240mm, is it enough?

[Vegetable]

Been thinking of WC my system. 4790k and 390x, both lightly overclocked. At the moment my 4790k is at 4.5ghz @ 1.265v, so almost stock voltage. The 390x is at stock voltage 1070mhz core and 1525 mem. the 4790k's max temp after a couple hours of Aida64 is roughly 76*C, and after a couple hours of Unigine Valley the 390x tops out at 83*C. I want to WC my system to lower noise and temps, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to try and build a loop from scratch. So I was thinking get the EK predator 240 and pickup some fittings, tubing, and the waterblock for my 390x.  I honestly won't touch my CPU anymore because I get the performance I want out of it and the temps are decent, its just so damn loud. However, my 390x, I will crank up that voltage and push it as far as possible.  I know I can do that much and can handle the maintenance, but the question is would a 240mm rad be enough to keep my system cool? Thanks in advance.

[W-L]

6 minutes ago, Vegetable said:

-SNIP-

For just a CPU loop a 240mm is a good option and should let you push the voltages more if your wanting higher overclocks, but if you plan to add in the GPU later on you might want to consider the 360mm version or an extra rad if your going for dead silent cooling. 

[thekeemo]

240mm will work but wont improve temps.

[Lotus]

Watercooling usually doesn't lower your noise due to pump sound 100% even at idle. I'd recommend a large dual tower air cooler like a Noctua NH-D15 or a Cryorig R1 (the Noctua will be quieter due to fans). As for your R9 390X, the only thing you can do to make it quieter is adjusting the fan profiles and letting it get a little hotter. Remember, Hawaii chips are rated to be perfectly fine even at a sustained 95°C. Cooler selection on these GPUs is really important for noise and thermal reasons.

 

Also, 4.5 GHz @ 1.265v doesn't sound like there's a lot of headroom left. My i7-4770k is stable at 4.4 at 1.275v, but can't hit 4.5 GHz stable even at 1.35v.

 

If you're talking about going a custom loop, that is just so expensive that you might consider selling off your R9 390X for one with a better or more quiet cooler. It'll save you money too.

[Vegetable]

1 hour ago, W-L said:

For just a CPU loop a 240mm is a good option and should let you push the voltages more if your wanting higher overclocks, but if you plan to add in the GPU later on you might want to consider the 360mm version or an extra rad if your going for dead silent cooling. 

Well I have an NZXT S340. So the absolute best cooling I could get from a single rad would be a 280mm

 

1 hour ago, Lotus said:

Watercooling usually doesn't lower your noise due to pump noise running even at idle. I'd recommend a large dual tower air cooler like a Noctua NH-D15 or a Cryorig R1 (the Noctua will be quieter due to fans). As for your R9 390X, the only thing you can do to make it quieter is adjusting the fan profiles and letting it get a little hotter. Remember, Hawaii chips are rated to be perfectly fine even at a sustained 95°C.

 

Also, 4.5 GHz @ 1.265v doesn't sound like there's a lot of headroom left. My i7-4770k is stable at 4.4 at 1.275v, but can't hit 4.5 GHz stable even at 1.35v.

I have a custom fan profile on my 390x. If I do a profile to keep the temps down it can still hit the mid to upper 80's during long GTA V sessions, and the quiet profile it will go over 95*C and crash. Maybe my 390x is a dud but it runs WAY hotter than I'd like it to. Also my 4790k is stable at 1.3v 4.7ghz its just too hot. And my poor little board isn't ready for constant 1.3v either

[W-L]

2 minutes ago, Vegetable said:

Well I have an NZXT S340. So the absolute best cooling I could get from a single rad would be a 280mm

Yeah the S340 is not the most watercooling friendly case but if you can squeeze a 280mm in the front and a 120mm or 140mm in the top or rear that would give you fairly good cooling capabilities for both the CPU and GPU while doing moderately hing overclocks. 

[Jidonsu]

The CPU temp probably won't improve much, but you'll never see 100% load anyways. You'll see improvement on the GPU, but it probably won't dip into the 40s under sustained load with just the 240 being shared. You might if you have the fans at 100%, which won't be quiet. I recommend getting at least the 360. Ideally, I'd just add a second radiator. 

[Lotus]

3 minutes ago, Vegetable said:

I have a custom fan profile on my 390x. If I do a profile to keep the temps down it can still hit the mid to upper 80's during long GTA V sessions, and the quiet profile it will go over 95*C and crash. Maybe my 390x is a dud but it runs WAY hotter than I'd like it to. Also my 4790k is stable at 1.3v 4.7ghz its just too hot. And my poor little board isn't ready for constant 1.3v either

I'd sell your R9 390X and buy one with a better cooler before I'd go to a custom loop water cooling. It's just not  a cost effective route. Hell, I have an R9 290X on an XFX DD cooler and with my fan profile set to top out around 60% fan, it doesn't get hotter than 84°C and doesn't get that loud. You can hear it if you aren't wearing headphones and are sitting right next to it and no sound, but other than that I won't notice it.

[Jidonsu]

2 minutes ago, Vegetable said:

I have a custom fan profile on my 390x. If I do a profile to keep the temps down it can still hit the mid to upper 80's during long GTA V sessions, and the quiet profile it will go over 95*C and crash. Maybe my 390x is a dud but it runs WAY hotter than I'd like it to. Also my 4790k is stable at 1.3v 4.7ghz its just too hot. And my poor little board isn't ready for constant 1.3v either

If that's the case, the Predator 240 won't really help much. You're just generating too much heat.