2 Way SLI GTX 480 Radiator

[nightwoodwolf]

hey everyone ! .. i am sure this been discussed before here or on other forums, but whats the best radiator(s) for cooling 2 GTX 480s ? its hard to decide specially for a person who is new for water cooling ?

would it be 2 separate loops ( which rads ?) or one giant ( gtx 480 ) rad with one loop ? i don't assume 2 loops would be easy to fit inside the case ( mine is HAF 930 ) .. please list some advice from experience not based on personal preference.


cheers

[KingOfsorroW]

I'd say a decent 2x120 radiator would be enough to cool the 480s. Something like swiftech MCR220 for example.

[Section8]

What are your goals with cooling the cards? Do you want to maximize performance or do you want to minimize noise? This will decide which components you purchase including Radiator and Fans.

[Biffa]

Are you planning on cooling the cpu as well? Most important question has been asked. What do you want to achieve?

You sound like a designer? So the cards probably arent going to be 100% 24/7. all gfx cards including fermi are very receptive to watercooling and you could easily drop 20 degrees off max temps with a 240 rad and med to high speed fans. The quieter you want the slower the fans and the larger the rad.

[nightwoodwolf]

main goal is to drop the temperature of both cards ... ambient room is 20.5 c now and the cards temperature are ( GPU1 45 c and GPU2 62 c) that cause i had to install the second card right next to the first one which is blocking air flow of the first fan, however, i knew i was going to water cool them cause the temperature goes way up in the summer here in Sydney - Australia we are talking about about 33 c min in my room.

so i would say performance first before noise, but hopefully not really very load fans on the rad !! .. i sent an email to Danger Den pretty much asking them what kind of loop do i need and kindly the the support guy listed the parts for me and drew a diagram with suggestion ( i thought they have great support even tho i am not a customer yet ) check the diagram and the email guys and let me know what you think !!


i've never done any water cooling before by the way ... thanks



suggested Parts List:

2 x DD GTX480 GPUs (the Black Chrome and Nickle look great
CrossSLI fitting package (only one set needed)
DDC 3.25 12v pump
Black Ice SR1 240mm radiator
Black Ice SR1 140mm Radiator
2 x 120mm Gentle Typhoon Fans
1 x 140mm Yateloon Low Speed Fan
XSPC Single Bay Reservoir
7 Feet Tygon Tubing
Bottle Feser One fluid color your choice
10 Hose clamps
You may need a 90 degree swivel fitting on the lower GPU if it is too close to your PSU and with a normal fitting may cause the hose to kink

All parts and fittings 3/8"

Note : in the summer if the CPU temp might go up !! i might consider watercooling solution as well currently it is ( 35 to 40 c )

[Section8]

main goal is to drop the temperature of both cards ... ambient room is 20.5 c now and the cards temperature are ( GPU1 45 c and GPU2 62 c) that cause i had to install the second card right next to the first one which is blocking air flow of the first fan, however, i knew i was going to water cool them cause the temperature goes way up in the summer here in Sydney - Australia we are talking about about 33 c min in my room.

so i would say performance first before noise, but hopefully not really very load fans on the rad !! .. i sent an email to Danger Den pretty much asking them what kind of loop do i need and kindly the the support guy listed the parts for me and drew a diagram with suggestion ( i thought they have great support even tho i am not a customer yet ) check the diagram and the email guys and let me know what you think !!


i've never done any water cooling before by the way ... thanks



suggested Parts List:

2 x DD GTX480 GPUs (the Black Chrome and Nickle look great
CrossSLI fitting package (only one set needed)
DDC 3.25 12v pump
Black Ice SR1 240mm radiator
Black Ice SR1 140mm Radiator
2 x 120mm Gentle Typhoon Fans
1 x 140mm Yateloon Low Speed Fan
XSPC Single Bay Reservoir
7 Feet Tygon Tubing
Bottle Feser One fluid color your choice
10 Hose clamps
You may need a 90 degree swivel fitting on the lower GPU if it is too close to your PSU and with a normal fitting may cause the hose to kink

All parts and fittings 3/8"

Note : in the summer if the CPU temp might go up !! i might consider watercooling solution as well currently it is ( 35 to 40 c )

That looks like a great plan. The DD blocks are very nice. All in all for a first build it looks very good. I would stay away from the pre-bottled coolant though as it can cause all sorts of headaches when it breaks down and clogs up your blocks. I recommend using straight Distilled water and a silver coil or Distilled and a biocide like PT Nuke. If you want to add some color just buy colored tubing. Also it looks like money really isn't a concern for you judging by that list of parts so I would also suggest you buy compression fittings instead of barbs and hose clamps. Compression fittings look so much nicer

[KingOfsorroW]

The black Ice radiators really sucked in my experience. I had one 240mm black ice radiator several years ago - man it was the most restrictive part in my system. Then I changed it to the swiftech mcr220 and things got much better. Though I must admit that at the time I used the Fluid XP as a cooland, wich is not the lightest coolant at all... The distilled water with some PT nuke or similar chemical addition is the best way to go, no doubt.
Also it's best for the coolant to flow from the top to bottom and not backwards like you planning to have it going -)

[Church]

Black Ice includes several lines of very different rads. Low FPI SR1, high FPI GTX and even more high FPI (and thin profile) GTS. I'm guessing you meant airflow restriction of GTS? Simply use fast fans of high pressure with that high finned rads. Coolant flow restriction is almost irrelevant for any rad (except if it's not something like MoRa2. For most normal rads you need 15-25 of them connected in serial to reach flow restriction that of single cpu waterblock). If you really meant that somehow BI rads noticeably restricted water flow, then most probably you had something else wrong/botched up, not because of different rad.

[KingOfsorroW]

I guess it was the GTS... It somehow restricted the flow. After changing it to the mcr220 the temps fell noticably and I could see the increased flow speed while bleeding. Fans were the same on both rads - the zalman F3s.

[Alexandr0s]

The GTS has been proven to be one of the most restrictive radiators, both in air- as in liquid-flow. If you want thin, get a MCR instead .

nightwoodwolf, you said you're looking for performance, and that noise comes second. Then you should maybe consider getting other radiators. Those SR1 are designed for low RPM, which won't give you the best performance. I suggest looking at radiators optimized for high RPM, or all-round performers. The best suggestion in most cases is the MCR. A MCR320 should suffice for 2 480's, though a MCR420 will probably be better, especially if you want them cool.

[Church]

I'm guessing that you got some not bled big air bubble in rad if it restricted your flow considerably. As for bad temps .. high finned rad = use high rpm (and unfortunately noisy) fans, that's given. Up untill 1400rpm gtx performs worse then other rads, and shines with something like 2000-3000rpm. I'm guessing that GTS are probably similar in that account. If you want silent fans, less finned rads cool at that range better. MCR rads are middle finned fans, but probably due their lesser thickness they compansate with that a bit airflow restriction and cool good enough with low rpm fans aswell.
#1, #2.
Anyway, the main point of both of my posts here is that with three that different fan optimisation wise rad lines from HWLabs with Black Ice name you shouldn't bash them all as bad choice. SR1s are imho very good rads for silent fans (a bit overpriced though)
Alexandr0s: 1.5x120 per 300W dissipating 480? A bit too hot for my taste. Imho quad (2x120 per 480) should be starting point.

[KingOfsorroW]

I'm currently running both of my 480s and the cpu@4.3ghz on one single mcr320. The temps of graphics cards never go above 61C, idling at 39-41C. So I guess an mcr220 would suffice -))

[Alexandr0s]

Not if he's looking for performance. I suggest at least a MCR320, but like I said already, a MCR420 would be an even better choice .

[KingOfsorroW]

The 420 is definitely an overkill for a 480sli setup. MCR320 would probably suit you if you are looking to obtain really low temps - I'd say 33-35 idle and below 53C under load... But an MCR 220 would be enough even if you want to overklock the hell out of them... I don't think they can go any higher than 71-72C in that case. -)

[bonobo]

The 420 is definitely an overkill for a 480sli setup. MCR320 would probably suit you if you are looking to obtain really low temps - I'd say 33-35 idle and below 53C under load... But an MCR 220 would be enough even if you want to overklock the hell out of them... I don't think they can go any higher than 71-72C in that case. -)

Really ?
I am following this thread because I will watercool two 470GTX, and I was planning to use a 480mm for the GPUs ...

[Church]

KingOfsorroW: limit fans to 1100 rpms and load linx & furmark at same time and report your temps

[KingOfsorroW]

Really ?
I am following this thread because I will watercool two 470GTX, and I was planning to use a 480mm for the GPUs ...

Well, yeah, I wouldn't expect more than 75C degrees from a 480GTX sli setup connected to a 240mm rad. Considering your ambient temps are 23-24C... And I think that 75C max is a nice temp for a card that was designed to operate at 95C...
I only judge from my current setup, where both cards are in the same loop with the i7920 @ 4.3Ghz, and I hardly see them go above 61C. Whilst the rad is 360mm.

KingOfsorroW: limit fans to 1100 rpms and load linx & furmark at same time and report your temps

lol I won't do that. What's the point? It's not how use my pc.
I don't play furmak and linx-) I know my cpu is stable - as I've done quite a lot of testing when my cpu was solely connected to the rad.

[bonobo]

Well, yeah, I wouldn't expect more than 75C degrees from a 480GTX sli setup connected to a 240mm rad. Considering your ambient temps are 23-24C... And I think that 75C max is a nice temp for a card that was designed to operate at 95C...
I only judge from my current setup, where both cards are in the same loop with the i7920 @ 4.3Ghz, and I hardly see them go above 61C. Whilst the rad is 360mm.

Thank you ! This is great feedback.

[Conumdrum]

Really ?
I am following this thread because I will watercool two 470GTX, and I was planning to use a 480mm for the GPUs ...

Bonbo, no ned for anything but a 320 for 470's.

Follow this thread about my 470's. I have before after temps in it.

Get past the PSU part....
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/s...d.php?t=643159

[KingOfsorroW]

KingOfsorroW: limit fans to 1100 rpms and load linx & furmark at same time and report your temps

Anyway I've just done like you said, and the cpu temps rose to 91C but the gpu temps remained at 62Cgpu2 and 59Cgpu1. After 15 minutes of linx I turned it off and the gpu temps jumped to 73C and 69C respectively. Right now one card is runnin at 75C and the other one ar 79C. Under FurMark. Total running time = 20:20:23

Thank you ! This is great feedback.

np

[hlonipha]

I'm running a x360 and a HWL GTX 480 all in one loop with one mcp655. While just stress testing the VGA temps goes to 58c-60c on my 480's (furmark, occt,vantage, etc..). While stressing both CPU and GPUs at the same time (WCG & GPUGRID) the cpu goes between 73c-79c and GPUs 65c.

[Alexandr0s]

Anyway I've just done like you said, and the cpu temps rose to 91C but the gpu temps remained at 62Cgpu2 and 59Cgpu1. After 15 minutes of linx I turned it off and the gpu temps jumped to 73C and 69C respectively. Right now one card is runnin at 75C and the other one ar 79C. Under FurMark. Total running time = 20:20:23



np

In hours/minutes/seconds? So 20 hours, 20 minutes, and 23 seconds?

Because churchy posted his comment only 5 hours ago .

And how the hell would your GPU temps go up when you shut down the CPU loader?

Either I'm very confused and not getting what you're saying, or you're not being completely truthful.

[KingOfsorroW]

In hours/minutes/seconds? So 20 hours, 20 minutes, and 23 seconds?

Because churchy posted his comment only 5 hours ago .

And how the hell would your GPU temps go up when you shut down the CPU loader?

Either I'm very confused and not getting what you're saying, or you're not being completely truthful.

Well, that was running 20 minutes, naturally. I have no reasons to be unfair. The temps jumped up as soon as I shut down the cpu loader - I have no idea why that happened. Feel free to find out by yourself.

[Alexandr0s]

Kay, I believe you . But it just seemed very odd that the temperatures shot up like that after shutting down the CPU loader. I still think a 360 is a good radiator to work with .

[Section8]

I still think a 360 is a good radiator to work with .

For this application I agree %100. I had all 3 of my 480 GTX's on a PA120.3 for a while until I got off my lazy but and installed my HWLabs GTX 480. Temps dropped considerably and right now full load my hottest GPU (card 1) only gets to 48C after looping Vantage for 30 minutes or so. Overall I think the GTX series of Rads are about the best you can get for performance as long as you are partially deaf and don't mind leaf blowers attached to your Radiator. For the OP''s setup that he considering I still think it looks pretty good. He has to decide if he wants Maximum performance or something in the Middle. If he wants good performance without using LOUD high speed fans than the SR-1's are a good choice. One thing I want to point out is that the 400 series cards can take a lot of heat. So if your cards run at 70C full load you are doing fine and dropping them to 50C full load isn't going to get you any more overclocking headroom. So anyways enough Rambling my point is that a 360 Rad should work great for this application.