SLI Watercooling blues................... Sorted!

[londonmark69]

.......................Hi any suggestions on this gratefully accepted, ive got an fx-53 on an asus a8n-sli with 2 fx6800 ultras, ive just spent all weekend putting in the following..............an aquastream pump connected directly to an aquainlet connecting to an aquatube in an aquabay then to my old exos radiator (which i hope is the problem) connecting to a cuplex pro then to a Aquagrafx 6800 Rev2 then another Aquagrafx 6800 Rev2 and back to the radiator ive ended with the cpu idling at 31c and one 6800 at 48c and the other at 50c which i aint too impressed with, ive just ordered a Aqua Airplex EVO 360 Radiator in the hope its going to improve things, anyone got any ideas?

[fillip]

Well, i'd say a larger rad' is probably gonna help - especially with two 6800 Ultras on there. They churn out a load of heat so I would've thought a twin 120mm rad would be the min. requirement.

[Leeum]

The radiator seems to coping really well in my books seeing as there was no such thing as SLI then it was produced. If you've any space i'd try add another or a single 120mm rad.

[fillip]

The radiator seems to coping really well in my books seeing as there was no such thing as SLI then it was produced. If you've any space i'd try add another or a single 120mm rad.
Yeah, 31C idle isn't awful by any means, just as around 50C isn't bad for a pair of 6800Ultras

[Starbuck3733T]

Well, i'd say a larger rad' is probably gonna help - especially with two 6800 Ultras on there. They churn out a load of heat so I would've thought a twin 120mm rad would be the min. requirement.

I think splititng the loop + more flow might help too.

[londonmark69]

sorry to be an idiot but what is

"I think splititng the loop + more flow might help too."

and hows it gonna help?

[scopEDog]

For the stuff your running those temps sound fine. Of course the 360 evo rad wouldnt hurt either :)

[Starbuck3733T]

sorry to be an idiot but what is

"I think splititng the loop + more flow might help too."

and hows it gonna help?

The insides of the 6800 blocks look a shade restrictive to me, so splitting the flow and the recombining it after the blocks may reduce pressure drop and get you better temps on both as heated coolant from the first 6800 wont be used to be cooling the second.

[Nexxo]

With all this watercooling it is important not to lose perspective... don't expect silly low temps. 50C is quite good for an nVidea 6800 series. So is 31C idle for a CPU.

[londonmark69]

With all this watercooling it is important not to lose perspective... don't expect silly low temps. 50C is quite good for an nVidea 6800 series. So is 31C idle for a CPU.


Its unfortunately also 8c higher than with the stock air cooler at idle (6800 ultras) and 3c higher (CPU) than the Koolance Exos managed at idle.

[Nexxo]

Yes, but at least the 6800s are not as noisy... :) However, if you want to lower the temps you could put the GPU blocks before the CPU block in the loop. Also, on reading your first post more closely, do not put the Aquatube res before the rad and the blocks. The res should be last in the loop, before return to the pump. I wouldn't be surprised if you totally killed your flow and that is what is causing the problem.

[londonmark69]

my watercooling expertise is somewhere south of nothing! thanks again

[Fibbles]

How are you getting these temps? My motherboard would leave me to believe my CPU is way too hot, but when I touch my blocks (Cuplex EVO, Twinplex, Alphacool GPX), there's no way it is what I'm reading, but other times the temp is so low it has to be BS. My 6800GT has a temp sensor, and it usually reads 29°C. I've got a dual 120mm radiator with really good airflow (on top of the case, blowing cool air in). Is that Exos rad an 80mm one (I'm tempted to say 'jobbie', but I'm not sure if that works...)

[jiff]

Personaly I found changing to 8/10 tubing and using a splitter out of rad so the CPU and GFX are on different loops. With probe I get 26c full load with 1.75 volts;) GFX dont know atm as its RMAed (now thats a long story:()

[londonmark69]

........asus probe / nvidia n-tune / built in nvidia temp sensor ive attached a picture which shows how ive got it set up except with another 6800 being cooled and yes the exos radiator is a 3 times 80mm fan jobbie, i dont know if it makes any odds but ive turned a spare lian li pc60 case into the housing for all this lot(second picture) sorry about the state of my picture taking!

[fillip]

So your setup is exactly the same as that AC picture except there are 2 x GPU's?
If so then I don't think the A.T. is having a major effect on anything since it is where Nexxo suggested it should be if it wasn't already there. With regard to the flow rate, the fact that all the w/c gear is in a seperate case going into the case with all your hardware, thus there is some extra tubing, will impact on the flow rate.

I still think the 360 evo rad will help a little but with an SLI setup i'd be tempted to do what Star' suggested and split the loop before the GFX cards then merge it again as it hits the CPU.
The major thing with the radiator is that it'll give you greater surface area and thus better heat dissipation capacity coupled with 3 x 120mm fans it should make a pretty powerful combination.

[londonmark69]

thanks for that, 2 last things on the cpu block ive got a small pocket of air and could you spell out in idiot terms or better still draw for me what splitting the loop looks like and entails? sorry to drive you mad

[fillip]

Ok here we go, phear my l33t MS paint skillz...

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-10/855886/diagram.JPG

You'll need 2 x 2-way splitters to divided the single hose coming from the pump into 2 before the GPU blocks and another to join them into a single hose before the CPU.

That's the most basic method for splitting the loop. You can also divide it all into 2 seperate loops if you have another pump spare.



One loop for the GPU's and;
Another loop for the CPU (and Northbridge is you add one in at some point.)
This would give the best flow rates around the whole setup but unless you have 2 reservoirs and 2 radiators it it will all have to merge into one big loop at some stage.


Question:

Where is the Radiator in your loop? Is it where it appears in the AC piccy you posted?

Reason I ask is that it may make more more sense to have the radiator being the first in the loop before the pump -


e.g. Rad --> Pump --> GPU blocks --> CPU --> Reservoir


OR

After the pump. Pump --> Rad --> GPU --> CPU --> Res


^^^ Those are considered by many to be the 2 optimum positions for a radiator in a w/c loop.

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

If your using plug and cool connectors you need something like this to split the flow.

http://www.alphacool.de/perl/shop.pl?s=b39b36555991a833ebf5&l=2&rm=get_art&menu_id=2&prod_id=160&art_kz=186&art_id=16360

[londonmark69]

.................all of you its really appreciated:)

[fillip]

.................all of you its really appreciated:)
np. http://wizdforums.co.uk/images/smilies/happy.gif

[londonmark69]

is exactly where it is in the picture, i could probably take 18 - 20 inches of tubing out as well, would that make a noticeable difference?

[fillip]

Can't guarantee it'll do anything for the temps, nothing drastic at least, but it'll help the flow rate round the loop.

[londonmark69]

ok il give it a go when i put the rad in tomorrow when it arrives and post the results! sounds like a horse race lol

[fivecheebs]

Good luck mark, Im not sure the extra tube will be making much difference, well at least noticable. I bet the rad will help big time.

FWIW the temps really dont sound to bad, also as you have the second case with the watercooling stuff in it, have you slowed down or stopped the case fans in the main case? Maybe the sensors were just getting cooled down by the case fans to some extent.

[londonmark69]

thats another good point i hadnt thought of! nice one mate

[Knipex]

and dont forget to move the aquatube.


The Acuacomputer pic shows pump, gpu, cpu, rad, res.

Even in that setup the aquatube is the last thing in the loop and I would agree with putting the reas directly after the pump.

[Nexxo]

........asus probe / nvidia n-tune / built in nvidia temp sensor ive attached a picture which shows how ive got it set up except with another 6800 being cooled and yes the exos radiator is a 3 times 80mm fan jobbie, i dont know if it makes any odds but ive turned a spare lian li pc60 case into the housing for all this lot(second picture) sorry about the state of my picture taking!
Ah, I got it. The water is running in the opposite direction than how you first described it (coming out of the top of the pump, and entering the front). In that case your aquatube res is placed correctly.

[jiff]

Still think that if your spliting the flow from the Rad ONE should goto the GFX and ONE to CPU. But then again it depends where you want the lowest temps, cos they gonna be low on your CPU after passing through 2 Ultra's especially if thier overclocked.

Good luck anyway;)

[fillip]

Still think that if your spliting the flow from the Rad ONE should goto the GFX and ONE to CPU. But then again it depends where you want the lowest temps, cos they gonna be low on your CPU after passing through 2 Ultra's especially if thier overclocked.

Is that not what has been suggested... http://wizdforums.co.uk/images/smilies/unsure.gif

[Pug]

Yes, but at least the 6800s are not as noisy... :) However, if you want to lower the temps you could put the GPU blocks before the CPU block in the loop. Also, on reading your first post more closely, do not put the Aquatube res before the rad and the blocks. The res should be last in the loop, before return to the pump. I wouldn't be surprised if you totally killed your flow and that is what is causing the problem.
See, this is why I'm glad I don't just read the first page and then post. :D
I'd have wasted this post saying that self-same thing.

Jiff - splitting to two identical blocks isn't quite the risk that splitting to two different ones is. ;)

One caveat though - make sure the overall run of each branch of the split is the same length.
ie. If you have a 6" run to blockA and an 8" run to blockB, make the returns 8" and 6" respectively; giving an overall run of 14" (or whatever is adequate) for both.

Let us know if it helps. If not, we'll work with you on where else the prob (if any) may lie.
We're all assuming you've bled all air from the loop to start with... :)

[londonmark69]

Many many many thanks for all the replies and advice, you lot truely do make forums worthwhile, especially as i only attend when stuck!
With the newly arrived and externally fitted airplex evo 360 (and 3 vantec 120mm stealths) along with the application of the excellent advice on sequence of loop etc im now happy to report the following:

Near Silence
CPU idle at 25c
Both PCI-E 6800 Ultras running a STOCK speed of 425 idle at 37c/38c

Regards to all
Mark.

[Pug]

Yay! Glad you're sorted. :cool:
Thanks for the follow-up.

I merged the threads in case people weren't sure of the outcome in the long term.

[Knipex]

gald to hear it worked out OK..

[fillip]

Now those temps are just taking the michael! http://wizdforums.co.uk/images/smilies/dry.gif

[fivecheebs]

Good news mark :)

No come and play with us more often, not just when your stuck ;) :p

[jiff]

Still think that if your spliting the flow from the Rad ONE should goto the GFX and ONE to CPU. But then again it depends where you want the lowest temps, cos they gonna be low on your CPU after passing through 2 Ultra's especially if thier overclocked.

Good luck anyway;) This is why you should avoid PC with 10 pints of stella and few JD's in you:lol: Still havent a clue what I was trying to say:rolleyes:

Glad it worked out for you;)

[fivecheebs]

ROFL jiff :lol: I'm glad i wasnt the only one who went :confused: ... :p

[londonmark69]

Originally Posted by jiff
Still think that if your spliting the flow from the Rad ONE should goto the GFX and ONE to CPU. But then again it depends where you want the lowest temps, cos they gonna be low on your CPU after passing through 2 Ultra's especially if thier overclocked.

Good luck anyway;)


thank god for that....................i thought my water cooling expertise had hit an ALL TIME LOW when i did'nt understand that! lol

[jiff]

Damn if I was yellow, fat and bold......DOH!!! I AM:wacko:

[Nexxo]

Many many many thanks for all the replies and advice, you lot truely do make forums worthwhile, especially as i only attend when stuck!
With the newly arrived and externally fitted airplex evo 360 (and 3 vantec 120mm stealths) along with the application of the excellent advice on sequence of loop etc im now happy to report the following:

Near Silence
CPU idle at 25c
Both PCI-E 6800 Ultras running a STOCK speed of 425 idle at 37c/38c

Regards to all
Mark.
Well executed, Batman! B)

[ShoNuff]

What made the difference? Did you end up splitting the loop? I have an Evo 360 that I am installing into (actually on top of) a Lian Li V1000 using the A8N-SLI with two 6800 Ultras. I plan to cool it with two loops and the one rad. Using the Aquastream V3.0 pump.

Loop one: Rad-CPU-Flow Meter-NB-Aquatube.
Loop two: Rad-GPU1-GPU2-Aquatube.

The CPU is an FX-55 and the NB cooler is the Innovatek Graph-O-Matic Rev2.0. I wanted to use the AC Twinplex but it didn't fit that well. Using the Cuplex Pro and two AquagraFx Rev2's to cool the CPU and GPU's.

Here are a couple of pics of the Innovatek block.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/shonuff66/h20proj029.jpg

The pic below comes from sc4mpi's project here: http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=80512&page=3&pp=20
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/shonuff66/DSCF0103.jpg

[Pug]

What made the difference? Did you end up splitting the loop? I have an Evo 360 that I am installing into (actually on top of) a Lian Li V1000 using the A8N-SLI with two 6800 Ultras. I plan to cool it with two loops and the one rad. Using the Aquastream V3.0 pump.

Loop one: Rad-CPU-Flow Meter-NB-Aquatube.
Loop two: Rad-GPU1-GPU2-Aquatube.

The CPU is an FX-55 and the NB cooler is the Innovatek Graph-O-Matic Rev2.0. I wanted to use the AC Twinplex but it didn't fit that well. Using the Cuplex Pro and two AquagraFx Rev2's to cool the CPU and GPU's.


With one pump or two? :unsure:
Not sure I'd advocate the split loop on one alone...

[ShoNuff]

I'm going to give it a go with one pump. If my temps aren't to my liking I will try something else. I think it will be OK. Should I need a little more flow I will be able to overclock the Aquastream a little. I should have the reast of my gear in about 10 days. I will let ya know how it turns out.:)

[Pug]

I'm going to give it a go with one pump. If my temps aren't to my liking I will try something else. I think it will be OK. Should I need a little more flow I will be able to overclock the Aquastream a little. I should have the reast of my gear in about 10 days. I will let ya know how it turns out.:)

'k bud. Thanks. :)

[londonmark69]

.................hi i ended up not splitting the loop (for simplicity's sake more than anything) i housed all the cooling bits in a lian li pc60 case and am standing it next to my main case, what im now stuck for is a way to neatly run some power cables between the 2 cases and also any suggestions on how to extend an INTERNAL motherboard header to AQUAERO unit usb lead would be greatly appreciated.

[fivecheebs]

Im not familiar with the aquereo, does it have a standard USB plug on hte back that you want to link up to the USB headers on your mobo? If so probably the easiest way is to hack a backplate (liek the NF7-s ones) ro a frontpanel conenector off an old case, and also hack up an extension cable joining the 2 cables together (stagering the joints for neatness) and heatshrink or sleeve it. Does that make sence?

[Rally]

I'm not really sure what part you're talking about either. I'm guessing these might be it?

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=34_81&products_id=1456&osCsid=d3f7bccea1df7280ba197a2e68f836ea
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=34_81&products_id=1550&osCsid=d3f7bccea1df7280ba197a2e68f836ea

There are a couple other wire types in there and they're all about $10. I'm sure they'd be light enough to mail cheap, but I couldn't find any shipping info.

*edit*
I looked up the Aquaero and think I gave up the wrong link. This should be what you need.
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=34_81&products_id=1700&osCsid=d3f7bccea1df7280ba197a2e68f836ea

[Pug]

.................hi i ended up not splitting the loop (for simplicity's sake more than anything) i housed all the cooling bits in a lian li pc60 case and am standing it next to my main case, what im now stuck for is a way to neatly run some power cables between the 2 cases and also any suggestions on how to extend an INTERNAL motherboard header to AQUAERO unit usb lead would be greatly appreciated.
I'm guessing here too but the CrystalFontz WRUSBY11 (http://www.crystalfontz.com/products/cables/WRUSBY11_images.html) is slightly cheaper at $5 if you don't find it in the UK (albeit only a 4-pin version, rather than 5-pin and 18" rather than 24")

[londonmark69]

.................as always a superb response. what i actually needed was a lead with the female motherboard header at BOTH ends, for love nor money i couldnt find one on the internet, so in a mad flurry of activity, chopped up connector blocks, super glue and 2 old usb2 backplates ive done one of my not very aesthetically pleasing but functional (LOL) conversios!...................Which leads on to my next problem, i was keen to connect my aquaero by usb in order to use the desk top usb software, to flash the aquaero so it displayed in english rather than german, having downloaded the latest firmware i can find on the aqua computer site (LCD VERSION 3.20) i attempted to flash it but got a message saying basically attempted flash abborted as newer version already installed?
Any ideas? Thanks as always in advance,
Mark

Rally, thanks for going to that trouble mate you hit the nail on the head with the last link after you had looked at the aqua computers site