Need Advice on my Water Loop

[iskout]

I ment the card, but i see that you noticed that.

 

Another option if you havent though about it already... Why dont you just get a new case?? Lol

 

A decent new case with proper airflow isnt gonna cost that much, and could give you the ability of SLI/Xfire in the future, and ought to bring the card temps down quite a bit.

 

I dunno, being that you already have a WC loop, the universal water block isnt a bad idea. I just dont think its a very good idea just for a GTX260, your already able to OC it quite well. I dunno how much more you really gonna get out of it even with water cooling, Temps in your case are the first wall you hit, but your core and memory are only gonna go so far, regardless of cooling.

That's very true.

 

And I've been intending to get a new case for a while lol. I just don't have the patience to move all of my parts out, drain my loop, reconfigure it in a new case, fill my loop, leak test, and so on.

[MercuryDoun]

That's very true.

 

And I've been intending to get a new case for a while lol. I just don't have the patience to move all of my parts out, drain my loop, reconfigure it in a new case, fill my loop, leak test, and so on.

 

Well the hard part in all the mess is the WC stuff, And if you add a GPU block, your gonna have to do all that stuff anyways. It might be a similar amount of work, but getting a new nice case, will be cheaper and very price effective in the future. The universal waterblocks are nice and all. But meh, the non-reference coolers companys like Asus and MSI are using are Extremely good, you spend $10 extra on a nice non-reference card and put it in a case with good airflow?? What you have is a nice and cool GPU with no water needed.

 

My Twin Frozr II GTX570 when overclocked by 33%(732mhz -> 970mhz core, 1900mhz -> 2420mhz mem) only goes to 81c max at that during even the most stressful benchmarks, top temp for the card is 97c... I wish i could overclock it higher than 970 but anything over 970 and it immediately crashes and reboots my computer, so much temp headroom... its so sad.And my Antec DF-85 doesnt even have that great of GPU airflow. There are 3x 120mm intake front fans that supply alot of cool air to the case, and 2x 120mm and 2x 140mm exhaust fans making sure no hot air stays in the case for long, but i only have a single 120mm side intake fan blowing directly on the GPU. Its just a good Heatsink design on MSI's part, totally worth the extra $10-15 over the price of a stock card. If i had a case with better GPU cooling such as a HAF-932 or HAF-X im sure id have even better temps on it. But ill take the better CPU temps of my DF-85 any day.

 

Also id still contact Capi since hes used that universal water block, i dont think he would find it a bother... And if he does? Tell him i told you to do it!!

[El_Capitan]

Just now noticing this thread, lol. No problem PM'ing me, though you get faster and more responses and options from others by starting a thread.

 

There best cooling solution is getting a full cover waterblock, but it costs a lot more, and you can't transfer it to a different newer card when you do upgrade. IMO, it's a waste unless you get a great deal on a card to offset the price of getting a non-reference air-cooled graphics card for the same price.

 

A Universal GPU Block is a great way to go. However, it will not cool your memory or your VRM's. Memory cooling isn't that important. You don't even need to have a fan blowing on it or use ramsinks (in some cases, you can't use ramsinks because the Universal GPU water block will be in the way) most of the time, though if you have poor case circulation, I'd recommend cooling it somehow. However, VRM cooling is vital, or else you'll blow your card. Sometimes having a fan blowing on it is all you'd need. For example, my MSI Cyclone GTX 460 1GB doesn't have a heatsink on the VRM's, they're just solid components, and thus just air blowing on them is good enough, even at 1.212v's. However, the ASUS GTX 460 1GB does have a heatsink on the VRM's, and you don't need a fan blowing on them, just decent case circulation.

 

Then, there's the newer higher-end graphics cards. I'm not sure if it's just because of bad batches or inadequate cooling or cheap components, but you do want to protect them by having a heatsink AND having a fan blowing at it to dissipate some of the heat. Which is what I did for the Sonic GTX 570 Sonic Platinum.

 

Also, the older your graphics card is, the older the components. They won't handle very stressful overclocks as years pass by. Investing too much on making it last longer and overclocking it more to keep up with the newer generation of cards might have the opposite affect and make it die quicker. However, since you already have a watercooling set-up, the universal water-block and fan cooling the VRM's is what I'd suggest. If the card dies, you can still use the universal water-block to cool your next graphics card. At the most, you'd have to drill new holes for the universal GPU faceplate/backplate or whatever it's called. Sometimes you don't (I didn't have to drill new holes for the Palit GTX 570 Sonic Platinum).

 

Here's some examples of just placing a fan on the VRM's to keep them cool. Though don't move your case around a lot if you do it this way. I had to drill at least 2 new holes for the faceplate/backplate to work on the GTX 460 1GB's.

http://forums.overclockersclub.com/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=14552

http://forums.overclockersclub.com/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=14551

 

This is what I did with the non-reference Palit GTX 570 Sonic Platinum:

http://forums.overclockersclub.com/index.php?showtopic=184079&st=0&p=1914215entry1914215

 

As you can see in the pic for the Palit GTX 570 mod, I re-used the block a couple of times with all those holes in the faceplate/backplate (if you contact Swiftech, they'll ship you new plates for free, I have a few newer ones I could have used, but I'm just lazy sometimes).

[Boinker]

Hmm, I have an BFG tech 55 NM GTX260 that will Pull 20K on 3dm06 But there is one issue with that. Its been modded with a Acrtic cooling Freezer as a permanent Feature. Though it could also run water if I wanted too. If i remember correctly My final OC on that one was 900 Core, shader somewhere around 1700 and Memory at roughly 1200Mhz. It was a heck of a card under water. The only Downer is really the Gtx260 is now outdated and is not going to keep up with the 4 and 5 series Nvidia or the 6xxx or 5xxx series cards we have out today. Honest to god I would forget about the GTX260 and move up to a 460 or 560 at least. But if you really want another BFG tech 55nm GTX260 then my brother actually has a GTX260 of the Exact model that he may sell. If you are interested. please PM me and ill give him a shout.

[iskout]

Just now noticing this thread, lol. No problem PM'ing me, though you get faster and more responses and options from others by starting a thread.

 

There best cooling solution is getting a full cover waterblock, but it costs a lot more, and you can't transfer it to a different newer card when you do upgrade. IMO, it's a waste unless you get a great deal on a card to offset the price of getting a non-reference air-cooled graphics card for the same price.

 

A Universal GPU Block is a great way to go. However, it will not cool your memory or your VRM's. Memory cooling isn't that important. You don't even need to have a fan blowing on it or use ramsinks (in some cases, you can't use ramsinks because the Universal GPU water block will be in the way) most of the time, though if you have poor case circulation, I'd recommend cooling it somehow. However, VRM cooling is vital, or else you'll blow your card. Sometimes having a fan blowing on it is all you'd need. For example, my MSI Cyclone GTX 460 1GB doesn't have a heatsink on the VRM's, they're just solid components, and thus just air blowing on them is good enough, even at 1.212v's. However, the ASUS GTX 460 1GB does have a heatsink on the VRM's, and you don't need a fan blowing on them, just decent case circulation.

 

Then, there's the newer higher-end graphics cards. I'm not sure if it's just because of bad batches or inadequate cooling or cheap components, but you do want to protect them by having a heatsink AND having a fan blowing at it to dissipate some of the heat. Which is what I did for the Sonic GTX 570 Sonic Platinum.

 

Also, the older your graphics card is, the older the components. They won't handle very stressful overclocks as years pass by. Investing too much on making it last longer and overclocking it more to keep up with the newer generation of cards might have the opposite affect and make it die quicker. However, since you already have a watercooling set-up, the universal water-block and fan cooling the VRM's is what I'd suggest. If the card dies, you can still use the universal water-block to cool your next graphics card. At the most, you'd have to drill new holes for the universal GPU faceplate/backplate or whatever it's called. Sometimes you don't (I didn't have to drill new holes for the Palit GTX 570 Sonic Platinum).

 

Here's some examples of just placing a fan on the VRM's to keep them cool. Though don't move your case around a lot if you do it this way. I had to drill at least 2 new holes for the faceplate/backplate to work on the GTX 460 1GB's.

http://forums.overclockersclub.com/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=14552

http://forums.overclockersclub.com/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=14551

 

This is what I did with the non-reference Palit GTX 570 Sonic Platinum:

http://forums.overclockersclub.com/index.php?showtopic=184079&st=0&p=1914215entry1914215

 

As you can see in the pic for the Palit GTX 570 mod, I re-used the block a couple of times with all those holes in the faceplate/backplate (if you contact Swiftech, they'll ship you new plates for free, I have a few newer ones I could have used, but I'm just lazy sometimes).

Thanks for the input. I think what I'm going to do is buy the MCW80 as soon as I can, but not install it on my GPU. When I upgrade to my new card, THAT'S when I'll worry about WCing it. Until then, my friend will have his victory.

 

Hmm, I have an BFG tech 55 NM GTX260 that will Pull 20K on 3dm06 But there is one issue with that. Its been modded with a Acrtic cooling Freezer as a permanent Feature. Though it could also run water if I wanted too. If i remember correctly My final OC on that one was 900 Core, shader somewhere around 1700 and Memory at roughly 1200Mhz. It was a heck of a card under water. The only Downer is really the Gtx260 is now outdated and is not going to keep up with the 4 and 5 series Nvidia or the 6xxx or 5xxx series cards we have out today. Honest to god I would forget about the GTX260 and move up to a 460 or 560 at least. But if you really want another BFG tech 55nm GTX260 then my brother actually has a GTX260 of the Exact model that he may sell. If you are interested. please PM me and ill give him a shout.

I appreciate that, but like I said; doing SLI would actually cost more than buying a new card. (Price of PSU, Case, AND the SLI card)

 

Hopefully, I'll be able to upgrade my case in the next few months, but I'm not sure how that'll work out for me. I might be kind of stuck with my current case (Depending on how much my girlfriend lets me go with it)

[iskout]

So, I'm going to get the MCW80 (Water_Hazard is giving me a really nice price on one. Thanks man!), and I think I'm just going to grab some enzotech ramsinks and mosfet sinks to cool my RAM/VRM's. Looking at spending $65-70 total, vs. spending $145 on a full cover block that I wouldn't be able to reuse. I'm happy