Is it worth it?

[llwyd]

At the moment im thinking of putting my GPU under water and then saving up for a bit to get a nice big rad and cpu block. Im looking at getting these from specialtach:

Alphacool block

Alphacool Rad

Zalman ramsinks

Got a medium flow pump (about 600 l/h i think) and all my tubing / clips / connectors.

So, with a fairly high flow fan on the rad, how much of an increase in cooling would i see from the stock leadtek PX 7800GTX TDH cooler?

 

[FragTek]

A decent drop mate... I never used the aircooler on that card so I can't compare temps but that GPU always stayed nice and cool under full load when overclocked. I was using my DD Maze4 blocks w/ swifty RAM sinks and the combo was perfect. I can't say how well that Alpha will cool.

 

[NoL]

Alphacool block

Alphacool Rad

Zalman ramsinks

Got a medium flow pump (about 600 l/h i think) and all my tubing / clips / connectors.

Bad idea, that's 1/4" native is it not? Minimum of 3/8" is my suggestion. Pickup a bip2, maze4gpu, and a mcp350. If that is too expensive, shop around for used parts. Also you can use relatively silent fans on the bip2 and still get good results.

1/4" ID tubing with those type of blocks may perform worse than your stock cooler due to restriction.

Also pumps are not all about the flow, there about the head at whatever flow.

 

[Ham]

You need more ram. Buy a arctic cooler or vf900 and save.

Id like to point out to everyone else llwyd has a b***** of a little 80mm fan either sucking or blowing right where its needed over the card. So IMO there ant much point in going water.

Add: As someone posted before (I think it was Nol atch) The best air cooling is as good as bad water.

 

[llwyd]

1/4" ID tubing with those type of blocks may perform worse than your stock cooler due to restriction.

then whats the point of those blocks even existing? im not able to spend much more money than the cost of the stuff above. if i was i would obviously be going for something better

You need more ram. Buy a arctic cooler or vf900 and save.

Id like to point out to everyone else llwyd has a b***** of a little 80mm fan either sucking or blowing right where its needed over the card. So IMO there ant much point in going water.

Add: As someone posted before (I think it was Nol atch) The best air cooling is as good as bad water.

this stupid asus board has the master PCI-E slot too low for that fan to have much effect anymore

 

[NoL]

Llwyd you need to realize they are not out to give you a great deal, there out to make MONEY. Also many people buy w/cing for the bling factor and wouldnt know the temperature delta from there head to there ass. Therefore cheap crap, and kits, sell to people who don't know better or dont have a forum to go to.

 

[FragTek]

then whats the point of those blocks even existing?

Well Zalman makes the reserator don't they? People buy those... Same principal applies here. Noobs will buy anything if they think it's "cool" or "1337".

You need to get some high flow quality blocks.

 

[NoL]

Noobs will buy anything if they think it's "cool" or "1337".

That's making a huge assumption, I havent even gotten an offer once yet for someone to buy me.

 

[llwyd]

meh, i might just make my own lol, copper vga HS, some lazerd up perspex, some connecters and some silicone sealant

 

[FragTek]

That's making a huge assumption, I havent even gotten an offer once yet for someone to buy me.

That's damn near sig quote material! :rollingla

 

[FarFarAway]

Well I'm going to test my Alphacool block once I set up this loop so I'll shout you once its done. I got mine for both a bit better cooling (not a lot I'll admit) and bling. Should go nice with ym system