How to Watercool a CPU + Single GPU for under $200 in the U.S.

[boboman342]

ahh gotcha.  Yea, I just thought wow, the Pro for only $100! What a deal.  And at the time, I didn't view the Luxe as worth an additional $50.  Even now, its not really worth an extra $50 for the features it adds, but I do wish I sprung for it.  The feature I want is for the extra fans to be placed underneath the top hatch.

TBH it's almost never about the features it has! Just the bad-ass-ness and subjective things like that

 

NOT TRYING TO HIJACK THREAD!!!

[Prokart2000]

nice might do this with my next pc

[Iankiller99]

Another option would maybe be to purchase a Swiftech H220x or an H240x and then buy extra tubing and a few fittings, then a waterblock for your card, and have a fully cooled cpu and gpu off of an AIO that performs like a custom loop. But again the the prices of that AIO are $140 and $150 before shipping so they are pretty expensive, and a waterblock for your card isnt going to be too cheap either. But its what i'm going for. Gotta save up for a while.

[Faceman]

Another option would maybe be to purchase a Swiftech H220x or an H240x and then buy extra tubing and a few fittings, then a waterblock for your card, and have a fully cooled cpu and gpu off of an AIO that performs like a custom loop. But again the the prices of that AIO are $140 and $150 before shipping so they are pretty expensive, and a waterblock for your card isnt going to be too cheap either. But its what i'm going for. Gotta save up for a while.

That would end up being a lot more expensive, and probably not as good performance unless you added another radiator in there, bring the total above $400. It will look better though, that's for sure.

[rombom4]

I was actually planning to do exactly this, ith the vrm heatsinks, glad to see a great post informing others on this great option. I actually am buying a Phanteks entho pro soon, and was thinking of doing the exact same color scheme Could I request more pictures of your rig

[Faceman]

I was actually planning to do exactly this, ith the vrm heatsinks, glad to see a great post informing others on this great option. I actually am buying a Phanteks entho pro soon, and was thinking of doing the exact same color scheme Could I request more pictures of your rig

sure, anything specific you would like to see?

[rombom4]

sure, anything specific you would like to see?

I dunno, just all around pictures of it would be nice

[-ism]

Nice guide, glad to know not to ever use Furmark again. (Must have been that that killed my 670)

I thought about doing this mod, but my GPU gets no higher than 65 degrees on air... But the Kraken is such a nice looking cooler! Would look great in my black and white color scheme case.

[Ragin Asian]

Thinking about putting a G10 on my 7970. I'm gonna put heatsinks on the VRMs but which should I put on between these two?

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835708012

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835708011

[Faceman]

Thinking about putting a G10 on my 7970. I'm gonna put heatsinks on the VRMs but which should I put on between these two?

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835708012

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835708011

I would get aluminum heatsinks.

 

The will drop temps by 10C, instead of 15C that copper provides, but you are paying a lot more because copper is more expensive, and those kits come in small packs of 10 compared to the aluminum pack of 20 which is enough to cover the entire card.

 

If you are dead set on going copper, get the top ones you linked, or these copper heatsinks which are very popular.

 

The included thermal tape with all of those kits is usually very weak, so you will need to buy your own thermal tape.

 

What specific model of 7970 do you have?

[Ragin Asian]

I would get aluminum heatsinks.

 

The will drop temps by 10C, instead of 15C that copper provides, but you are paying a lot more because copper is more expensive, and those kits come in small packs of 10 compared to the aluminum pack of 20 which is enough to cover the entire card.

 

If you are dead set on going copper, get the top ones you linked, or these copper heatsinks which are very popular.

 

The included thermal tape with all of those kits is usually very weak, so you will need to buy your own thermal tape.

 

What specific model of 7970 do you have?

7970 Dual X that had its cooler swapped with a reference 7950 because the VRMs weren't getting adequately cooled by the Dual X cooler and constantly crashed.

[Faceman]

7970 Dual X that had its cooler swapped with a reference 7950 because the VRMs weren't getting adequately cooled by the Dual X cooler and constantly crashed.

 

Is this your PCB?

[Ragin Asian]

 

Is this your PCB?

 

Yep

[Faceman]

Yep

It looks like it is already halfway heatsinked... thats surprising that you were getting throttling.  Is it very hot where you live or have a case with bad airflow?  I'm not even sure where you could attach the heatsinks that I recommended you to buy.  On the back of the card perhaps, but that wont do much.

 

Without having a direct comparison to go off of, lets use the R9 290 reference card as an example.  When users went from reference heatsink/cooler to G10 with just the fan, they would get temp drops of ~15-20C, so already you should be in better shape with just the G10.  I'm just not sure where you can add more heatsinks.

[Ragin Asian]

-snip-

Weather is around but usually below 15 C and airflow is good with 2 CM Jetflo as intake in a S340.

 

With the Dual X cooler the fan stayed around 1100 rpm at idle and load due to the beefy cooler which kept the gpu around 66 C. However it would crash because the VRM which were around 95 C. Applying new thermal pads didn't help. Swapping coolers with a reference 7950 dropped VRM temps to around 55 C but the fan is at 4000+ rpm and the gpu is hovering around 80 C. I may try the G10 with a naked card and see how the VRM temps compare to the the above examples before possibly investing in heatsinks.

[Faceman]

Weather is around but usually below 15 C and airflow is good with 2 CM Jetflo as intake in a S340.

 

With the Dual X cooler the fan stayed around 1100 rpm at idle and load due to the beefy cooler which kept the gpu around 66 C. However it would crash because the VRM which were around 95 C. Applying new thermal pads didn't help. Swapping coolers with a reference 7950 dropped VRM temps to around 55 C but the fan is at 4000+ rpm and the gpu is hovering around 80 C. I may try the G10 with a naked card and see how the VRM temps compare to the the above examples before possibly investing in heatsinks.

Man, that card has given you some hassle. Sorry about that. Try the G10 without heat sinks, and let me know if I can do anything else to help!

[Ragin Asian]

Man, that card has given you some hassle. Sorry about that. Try the G10 without heat sinks, and let me know if I can do anything else to help!

 Yes it has considering I bought another graphics card in order to get it to work. I was determined to make it function since I bought it off a friend for $20. 

 

Anyway I'll tell you how it goes when I get it all set up. Thanks for the help

[Guest]

Still to expensive for me.

[combine1237]

Still to expensive for me.

Let's add up my bill for one of my 290x's I just bought the stuff for. G10 is about 10 USD at tiger right now. H55 is roughly 55 USD right now. Really that is all you "need" to function, but I threw in another 12 USD for copper heatsinks, 6 USD for smaller aluminum ones, and 5 USD worth of thermal tape. 55 + 10 + 12 + 6 + 5 = $88 for one card, and even I went a bit overkill. But yes if you do not need the mod it can be a bit expensive and somewhat pointless, but the way I look at it is if you want a water cooled card that can be easily moved from system to system a mod like this is your only option.

[Guest]

Let's add up my bill for one of my 290x's I just bought the stuff for. G10 is about 10 USD at tiger right now. H55 is roughly 55 USD right now. Really that is all you "need" to function, but I threw in another 12 USD for copper heatsinks, 6 USD for smaller aluminum ones, and 5 USD worth of thermal tape. 55 + 10 + 12 + 6 + 5 = $88 for one card, and even I went a bit overkill. But yes if you do not need the mod it can be a bit expensive and somewhat pointless, but the way I look at it is if you want a water cooled card that can be easily moved from system to system a mod like this is your only option.

Maybe in the future. Right now my pc would be almost completely silent with a few low noise adapters and a better PSU. I have a 212 evo on my 6300, a r9 280 which is relatively silent, and stock phantom 410 fans along with 2 corsair af 120s with low-noises

[Ragin Asian]

So attaching the g10 with an h55 to my 7970 was unsuccesful and led to it crashing again. I decided to give up on that piece of shit and stuck it on my 760 twin frozer instead. Temps are around 55 C. Would you say that is normal?

[Faceman]

So attaching the g10 with an h55 to my 7970 was unsuccesful and led to it crashing again. I decided to give up on that piece of shit and stuck it on my 760 twin frozer instead. Temps are around 55 C. Would you say that is normal?

Yea, 55C is right in line with what you should expect.  You could probably get it to sub 50C if you went with some high end TIM like Gelid GC Extreme, and add a 2nd fan for push/pull.  This is like an additional $20 though which may not be worth it.

 

Why wasn't it working with your 7970?  What was the issue?  Still the VRAM getting too hot?

[Ragin Asian]

Yea, 55C is right in line with what you should expect.  You could probably get it to sub 50C if you went with some high end TIM like Gelid GC Extreme, and add a 2nd fan for push/pull.  This is like an additional $20 though which may not be worth it.

 

Why wasn't it working with your 7970?  What was the issue?  Still the VRAM getting too hot?

 

I'm not sure but it became crashy again.

[Faceman]

I'm not sure but it became crashy again.

Hm.. that's really unfortunate.  Have you tried posting in the OCN G10 Owner's Thread? Maybe someone else who has experience with that particular card can help you out.  You're the first person I've met who is having problems with the G10 because of temperatures.

[Ragin Asian]

I'm pretty sure the card was simply a defective turd. I was able to buy it off a friend for $20 because it crashed for him too.