What setup will I need for a CPU and dual GPU Loop??

[islandg@m3r]

Hey everyone, what do you all recommend for efficient cooling radiator-wise for a decent CPU overclock and slightly OCed GTX 1080s?  Was thinking since they are preicey right now was planning to get one now and the minute the Price drops significant enough, buy another and SLI.  I am looking to seriously get into 1440p gaming.

 

CPU I was looking at was an i7 6850K and an OC from 3.6GHz to at least 4.3-4.5 roughly nothing crazy just a decent OC and was trying to get the 1080s as close to 2100MHz as possible without over exerting the GPU.

 

Will be gaming heavily but casually and want enough GPU OC to get a score I can be proud of in BenchMarks.

240mm, 360mm,480mm...which rad for cpu?

and for 2nd Rad for GPUs 240mm or a 360mm for dual 1080s ?

 

These are the two I was looking at, rly am an EVGA fan through an through, but when I saw this 1 i fell in love but at same time felt like I would be cheating on EVGA lol. (GUILTY CONSCIENCE MUCH???)Let me know which ones would you all get as well.

 

http://galaxstore.net/GALAX-NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-1080-HOF-8GB_p_39.html 

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487245&cm_re=evga_gtx_1080_ftw-_-14-487-245-_-Product

 

 

Let me know, and also if I should get separate loops which I know is a hassle or use a single loop with 2 rads.  Thanks in advance!!

[stealth80]

240 will be enough for the cpu if doing it's own loop. For the 1080s I would probably go with  480 to give plenty of head room for the overclocks. I had 360 for cpu/chipset and 360 + 240 for 2x 970's which worked great. Right now its the same loops order but one 1080 @1440P and to be honest, I don't need another 1080, not for a long time

[islandg@m3r]

2 minutes ago, stealth80 said:

240 will be enough for the cpu if doing it's own loop. For the 1080s I would probably go with  480 to give plenty of head room for the overclocks. I had 360 for cpu/chipset and 360 + 240 for 2x 970's which worked great. Right now its the same loops order but one 1080 @1440P and to be honest, I don't need another 1080, not for a long time

So are you saying 2 separate loops or 1 single one with 2 rads?

[stealth80]

12 hours ago, islandg@m3r said:

So are you saying 2 separate loops or 1 single one with 2 rads?

2 loops is what I did, but that was more for cosmetic reasons, its also easier to cool the GPU and CPU independently. But it does cost a little more, but totally worth it imo :

 

[PocketzDK]

you do know these are a thing right?

 

EVGA 1080 Hydro Copper

A rule of thumb I was given when I built my first loop was this:
"Think of the heatsink you would need, to cool the same hardware if it was on air, and then try to match that."
That way you will have extra cooling capacity, and your loop wont be hard pressed to maintain good temps.
I Ran Dual 970s and a 4790K on a 240 and a Alphacool NexXxos UT60.
Later I changed that too a 480 Alphacool NexXxos monsta which was total overkill.

[islandg@m3r]

1 hour ago, PocketzDK said:

you do know these are a thing right?

 

EVGA 1080 Hydro Copper

A rule of thumb I was given when I built my first loop was this:
"Think of the heatsink you would need, to cool the same hardware if it was on air, and then try to match that."
That way you will have extra cooling capacity, and your loop wont be hard pressed to maintain good temps.
I Ran Dual 970s and a 4790K on a 240 and a Alphacool NexXxos UT60.
Later I changed that too a 480 Alphacool NexXxos monsta which was total overkill.

I was thinking of a RX360mm for the CPU and a 360mm for the 1080s. But @stealth80 suggested getting a 480mm for the SLi 1080s to give overhead room for OCing. Originally was planning to get 1 1080 now and another later when price drops, but I don't want to repeat my mistake that I made with the 780 Classy in my current build and never get around to getting a 2nd one and watercooling them =( thought a 360mm was going to be enough for dual 1080s though.  Still not sure if 480mm is best/overkill since when GPUs OCed more power is drawn creating more heat or if 360 will suffice.

[Lurick]

I currently have dual 980Tis and a 5930K, all overclocked by a decent amount and a 240 + 360 Rad isn't enough for me to be happy with my temps and noise levels. I idle around 50C and depending on the game I can see temps reach upwards of 60C on the GPUs and 65 to 70 on the CPU.

There is no such thing as overkill on a watercooled setup, the more radiator space you have the slower the fans can run and the quieter everything will be. I would suggest going for a 480 rad for the GPUs and a 240 for the CPU like was suggested before.

[Mick Naughty]

I run the CPU, 2 gpus, ram, south bridge and vrm's on one 280 and 360. Everything over  clocked. If the 10 series is less efficient then the 7, then I would add more radiator. I'd put in what ever the case could fit. 2 360's, a 480 or a 360+240. 

[stealth80]

if you have space put the 1080's on a 480 and the cpu and mobo on a 360, go 60mm depth if possible. The worst case scenario is it costs you a little more but you can run the fans slower for good temps. Best case = amazing temps at minimal noise, if you have the $$$ and space there's no reason not to. I have a singe Palit 1080 on 360 + 240mm at the moment, load temps absolute max are 50C, usually around 48C and that's a 1080 running like 1886mhz boost so it aint no standard clock card!

[islandg@m3r]

14 minutes ago, stealth80 said:

if you have space put the 1080's on a 480 and the cpu and mobo on a 360, go 60mm depth if possible. The worst case scenario is it costs you a little more but you can run the fans slower for good temps. Best case = amazing temps at minimal noise, if you have the $$$ and space there's no reason not to. I have a singe Palit 1080 on 360 + 240mm at the moment, load temps absolute max are 50C, usually around 48C and that's a 1080 running like 1886mhz boost so it aint no standard clock card!

I was originally looking at the XSPC RX240, RX360 and RX480 which are roughly 50mm thickness

[Deli]

1 hour ago, stealth80 said:

if you have space put the 1080's on a 480 and the cpu and mobo on a 360, go 60mm depth if possible. The worst case scenario is it costs you a little more but you can run the fans slower for good temps. Best case = amazing temps at minimal noise, if you have the $$$ and space there's no reason not to. I have a singe Palit 1080 on 360 + 240mm at the moment, load temps absolute max are 50C, usually around 48C and that's a 1080 running like 1886mhz boost so it aint no standard clock card!

Thick radiator needs higher static pressure to get the air through. Thicker rad doesn't always mean better noise/performance.

[Deli]

For the 6850K, I'd opt for a 280 or 360mm rad. Two 1080s are ok with another 360mm rad. You can add more rad space, but you will hit point of diminishing return soon after that.

 

 

[stealth80]

51 minutes ago, Deli said:

Thick radiator needs higher static pressure to get the air through. Thicker rad doesn't always mean better noise/performance.

Well that's a pretty obvious statement, its like saying a more engine cc doesn't always equal a faster car.

 

OP (I hope) will read reviews on delta drops of a number of radiators and buy the best per $$$

[Mick Naughty]

53 minutes ago, Deli said:

Thick radiator needs higher static pressure to get the air through. Thicker rad doesn't always mean better noise/performance.

Thickness has nothing to do with it. It's fin density. 

[Deli]

3 minutes ago, stealth80 said:

Well that's a pretty obvious statement, its like saying a more engine cc doesn't always equal a faster car.

 

OP (I hope) will read reviews on delta drops of a number of radiators and buy the best per $$$

https://youtu.be/plhtNl5i0q0

[stealth80]

Just now, Deli said:

https://youtu.be/plhtNl5i0q0

I don't know why you're linking me this? I agree with your statement, hence my "op reading reviews" statement

[Deli]

2 minutes ago, Mick Naughty said:

Thickness has nothing to do with it. It's fin density. 

Thickness does have something to do with resistance.

[stealth80]

It depends on a whole host of shit, size, surface area, materials, thickness, density, fans used, coolant used, amount of rads, etc. Don't know why people are just pointing out single properties of rads ....

[Mick Naughty]

1 hour ago, Deli said:

Thickness does have something to do with resistance.

Doubt that will be an issue. Unless he uses a cheap pump. 

[Mick Naughty]

1 hour ago, stealth80 said:

It depends on a whole host of shit, size, surface area, materials, thickness, density, fans used, coolant used, amount of rads, etc. Don't know why people are just pointing out single properties of rads ....

Just replying to their comment assuming the rads thickness would mean needing a specific fan. 

[Deli]

21 minutes ago, Mick Naughty said:

Just replying to their comment assuming the rads thickness would mean needing a specific fan. 

I mean air resistance. More force is needed for air to travel longer distance. Fluid Dynamics. All things being equal. A thicker radiator requires higher static pressure to push the air through effectively. In many cases, that means either running push-pull, or turns up the fan speed. That in turn mean more noise.

 

It might need some changes to take advantages of the extra thickness and surface area  Thicker radiator doesn't automatically mean better cooling.

[Mick Naughty]

26 minutes ago, Deli said:

I mean air resistance. More force is needed for air to travel longer distance. Fluid Dynamics. All things being equal. A thicker radiator requires higher static pressure to push the air through effectively. In many cases, that means either running push-pull, or turns up the fan speed. That in turn mean more noise.

 

It might need some changes to take advantages of the extra thickness and surface area  Thicker radiator doesn't automatically mean better cooling.

 Don't see any difference between running my noticua or swiftech fans. It only being 16-20 fpi makes it easy for ever fan. My 35-40 mil rads on the other hand being above 30fpi makes a huge difference.  I would always prefer running thick rads over thing high fpi. Fans can be slower and weaker and less noise compared to a thin rad.