Single/Dual Loop...Going Back and Forth

[PiLsY]

Is noise going to be an issue? You're definitely looking at 1850rpm GT's, if you want better than that look at the 3Krpm GTs.

[gelatinousfury]

Is noise going to be an issue? You're definitely looking at 1850rpm GT's, if you want better than that look at the 3Krpm GTs.

Know anywhere I can get some 1850rpm Gentle Typhoons? The only place I've found them is on ebay at $30+shipping each, which is definitely a no-go for me.

[PiLsY]

They're not too hard to find over here in the UK and in Europe at the moment - I kinda assumed that was true for you guys too, sorry!

In the absence of GT's how about push/pull with 6 Zalman F3's per rad? You'll have no wear issues with them being on a vertical mount. They're noisier than GT's but 98% of the performance and around $5 per fan. They take a good voltage scale too.

I'd be more inclined to go push/pull with 25mm fans than single row 38mm fans.

[gelatinousfury]

They're not too hard to find over here in the UK and in Europe at the moment - I kinda assumed that was true for you guys too, sorry!

In the absence of GT's how about push/pull with 6 Zalman F3's per rad? You'll have no wear issues with them being on a vertical mount. They're noisier than GT's but 98% of the performance and around $5 per fan. They take a good voltage scale too.

I'd be more inclined to go push/pull with 25mm fans than single row 38mm fans.

Ok I managed to find some newly listed Scythe GT 1850's on eBay decently priced (considering availability) with free shipping so I jumped on 6 of them.

I'm still trying to work out the details of the loop layout, fittings, etc. but when I get to an acceptable solution I'll post it up here and see what everyone thinks.

Also, I've already got the air-cooled version of the system (stock Intel cooler, no OC) built because I wanted to check for any DOA parts while I finish ordering parts for the WC loop. Been running a few days now and so far, so good. The 3GB GTX580's in Tri-SLI are ridiculous when the fans are at full speed

[QuadSLI]

Hey,

Just a quick question, The reference FC580 block do fit on your zotac 3Gb right???

Thx

[gelatinousfury]

Hey,

Just a quick question, The reference FC580 block do fit on your zotac 3Gb right???

Thx

I haven't fitted the blocks yet but they are supposed to fit perfectly, yes.

[QuadSLI]

Tks..

[gelatinousfury]

I'm going to necro this thread and let everyone know that the watercooled aspect of this build has been on hold due to time/money, but not anymore.

I've been running the system air-cooled since May, and it has performed quite nicely with the exception of the 3x GTX580 3GB's sounding like blow dryers in your ear when they are under load. Been playing BF3 a lot since it was released recently and I've decided that now is the time to finally get watercooling set up. The middle GTX580 runs at a ridiculous 98-100C when playing BF3 no matter how cold the room is, it seems. The remainder of the WC parts should be coming in today. I'll go ahead and summarize the final version of the build below:

PC
Case: Dimastech Easy Dual v2.5 (black)
PSU: Silverstone Strider 1500w
Mobo: ASUS Maximus IV Extreme
CPU: Intel 2600K
RAM: Corsair Dominator GT (2x4GB) DDR3 2000
SSD: Intel 510 250GB
GPU1: GTX580 3GB
GPU2: GTX580 3GB
GPU3: GTX580 3GB
Monitor: Dell 3008WFP

Watercooling Loop
CPU Block: EK Supreme HF Rev. 2 - Acetal
GPU Blocks: 3x EK-FC580 Acetal (connected via EK-FC Bridge Triple Parallel)
Radiators/Pumps: 2x Swiftech MCR320 Drive Radiators with built in MCP35X PWM Pumps
Reservoir: EK-MultiOption RES X2 - 250 Advanced
Fans: Scythe GT 1850rpm
Tubing: Primochill LRT 3/8" ID--5/8" OD
Fittings: Bitspower Carbon Black Fittings (ordered these direct from Bitspower in Taiwan...was a HUGE PAIN getting them to reply to emails)
Coolant: Distilled Water + PT_Nuke PHN + Feser Base Corrosion Blocker

Thinking of the following loop order at this point: CPU--->Rad 1--->GPU's--->EK Res--->Rad 2--->Back to CPU to complete the loop

The astute among you will ask yourselves why I'm using a separate reservoir when the Swiftech MCR320 Drives have reservoirs built in already. The answer is that I'm not using the MCR320 Drive's in their recommended mounting configurations (I'm locked into this mounting config since I'm using the Dimastech bench table). After downloading and reading the Swiftech manual for the MCR320 Drive, it states that that the mounting config I'm using should never be attempted unless you have a separate reservoir mounted somewhere above the level of the radiators. So, that's exactly what I'll do.

More to come.

[Section8]

It seems like of all I've read on this subject, for a given setup about 50% of opinions say go serial and the other half say go parallel Very helpful.

Does anyone happen to have any links for testing of series vs parallel setups for 3 GPU's? I've looked but cannot find anything.

If the Tri-SLI GPU temps under parallel connections are really all over the place, I would definitely consider returning/selling my EK parallel bridge (still NIB) and just getting a serial one instead. Wish I could find some data on it.

And Boogerlad, thanks for the link.

I have had my 3 X 480 GTX's in parallel for well over a year. They are on a GTX480 with a D5. With ambient temps of 21-22C in my house all 3 of the cards idle at 32C and under Full Load looping 3DMark11 they never break 48-49C. Of course I have some crazy Ultra Kaze 3000's on the RAD and they sound like e helicopter but ehhh that's what headphones are for while gaming :-) I did try series first and found the temps between the cards to vary more. As it is now the first card usually runs 1-2C warmer but I think that is because it is doing more work usually.

[gelatinousfury]

I have had my 3 X 480 GTX's in parallel for well over a year. They are on a GTX480 with a D5. With ambient temps of 21-22C in my house all 3 of the cards idle at 32C and under Full Load looping 3DMark11 they never break 48-49C. Of course I have some crazy Ultra Kaze 3000's on the RAD and they sound like e helicopter but ehhh that's what headphones are for while gaming :-) I did try series first and found the temps between the cards to vary more. As it is now the first card usually runs 1-2C warmer but I think that is because it is doing more work usually.

Yep, those fans sound like they can get the job done

And thanks for the data point.

[gelatinousfury]

Update, got the following accomplished this weekend:

1. Flushed all WC components
2. Removed stock heatsink/fan assemblies from all three GTX580's and installed EK 580 block/backplate on each card
3. Installed EK Parallel Bridge onto the three GTX580's
4. Installed EK CPU block on motherboard
5. Installed two Swiftech MCR320 Drive pump/radiator combos, along with 6x Scythe GT 1850's, on the Dimastech Easy Dual v2.5

Hopefully this week I can get the majority (if not all) of the install completed. Pics are coming eventually.

[gelatinousfury]

The build, as it sits now (cell phone pics). Lots more to do.

[gelatinousfury]

The system is still gutted for the most part, but I did get the watercooling loop up last night for the leak test. Turns out one of the O-rings for the EK SLI Bridge had come out of it's groove a bit so I had a leak at that point. Cleaned up the little bit of water that leaked out, reseated all the O-rings and had no more leaks afterwards.

Bled the system for a couple of hours (man those MCP35X pumps get hot when running wide-open!), and here's how she sits now. Next up is getting the hard drives and Sunbeam Rheosmart (and the six GT 1850rpm fans it will control) installed, connecting all cables from the PSU, and tidying everything up. Again, all these are quick and dirty cell phone pics...I'll get some better ones up when the job is done.

[Becks21]

How will you let the water flow through teh gpu-blocks? Parallel or serial?

Have fun with your build!

[gelatinousfury]

How will you let the water flow through teh gpu-blocks? Parallel or serial?

Have fun with your build!

The GPU blocks are in parallel configuration

[neonatas]

He guys,

I am gonna throw a rock in the water here. The amount of cooling used here is insane! And the goal of getting low temps is just plain silly.
I got an I7 875K @ 4Ghz @ 1.25 volt HT off, 2x GTX480 with the cores @ 800Mhz the rest(shaders/mem) is stock.Plus i am watercooling the motherboard, an asus maximus extreme3. I am cooling the lot, with 1 single 360 rad (sr1) with 5x 900rpm fans @ 750rpm. My ambient temp is arround 22 degrees. My pump is an swiftech MCP35X @ 30% speed.
When playing battlefield3, the the temps go to 62 degrees on the cpu and both gpu's. When benching either they dont go above 65degree's.
The loop goes, Pump -> rad -> gpu's in series -> MB block -> CPU -> Res.

All in all, all you need is a thick quad radiator and push pull with sub 900 rpm fans and a pump @ 30%. Ull be more then fine. And it will be silent.
All the rest is just bling, i am fine with that, i do it myself in most of my builds and its fun. But cooling wise its just not efficient. And dont start that "my hardware will last longer" because your on XS, and you will have a different rig within 2 years.

Ps.: anybody willing to do the math on my loop? Would like to see some numbers.
I used to watercool the american way, but switched to the german way, as it is far more silent.

[gelatinousfury]

I considered the following "boundary conditions" for my system when choosing the amount of radiator to buy:
1. Heat to be dissipated = TDP of triple GTX580's + TDP of Intel 2600K = ~750W + ~100W = ~850W
2. 10C or lower air-water deltaT
3. Fan speed of 1850 or lower rpm's

As a back-of-the-envelope estimate for my setup, one can look at Martin's test results of the Swiftech MCR320 radiator. See this chart for data on a single MCR320:

http://www.images.clunk.org.uk/marti...320-Therm4.png

If you reference the MCR320 curve you'll see that, at a fan speed of 1850rpm's, the maximum Watts dissipated by the radiator is ~550W. Clearly, this does not meet my requirements as I am trying to satisfy heat dissipation of 850W. I need to significantly increase the amount of radiator to get there. A quad radiator wouldn't even get me there, assuming the relationship is linear. I realize that the 850W number is a rough order, conservative estimate and I'm absolutely fine with that. I'd much rather have too much cooling than an insufficient amount. I also realize that I'm not using the exact same fans as Martin did, but the data for a given rpm will be good enough for a rough order estimate.

Another factor that influenced my radiator choice was the fact that I was already using the Dimastech Easy Dual v2.5 bench table, which has pre-cut mounting locations for two 3x120mm radiators. I personally would not want to mount a single quad radiator on the Dimastech, as it would look awful.

As for upgrading components, I do hope my radiators last a good number of years. I may be upgrading PC components like CPU+GPU, but I won't throw out the pumps and radiators too.

[Section8]

I considered the following "boundary conditions" for my system when choosing the amount of radiator to buy:
1. Heat to be dissipated = TDP of triple GTX580's + TDP of Intel 2600K = ~750W + ~100W = ~850W
2. 10C or lower air-water deltaT
3. Fan speed of 1850 or lower rpm's

As a back-of-the-envelope estimate for my setup, one can look at Martin's test results of the Swiftech MCR320 radiator. See this chart for data on a single MCR320:

http://www.images.clunk.org.uk/marti...320-Therm4.png

If you reference the MCR320 curve you'll see that, at a fan speed of 1850rpm's, the maximum Watts dissipated by the radiator is ~550W. Clearly, this does not meet my requirements as I am trying to satisfy heat dissipation of 850W. I need to significantly increase the amount of radiator to get there. A quad radiator wouldn't even get me there, assuming the relationship is linear. I realize that the 850W number is a rough order, conservative estimate and I'm absolutely fine with that. I'd much rather have too much cooling than an insufficient amount. I also realize that I'm not using the exact same fans as Martin did, but the data for a given rpm will be good enough for a rough order estimate.

Another factor that influenced my radiator choice was the fact that I was already using the Dimastech Easy Dual v2.5 bench table, which has pre-cut mounting locations for two 3x120mm radiators. I personally would not want to mount a single quad radiator on the Dimastech, as it would look awful.

As for upgrading components, I do hope my radiators last a good number of years. I may be upgrading PC components like CPU+GPU, but I won't throw out the pumps and radiators too.

Yeah I have a hard time parting with my RAD's and Pumps I still have a PA 120.3 laying here begging to be stuffed into my newly acquired 800D but it may not be worth the effort and I might just end up purchasing an XSPC 120.2 because they fit on there side in the bottom of that case very nicely. Oh well the PA 120.3 will find a home again one day I do sell old GPU blocks and CPU blocks but the rest of the components I can't seem to part with.

[gelatinousfury]

Finally got some good pics taken and added to the Dimastech Bench Table Gallery, which can be seen here:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...=1#post4989357

All in all, the build is fantastic and I'm incredibly pleased with it! Many thanks to everyone who contributed ideas/suggestions in this thread because they proved to be invaluable.