5970 Quadfire Watercooling - Opinions needed

[Shadowsong-]

I'm looking to add a second ATI 5970 to my current rig and would like opinions on wether my watercooling is going to cope with a second one.

At the moment i have a single loop system which cools both my Intel 920 @ 4.2Ghz and my ATI 5970. I'm using 1/2 inch tubing and high flow waterblocks, i also have the Lain DCC 18w pump along with a double thickness 360 radiator. All of which is enclosed in the Corsair Obsidian 800D.

Currently at idle my temperatures on both GPU and CPU are about 35-40 degrees, getting to no where over 55 degrees under normal load.

Would another 5970 be ok in the same loop or would i really need another 240 radiator?

Other suggestions are welcome.

Here is a picture of the setup

[Creekin]

i think that rad will handle another gpu, no problem, only way to be sure is to add it an find out
if your temps get crazy, then add another rad.

i believe you mean crossfire btw

[Accerian]

He means quad fire because he got already 2 gpus :]
What temps u got now ? What is the voltage on fans ?
And second thing is , do u realy need another 5970 ? I have this card. And in most of games this card is not fully used. Most of games are using 50% of this card power because of bad scaling ;]

[zalbard]

Will be warm, but should work. Give it a try!

[Shadowsong-]

I have listed the Temps above^^, as for the fans they are all running at 1200RPM on a fan controller which can up them to 1800. So i also have that option if it gets a bit warm.

The reason for going Quadfire is an attempt to future proof the entire of DX11 & be ready for things like Crysis 2. My previous rig was 8800GTX SLI which lasted me all through DX10.

I find my card to be fully utilized in pretty much any game, even something like world of warcraft both GPU's report 100% usage most of the time, in certain crowded places im still only hitting 45~fps on max settings.

[Accerian]

I would say that putting next 2x120 radiator to the loop would be good. IMO you would get about 65 C on cpu and nearly 70 C on gpus. I got in my loop i7 950,mobo chipset,5970 cooled by one loop= thermochill Pa 3.120 + ek 2x120 all fans on 5V and i have 55C on cpu and 40C on both gpu's on load.

[\/icious]

I have listed the Temps above^^, as for the fans they are all running at 1200RPM on a fan controller which can up them to 1800. So i also have that option if it gets a bit warm.

The reason for going Quadfire is an attempt to future proof the entire of DX11 & be ready for things like Crysis 2. My previous rig was 8800GTX SLI which lasted me all through DX10.

I find my card to be fully utilized in pretty much any game, even something like world of warcraft both GPU's report 100% usage most of the time, in certain crowded places im still only hitting 45~fps on max settings.

From what ive seen low fps in MMOs is generally not due to the gpu when in crowded areas. personally i would hold off on the quadfire as the your price to performance is going to be really poor. I would sit on that cash and pick a next gen.

[Creekin]

He means quad fire because he got already 2 gpus :]

oh yeah ,forgot the 5970 was a dualy, ^#%@ marketing ppl cant stick to a standard for a week... x2

[antiacid]

well I'd say try it but you might see temperatures increase a little. If your cpu stays below 85 and your gpu below 95, you should be fine

[Shadowsong-]

From what ive seen low fps in MMOs is generally not due to the gpu when in crowded areas. personally i would hold off on the quadfire as the your price to performance is going to be really poor. I would sit on that cash and pick a next gen.

Not sure about other MMO's but the reason for WoW having low fps in populated areas is all down to re-draw capabilitys of the GPU/DX version.

I really dont think the next gen cards will be all that, i still think Quad Fire 5970's will be quite a bit more powerful then a single next gen card.

[\/icious]

Not sure about other MMO's but the reason for WoW having low fps in populated areas is all down to re-draw capabilitys of the GPU/DX version.

I really dont think the next gen cards will be all that, i still think Quad Fire 5970's will be quite a bit more powerful then a single next gen card.

Not trying to sound like a but can you show me anything to support this. Everything I've read has suggested that lag like that is generally isp/server related. Also I know in the pst crossfire has not played well with WOW. I imagine quadfire would probably be a pain in the ass. The only reason I say save you money for next gens is due to how well a 580 does compared to a 5970. I would pick up a next gen and look to work towards crossfire/sli with that.

[Lu(ky]

I would water cool CPU separate from GPUs maybe buy a 140mm rad at the bottom of the case for the CPU only ..

[Boulard83]

+1 for 2 loop.

[ml2517]

I'm running 2 5970's (see my signature). I probably have overkill on rads but I have a big Danger Den case and figured since I was in one loop... what the hell fill all of those slots on the case with rads. Honestly though, almost nothing seems to support quadfire from what I can tell. You might be better off just saving it for your next build.

[Accerian]

There was some test on forum whit one loop and dual loop config. There is almost no benefits from dual loop. Better to put bigger/thicker radiator than buying second res,second pump and small radiator for cpu

[Shadowsong-]

Thanks for all the feedback guys, i have decided to go with a second 5970 and put it on my current loop.

I have gone with the EK Highflow Parallel Bridge to connect the 2 cards, that coupled with my high flow blocks, double thickness rad and 1/2 tubing will hopefully give it enough cooling.

[Johnny87au]

stick with 1 loop, are you running push/pull on your rad? believe it or not push/pull does help a bit more then having just a push setup especially if your loop is getting more restricitve when adding more components, try push/pull if its 2 hot definately invest in a 240 rad