Universal waterblocks?

[Chris230291]

Hello. Can someone please brief me on these universal water blocks for GPU's?
I'm starting to think i need a custom loop, so i may as well include the GPU. My worry is that if i ever upgrade (not an avid gamer) i'll be left with an expensive paperweight, which is why the term universal sounds appealing to me.

My card is a Sapphire 6870. To be honest, i only want to watercool it for aesthetic reasons. I was adamant that a H100i was the way to go, but because i want all that custom tubing and fluid goodness, I'm starting to think custom is the way to go.

I've seen second hand parts go quite cheap on ebay etc, so I'm thinking second hand "custom" bits will fall in at around the cost of a new H100i, but look WAY better.

Also, looking at the res's, is there any reason why i can't make my own? The seem ridiculously expensive for what they are. Any "special" glues etc required so it doesn't react with the fluid? Got some really cool ideas knocking about for what i want.

Can anyone give any advice on the subject please?

Cheers,
Chris.

 

[WeskerPG]

based on that gpu should be similar to this and let me find the water block
page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiCVyUunsD4


http://www.coolingconfigurator.com/step1

check your card there

theres also http://www.coolingconfigurator.com/waterblock_genpdf?wb_id=447


nothing else i can help u with, i never bought water cooling :/, i did want to but low budget xD

 

[alpenwasser]

Hello. Can someone please brief me on these universal water blocks for GPU's?
I'm starting to think i need a custom loop, so i may as well include the GPU. My worry is that if i ever upgrade (not an avid gamer) i'll be left with an expensive paperweight, which is why the term universal sounds appealing to me.

Well, there's not that much to it, really. They cool the GPU, and the main difference
between a universal block and a full cover one (besides the looks) is that if you go
for a universal GPU-only block, you'd still need at least some amount of air flow
over your Mosfets and the card's RAM.

For those, you could chose something like this.

The caveat with those mini-heatsinks is that they're usually taped to the component,
and I've read of people having them fall off onto the lower card (if there was one mounted),
which can of course short that card out and turn it into an exquisite paperweight.

But if you don't have a card below (or if you can somehow protect its backside),
this shouldn't be an issue. Just make sure those little heatsinks get a bit of
airflow.

Besides EKWB, Watercool also make some universal GPU blocks: link.

Also, looking at the res's, is there any reason why i can't make my own?

No.

Any "special" glues etc required so it doesn't react with the fluid? Got some really cool ideas knocking about for what i want.

There is special glue for acrylic that should be able to withstand the coolant. The
problem with Acrylic is that it can crack, and I'm not sure how easy or difficult it
would be to get the glued seal watertight in the long run. The alternative is of
course screws and O-rings, but you'd need to be able to make a proper seating
groove for that ring as well as the threads for the screws.

Naturally, you don't have to make the res from acrylic, but I'm not familiar with
what glue would be needed for acetal.

 

[Chris230291]

Thanks for the replies fellas.

Well, there's not that much to it, really. They cool the GPU, and the main difference
between a universal block and a full cover one (besides the looks) is that if you go
for a universal GPU-only block, you'd still need at least some amount of air flow
over your Mosfets and the card's RAM.

For those, you could chose something like this.

It looks like my card already has those on it? Would i need to add any kind of fan?

The caveat with those mini-heatsinks is that they're usually taped to the component,
and I've read of people having them fall off onto the lower card (if there was one mounted),
which can of course short that card out and turn it into an exquisite paperweight.

But if you don't have a card below (or if you can somehow protect its backside),
this shouldn't be an issue. Just make sure those little heatsinks get a bit of
airflow.

My card will be sitting upside-down because my case is reverse mounted. I don't think i need to worry about anything falling off.

Besides EKWB, Watercool also make some universal GPU blocks: link.

I like those blocks! Nice and flat on top so i could make an ali plate that connects to the block and covers the whole card. Any others anyone can recommend that have a flat-ish top?

No.

Good to know haha

There is special glue for acrylic that should be able to withstand the coolant. The
problem with Acrylic is that it can crack, and I'm not sure how easy or difficult it
would be to get the glued seal watertight in the long run. The alternative is of
course screws and O-rings, but you'd need to be able to make a proper seating
groove for that ring as well as the threads for the screws.

Naturally, you don't have to make the res from acrylic, but I'm not familiar with
what glue would be needed for acetal.

If theres nothing more to it than making it watertight, then thats no problem.

What pumps should i be looking at? I want to run a light overclock on my system but i also want it as silent as possible.

Cheers,
Chris.

 

[Chris230291]

Here's a quick sort of mock up of what i would like to do with the loop. The case isn't completed yet, but i should be able to fit in all of this. Worse case scenario would probably mean just running pull rather than push/pull.

Any advice/comments?

Cheers,
Chris.

 

[mihapiha]

I am not a fan of the universal GPU blocks. I know they are there, but I always worry that the memory or mosfet or something else on the graphic card PCB might die.

I personally just prefer getting the right (full cover) waterblock for the right card. But liquid cooling these days is really only for looks.

the current setup you have in mind doesn't make me happy. I fear a 240 radiator will be merely enough if you don't intend on overclocking neither CPU nor GPU. Ok no OC is a bit over the line. Mild OC should be fine, but don't over-voltage too much.

 

[Chris230291]

I am not a fan of the universal GPU blocks. I know they are there, but I always worry that the memory or mosfet or something else on the graphic card PCB might die.

I personally just prefer getting the right (full cover) waterblock for the right card. But liquid cooling these days is really only for looks.

Hello. From what i can see no one makes a "proper" block for my 6870?
Also, only the GPU itself is attached to my GPU heatsink, so im not sure if it will make much difference?

the current setup you have in mind doesn't make me happy. I fear a 240 radiator will be merely enough if you don't intend on overclocking neither CPU nor GPU. Ok no OC is a bit over the line. Mild OC should be fine, but don't over-voltage too much.

As far as OC goes I was thinking 4 - 4.2-ish with Turbo enabled. The GPU will always be left at stock clocks.

What is the usual rule of thumb as far as rad space goes? Like how much rad space do i need?

I could always skip out the GPU, but hmmmm. Just gathering ideas here so i do it right the first time (or try too!).

 

[alpenwasser]

It looks like my card already has those on it? Would i need to add any kind of fan?

I could only find pics of your card with either the entire heatsink/shroud assembly or
completely naked, so I'm not sure on that tbh. However, I'm a bit skeptical. Having
good air flow over the card should suffice, I don't think any special additional fans are
necessary (if you're running those mini-heatsinks).

The loop you've drawn up should provide decent air flow over the card.

Alternatively, see this log for what can be done with a stock shroud cooler.
I think that's actually a pretty neat idea, and it would certainly make sure you
still get excellent air flow over your card components which are not water cooled.

My card will be sitting upside-down because my case is reverse mounted. I don't think i need to worry about anything falling off.

True as long as you don't mount anything on the card's backside (which I'm assuming you
don't intend to)

What pumps should i be looking at? I want to run a light overclock on my system but i also want it as silent as possible.

Laing D5 Vario is what I can recommend from personal experience. There are probably good
alternatives, but that one I actually have in my possession and am happy with it.

Here's a quick sort of mock up of what i would like to do with the loop. The case isn't completed yet, but i should be able to fit in all of this. Worse case scenario would probably mean just running pull rather than push/pull.

[...pic...]

Any advice/comments?

Loop order and layout look good, but one dual radiator (240 or 280) is cutting it a bit close
for an overclocked CPU and a GPU (your GPU has ~150 W TDP if I've looked it up correctly).
I doubt you'd be able to run it very silently.

So, the one recommendation I would give is probably more radiator surface. Any chance of
fitting a second 240 (or 280) in there? Or maybe one 360 for everything (cutting it close still,
but better than one 240)? It doesn't look and sound like it if I understand you correctly, but
that's definitely something I'd look into.

EDIT:

As far as OC goes I was thinking 4 - 4.2-ish with Turbo enabled. The GPU will always be left at stock clocks.

That sounds very optimistic to me, but I'm not an expert on that one, so maybe I'm wrong.

What is the usual rule of thumb as far as rad space goes? Like how much rad space do i need?

Personally, my rule of thumb is the equivalent of one 240 for each CPU and each GPU, at least.
Other people might disagree with that, but it has worked well for me for the past 12 years, so I
think I'll stick with that.

So for your loop, as I mentioned, I would add another 240, at the least, especially if you intend
to overclock.

 

[Chris230291]

I could only find pics of your card with either the entire heatsink/shroud assembly or
completely naked, so I'm not sure on that tbh. However, I'm a bit skeptical. Having
good air flow over the card should suffice, I don't think any special additional fans are
necessary (if you're running those mini-heatsinks).

Just had a proper look at my card and it has 2 separate heatsinks. One huge one for the GPU and a smaller one screwed on that looks to be covering the memory?

The one i have LOOKS like this one...

The loop you've drawn up should provide decent air flow over the card.

Alternatively, see this log for what can be done with a stock shroud cooler.
I think that's actually a pretty neat idea, and it would certainly make sure you
still get excellent air flow over your card components which are not water cooled.

I was thinking of something along these lines, but my plastic cover wouldnt suit the idea. I even thought of just making it look like the GPU is W/C, but thats gay. lol

Laing D5 Vario is what I can recommend from personal experience. There are probably good
alternatives, but that one I actually have in my possession and am happy with it.

Thanks mate I'll have a look.

Loop order and layout look good, but one dual radiator (240 or 280) is cutting it a bit close
for an overclocked CPU and a GPU (your GPU has ~150 W TDP if I've looked it up correctly).
I doubt you'd be able to run it very silently.

So, the one recommendation I would give is probably more radiator surface. Any chance of
fitting a second 240 (or 280) in there? Or maybe one 360 for everything (cutting it close still,
but better than one 240)? It doesn't look and sound like it if I understand you correctly, but
that's definitely something I'd look into.

EDIT:



That sounds very optimistic to me, but I'm not an expert on that one, so maybe I'm wrong.



Personally, my rule of thumb is the equivalent of one 240 for each CPU and each GPU, at least.
Other people might disagree with that, but it has worked well for me for the past 12 years, so I
think I'll stick with that.

So for your loop, as I mentioned, I would add another 240, at the least, especially if you intend
to overclock.

Hmm. I could fit another 240 (or 280) in the case but i'm worried about the total cost now. I planned to have mounts for both a 240 and a 280 rad in the front and in the bottom of the case. Maybe i could try the one (put up with it for a while), then if i'm not happy with the results, just add another? It might be worth mentioning that i don't really game at all. Also when i mentioned that i want my system silent, thats at idle/ light everyday use, not a full whack.

I could just leave out the GPU altogether i suppose? It makes no audible noise anyways.... But...But...Aesthetics :/

Anyone else want to chime in? The more opinions the better!

Cheers,
Chris.

 

[Chris230291]

Any more advice on this guys?

If anyone is bored, they can mock up what hardware they would choose and tell me why XD

Chris.

 

[alpenwasser]

I could just leave out the GPU altogether i suppose? It makes no audible noise anyways.... But...But...Aesthetics :/

Well imho a universal block doesn't really look much better than an air cooler (if at all), so
if you can't hear your GPU I'm not sure if the cost for adding it to a loop are really justified.
But I can't make this decision for you.

Any more advice on this guys?

On what, specifically?

 

[WeskerPG]

did you try the website i posted, the fans are not a concern, as far as i know you cant just divide the hardware, anyways the page i send you should work finding the waterblocks, and even the type of architecture

 

[Chris230291]

Well imho a universal block doesn't really look much better than an air cooler (if at all), so
if you can't hear your GPU I'm not sure if the cost for adding it to a loop are really justified.
But I can't make this decision for you.

Yes i think you're right. Maybe if i gamed and really thrashed the tits off my card it would be worth it. 99.9% of the time it's pretty much idling.

On what, specifically?

Which brands and models of hardware i should be looking at for my loop.

Chris.

 

[Chris230291]

did you try the website i posted, the fans are not a concern, as far as i know you cant just divide the hardware, anyways the page i send you should work finding the waterblocks, and even the type of architecture

Hello. Yes i did take a look thanks. However, there are no full cover blocks for my card

Thanks for the reply though

Something i did find though was a pic of the naked PCB, but with the small RAM(?) heat sink still attached...

 

[WeskerPG]

You don't need a full cover of the board, I actually think there's just a few that do so, it will work just as well as the 2 fans, however it won't look as nice as the fans, if its for aesthetics ill leave the fans alone, or make your own, but I have no idea how and it will probably fail, if you want to spend some money on it, and do like 10 tests on it until there's no leaking and so on, you could go for a costom modding of the water block


cant find any decent website that explains the process everything on modding water cooling seems to be the mod of the pieces that are in the case........

 

[alpenwasser]

Which brands and models of hardware i should be looking at for my loop.

Ah, ok. What's your budget? I'm assuming we're talking about a CPU only loop now?

Tbh, I'm not really sure if it's worth it getting a custom loop with a single 240 nowadays. It's
a lot more expensive than an AIO like the Corsair H100i, and while it will give you better
temps and/or lower noise, the cost can easily come to several times more than an AIO.

But:

• Pump: D5 vario, as already mentioned. Make sure you decouple it properly.
• Radiators: Depending on how much space you have, something like an Alphacool
  XT45, a UT60 or an XSPC RX.
• Fans: This is a bit tricky. Noctua NF-F12 are pretty awesome from what I've read,
  then there's the Gentle Typhoons, which comes in many different rpm versions, the Noiseblocker
  eLoop, and of course the Corsair SP120. Personally I have Corsair SP120 Quiets, and even
  if they are pretty decent, they don't push that much air for the noise the make imho. I've
  also got a few Bitfenix Spectre Pros. The 120 version of those is not very strong, but it is
  pretty quiet.
• Reservoir: Whatever you like. Keep in mind that a bay reservoir with a pump mounted
  to it will not have very good decoupling of the pump and might transfer vibrations to the case.
  Personally, I prefer tube reservoirs, but space restrictions might not make that an option.
• CPU Block: There's many decent options out there. I've had good experiences with
  Aquacomputer products, but most blocks nowadays perform pretty closely to each other,
  so I suggest picking the one you like the best.
• Tubing: XSPC tubing seems to be decent from what I've read, though I've never
  personally run it. Then there's Primochill's Advanced tubing (not the regular Primochill
  stuff, be careful about that, they still produce both advanced and normal versions). As for
  diameter, most people seem to be running 19/13 or 16/10.
• Coolant: I've been running Aquacomputer's stuff for the last few years without
  problems but there's many options out there. Just don't go with Mayhems Aurora, that's not
  suited for long term use.
• Fittings: W/E you like. Keep in mind that 19/13 compression fittings can cause
  troubles on some blocks and not fit right next to each other.

I'm sure I've forgotten some stuff, so just ask ahead if you need further clarifications or
corrections. But again: Price/performance will be pretty bad compared to a good AIO.

But it will be a lot more fun and look better (if done right)

EDIT:
For some excellent water cooling components reviews, see Martin's Liquid Lab.

 

[WYP]

i am currently using a gpu universal block on my 7950, it works brilliantly, just make sure you have good ram sinks and adequate mosfet cooling.

 

[Chris230291]

You don't need a full cover of the board, I actually think there's just a few that do so, it will work just as well as the 2 fans, however it won't look as nice as the fans, if its for aesthetics ill leave the fans alone, or make your own, but I have no idea how and it will probably fail, if you want to spend some money on it, and do like 10 tests on it until there's no leaking and so on, you could go for a costom modding of the water block


cant find any decent website that explains the process everything on modding water cooling seems to be the mod of the pieces that are in the case........

I was thinking about having the old man machine me a full cover block, but if i need to add another rad, probably a better pump, more hose, more clips, more fans.... it's going to turn expensive.

I think the plan now is to leave out the GPU. I can always add it in if i decide i need to/have cash burning a whole in my pocket.

 

[Chris230291]

Ah, ok. What's your budget? I'm assuming we're talking about a CPU only loop now?

Tbh, I'm not really sure if it's worth it getting a custom loop with a single 240 nowadays. It's
a lot more expensive than an AIO like the Corsair H100i, and while it will give you better
temps and/or lower noise, the cost can easily come to several times more than an AIO.

Yes thats right. Well i said i wanted to try and spend around the H100i area. I'm more than happy to search for used parts to get the costs down if needs be.

But:

• Pump: D5 vario, as already mentioned. Make sure you decouple it properly.
• Radiators: Depending on how much space you have, something like an Alphacool
  XT45, a UT60 or an XSPC RX.
• Fans: This is a bit tricky. Noctua NF-F12 are pretty awesome from what I've read,
  then there's the Gentle Typhoons, which comes in many different rpm versions, the Noiseblocker
  eLoop, and of course the Corsair SP120. Personally I have Corsair SP120 Quiets, and even
  if they are pretty decent, they don't push that much air for the noise the make imho. I've
  also got a few Bitfenix Spectre Pros. The 120 version of those is not very strong, but it is
  pretty quiet.
• Reservoir: Whatever you like. Keep in mind that a bay reservoir with a pump mounted
  to it will not have very good decoupling of the pump and might transfer vibrations to the case.
  Personally, I prefer tube reservoirs, but space restrictions might not make that an option.
• CPU Block: There's many decent options out there. I've had good experiences with
  Aquacomputer products, but most blocks nowadays perform pretty closely to each other,
  so I suggest picking the one you like the best.
• Tubing: XSPC tubing seems to be decent from what I've read, though I've never
  personally run it. Then there's Primochill's Advanced tubing (not the regular Primochill
  stuff, be careful about that, they still produce both advanced and normal versions). As for
  diameter, most people seem to be running 19/13 or 16/10.
• Coolant: I've been running Aquacomputer's stuff for the last few years without
  problems but there's many options out there. Just don't go with Mayhems Aurora, that's not
  suited for long term use.
• Fittings: W/E you like. Keep in mind that 19/13 compression fittings can cause
  troubles on some blocks and not fit right next to each other.

I'm sure I've forgotten some stuff, so just ask ahead if you need further clarifications or
corrections. But again: Price/performance will be pretty bad compared to a good AIO.

But it will be a lot more fun and look better (if done right)

EDIT:
For some excellent water cooling components reviews, see Martin's Liquid Lab.

Thanks a lot mate. I will do some reading and have a look.

Cheers,
Chris.

 

[Chris230291]

Ok so after a search i think i like the look of the following bits...

XSPC RayStorm CPU Waterblock

Alphacool NexXxos XT45

Pump... Clueless really :/ I want something small and quiet. I notice the smaller ones with a lower flow rate tend to cost more. Da fuk? lol Would it be worth looking at aquatic stuff or something?

Fans... I like the look of the SP-120's and they seem to be the fan of choice among many enthusiasts.

Fittings... 1/2" standard barbs.

Hose... 7/16" (without clips).

Res... A tube res of some description.


I am happy to buy everything i can used, but what would people recommend i buy new? As a noob i'm only really worried about buying a pump used, then again though i could just set a shutdown temp in the bios i suppose?


Rough total cost from a quick search using NEW bits =

CPU Block £37
Rad £40
Res £20
Fittings £10
Hose £5
--------------
Total £112


Just need to add coolant, fans and a pump (unless i've missed something?). So far i can justify the price difference between this custom loop and a H100i. Hopefully it will cost me a little less if i can source a lot of the bits second hand.

Cheers,
Chris.