Cooling for Titan X?

[Guest]

I just got a Titan X today. I am probably going to put a new cooler on it.

 

I have 3 options:

 

1. Use the NZXT Kraken G10 that I have and put a shitty Asetek that makes weird pump noises on it

 

2. Buy an EVGA Hybrid Cooler for $109

 

3. Spend too much money to justify and build a custom loop

 

I could easily afford all of these but I think that getting a better monitor is more important that a custom loop. Thanks - Covert

[Enderman]

hybrid cooler

if you were to use the G10 it wouldnt look as good and I would recommend you buy a new AiO that doesnt make noise anyway, making the cost reach $100

use the hybrid cooler for now, buy your monitor, and save up for a custom loop in the future

[dadasmithywinkle]

I just got a Titan X today. I am probably going to put a new cooler on it.

 

I have 3 options:

 

1. Use the NZXT Kraken G10 that I have and put a shitty Asetek that makes weird pump noises on it

 

2. Buy an EVGA Hybrid Cooler for $109

 

3. Spend too much money to justify and build a custom loop

 

I could easily afford all of these but I think that getting a better monitor is more important that a custom loop. Thanks - Covert

If you can easily afford a custom loop, then you should easily afford a basic custom loop and a good monitor imo.

[Guest]

hybrid cooler

if you were to use the G10 it wouldnt look as good and I would recommend you buy a new AiO that doesnt make noise anyway, making the cost reach $100

use the hybrid cooler for now, buy your monitor, and save up for a custom loop in the future

That's what I was thinking, the cost to use the G10 is the same as buying the good-looking Hybrid. If I sell all of the things that I plan to, I will have ~$1500. I do want to save some of it. I guess monitor first, then loop. I should have a few hundred left when it's all said and done. 

 

If you can easily afford a custom loop, then you should easily afford a basic custom loop and a good monitor imo.

What if I got a Rajintek Triton and just bought a GPU block and some tubing/fittings? That would be like $250.

[Enderman]

That's what I was thinking, the cost to use the G10 is the same as buying the good-looking Hybrid. If I sell all of the things that I plan to, I will have ~$1500. I do want to save some of it. I guess monitor first, then loop. I should have a few hundred left when it's all said and done. 

 

What if I got a Rajintek Triton and just bought a GPU block and some tubing/fittings? That would be like $250.

no, if you want to expand I suggest saving up for a WC kit, not an expandable AiO

much higher quality parts will last you a much longer time, and you will be able to make a much larger loop in the future

[Guest]

no, if you want to expand I suggest saving up for a WC kit, not an expandable AiO

much higher quality parts will last you a much longer time, and you will be able to make a much larger loop in the future

I put it all together on EK's website and it comes up to $500. I think that I'll only do this once I buy another Titan X. Your suggestion for the Hybrid cooler now makes sense. A whole loop with one GPU seems too overkill.

[Gofspar]

I just got a Titan X today. I am probably going to put a new cooler on it.

 

I have 3 options:

 

1. Use the NZXT Kraken G10 that I have and put a shitty Asetek that makes weird pump noises on it

 

2. Buy an EVGA Hybrid Cooler for $109

 

3. Spend too much money to justify and build a custom loop

 

I could easily afford all of these but I think that getting a better monitor is more important that a custom loop. Thanks - Covert

H240X with a full cover WB will be plenty for a Titan X, I'll make you a 1.3v bios for it and you can go to town on those core clocks.

[Guest]

H240X with a full cover WB will be plenty for a Titan X, I'll make you a 1.3v bios for it and you can go to town on those core clocks.

I checked my ASIC quality and it's only 63%, that should be pretty good for WC.

[Sam Z Man]

Just wondering, what made you get a titan over the 980ti.

[Guest]

Just wondering, what made you get a titan over the 980ti.

Well...

 

I had a GTX 970 that was defective and past return date and not covered by warranty. I sold it for a loss. I had to buy a GTX 960. That card was freezing and black screening. I emailed a contact at Nvidia. He sent me his personal GTX 780. 2 months later, it started artifacting. I contacted support for an RMA. They said that since it was the stock Nvidia PCB (manufacture sample) that I had to buy a new card. I emailed the CEO. He told me to send him the GTX 780. I had to use my GTX 650 temporarily. And of course that card couldn't keep a monitor going for more than 4 hours at a time. I emailed him about it. They had already said that they shipped a card to me on Thursday. He gave me a FedEx tracking number for the GPU. I looked at the email times and the tracking number times. They had just shipped it. Not to mention, it had next day air AM shipping. FedEx gets to my house at 10:30 and I open the box expecting a GTX 970 (they said that's what they were sending me) only to find a Titan X.

[Sam Z Man]

Well...

 

I had a GTX 970 that was defective and past return date and not covered by warranty. I sold it for a loss. I had to buy a GTX 960. That card was freezing and black screening. I emailed a contact at Nvidia. He sent me his personal GTX 780. 2 months later, it started artifacting. I contacted support for an RMA. They said that since it was the stock Nvidia PCB (manufacture sample) that I had to buy a new card. I emailed the CEO. He told me to send him the GTX 780. I had to use my GTX 650 temporarily. And of course that card couldn't keep a monitor going for more than 4 hours at a time. I emailed him about it. They had already said that they shipped a card to me on Thursday. He gave me a FedEx tracking number for the GPU. I looked at the email times and the tracking number times. They had just shipped it. Not to mention, it had next day air AM shipping. FedEx gets to my house at 10:30 and I open the box expecting a GTX 970 (they said that's what they were sending me) only to find a Titan X.

Suck my tits and call me Samantha, that's the best fuck up in the history of RMA's, guess the price to performance on that 970 you got is pretty legendary.

But why not sell it, buy a 970 that you were expecting and pocket 600$, or sell it get a 980ti with a custom PCB and cooler and pocket 250$.

[Guest]

Suck my tits and call me Samantha, that's the best fuck up in the history of RMA's, guess the price to performance on that 970 you got is pretty legendary.

But why not sell it, buy a 970 that you were expecting and pocket 600$, or sell it get a 980ti with a custom PCB and cooler and pocket 250$.

I don't see going through the hassle of eBay and it's also fun having the best of the best. The most that I've ever paid for a GPU is $400. And the thing is, I was planning to buy another GTX 970 when I got the first one. One Titan X = 2 GTX 970's (sort of) so I can't complain about not having to pay $330 more. The RAM will help me a lot once I start making more videos. I think that it's a good investment as well because original Kepler Titan's are going for about $600 still.

[Sam Z Man]

I don't see going through the hassle of eBay and it's also fun having the best of the best. The most that I've ever paid for a GPU is $400. And the thing is, I was planning to buy another GTX 970 when I got the first one. One Titan X = 2 GTX 970's (sort of) so I can't complain about not having to pay $330 more. The RAM will help me a lot once I start making more videos. I think that it's a good investment as well because original Kepler Titan's are going for about $600 still.

How do keplar titans have to do with anything?

[mojo8850]

I also have the King Of ALL kINGS TITAN X in SLI.. Im also doing a custom loop 2 loops one CPU and the other GPUS..

[bomerr]

I would get either the EVGA ACX cooler for the Titan X or better yet the Hybrid.

 

I'm actually waiting for the Hybrid cooler for my 980 but it's very hard finding them in-stock. 

[asquirrel]

@TheCovertCamper For a Titan X, why do you want to water cool?

1. Do you want to overclock it?
2. Do you just want it to run cooler than 82C under load?
3. For shiggles because watercooling?

#1 is the most important as it determines how much radiator you buy. I made a post explaining how to calculate rad area here: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/332558-how-much-rads-for-cpu-gpu/?p=4541663The short version is that if you want to standardize on 120mm fans and NOT overclock, you'll want something like a 360mm radiator (3 fans long). If you were ok with higher temps (lower than your stock cooling, but higher than the 360mm rad) then a 240mm would be safe. The exact number on that is 300mm, so really a 2.5 fan rad would be idea, but there's no such thing...however...

 

If you standardize on 140mm fans a 280mm radiator (2 fans) would be sufficient. Thus, if you don't plan to overclock, I'd suggest going with a 140mm fan-based radiator as it's better economy.

 

If you do plan to overclock, I'd go with a 360mm rad.

 

Now that rad size is out of the way, what about cost/parts? Well, I'm going to assume you're in 'Murica and you're on your own if you live somewhere else. I'm going to build near the upper-end of what you'd need (360mm rad). Realistically the only thing you'd maybe change is getting a smaller radiator. Performance-pcs go go!

 

• Radiator: http://www.performance-pcs.com/koolance-radiator-3x120mm-copper-vert-no-nozzles.html(note: this is the 'best' one from the chart in the link I copy-pastaed)
• Pump: http://www.performance-pcs.com/swiftech-mcp655-b-special-edition-12-vdc-d5-pump-without-speed-controller.html(you could go for a DDC instead, but supposedly D5 pumps are quieter, more powerful, and not that much more expensive)
• Water block: http://www.performance-pcs.com/koolance-vid-nxttnx-water-block-nvidia-geforce-gtx-titan-x-video-card.html#Specifications(I try to stay away from EK blocks, I've seen recent intermittant reports that their products are of questionable durability. I go for safer bets rather than easy ones. Also, normally I'd suggest a universal block + stick on heatsinks for the VRMs/Mosfets. On a Titan X or any other 250W card, I recommend a full cover block because there's enough heat present to justify it.)
• Res: http://www.performance-pcs.com/alphacool-repack-dual-bayres-5-25-clear-rev-2.html(I'm a fan of bay reservoirs, feel free to pick a different one. Note: building your own res is actually REALLY easy if you have any reasonable amount of skill with such things, save yourself $50 and build your own IMO).
• Tubing {10 ft}: http://www.performance-pcs.com/primoflex-advanced-lrt-tubing-3-8in-id-x-1-2in-od-pearl-uv-orange.html(I added 10 feet, way more than you'll need, but you *always* want more than you need.)
• Fittings {x8} : http://www.performance-pcs.com/enzotech-10mm-3-8-hf-g1-4-38-barbed-fitting-g1-4-with-o-ring-high-flow.html(I am fine with barbs + zip ties or other low-tech solutions. Feel free to swap to compression fittings if you think they look good or some other fitting type. It will add cost, however.)
• Anti-bacterial: http://www.performance-pcs.com/mayhems-silver-coil-99-999-pure-fine-silver.html(silver kill coil, place in one of the tubes or res and forget about it.

anndd that's it. that's what you'd need for your own custom loop. all the fittings I picked are straight and you SHOULD NOT just buy these parts without planning your loop and making sure you have clearance for everything, won't need a right-angle connector or 3, etc. Also, if you want to water cool your CPU while you are at it, this would be a great time to decide on that (add 2 more fittings + CPU water block, ~$90 extra. Alternatively, use a pair of 240mm or 280mm radiators to ensure you have more radiator than you need for the extra heat).

 

Total cost? $365 without shipping. Not cheap, not terrible. Could you save some money on the build, sure, but I would warn against it. Most of these parts are of a known good quality, and in water cooling, you often do not get what you don't pay for. For coolant, normal distilled, demineralized, and/or deionized water from any grocery store is perfectly acceptable.

 

Ninja-edit: forgot kill coil.

Edited June 24, 2015 by asquirrel

[Guest]

snip

I do want to overclock. I have a 63% ASIC quality. I looked it up and it appears that should you want to OC, you'll want to use water. I've seen some videos where people take their H100i's and carve out the tubing. It could be an easy option but I'm worried about the pump. What do you think about Swiftech? A CPU and GPU loop is only $300 from them. Thank you for the apx. price. 

 

How do keplar titans have to do with anything?

They still hold their value, likely the Titan X will.

[asquirrel]

I do want to overclock. I have a 63% ASIC quality. I looked it up and it appears that should you want to OC, you'll want to use water. I've seen some videos where people take their H100i's and carve out the tubing. It could be an easy option but I'm worried about the pump. What do you think about Swiftech? A CPU and GPU loop is only $300 from them. Thank you for the apx. price. 

 

They still hold their value, likely the Titan X will.

Swiftech is an ok company. Their gear is exactly midrange, although their AIOs apparently have problems with pump failure (I suspect due to air bubbles not being properly purged from the pump to the res and thus burning out said pump). Their hardware itself is perfectly acceptable midrange gear.

[fireincairo]

(from http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/332558-how-much-rads-for-cpu-gpu/?p=4541663)

 

Ok, here's how to use that fancy chart above, because I want to give you a good 'average' number, we'll use the average of .00023 watts per mm3 for our radiator performance. So what do you need to know in order to know how much radiator you need? Simple: Thermal Design Power + math.

 

......

 

(stock TDP)*(clock/stock clock)*((voltage/stock voltage)^2)

 

...

 

As you can see in the above formula, keeping the voltage as low as possible for a stable overclock is the key to getting a low TDP when overclocking! Cheers.

 

 

I would appreciate any input on my SLI titan X that I am in the process of converting to liquid cooling.  I've purchased EK GPU waterblocks and the Fractal Design R5 for the build, which can accommodate a 420mm radiator on top and 360mm on the front.  

 

My system on air cooling:

-i5-3570k @ 4.2ghz from 3.4ghz

-SLI Titan X (EVGA Superclocked) x2 with manual overclock to 1217 Mhz (1306 Mhz boost) & 1953 MHz memory

-750w Corsair PSU 80 gold

-Gigabyte ga-z77-ud3h

 

I'm assuming i'll need to upgrade to a larger PSU ie 1000W to power everything sufficiently

-A 4.5 Ghz OC will require ~119W

-Titan X max TDP is 250W, but will be higher with overclocking.  

 

Assuming I could achieve 1.452 Ghz, according to the formula:

(250)*(1452/1202)*((1.218/1.162)^2)

(250)(1.20799)*(1.04820)^2)

(250)*(1.20799)*(1.0987)=331.81W per card (however, from what I've read, TDP can't exceed 275W due to its power limits)

119+331.81*2 = 782.61W or 119+275*2 = 669W

 

669W - 782.61W for TDP is quite significant!  I could purchase two of the koolance CU1020v (or one and a 420mm xspc ex420, although I haven't seen performance tests with it), but I'm not sure it's enough to cool two overclocked GPUs and CPU.  I'd like to keep it as quiet as possible, particularly considering the fractal case was made to absorb noise and I'll have this baby beside my TV in the living room.    :lol:  I'm completely new to water cooling, although after about 10-15 hours of research at this point I have learned a lot; I'm still concerned I may not correctly plan for enough heat dispersal and have to rebuild the water loop.  

 

Thanks for the input 

[asquirrel]

I would appreciate any input on my SLI titan X that I am in the process of converting to liquid cooling.  I've purchased EK GPU waterblocks and the Fractal Design R5 for the build, which can accommodate a 420mm radiator on top and 360mm on the front.  

 

My system on air cooling:

-i5-3570k @ 4.2ghz from 3.4ghz

-SLI Titan X (EVGA Superclocked) x2 with manual overclock to 1217 Mhz (1306 Mhz boost) & 1953 MHz memory

-750w Corsair PSU 80 gold

-Gigabyte ga-z77-ud3h

 

I'm assuming i'll need to upgrade to a larger PSU ie 1000W to power everything sufficiently

-A 4.5 Ghz OC will require ~119W

-Titan X max TDP is 250W, but will be higher with overclocking.  

 

Assuming I could achieve 1.452 Ghz, according to the formula:

(250)*(1452/1202)*((1.218/1.162)^2)

(250)(1.20799)*(1.04820)^2)

(250)*(1.20799)*(1.0987)=331.81W per card (however, from what I've read, TDP can't exceed 275W due to its power limits)

119+331.81*2 = 782.61W or 119+275*2 = 669W

 

669W - 782.61W for TDP is quite significant!  I could purchase two of the koolance CU1020v (or one and a 420mm xspc ex420, although I haven't seen performance tests with it), but I'm not sure it's enough to cool two overclocked GPUs and CPU.  I'd like to keep it as quiet as possible, particularly considering the fractal case was made to absorb noise and I'll have this baby beside my TV in the living room.    :lol:  I'm completely new to water cooling, although after about 10-15 hours of research at this point I have learned a lot; I'm still concerned I may not correctly plan for enough heat dispersal and have to rebuild the water loop.  

 

Thanks for the input 

 

The 275W limit is actually the card's ability to 'absorb' power, with a safety/thermal factor (probably) rolled in, not the TDP limit. The stock Titan X has 1-6pin power connector and 1-8pin. 75W is the rated maximum output for a 6-pin, and 150W is the output for the 8-pin. You get up to 75W from the PCIe socket itself. Thus, 75*2 + 150 = 300W available power. A good power supply will be able to allow more than 75/150W through the 6 and 8 pin connectors, and the card may or may not handle that depending on many things, so your desired overclock may not work, or it might. Depends on many things I am simply ignorant of.

 

Anyway, as for heat dissipation, if you go with the CU1020V then a single 360mm radiator would be enough, but you'd have a 12-15C delta over room temperature instead of a 10C delta. This is, in almost every case, probably acceptable. If you wanted to hedge your bets, get one of the 360mm koolance radators and throw in a second radiator of...well, basically any size, and you'll be fine. As long as you buy good fans (yes, Noctua fans are worth every dollar of their $25 price tag. Don't go for the redux or industrial line, stick with the normal ones) you shouldn't have noise problems. If you have a house so quiet that those fans are too loud...I'm impressed. Most people don't.

 

Notes/Misc: The reason the 6/8 pin connectors have a 'maximum power' rating is due to heating. Passing current through a wire makes it hot. Pass too much current through it and the shielding melts, you get a short, and possibly start a fire. This is why Christmas lights say 'dont connect more than X chains together.' That said, 25W extra through a long, thin, wire in an actively air-cooled environment is not going to cause you many/any problems.

 

The other side of that is the card design itself. The card itself needs to be able to actually use any extra current it draws through the wire and it's entirely possible to build a card that only takes 275W and no more. That's totally possible. Unlikely, but possible.

 

But yea, there's not really any magic to the TDP number. Calculate it, make sure you have more radiator than TDP (or only a small imbalance, say one fan's worth) and you're good to go.

[ErickS89]

https://shop.ekwb.com/ek-fc-titan-x-nickel-original-csq

Can't go wrong with EK personally, and I'd also do a custom loop as it just looks awesome!

[othertomperson]

Well...

 

I had a GTX 970 that was defective and past return date and not covered by warranty. I sold it for a loss. I had to buy a GTX 960. That card was freezing and black screening. I emailed a contact at Nvidia. He sent me his personal GTX 780. 2 months later, it started artifacting. I contacted support for an RMA. They said that since it was the stock Nvidia PCB (manufacture sample) that I had to buy a new card. I emailed the CEO. He told me to send him the GTX 780. I had to use my GTX 650 temporarily. And of course that card couldn't keep a monitor going for more than 4 hours at a time. I emailed him about it. They had already said that they shipped a card to me on Thursday. He gave me a FedEx tracking number for the GPU. I looked at the email times and the tracking number times. They had just shipped it. Not to mention, it had next day air AM shipping. FedEx gets to my house at 10:30 and I open the box expecting a GTX 970 (they said that's what they were sending me) only to find a Titan X.

 

...you have four defective cards, including one that was was owned by someone at Nvidia and was known to be working? Are you sure it's the cards that are all defective and not either your motherboard or PSU?

[Guest]

...you have four defective cards, including one that was was owned by someone at Nvidia and was known to be working? Are you sure it's the cards that are all defective and not either your motherboard or PSU?

It sounds crazy but it's true. In that time period, I have had two motherboards, CPUs, and PSUs. I had an i7 3820 and a Thermaltake TR2 on a Lenovo board. I used my GTX 770 and GTX 970 on that motherboard. The GTX 970 was performing much lower in games than every other benchmark. My ASIC quality must've been terrible because that $400 card that was marketed to overclock could never hit 1500 MHz. Just because I put an NZXT Kraken on it, I was not able to RMA it and Newegg would not let me return it because I was 3 days over the return limit (I went on vacation too so that's not fair). I then sold that PC with the GTX 970. It took me 3 months of false buyers to actually get paid and at a reasonable price. I had lost enough money for me to have to use my old FX-6300 and buy a GTX 960. The fans (no matter what) would never turn on. Even during heavy use they stayed off. The card would just overheat. I was able to return the GTX 960. Once the VP sent me his GTX 780 it had covered the loss and I was able to get my PSU, CPU, motherboard, and RAM that I have now. After some time the GTX 780 would artifact. Eventually, I couldn't boot Windows to a proper image, just random colors. The card was unusually hot, too. I sent it back to Jen-Hsun and in return he gave me the Titan X. I guess that I actually had the worst GPU luck ever.  

[othertomperson]

It sounds crazy but it's true. In that time period, I have had two motherboards, CPUs, and PSUs. I had an i7 3820 and a Thermaltake TR2 on a Lenovo board. I used my GTX 770 and GTX 970 on that motherboard. The GTX 970 was performing much lower in games than every other benchmark. My ASIC quality must've been terrible because that $400 card that was marketed to overclock could never hit 1500 MHz. Just because I put an NZXT Kraken on it, I was not able to RMA it and Newegg would not let me return it because I was 3 days over the return limit (I went on vacation too so that's not fair). I then sold that PC with the GTX 970. It took me 3 months of false buyers to actually get paid and at a reasonable price. I had lost enough money for me to have to use my old FX-6300 and buy a GTX 960. The fans (no matter what) would never turn on. Even during heavy use they stayed off. The card would just overheat. I was able to return the GTX 960. Once the VP sent me his GTX 780 it had covered the loss and I was able to get my PSU, CPU, motherboard, and RAM that I have now. After some time the GTX 780 would artifact. Eventually, I couldn't boot Windows to a proper image, just random colors. The card was unusually hot, too. I sent it back to Jen-Hsun and in return he gave me the Titan X. I guess that I actually had the worst GPU luck ever.  

 

Is it normal practice at Nvidia for Jen-Hsun to personally handle RMA requests and replacement units? o.0

[Guest]

Is it normal practice at Nvidia for Jen-Hsun to personally handle RMA requests and replacement units? o.0

It was just the circumstances and the GTX 780 was a manufacturer sample with no warranty.