Need help deciding how many radiators I need

[eWOOD29]

I built my PC a while back (specs here) with a Corsair H75 on my CPU (i7-7800x OCed to 4.2GHz) and an EVGA GTX 1080 SC cooled with the stock ACX 3.0 EVGA cooling fans. Now, I'm thinking about watercooling my GPU by putting on the NZXT Kraken G12 and installing some Corsair AIO watercooler. My original thought was to keep my H75 and just move it onto my GPU and get a double rad cooler for my CPU but I'm not sure if the H75 is enough for a GTX 1080. My goal is to have good temps and quiet operation while gaming.

P.S. I got the H75 for free with a Newegg bundle and would love to keep using so I don't have to buy two new AIOs.

[Crunchy Dragon]

Most people don't need more than two radiators. The H75 wouldn't be a bad option for the 1080, it might perform equal to or slightly better than the ACX 3.0 cooler.

 

EDIT: also, it should be noted that you may experience problems using the Kraken G12 and a Corsair AIO. I would direct you to Corsair's watercooling bracket instead. The most recent Nvidia version they have is for the 980, I'm not fully sure how much the PCB differs from the 1080.

[W-L]

1 minute ago, eWOOD29 said:

I built my PC a while back (specs here) with a Corsair H75 on my CPU (i7-7800x OCed to 4.2GHz) and an EVGA GTX 1080 SC cooled with the stock ACX 3.0 EVGA cooling fans. Now, I'm thinking about watercooling my GPU by putting on the NZXT Kraken G12 and installing some Corsair AIO watercooler. My original thought was to keep my H75 and just move it onto my GPU and get a double rad cooler for my CPU but I'm not sure if the H75 is enough for a GTX 1080. My goal is to have good temps and quiet operation while gaming.

P.S. I got the H75 for free with a Newegg bundle and would love to keep using so I don't have to buy two new AIOs.

A single rad cooler for the GPU is adequate for cooling it as it has a much larger die for the heat to be transfer out directly to the AIO. For the CPU a 280mm rad would be a good option as that CPu does push out a fair bit of heat. 

[eWOOD29]

2 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Most people don't need more than two radiators. The H75 wouldn't be a bad option for the 1080, it might perform equal to or slightly better than the ACX 3.0 cooler.

So would it even make sense to liquid cool it if it performs close to equal? Would putting the H75 on it lower the noise a lot?

[Crunchy Dragon]

Just now, eWOOD29 said:

So would it even make sense to liquid cool it if it performs close to equal? Would putting the H75 on it lower the noise a lot?

Yes. Liquid coolers are usually quieter than air coolers.

[MaratM]

It will all depend on the fans, but i would go with a 240 rad for the 1080. More surface area less fan speed and more quiet your rig will be

The best solution might be a ek-fluid gaming kit with a 360 rad, cpu block and a gpu block

[smaddeus]

2 hours ago, MaratM said:

It will all depend on the fans, but i would go with a 240 rad for the 1080. More surface area less fan speed and more quiet your rig will be

The best solution might be a ek-fluid gaming kit with a 360 rad, cpu block and a gpu block

It "all" does not depend on fans, just slightly because liquid insider is already doing most if not half of the job with just circulating around to the radiator, fan just helps the rad to stay cooler in order for liquid to exchange at least some fair bit of cooler liquid back to CPU or GPU, so fans can have some ease up time with the power/speed at which it does its job, but if it was plain pure air cooler, without radiator, then surely it will require to run faster to deliver that hot air out or in faster, because the heat culminates in your PC from CPU and GPU with run only by ventilators, but if CPU is replaced purely with liquid cooling then the only heat that culminate inside of the PC case is the one that GPU creates from the above of the card whatever slips through if your fans or any cooling system provided to your card does not take away enough heat for it to heat up the inside of the PC. So at the end your fans will run much slower since half or most of the effort is being done by liquid alone.