Watercooling

For the price, its difficult to beat that kit.
A 240 rad is $50-60
A decent pump is $50-90
Decent block is $50
A decent reservoir is $40

So thats roughly $200 minimum, while the kit is a fair bit cheaper. Although, the seperate components are going to perform better of course.

GPU full cover block
GPU only block basically looks like a CPU block. You'll need to buy a couple seperate heatsinks for the RAM, and power circuitry iirc. Cant seem to find them now, will post a link once I do
 
Archer said:
For the price, its difficult to beat that kit.
A 240 rad is $50-60
A decent pump is $50-90
Decent block is $50
A decent reservoir is $40

So thats roughly $200 minimum, while the kit is a fair bit cheaper. Although, the seperate components are going to perform better of course.

GPU full cover block
GPU only block basically looks like a CPU block. You'll need to buy a couple seperate heatsinks for the RAM, and power circuitry iirc. Cant seem to find them now, will post a link once I do
Click to expand...

hmmm I wonder if that full cover block would fit my card

That alone is $104 :wtf:
 
Archer said:
No full cover blocks for that card afaik
Click to expand...

yeah I've been reading on the net. Looks like the 6970 ref cooler will fit the 6950 ref card, but that cooler you linked wont fit my 6950 on-ref... weird.. :confused:

would you recommend going full plate or GPU block only? then you can pop some of those small heatsinks on a away you go? What do YOU have?
 
Technically, at stock clocks, a GPU block + heatsinks for the rest will be just fine as long as you have some airflow over the card. Once you OC, the GPU will still be fine, but you will need more airflow over the heatsinks as the RAM + mosfets will be getting hotter than usual. This goes double for SLI/xfire setups. The advantage however is that you can keep the block basically forever.
Full cover block will cool everything, so you can OC and not really worry. But when you get a new card, you'll need a new block obviously. So it gets quite expensive, especially if you are upgrading regularly.

I dont have anything on my GPU yet, as I'm planning on getting a new one early next year. I am probably going for a full cover GPU block purely from an aesthetic point of view. I am however still considering a GPU only block, the reduction in cost is a big motivator.
 
Ya so it comes down to are you prepared to spend over R2000!! on a cooling solution, when a R800 solution would do the same job with a maybe a couple degrees less efficiency?
@OP you really must consider this before going full tilt water cooling, because when you get going it gets quite addictive :)
 
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nakedpeanut said:
Ya so it comes down to are you prepared to spend over R2000!! on a cooling solution, when a R800 solution would do the same job with a maybe a couple degrees less efficiency?
@OP you really must consider this before going full tilt water cooling, because when you get going it gets quite addictive :)
Click to expand...

I've been thinking about it for awhile now, but what I think I need to do is get something decent too cool down my GPU instead of a whole water cooling setup as I've found it to be the loudest thing in my Pc. I don't think I will have the cash to get a decent water cooling setup and I would rather get a decent water cooling setup than a cheapo one. I don't know what to get for my GPU as nothing seems like it will work.
 
Archer said:
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...iversal_VGA_Heatpipe_Cooler.html?tl=g40c21s65

That should work for you in terms of air coolers
Click to expand...

I wonder how much noise it makes though, if it's anywhere near what my stock one makes now then it isn't worth buying. I'm not intending to overclock my GPU, just to have more quite cooling for it. I found it at the following online stores:

http://www.zapsonline.com/vga-cool/53930-arctic-accelero-xtreme-plus-ii-vga-cooler.html

http://www.prophecy.co.za/product_info.php?products_id=106126
 
The cooler should be fairly quiet
1) More fans, means they can run slower while moving the same amount of air as stock
2) Multiple heatpipe design leads to better heatsink performance, meaning the fans can run even slower
 
Those arctic accelero coolers have had good reviews.

Remember the hotter the card the faster the fans will need to spin to help the block dissipate the heat. This is true for all coolers. So you'll never get whisper quiet, only during idle.
But in game with the speakers/headphones on you shouldn't notice any noise really.
 
nakedpeanut said:
But in game with the speakers/headphones on you shouldn't notice any noise really.
Click to expand...

I keep on seeing people saying this. but I dont agree

not all games are as loud as BF3 (with teamspeak in the background)

RPG's and alike (Skyrim) are not noisy all the time... and you dont want the HUMMMMMMMM of your cooler going while you running though the open landscape

I have my doubts that this cooler will be any less noisy than the one on my card

thoughts?
 
techead said:
I keep on seeing people saying this. but I dont agree

not all games are as loud as BF3 (with teamspeak in the background)

RPG's and alike (Skyrim) are not noisy all the time... and you dont want the HUMMMMMMMM of your cooler going while you running though the open landscape

I have my doubts that this cooler will be any less noisy than the one on my card

thoughts?
Click to expand...

Honestly if buying a high end graphics card and wanting it to be quiet (almost a contradiction?), you will need to remove that stock heat sink and risk voiding your warranty, and add an after market cooler or water cooling.

http://www.thermalright.com/products/index.php?act=data&cat_id=30&id=93

You could run a 3 fan cooler which would also be audible, permanently.

I take it a side fan did not help much. Can't remember if you got back to us.
 
PostmanPot said:
Honestly if buying a high end graphics card and wanting it to be quiet (almost a contradiction?)
Click to expand...

This is exactly what i have an issue with! It's like buying a massive V12 car like a Ferrari and expecting to be as quiet as a Prius.. You need to manage your expectations about what is realistic in terms of quiet.

If you buy a card that needs 200w's of cooling power you can expect the cooling solution to be either allot louder or allot more expensive or both when compared to a card that only requires 100w.

That said you can do things like change fan profiles to make the noise more manageable. If that fails talk to gnome about building a sound insulated case, or stick your case on the other side of the wall drill a nice hole and run the cables through it.. Problem solved and it's cheaper! :D
 
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