The challenge begins....

[Shadow0001]

I'm setting up quite an powerfull system, yes even by extreme systems standards(hard to believe considering the wild setups around here), but have come across the cooling issues for such a beast, since overclocking is also part of the project and it involves water....The system will consist of an EVGA SR-2 dual Xeon motherboard here:

.


With a pair of Xeon X5650, 6 core gulftowns(2.66Ghz base clock,20x multiplier),and aiming to get as close to 4 Ghz as i can,wich judging by i7 920 overclocks, wich run at the same base clock and multiplier as these Xeons, should be doable with 1.4 volts or less.


Now the cooling issue in question....The main kit consists of this:




Swiftech 320 edge radiator with a built in pump and reservoir, with an extra CPU water block,the swiftech apogee XT, Shown right here:




But it's not over just yet, as there's also the EK nickel + Acetal EK FB-SR2 full cover motherboard block, shown here:

http://www.ekwaterblocks.com/shop/ek...-nickel-1.html


Now the video cards(3 GTX580's in triple SLI),will remain with their stock coolers, at least for the time being,but the question is, can that single radiator handle both CPU's and the full cover motherboard block at the clocks i'm aiming for,or should a second radiator be added to the loop...


Oh,and for those wondering,the case will be this one once it's available:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJB7AHmumXA


It shows the SR-2 installed inside,and with plenty of room to spare for hardware and cooling...

[matari]

No way, you need at least 2 360 radiators. If you are going that extreme don't buy a kit.

[theseeker]

No way, you need at least 2 360 radiators.

Agreed, and change the CPU cooler! Skinnie Labs is your friend.

[BlueAqua]

What case are you planning to stick this in? I'd get as much rad as you can.

[Shadow0001]

No way, you need at least 2 360 radiators. If you are going that extreme don't buy a kit.

Well,Swiftech does have examples of this exact kit being able to not only cool the CPU, but even 2 video cards in SLI/crossfire in the same loop, and given that pretty much any video card these days uses at least 150 watts each, even if it isn't a high end one,so that's pretty good cooling power

Agreed, and change the CPU cooler! Skinnie Labs is your friend.

I'm currently this this very kit with a 980x running at 4.6 Ghz with hyperthreading enabled and using 1.5 volts,linX stable,and load temperatures average 70*C across all cores...


The xeons will be running at 4 Ghz max due to the low multiplier used, and the fact that it's locked at 20x,and at those clocks,the voltage requirements are much lower....Heck,even high end air coolers can handle those clocks and voltages..

What case are you planning to stick this in? I'd get as much rad as you can.

I see a lot of wicked setups using multiple rads,and they do look amazing,but used mostly when also cooling the GPU's under water too,usually 3~4 of them,wich can generate a lot of heat on their own,especially when overclocked,so if the GPU's go under water later on,i'll definitely run it on their own loop...


Right now,it's just those 2 CPU's and the chipset,and at fairly conservative clocks and voltages....As for the case,i posted a youtube video of it since it's still not available in retail,as it was anounced at CES this past january...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJB7AHmumXA

[matari]

You are talking at least 330 watts for just the CPUs; possible to do with one tripple 120mm radiator, but it wont give you much head room. Check out this link. http://www.maximumpc.com/article/hom...m_machine_2010

[lowfat]

If you aren't throwing the videocards under water a single 3x120mm radiator will be fine. 32nm hexacores don't throw all that much heat out. I use two 3x120mm radiators on one of my SR-2s but it is definitely overkill. And next time I rebuild it I will be removing one of them. And just an FYI watercooling the motherboard isn't going to gain you any higher of an overclock or anything.

[Shadow0001]

You are talking at least 330 watts for just the CPUs; possible to do with one tripple 120mm radiator, but it wont give you much head room. Check out this link. http://www.maximumpc.com/article/hom...m_machine_2010

I suppose it will be tight when under hard load in linX with hyperthreading enabled and 24 threads running full steam + the chipset cooling, but i'll have to see the options that the case itself provides once they actually start shipping these things, and if i'm looking at that youtube video properly, even after the power supply is installed in the bottom of the case, i should still have enough room left over a 120~240mm rad in the same loop, just enough to get some extra headroom if nothing else.


I'll have a better idea of my options once i get the case and inspect it first hand...

[Shadow0001]

If you aren't throwing the videocards under water a single 3x120mm radiator will be fine. 32nm hexacores don't throw all that much heat out. I use two 3x120mm radiators on one of my SR-2s but it is definitely overkill. And next time I rebuild it I will be removing one of them. And just an FYI watercooling the motherboard isn't going to gain you any higher of an overclock or anything.

Thanks for the confirmation that it should be enough, but the main reason for the chipset going under water is that it's pretty much known that the NF200 bridge chips located there run hot and there's 2 of them, and right above those will be 3 GTX580's in triple SLI, so there isn't much room for ventilation as the stock fan there would be covered by the cards, and each of these video cards can consume up to 240 watts a piece....


It's more a peace of mind thing,and yes i also think that the EK full cover block looks cool as hell too....Guilty as charged..

[matari]

Tripple with three 1850 rpm will get ya a delta 10 according to skinee's chart. You wont have the best temps, but it will work. The two tripples I reconmend was overkill. If you can fit a quad in that case you will have all the headroom ya need.

Skinee's chart: http://skinneelabs.com/triple-radiator-comparison-v2/4/

[Shadow0001]

Tripple with three 1850 rpm will get ya a delta 10 according to skinee's chart. You wont have the best temps, but it will work. The two tripples I reconmend was overkill. If you can fit a quad in that case you will have all the headroom ya need.

Skinee's chart: http://skinneelabs.com/triple-radiator-comparison-v2/4/

Unfortunately the radiator is a triple with the pump built into it, as well as the reservoir, but like i said earlier, once i have the case and see how much room i'll have left over at the bottom once the PSU is installed and the wiring done, i'll think about adding a second smaller rad there with it's own fan...It all depends on the temps i get with what i already have too.


I might get CPU's that end up needing less voltage that i though they would need, and stable at the clocks i'm aiming for, and if that happends, it also makes it easier on the water cooling to keep temperatures under control...


The idea is also to keep the loop looking very neat and tidy without having hoses going all over the place....Elegantly simple is the motivation here, and i'll add more if it isn't enough, taking the gradual aproach basically.

[Shadow0001]

If needed, i'll add something like this with it's own fan of course right beside the power supply at the bottom of the case, and redo the loop for it...

[dreamaxx]

Wanna sell your old 980x to someone poor and lowly?

[Shadow0001]

Wanna sell your old 980x to someone poor and lowly?

It will be once i get this system running in a few weeks time, as the only major thing that's holding it back right now is the case itself( Xigmatech Elysium super tower) wich isn't available yet, or i just say screw it, and order the Mountain mods pinnacle 24 with the HPTX motherboard tray specifically made for the SR-2 board, though this will cost about 400$ finished the way i want it(twice as much as the Elysium).


The rest is just little bits like extra fittings, and the motherboard water block is coming directly from slovenia,wich is where EK is based(2 day delivery)...I didn't know they based in europe actually.


The CPU's i leave it for last too,given they're basically the most expensive thing in the build and they're also easy to get, seems that Intel is going to release the X5690's soon, so that might make the existing Xeon's a little cheaper....Right now the X5650's are basically 1000$ a pop...I'll feel that for sure..

[Shadow0001]

The motherboard is now at the local post office, since i wasn't home when Canada post attempted to deliver this afternoon, but i'll pick it up tomorrow and the EK water block for chipset is now in Germany, after having passed Austria and left Slovenia,so it'll fly over the atlantic and to Canada within the next 24 hours...


The rest of the water cooling parts will be here by friday as well as the other 12 GB of DDR 3 ram,and i sent an Email to Xigmatech to see when the PC case i need will be available for purchase...Worst comes to worst, it'll be the MM pinnacle 24 case.


Last big puchases left are the dual Xeon CPU's and a pair of crucial C400 SSD's,likely the 256 GB models setup in raid 0,so the system will have more than enough for the O/S,all utilities and the games i play most often with room to spare....The rest is saved in a pair of 1 terrabyte caviar blacks in raid 0 as well...

[dreamaxx]

What an awesome build, I'd be so excited

IMO, I'd get the MM pinnacle

[Shadow0001]

What an awesome build, I'd be so excited

IMO, I'd get the MM pinnacle

Getting excited as well, but i try not to add up the total cost of all the parts of the build as it's quite high too...


As for mountain mods case, i do like the amount of room in the case and the build quality is second to none, as well as it's customization potential, but the cases themselves have absolutely no cable management ability by default, so i basically have to find methods to route all the wiring so that it's as invisible as possible, while the Xigmatech case seems to do a lot of the work right off the bat, and yes it's 200$ + cheaper too.


The Xigmatech can also handle up to 12 drives, Even though i'd never use that many, while the pinnacle 24 has basically three 5 1/4 drive bays and adapters for 3 hard drives, and that's pretty much it, so i'm still 1 bay short for my build, unless i go for a bigger Mountain mods case like the UFO -extended, but nicely optioned and finished that one can climb to 500~600$ pretty fast and still has no cable management built in either...i have to do it from scratch.

[matari]

That case looks like could fit a 4 x 120mm radiator on top. Why not go custom? If you like the compact setup you could go with a DD monson or a Koolance dual bay reservoir. The pump goes inside the reservoir so you still havd the compact setup. You kill 2 bays but that case looks like it has alot of bays. just my opinion.

[Shadow0001]

That case looks like could fit a 4 x 120mm radiator on top. Why not go custom? If you like the compact setup you could go with a DD monson or a Koolance dual bay reservoir. The pump goes inside the reservoir so you still havd the compact setup. You kill 2 bays but that case looks like it has alot of bays. just my opinion.

True, those are options, but it's mostly due to the fact that i already have the swiftech apex 320 running in my current system, and it's working beautifully cooling the 980x at 4.6 Ghz at 1.5 volts with still enough thermal performance left to handle a second CPU....The 2 Xeons will work at 4Ghz at 1.4 volts or less, so there's 2 of them but each one will be producing less heat than this 980x, so i should be OK...


Anyhow,i'm still waiting for a reply for the Email i sent them on when i can get that case in the first place...

[bmaverick]

Is this going to be done with on massive WCing loop or two or three? Having one RES and two loops seems to the next norm in WCing as this can reduce the heat complexities. Also you can run with two pumps, on for each loop.

[Shadow0001]

Is this going to be done with on massive WCing loop or two or three? Having one RES and two loops seems to the next norm in WCing as this can reduce the heat complexities. Also you can run with two pumps, on for each loop.

Single loop with 4 water blocks in total, wich only 2 of those are the big heat producers(the 2 CPU's obviously),and 1 for the VRM's on one CPU socket,and the last block being a full cover block cooling the chipset, 2 NF200 PCI-e bridge chips and the second VRM set for the other CPU socket.


If i were also cooling the video cards(3 GTX580's), i'd definitely do a second seperate loop with it's own reservoir and pump, and a large mountain mods case becomes mandatory, but faster video cards with large performance increases come out at a much faster pace compared to CPU's, so spending likely close to 600~700 dollars in water cooling just for the video cards that i swap every 12~18 months seems pretty pointless...I'd do it if i were keeping them long term...

[86 5.0L]

a 120mm(H50) can handle my 45nm i7 920 @ 4.2GHz, 32nm gulftowns will run cooler, so yes a 360mm rad will be fine.

[zalbard]

If you aren't throwing the videocards under water a single 3x120mm radiator will be fine. 32nm hexacores don't throw all that much heat out.

Agreed. Should be fine.

[Shadow0001]

Just got a reply from Xigmatech and the case in question will be available in mid March only,so that's still 5 weeks away minimum...

[Shadow0001]

Picked up the motherboard at the local post office and wow, it's extremely well packaged so the odds of damaging it in transport are extremely small, and the damn thing is enourmous and pictures do not do it justice as far as size goes.... It's a heavy sucker too.


I'll start installing the full cover water block for the chipset once i get it(probably tomorrow),and post pictures with it installed...