Hi all,
I have recently been reading a lot about custom water cooling solutions, and may just make the jump to it with my next big upgrade. However... There are still a good few questions I have not gotten answered yet.
First of all, space is a bit of an issue. Sure enough, I have a big case, an Antec 902, but I plan on adding quite a few things to it. I already have a mighty fine Corsair H50 cooler, so the back 120mm fan slot is already used, and CPU cooling is already more than provided for.
I am planning on going with double or perhaps even triple video cards (2x 5850, 1x NVIDIA GTS240, GTS250 or GTX260 for PhysX). I am also planning on going with the AM3 platform, as an overclocked Phenom II 955 or 965 just looks very interesting to me, and I don't see prices rising massively anytime soon. I might also add a dedicated PCI sound card. And don't forget 3 harddisks installed in one of the two drive cages. Most of this is still unsure, but still. All of this together will probably eat quite a bit of case space already, which kind of worries me.
I want proper cooling for at least my video cards - if it would be possible to cool 3 video cards using water cooling, that'd be great. I would start off with one 5850, then add the dedicated NVIDIA later, and perhaps add another 5850 even later. Also, I may add a chipset cooler to the whole deal eventually. I am planning on going for an MSI motherboard (GD70), but if a newer one gets released with more interesting features and a nice price that'll be my board instead.
With my rear fan slot blocked, and me being a complete noob when it comes to modding cases, I cannot place an internal or external radiator in the proper way. I have looked at Thermaltake's Aquabay M2 and M3 as a possible radiator and liquid tank combination, and they do look interesting to me. I am aware that Thermaltake is often not the best of the best when it comes to quality, however these parts did look good, especially since there seem to be no other alternatives except for modding this case. Here they are:
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1162&ID=1624
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1162&ID=1625
I do not have much space, as I can only sacrifice one drive cage if need be. If I would do this, I would have 5 free 5.25in bays, which I think should be plenty to fit all of this.
So... Let me outline exactly what I want now:
- a setup that is powerful enough to cool 3 GPUs and 1 or perhaps 2 chipset coolers.
- a setup that is not awfully noisy, and preferably silent.
- better cooling than standard air coolers.
- a decent price.
- no actual case modding required.
- enough tubing, blue or blue UV if possible, otherwise black or silver.
What I want to know is what would be a good build to do this, with all parts included (and linked if possible). Also, any advice is always welcome, as well as alternatives to current parts if need be. Just keep in mind that I am limited in space here, and I have two left hands when it comes to modding.
Thanks in advance!
I have recently been reading a lot about custom water cooling solutions, and may just make the jump to it with my next big upgrade. However... There are still a good few questions I have not gotten answered yet.
First of all, space is a bit of an issue. Sure enough, I have a big case, an Antec 902, but I plan on adding quite a few things to it. I already have a mighty fine Corsair H50 cooler, so the back 120mm fan slot is already used, and CPU cooling is already more than provided for.
I am planning on going with double or perhaps even triple video cards (2x 5850, 1x NVIDIA GTS240, GTS250 or GTX260 for PhysX). I am also planning on going with the AM3 platform, as an overclocked Phenom II 955 or 965 just looks very interesting to me, and I don't see prices rising massively anytime soon. I might also add a dedicated PCI sound card. And don't forget 3 harddisks installed in one of the two drive cages. Most of this is still unsure, but still. All of this together will probably eat quite a bit of case space already, which kind of worries me.
I want proper cooling for at least my video cards - if it would be possible to cool 3 video cards using water cooling, that'd be great. I would start off with one 5850, then add the dedicated NVIDIA later, and perhaps add another 5850 even later. Also, I may add a chipset cooler to the whole deal eventually. I am planning on going for an MSI motherboard (GD70), but if a newer one gets released with more interesting features and a nice price that'll be my board instead.
With my rear fan slot blocked, and me being a complete noob when it comes to modding cases, I cannot place an internal or external radiator in the proper way. I have looked at Thermaltake's Aquabay M2 and M3 as a possible radiator and liquid tank combination, and they do look interesting to me. I am aware that Thermaltake is often not the best of the best when it comes to quality, however these parts did look good, especially since there seem to be no other alternatives except for modding this case. Here they are:
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1162&ID=1624
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1162&ID=1625
I do not have much space, as I can only sacrifice one drive cage if need be. If I would do this, I would have 5 free 5.25in bays, which I think should be plenty to fit all of this.
So... Let me outline exactly what I want now:
- a setup that is powerful enough to cool 3 GPUs and 1 or perhaps 2 chipset coolers.
- a setup that is not awfully noisy, and preferably silent.
- better cooling than standard air coolers.
- a decent price.
- no actual case modding required.
- enough tubing, blue or blue UV if possible, otherwise black or silver.
What I want to know is what would be a good build to do this, with all parts included (and linked if possible). Also, any advice is always welcome, as well as alternatives to current parts if need be. Just keep in mind that I am limited in space here, and I have two left hands when it comes to modding.
Thanks in advance!