Want to add GPU cooling to my Water Loop.....
Trumandrummer
Taylor Michigan Icrontian
So the title pretty much says it all...
Right now I have just my Intel i7 running on a water loop by itself with a triple 120mm rad.
I would like to add my GTX 260 into this loop....
Now, I know that the GTX 260 is not the best graphics card, and it would probably be pointless for me to water cool it, that it would be better if I just spent the money and upgraded the card. But I would rather not, my GTX 260 works well for me, and runs everything that I need and throw at it, I don't need much more right now.
The reasons that I want to add it to my water cooling loop is...
1. Looks
2. For the fun of it
3. My temps seems high on mine, 76c currently (but it is folding, even though I haven't been keeping up on my folding lately), and normally never under 50c.
Thats it
But im having some trouble finding a water block for it.
I really don't want to spend $100 on a water block...
Im new to water cooling graphics cards, but id rather use a full water block than one of those small ones.... its to my understanding that with those small water blocks, you still have to add little heat sinks to all the other components on the board. Which seems like a giant pain, and doesn't look as cool.
I found this water block for the 260/280
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=25512
But im kind of confused if it works with only the EVGA cards or what?
Like I said, im new to water cooling, this is my first watercooling loop. Let alone water cooling my graphics card.... so it would be awesome if someone could chime in and give me some advice on a good but not too expensive water block for the GTX 260 216.
Thanks a lot in advance....
Right now I have just my Intel i7 running on a water loop by itself with a triple 120mm rad.
I would like to add my GTX 260 into this loop....
Now, I know that the GTX 260 is not the best graphics card, and it would probably be pointless for me to water cool it, that it would be better if I just spent the money and upgraded the card. But I would rather not, my GTX 260 works well for me, and runs everything that I need and throw at it, I don't need much more right now.
The reasons that I want to add it to my water cooling loop is...
1. Looks
2. For the fun of it
3. My temps seems high on mine, 76c currently (but it is folding, even though I haven't been keeping up on my folding lately), and normally never under 50c.
Thats it
But im having some trouble finding a water block for it.
I really don't want to spend $100 on a water block...
Im new to water cooling graphics cards, but id rather use a full water block than one of those small ones.... its to my understanding that with those small water blocks, you still have to add little heat sinks to all the other components on the board. Which seems like a giant pain, and doesn't look as cool.
I found this water block for the 260/280
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=25512
But im kind of confused if it works with only the EVGA cards or what?
Like I said, im new to water cooling, this is my first watercooling loop. Let alone water cooling my graphics card.... so it would be awesome if someone could chime in and give me some advice on a good but not too expensive water block for the GTX 260 216.
Thanks a lot in advance....
0
Comments
True true,
But I don't think that I will be upgrading it any time soon. I mean you never know, but it still plays all my games at mostly max settings, and I just don't feel the urge to upgrade it yet. Even for DirectX 11.
Thank a lot,
Will that block require me to still cool some of the other components on the gpu board? Or would I be able to just install that black with the adapter and be good to go?
Also, I was able to find a lot of information on that waterblock, but almost everywhere that I look, its either sold out or discontinued.
It seems like everyone was charging 45-60 dollars for it. Which is great, but the only place that I have found it in stock is performance-pcs.... and they are overcharging it at $89.99
You will need to get a set of ram/vreg heatsinks for the rest of the card as the block only cools the gpu.
Do I have to get a set of ram/vreg heatsinks specifically made for the gtx260, or does any set work pretty much universally? I searched but couldn't really find a set made for this card, except a few discontinued ones....
Also,
I really don't want to spend $90 on a block. Even though I know the price will match the performance, I think I found some cheaper ones. It should still be a lot better than this crappy little fan that gets me a load temp of about 75-80c.
So looking around I found two cheaper blocks that seemed to have pretty good reviews.
1. is the Swiftech MCW82 Universal GPU block. Which looks really similar to the MCW60, but is almost half the price ($56 as opposed to $90). What is the major difference here?
2. is the XSPC Rasa GPU universal block ($50) which also had some surprisingly good reviews. (im also using a XSPC Rasa CPU block, and im getting great temps out of it)
Will either of these work? If so which one would be better?
Thanks a lot
I kept looking up these waterblocks, and everywhere I looked the swiftech MCW80 and MCW82 were $49-$60. Then I checked micro center, and they had one MCW80 in stock, for $23.99. (Steal!) And the best part is, local pickup, no shipping or waiting.
So I picked that up today. Fits the card great, but im not using it yet until I get my ramsinks. Sadly micro-center did not have any vga/ram sinks.
Its probably getting close to time for a water change anyways, so I wen't ahead and ordered some more coolant along with my ramsinks and some more tubing.
Here is the swiftech MCW80 sitting on my card though.
Im pretty excited, this will be the first time that I have ever done GPU cooling.
But draining my loop is gonna be a task. I have had my watercooling for about 6 months but this will be the first time that Ill have to drain it.