer in teh virtue of system integration. Perhaps you should look towards MIPS for your cpu and video blocks too, since you want to use an Enheim and those MIPS blocks.

You forgot the memory! If you're doing to go through this trouble, then don't forget the memory :)

[pancito]

After WC my CPU and GPU, i notice my big problem was the lack of air flow over the VRegs in my GPU and MoBo, Especially the X1900XTX.

Sooner or later im going to get a 8800 and buy a full cover block for it.

IMO I would put 2 loops just to be safe 1 for CPU+GPU 1 for Everything Else.

If your pump fails you have a lot of eggs in your basket.

[IanY]

Apart from MIPS, does anyone know who else sells blocks for the mobo Vregs?

[generics_user]

you should go with 2 loops for this setup.
Put the mobo-coolers dand hd-drives into the first one with your old aquastreem pump and a single rad (i think it doesn´t really matter which brand for these components, just a flat one which is easy to mount) using your small 3/8" tubing and get a more powerful pump (DDC 1, 2 or D5) together with some 1/2" tubing for your cpu+gfx.

apogee is a good cpu cooler, no matter if high or low-flow so this one should suit both options (dual or single loop), for your G80 EK's blocks are the best

[[XC] DragonOrta]

If you're going to put all of those blocks in a single loop, are sure that an AquaStream pump will even be able to handle it all? I'd at least suggest a D5 or a DDC+ for a loop with that many blocks.

While the D5 and the DDC+ would be considered "high-flow" or whatever it is the Germans would call it, with all those blocks, the water still won't be going too fast.

[daheri]

Thanks for all the advice guys!:toast: You have pretty much convinced me to go for the Swiftech apogee block along with the ek 8800gtx block.


If your pump fails you have a lot of eggs in your basket.

This is the beauty of the aquastream pump! You can connect it directly to your PSU standby/break to ensure a shutdown of the system in case of pump-failure. And i'm even adding the AC aquareo controlunit to my system so if both the pump and the auto-shutdown fails my aquareo will detect a flow-stop and shut the computer down.



Would those MIPS Computer blocks even take 3/8" ID (10 mm) tubing ? Thought they were designed with 6 mm/8 mm tubing in mind.

I am a firm believer in teh virtue of system integration. Perhaps you should look towards MIPS for your cpu and video blocks too, since you want to use an Enheim and those MIPS blocks.

You forgot the memory! If you're doing to go through this trouble, then don't forget the memory

The MIPS blocks is delivered without fittings. The picture is only an illustration. It comes with 1/4 BSP", so it is really no technical problem to add/buy/find fittings that fit the 1/4 bsp to the 3/8 tubing.
As for going with MIPS all the way this is a bit of a problem since they dont make any fullcover 8800gtx blocks. They do have a cpu cooler but I have no idea what it preforms like so i feel much better about the apogee.

Do you really think i should add the ram to? I've heard that's not necessary, but what do i know..


you should go with 2 loops for this setup.
Put the mobo-coolers dand hd-drives into the first one with your old aquastreem pump and a single rad (i think it doesn´t really matter which brand for these components, just a flat one which is easy to mount) using your small 3/8" tubing and get a more powerful pump (DDC 1, 2 or D5) together with some 1/2" tubing for your cpu+gfx.

apogee is a good cpu cooler, no matter if high or low-flow so this one should suit both options (dual or single loop), for your G80 EK's blocks are the best
This is not a bad idea. But for now it will serve as my backup plan. I will first try this project with one big loop. And if flow/performance is not good enough i will buy another pump and a small rad. I'm guessing that my one-loop plan will work fine on stock speeds, but i'm not really sure when oc'ing. Well i guess i just have to find out.:p:

[IanY]

Do you really think i should add the ram to? I've heard that's not necessary, but what do i know..

I was just joking. Some would say that water cooling the NB, SB and MOSFETs are not necessary as well :) What I meant was, if you were going all this way, you might as well go all the way.

Incidently, I am a HDD junkie but I have never had to apply any form of special cooling to my HDDs. I have five Cheetah X15s and eight WD Raptors stacked, one on top of the other, with zero cooling. Not even a blowing fan. Never had an overheating issue in all my 11 years of running Seagate Cheetahs (10k and 15k rpms). Therefore, HDD water cooling is definitely not necessary.

This is all for fun, so why don't you do it all the way? :)

MIPS refuses to deliver to the US. Pity.

[daheri]

I was just joking. Some would say that water cooling the NB, SB and MOSFETs are not necessary as well :) What I meant was, if you were going all this way, you might as well go all the way.

Incidently, I am a HDD junkie but I have never had to apply any form of special cooling to my HDDs. I have five Cheetah X15s and eight WD Raptors stacked, one on top of the other, with zero cooling. Not even a blowing fan. Never had an overheating issue in all my 11 years of running Seagate Cheetahs (10k and 15k rpms). Therefore, HDD water cooling is definitely not necessary.

This is all for fun, so why don't you do it all the way? :)

MIPS refuses to deliver to the US. Pity.
Maybe i just will go all the way!;) But not yet anyway, and god knows if i can even fit all this into my case. Im planning on an internal mounting of the thermochill rad. :eek:

About the HDDs its not really about the heat. Its more of a sound issue. The HDD waterblock is a silencer as well. And if I just silenced and not cooled it would have become pretty hot i think.

[generics_user]

Maybe i just will go all the way!;) But not yet anyway, and god knows if i can even fit all this into my case. Im planning on an internal mounting of the thermochill rad. :eek:

About the HDDs its not really about the heat. Its more of a sound issue. The HDD waterblock is a silencer as well. And if I just silenced and not cooled it would have become pretty hot i think.
but it's an alu silener, go with the alphacool one, silencer as well but full copper

alphacool-cooler (http://www.alphacool.de/product_info.php/language/en/products_id/538/cPath/5_18_22/hdd-kuehler/wak-hdd-watercool-silentstar-hd-dual.html)

[daheri]

Thanks for the tip generic! Didn't know they made one.

About the gpu fullsize block, i just came across a modell made by danger den. a full cover 8800gtx block (http://www.dangerdenstore.com/product.php?productid=257&cat=48&page=1). And it looks amazing! even better than the EK one imo. Does anyone know how it preforms?

[daheri]

Never mind. I found out the danger den blocks where crap anyway.

[Pete]

7 block loops sounds rather copied off my project with Chilled PC being 7 inderival loops

[welshtom]

but 7 block loops has prob been done a fair few times before ;)

[alejo]

MIPS refuses to deliver to the US. Pity.

Hmm. When I enquired several weeks ago, they told me they deliver to the US, no problem.

[IanY]

Hmm. When I enquired several weeks ago, they told me they deliver to the US, no problem.


Really? Someone on here just e-mailed them and got a response in German saying that they don't do US deliveries. I'll try to find that post.

[welshtom]

thats a bit weird, why wont they ship? I can prob reship to US if anyone wants to make it worth my while ;)

[IanY]

The stuff sure looks sexy. Does it take standard G1/4 1/2" OD barbs like the EK/DD barbs?

[welshtom]

I think it probably takes G1/8" or something similar tbh

[IanY]

Its bizzare. I go there to oogle the eye candy, and then I decided that I would buy, but there's no button for me to click to buy anything! I guess they sense that I am in the US and so no blocks for me? :) I bet if we were to pull out of Iraq... rofl just a joke :)

[daheri]

Its bizzare. I go there to oogle the eye candy, and then I decided that I would buy, but there's no button for me to click to buy anything! I guess they sense that I am in the US and so no blocks for me? :) I bet if we were to pull out of Iraq... rofl just a joke :)
I'm guessing you are referring to MIPS (www.mips-computer.de). They have an order button. Just browse to the desired item. Scroll down at the bottom and look for the thing named "bestellen" which means "order" or "add to cart". Its hard to find because its in the same font color as the rest and with no underlining suggesting it even is a link.

[serialk11r]

Hey I thought the D-tek fusion has better flow than apogee, according to that other thread.

[daheri]

For those interested you can now follow my project log on the overclockers forum. See signature for link. I will try to keep it updated as I go along.

Cheers!

[Mr. Peanut]

Ugh. Too many useless blocks involved for me to read the second page of this thread.

[serialk11r]

I seriously think this is the result of a brain tumor or something. Seriously, why would you need waterblocks in all those places??? In cheap motherboards like asus p5ne and p5n, there ARE NO HEATSINKS WHATSOEVER on the mosfet and area around the socket. The southbridge has no heatsink either. My board has a heatsink there and its aluminum, has pathetic number of fins, and has almost no airflow. And its almost ice cold. Seriously, this is so ridiculous. Right now without the tubes it looks good. When you put tubes on it will look like sh*t.

[IanY]

I seriously think this is the result of a brain tumor or something. Seriously, why would you need waterblocks in all those places??? In cheap motherboards like asus p5ne and p5n, there ARE NO HEATSINKS WHATSOEVER on the mosfet and area around the socket. The southbridge has no heatsink either. My board has a heatsink there and its aluminum, has pathetic number of fins, and has almost no airflow. And its almost ice cold. Seriously, this is so ridiculous. Right now without the tubes it looks good. When you put tubes on it will look like sh*t.


You obviously haven't used a 680i motherboard. The SB is hot enough to feel like the surface of a kettle 5 minutes after boiling water. Flesh can stick to the Vreg heatsinks. Its hot enough to sear a mark on your finger and blister the skin.

[serialk11r]

That sounds like my 7900gs ram when I play BF2142:D I might be using a 680i motherboard in the near future, if I'm lucky. I'll make a waterblock for the NB and take the stock sink and stick it on the sb:D then cut the top off.

[daheri]

I seriously think this is the result of a brain tumor or something. Seriously, why would you need waterblocks in all those places??? In cheap motherboards like asus p5ne and p5n, there ARE NO HEATSINKS WHATSOEVER on the mosfet and area around the socket. The southbridge has no heatsink either. My board has a heatsink there and its aluminum, has pathetic number of fins, and has almost no airflow. And its almost ice cold. Seriously, this is so ridiculous. Right now without the tubes it looks good. When you put tubes on it will look like sh*t.
Haha, headinjury or not, this project is still going to happen. You must remember that it isn't always about what is necessary and what is not. Even though you prefer maximum cooling power for your cpu and gpu doesn't mean everybody else does. Its all about balancing it out. I prefer the whole computer cooled only by the 360 radiator, you may prefer air-cooling of the mobo. Some doesn't care about the noise, others do. While I refuse to put an aftermarket 60mm screamer fan on the mobo chips, others again dont care.
Some will say watercooling the mobo and hdds are overkill, but then again some will say running two 8800gtx in SLI is overkill. Sometimes the question is not what is necessary, but what is possible.

Cheers guys! The project will move further ahead in the weekend if I get the final parts!

[IanY]

Lots of luck, Daheri. Nice project in a nice case. Let us know how it turns out. I'm envious of those mosfet blocks lol :)