Hardware & Technical New PC Build planned, seeking advice of rad locations and HEAT

[Weirzbowski]

Hello community.

I am looking at building a new gaming PC that will be running 1080p for around six months to a year, then switching video card(s) to enable 4k/VR gaming. I plan on getting a 4k monitor or a VR headset in 6 months - 1 year. Overall the PC should last around 3-4 years before I build a new one. My current rig was built in October of 2012 with the thought of upgrading in three years time. This system will be new and independent of my current PC.

My plan is to use a single GTX970 for 1080p until I am ready for 4k/VR. Once ready I will grab TWO new AIO water cooled video cards to use in SLI. I have looked at some reviews/articles and read that 4k can be done with SLI now, but the frame rate is not ideal at the highest settings. I am hoping that in around a year a greater variety of cards will be available (Pascal maybe, with any luck) for high fps 4k gaming. Instead of buying two 980Ti's for a lot of cash now, the selection will be much improved in the future, and be a bit lower in price.

I will only be doing low to moderate overclocking of the CPU, Ram, and Video Cards. I will be getting a case that has a minimum of seven fans, more than likely a Corsair case. I will be using an AIO CPU cooler with a 240/280 rad up top set as exhaust.

QUESTION: If I get two water cooled video cards, or a custom loop for the cards only with a single 240 rad, would installing the rad up front generate too much heat in the case? I only ask because I have been research for a while and have seen a plethora of pictures of custom loops with a rad at the front. Unfortunately I have asked about this heat issue on various forums and have never really gotten a clear answer.

In a worst case scenario I can always go with a couple of blower units, with loud fans, or some open air cards with a possible case heat issue.

I just don't want to set myself up for an unsolvable solution in the future.

 

[Zieman]

Well, your main sources of heat will be the GPU(s) & the CPU.

I presume the CPU cooler will pull air from case and push it out up, mounted at the top (rear) of the case.
You could use the 'traditoinal' airflow way of front/bottom in and rear/top out if you make sure that the GPU cooler(s) are not the only ones pushing air in the case.

Or you could go for 'partially reverse' airflow configuration:
Have CPU pulling air out at the top mounting you planned, GPU loop(s) pulling air out at the front (preferably as high up in the front panel as possible) and 1-3 (140+ mm?) fans pushing air in from case side & bottom. Having a really beefy 80+ Platinum PSU will help there too - I have a PSU that is max rated for double the wattage my system uses in gaming, and its fan practically never (at startup test phase of course ) spins, so the PSU isn't adding heat into the case.

 

[Surfinjo]

I have recently done the same as you, built a bespoke PC for gaming and expansion. My CPU is an i7 4600Ghz

I spent a load of time researching each component. The Mother board, the CPU, PSU and so one, so I could feel comfortable about choices. I was especially interested in water cooling because it looks so, .... well..... cool.

I discovered that there are very few standard measurements relating to cooling. But the purpose of any cooler is to react to temperature spikes and bring them back under control.

I bought a water cooler for my CPU and was thinking about doing the same when I upgrade my video cards. The one I got was made by NZXT and was recommended by Overclockers. It worked OK but was very noisy. Not loud, just an annoying variably grind. I used HW Monitor to keep an eye on the temps. It did a good job bringing temp spikes down.

Because of the noise I bought a passive stack. It cost a fraction of the water cooler and in terms of bringing down spikes does a better job.

My conclusions are that a good quality passive cooler with a decent internal fan and good case ventilation is a better option. That water cooling is a waste of money frankly.

If you really want to install a comprehensive water cooling set-up then these pages should tell you all you need to know. Basically, it's about installing the various headers, installing a tank and pump, installing a decent radiator and turning it all on.

http://koolance.com/how-to-build-a-water-cooled-pc

http://www.overclockers.com/beginners-guide-water-cooling/

This video is buy a guy who really does know his stuff. He demonstrates how a passive stack on a GPU can do things which you wouldn't tell your mother about.

[video=youtube;Iegpwo9SqSg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iegpwo9SqSg[/video]

 

[Gully Foyle]

I like the idea of a closed system watercooler, like the one Ars Technica UK use in their benchmarking compy.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/09/building-the-ultimate-x99-gaming-and-benchmarking-pc/


SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS
OS Windows 10
CPU Intel Core i7-5930K, 6-core
RAM 32GB Corsair DDR4 at 3000MHz
HDD 512GB Samsung SM951 M.2 PCI-e 3.0 SSD, 500GB Samsung Evo SSD, Seagate 3TB HD
MOTHERBOARD ASUS X99 Deluxe USB 3.1
POWER SUPPLY Corsair HX1200i
COOLING Corsair H110i GT liquid cooler
GRAPHICS Nvidia GTX 980 Ti

 

[CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE]

QUESTION: If I get two water cooled video cards, or a custom loop for the cards only with a single 240 rad, would installing the rad up front generate too much heat in the case? I only ask because I have been research for a while and have seen a plethora of pictures of custom loops with a rad at the front. Unfortunately I have asked about this heat issue on various forums and have never really gotten a clear answer.

If you've done lots of research you've probably come across this video already but if not this guy is considered a guru when it comes to custom water-cooling, hope it helps:

[video=youtube;YCZ5iP5cu8g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCZ5iP5cu8g[/video]

 

[Porina]

Haven't watched the videos in previous replies as not possible at moment, but in my opinion it doesn't matter where the rads are, but more important is what you chose to do with the air flow.

If I were to run a watercooled setup on GPU, I would for sure have the rads exhausting. Side note: I had a Fury for a short time. Unacceptable pump noise aside, the heat from the small rad was really hot at over 50C measured, and it really needed a double 120 at the minimum. If you're doubling up on GPUs later, better make sure the rad(s) are up to it.

I have the Corsair Air 540 case, which has room for a 280 on top, and plenty of room in the front too (Corsair says a 360 could fit). So you could run one each for a pair of GPUs. Currently I have a H110i GTX on CPU with rad on top pushing air IN to the case, which would be warmed by the CPU. My concept was to have 4 intakes vs 1 exhaust behind the CPU, so there is flow across the CPU mobo area for cooling of other components, plus air should be pushed out of other gaps helping to prevent dust collection over time. The CPU has far lower power than GPU(s) means it is less critical if the heat is pushed into case rather than out. The only things I need to do are keep an eye on the rad and front filter as there is where dust will collect. My upgrade plan (single GPU) is to water cool that once the Corsair GPU adapters are available, and I'd then have to fit it to front and switch to exhaust. Then I can ditch the dust filter there, perhaps move it to the top which I will keep as intake.

 

[Im_Lost]

For watercooling, idealy you want the fans pulling the air through the rads and out of the case. Use static pressure fans for best results.

The easiest and most basic set up is a big fan the front blowing cool air in and the rads at the rear and/or top. Which is how I have mine.

 

[Zelos1983]

If you put the RAD in front, you should reverse the airflow (back to front). Otherwise you would be putting heat that you removed back into the case. It also limits your mount options for drives.

An ideal location is the top. Mounting rads inside the case requires sufficient room. If you want a smaller case, then maybe you should consider an external rad.

I have the CPU and 3 GPUs in the loop, and I cool them with a 560mm and a 480mm rad in an Caselabs STH10 case. They are located in the upper and lower compartment with side-to-side airflow, while the main chamber (separated) features traditional front-to-back airflow for the other components (SSD, chipset, HDDs). So far it has worked very well and I can recommend it.

Keep in mind that you need one 120 or 140mm "compartment" on your rad for every 150W of heat (rule of thumb). Also, if you setup a push/pull configuration, the fans can turn slower, reducing noise.