Need to enlist the resident water cooling expert

Cliff_ForsterCliff_Forster Icrontian
edited May 2010 in Hardware
I have a giant case on the way (Antec P183), and I am thinking I am going to fit it with a water cooler.

To cool an AMD AM3 CPU, and a Radeon 4890 video card, what would we suggest?

I understand the Ram cooling on that graphics card is critical, so I suppose the water block can't be limited to covering the core, to just put sinks on the ram, I don't think ramsinks offer enough cooling for the GDDR5. I have not been successful finding any solutions specifically manufactured for this card except for one that PowerColor sells pre instaled on one of thiers.

If not a good water cooling solution, can someone suggest an agressive aftermarket VGA cooler for the 4890?

Thanks.

Comments

  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited April 2009
    You'll find a lot of people happy with a Thermochill PA 120.X series radiators - great with even low airflow. The 120.2 cools my Q9550 more than adequately; a 120.2 might, but a 120.3 would probably handle the processor and 4890 just fine. If you've got the space to mount it, do it to it.

    As far as graphics-specific coolers, EK has some out that reportedly work on the 4890, such as these. Vouched for over at [H]ard.
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited April 2009
    I use the Thermochill PA160. Single pass radiators offer lower restriction and do an excellent job. I also use Apogee cpu waterblock and D5 waterpump all 1/2". I don't have anything else in the loop since I believe simplicity is best.
  • Cliff_ForsterCliff_Forster Icrontian
    edited April 2009
    Yeah I am looking at both of those options on their site, they seem to both come highly recommended. Do they only sell direct from the UK?
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited April 2009
    Other places have them listed, but they've been out of stock for a while now. When I built mine a couple months back, I looked everywhere and nobody had them. Went directly to them expecting to be put on a backorder list, but got it immediately. They'd probably rather fulfill orders directly rather than spread themselves too thin over retailers.

    I will second an Apogee block, I use the GTZ and it's fantastic.
  • _k_k P-Town, Texas Icrontian
    edited April 2009
    We need mason in here. He uses a thermochill 120.3 on a q66 and at least one 4870. He is changing out two 4870s for a 4890, current project not sure if he had both of the 70s in the loop. He was using the Apogee GT and MCW60-R GPU block with the sock cooler still on the card because he left the mem heatsink on the card.
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited April 2009
    I got all of my stuff from danger den. The PA160 was designed by Cathar ...who has also created some of the most popular waterblocks. He assured me in an email that the PA160 with only its one fan is as efficient as the PA120.2 and performs as well.

    Incidentally this cooling system has not missed a beat in over 3 years. I also use MCT-5 cooling from danger den as well.

    My advice ...keep it simple.
  • mas0nmas0n howdy Icrontian
    edited April 2009
    I currently water cool my Q6600 @ 3.6GHz and my HD4890 @ 995/1255. My loop is MCP-655B + Apogee GT + MCW60 + PA120.3 and temps on both components stay below 50C at full load with silent Scythe SFF21E fans on the rad and no reservoir. The MCW60 is an excellent block for the 4000 series cards, but I recommend doing what I did here and leaving part of the original heatsink on the card to ensure proper cooling of the memory and power circuitry. That thread was when I was running a 4870, but I do the same for the 4890 and run what I consider to be a good overclock.

    The Thermochill PA120.3 is an expensive radiator, but I picked it up because it performs extremely well with low CFM fans and have been extremely happy with it. Running 24/7 full load in complete silence is well worth the price tag.
  • BuddyJBuddyJ Dept. of Propaganda OKC Icrontian
    edited April 2009
    Cliff, you might talk to @PTPetra too. Alex runs a shop that specializes in water cooling. I've also found DangerDen to be great to work with.

    A 3x120mm radiator would be great, coupled with an Apogee GTZ block and this GPU cooler. Throw in a decent pump and some fans, etc. and you're golden.
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited April 2009
    Buddy J wrote:
    Throw in ... some fans, etc. and you're golden.

    Might I suggest some Gelid Wings?
  • KhaosKhaos New Hampshire
    edited April 2009
    Another vote for the GTZ and MCW60 blocks here. The build quality, fit, finish and performance are all fantastic.

    For rads I went with HW Labs Black Ice GTX III's to save some bucks. They've been great. No complaints.
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited April 2009
    Here is a link to procooling where I found most of my info during my research 3 years ago ...http://forums.procooling.com/vbb/index.php

    I also agree witht he apogee gtz.
  • edited April 2009
    water cooling is highly over rated.... how about stuffing a few bags of ice in there... maybe move to the arctic?
  • KhaosKhaos New Hampshire
    edited January 2010
    Water cooling is great because it can be all of these things depending on the builder's preferences:
    Cheap
    Reliable
    Efficient
    Powerful
    Quiet
    Flashy

    And it is REALLY FUN to put together a water cooled rig.

    Moving them is not so fun. With my external radiator and reservoir, moving is a real bitch and I've had to do it four times now since the initial build. But that's another story.
  • LincLinc Owner Detroit Icrontian
    edited January 2010
    Khaos?? That guy we knew that disappeared last May? That Khaos? <3
  • KhaosKhaos New Hampshire
    edited February 2010
    Lincoln wrote:
    Khaos?? That guy we knew that disappeared last May? That Khaos? <3
    None other, dude. I'm getting back on my feet. In May I experienced a nervous breakthrough -- a rapid expansion of consciousness, and I started questioning reality. I ended up in the rabbit-hole of quantum existence, imagining the Universe around me in different ways. I call it The Otherside. I've started writing about it here.
  • _k_k P-Town, Texas Icrontian
    edited February 2010
    hippie
  • boasistboasist Troy
    edited May 2010
    ahh man, does anyone use the bonneville radiators anymore?! Some good advice here, have you move forward at all with anything?
  • MAGICMAGIC Doot Doot Furniture City, Michigan Icrontian
    edited May 2010
    boasist wrote:
    ahh man, does anyone use the bonneville radiators anymore?! Some good advice here, have you move forward at all with anything?

    Not really. Auto radiators are aluminum and most all cpu blocks are copper. It is not recommended to mix these metals in a loop.
  • boasistboasist Troy
    edited May 2010
    MAGIC wrote:
    Not really. Auto radiators are aluminum and most all cpu blocks are copper. It is not recommended to mix these metals in a loop.


    Very true, although you stirred my memory. Too bad my NAS went down or I would post pics. The two water builds I did were great fun. One in a lian li v2000, and another in the falcon northwest fragbox case. Quite the downsize the second one was!

    We used heatercores actually, which are copper or brass. Some autozones and such still carry them, and you can't beat the price of $20.

    http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=304440

    My threads are still up out there, just no pics, but this is the exact thread that I based my radiator build off of.
  • PetraPetra Palmdale, CA USA
    edited May 2010
    MAGIC wrote:
    Not really. Auto radiators are aluminum and most all cpu blocks are copper. It is not recommended to mix these metals in a loop.
    boasist is right, the Bonneville and Chevette heater cores that folks used many years ago (including the Bonneville cores modded and sold by Weapon) were of copper/brass construction.

    Hmm, what a shame... I think my old Bonneville core and the acrylic shrouds I made got tossed when I moved last year.

    Purpose-built radiators have gotten good enough and cheap enough to where most don't bother with using heater cores any more (not to mention that the shift toward silent computing has changed quite a few things in the water cooling arena).
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