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

[Faceman]

@Faceman @Zayzo

 

so i took a closer look at the stock cooler and i noticed that the heatsink plate is not made of copper, but alumunium.. and it's bigger than the entire gpu die.. i think that is why i dont get better temperature after repasting

 

anyway i have received the G10 and the H75 and install it right away.. took the stock cooler off, put some cooler master thermal paste from my hyper 212x cpu cooler on the gpu die (the same thermal paste i used for my previous repasting), install the kraken's 92mm fan, clean off the H75 copper plate from its preapplied thermal paste, mount the pump to the kraken and onto the gpu (this step is a pain in the a$$), mount the radiator as an intake in push & pull config, boot up the PC, and...

oh my f*cking god

im getting idle temperature just above 30c and the load temperature never got above 50c.. i ran aida64 gpu stress test for 8 minutes before and after installation, here's the result

 

got to be honest, im very impressed by the result.. i'm going let it settle for a bit before doing any overclocking

here is the finished build

 

 

next step: buy a pci bracket & a 80mm fan to cool the exposed VRM

Very nice!  Awesome results!  Definitely look into that 80mm fan and PCI bracket to help with the VRM temps, but for now, awesome results and a great looking build!

[Tim Drake]

 

This excites me to see how much I can overclock when I do something similar

[cragger89]

I'd recommend using the bigger cooler on your GPU.

[Faceman]

I'd recommend using the bigger cooler on your GPU.

The Cooler Master AIOs aren't compatible with the G10 Bracket, and GPUs respond very well to the AIO brackets.  Anything past 120mm and you start hitting massive diminishing returns.  The temperature difference between an H55(120mm) and X61(280mm) is only 7-9C.

[BeakTrots]

You could also get a $200 custom loop for your CPU, as proved by jayztwocents in his beginner watercooling loop video. And if you want to, you can later easily install a gpu block for $90-110. Just food for thought though

[Faceman]

You could also get a $200 custom loop for your CPU, as proved by jayztwocents in his beginner watercooling loop video. And if you want to, you can later easily install a gpu block for $90-110. Just food for thought though

That brings the price well above $200, and your performance wont be as good, because only 240mm for both CPU and GPU is just not enough.

[Zayzo]

That brings the price well above $200, and your performance wont be as good, because only 240mm for both CPU and GPU is just not enough.

Yeah you'd be around $400 if you want to have a decent loop for a fpu/cpu and that's the low end lmao

[1Scotty1]

I will be doing the G10 mod on my 980Ti reference pretty soon

 

So, here is what I need to buy:

 

G10 (26€)

Kraken X31 (65€)

Copper shim 20x20x1,5mm (ordered on eBay for 1,80€)

Gelid 4pin PWM adapter, so I can plug the fan directly to the GPU header (5€)

Noctua NF-B9 redux-1600 PWM to replace G10 fan (7-8€)

 

Prices are listed for new products, not used

[arnavvr]

@Faceman How does a G10+H55 compare to a Arctic Cooling Accelero Extreme IV?