Thinking about watercooling my rig?

[droidxd00d]

Hi guys! This is my first time posting in the WC section.  Sorry if this is the wrong place for this thread.

 

So I have been thinking about watercooling my personal rig for a few reasons.  

 

1. I'm not really happy with the temps in my build now since I added a second 780 in sli.  During gaming with my fans set to a higher performance speed My top gpu reaches upwards of 82* in BF4.  I've actually had to dial back my overclocks quite a bit to get to this level.  I have both cards running at about 1000mhz now but they boost higher than that most of the time.  My cpu is doing fine however since it has the h110 on it with noctua PPC fans.  

2. The noise is a lot higher than I expected since I have to turn my fans up to get my gpu temps to a good level.  I'd really love to have a much lower overall sound coming from my machine while gaming.  

3. I really would like to push my gpu overclocks more than I have in the past and I think water would be the right way to go. It's not that im lacking in performance my setup is really overkill for gaming at 2560x1080 that I play at.  I don't plan on going to 4k or anything in the near future though 1440p might be a possibility eventually. 

 

 

So some of my concerns were...

1. I've never done any custom WC planning or builds before.  I've seen a lot of nice builds in the air 540(my current case) do it seems like a decent case to do my first WC build in.  What does everyone think?

2.  I don't really know how to plan out what parts I need for my specific loop.  I know id need rads, blocks, res, pump, tubing , etc but I don't know the best way to set up a loop.

3. Do you guys think it's worth watercooling 2 780's? I know finding blocks for my asus cards is going to be rough but do you think I should just save up and get a reference design of whatever the next high end gpu comes out?

 

I'm really looking just for some suggestions just to see what everyone thinks. Thanks! I really appreciate it!

 

Oh and here's my specs just for reference

 

4790k @ 4.4ghz

z97 hero

2 gtx 780's(DCUII) in sli

1000 watt psu(rm1000)

air 540 case with 3 sp120's in the front and an h110 in the roof with noctua ppc 140mm fans

256gb 840evo

1tb WD black

16gigs of corsair vengeance ram @ 1866

[paprikman]

Hello.

I don't think it's gonna be a problem to find a water block for your gpu, check some configurators at ekwb or alphacool's websites.

If there is some fullcover solutions, since you wanna decrease your system noise, maybe you should get a fulltower case (I'd recommend fractal design arc xl, it's quite cheap, or corsair 750D).

As for rads, 1 360mm and 1 280mm should be enough, but you probably would like to go more, keeping it more quiet.

 

Then just create a plan of your future system (paint on a case picture).

Also check this link.

[soaringchicken]

I recommend some of JaysTwoCents earlier videos to learn about watercooling, they are very informative. This is a good guide to: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/1755-water-cooling-101-a-good-place-for-newbies-to-start/. However, doing a watercooling setup in the air 540 might be a bit dificult, but it is possible, I just wouldn't recommend it.

[Faceman]

You could consider doing the G10 mod to your top card, as that is typically the much hotter card of the two.  By extracting all of the heat from the top card out of the case, it should make both cards run much cooler, allowing you to turn down the fan speeds, without spending more than $100.

[droidxd00d]

You could consider doing the G10 mod to your top card, as that is typically the much hotter card of the two. By extracting all of the heat from the top card out of the case, it should make both cards run much cooler, allowing you to turn down the fan speeds, without spending more than $100.

Doesn't the g10 only work on reference board cards? The dcu2 Asus 780s have a custom pcb

[Faceman]

Doesn't the g10 only work on reference board cards? The dcu2 Asus 780s have a custom pcb

ThAt is the Corsair HG10 that only works with reference blower cards. While the Asus DCUII has a slightly custom PCB, it still works with the G10. Lots of people do the G10 mod to their Asus 780s/780Tis. The four holes surrounding the GPU die are the same as reference PCBs, so it works very well. If you aren't looking to spend $500, the G10 to a single card is an excellent choice, and if you really want, you could go dual G10, many people do this too. It's very cost effective and the performance is phenomenal. There will be purists out there, but it's hard to argue with 80% of the custom loop performance for 20% of the price.

[GuruMeditationError]

@droidxd00d

 

There's a closed loop solution on the market that has the option of opening it up to fit it to other cooling solutions.

 

I can't remember the name of the make (It was recommended to me some time ago but I only wanted to go closed loop) but if you can get the brand name from someone on the forum it might be a good place to start. You could use them as closed loops and then expand to a reservoir and single pump etc.

 

That's probably the way I'd do it.