Looking into doing a custom loop.

[DarrenP]

Hi guys, 

 

I'm looking into doing a custom loop for my system. My system is as follows:

Intel Core i7-3770K

MSI Z77 MPOWER BIG BANG 

4x4GB 1866MHZ G-Skill Ripjaws X -Red

AMD Radeon 7990 Reference by Sapphire 

Corsair H100I -Soon to be replaced

Corsair Obsidian 900D

Storage doesn't really matter - 1SSD and 2HDD's

Corsair HX1050 PSU

 

What i'm looking to do is water cool both the CPU+GPU. I plan to add a 280X for Tri-fire between the 7990 and 280X. 

 

I do not have any experience in Custom Watercooling, as i've never done it before. My Overall budget is about 600$-1000$ CDN. I would prefer compression fittings over Barb fittings, as i think compression fittings do look much nicer. 

 

If anyone is will to help me put together some form of Part list for what i'd be looking for and help me out that'd be great. Thanks guys!

 

EDIT: If you could also add a block for the 280X that'd be great! Thanks 

[Cacao]

I plan to add a 280X for Tri-fire between the 7990 and 280X. 

That sounds... interesting 0.0

 

Would you also want to water cool the 280X? Not sure if it would be worth it to go "tri-fire" though, the performance increase probably isn't that large.

[qwertywarrior]

thoughts on settling on an AMD 295X2  and selling the 7990 ?

[DarrenP]

That sounds... interesting 0.0

Would you also want to water cool the 280X? Not sure if it would be worth it to go "tri-fire" though, the performance increase probably isn't that large.

Yes i want to water cool the 280X as well. Tri-fire might now scale extremely well, however i think it will help in 2560x1440P gaming.

thoughts on settling on an AMD 295X2 and selling the 7990 ?

I was thinking about grabbing it, However 7990's don't go for anywhere near what a 295x2 goes for. I might be able to get $750 tops, and really don't have another $750 to put into a new GPU right now. Plus my 7990 performs very well at the moment.

[Cacao]

Yes i want to water cool the 280X as well. Tri-fire might now scale extremely well, however i think it will help in 2560x1440P gaming. 

Well if you look at how much raw performance you have available, sure. However not many games are optimized to run on 3 GPUs, so you definitely won't be seeing the same kind of improvements as 1 GPU vs 2 GPUs

[DarrenP]

Well if you look at how much raw performance you have available, sure. However not many games are optimized to run on 3 GPUs, so you definitely won't be seeing the same kind of improvements as 1 GPU vs 2 GPUs

I know not many are optimized. I just was thinking it might help a little bit. Hell i was even considering the 295X2. However would have to wait some time to come up with the funds to afford one, this being after i sell my 7990. If i were to sell it at all. 

[Moosie]

Not sure if it would be worth it to go "tri-fire" though, the performance increase probably isn't that large.

 

Yes i want to water cool the 280X as well. Tri-fire might now scale extremely well, however i think it will help in 2560x1440P gaming. 

It actually scales surprisingly well, at least in the games tested. Maybe those results are misleading, though. Most of the games are pretty old at this point, and probably support multi-way GPU configs particularly well.

Anyway, I don't think anyone invests that much in a gaming setup purely because it's functional. It's at least partially to be the badass with tri-fired cards.

[Monty007]

Hi. So to answer your question, your going to need to determine if your going to run one big loop or 2 different loops which would segment the CPU and GPUs. You have the room in the 900d to do whatever you want. In Canada your options are fairly limited in terms of where you can get water cooling stuff. Having just gone through the same thing the choices are dazmode and NCIX canada. I have been able to get most of what I need from NCIX bit they are reducing the amount of items due to lack of sales.

I am using mostly swiftech ( compression fittings, pump, GPU waterblocks) and XSPC (CPU waterblocks and rads). They are now carrying alphacool monsta rads and more EK blocks. You will also need to plan out water lines and if your going to use acrylic or standard tubing.

Take a look at my sig for my setup. I'll help where I can.

[DarrenP]

Hi. So to answer your question, your going to need to determine if your going to run one big loop or 2 different loops which would segment the CPU and GPUs. You have the room in the 900d to do whatever you want. In Canada your options are fairly limited in terms of where you can get water cooling stuff. Having just gone through the same thing the choices are dazmode and NCIX canada. I have been able to get most of what I need from NCIX bit they are reducing the amount of items due to lack of sales.

I am using mostly swiftech ( compression fittings, pump, GPU waterblocks) and XSPC (CPU waterblocks and rads). They are now carrying alphacool monsta rads and more EK blocks. You will also need to plan out water lines and if your going to use acrylic or standard tubing.

Take a look at my sig for my setup. I'll help where I can.

I was thinking of doing just one full loop. 

 

I was thinking i'd use 1x3600mm Rad in the top, and another 480mm rad in the bottom, than put a 240mm in the front. I'm also going to be selling my GPU soon, so likely going to have two 780's or R9 290X's. Yet to decide. 

 

On the topic of buying the parts i know my options are limited as there are few and far between for watercooling parts. I may however buy the parts and have them shipped to a buddy in the states and have him ship them to me. I was thinking of using... I don't know what it's called it's like straight tubing, not flexible? 

[Shaqo_Wyn]

I was thinking of doing just one full loop. 

 

I was thinking i'd use 1x3600mm Rad in the top, and another 480mm rad in the bottom, than put a 240mm in the front. I'm also going to be selling my GPU soon, so likely going to have two 780's or R9 290X's. Yet to decide. 

 

On the topic of buying the parts i know my options are limited as there are few and far between for watercooling parts. I may however buy the parts and have them shipped to a buddy in the states and have him ship them to me. I was thinking of using... I don't know what it's called it's like straight tubing, not flexible? 

Rigid/acrylic tubing. The 900D also takes a 480 in the top. You could do 2 480's. More than enough for two 780's and a CPU.

[Monty007]

Yes. Acrylic tubing. It is more difficult to use but is much better looking in my opinion. I would put as much cooling as you can afford into the rig. I'm running one D5 pump and I have 3 rads with 2 GPU blocks and 1 CPU block. Many people choose to have two pumps for a big loop for redundancy. So far I'm not having any problems with my setup.

What type of monitor setup do you plan for this rig? 4k? Triple 1080's? I have 2 780s and love it but if your planning on 4k then look at the 290's. They have a higher bandwidth and because you are going to water cool they won't have the typical noise/heat issue.

[DarrenP]

So i've just switched up my build. Sold my Motherboard, CPU, and RAM. I'm buying a 3930K, and Rampage IV Extreme. 

 

EDIT: Also sold my GPU, buying a 780.