Quad 290x Water Cooling

[UaVaj]

question for the water cooling experts.

looking to pickup four retired miners 290x reference. obviously these will need to go underwater.

not too concern about silent nor too concern about gpu temp. these gpu can run 85C for all I care. just want to prevent any throttling and prevent jet engine take off while gaming.

current case is a lian li pc-7h. could opt for a lian li pc-a75 if needed.

can an expert help me in the right directions.

 

[Tweakin]

question for the water cooling experts.

looking to pickup four retired miners 290x reference. obviously these will need to go underwater.

not too concern about silent nor too concern about gpu temp. these gpu can run 85C for all I care. just want to prevent any throttling and prevent jet engine take off while gaming.

current case is a lian li pc-7h. could opt for a lian li pc-75 if needed.

can an expert help me in the right directions.

I've had two pc-7hwx's. I've been running Lian Li exclusively for the last 15+ years. This model is a mid-tower and you can drop a 240 on top (30mm) with no issues, and add a 280 up front (loose lower 51/4 bay) with minimal mods. This would get you by but not be optimal by any stretch.

I think you would be better off with a pc-a75wx, which is a full-tower as this would allow a 240 on top and a 420 up front, again with minor mods. This is my current test bench as it will handle anything and is uber lite.

 

[UaVaj]

sorry for the confusion. I meant pc-a75. as for wx - the window side panel. looks is not important, however why not.

when you say not optimal. can you elaborate.

as for reaching the goal of 85C to prevent throttling and the goal of moderate noise. what is size radiator can I get away with? using 295x2 as the baseline with its 120mmx120mm radiator. can I just put one 240mm radiator on top and call it a day?

 

[Tweakin]

sorry for the confusion. I meant pc-a75. as for wx - the window side panel. looks is not important, however why not.

when you say not optimal. can you elaborate.

as for reaching the goal of 85C to prevent throttling and the goal of moderate noise. what is size radiator can I get away with? using 295x2 as the baseline with its 120mmx120mm radiator. can I just put one 240mm radiator on top and call it a day?

What I meant by not optimal is your thermal load. I know you say you're not concerned with thermals, but more rad space also means lower rpm fans, which in turn means no leaf-blower for noise.

Here is the great thing with watercooling...you could start with a 240 rad and run some high rpm fans through them and see what you get. If it's too loud or you want to bring thermals down some more, or add your cpu; then you just add another rad up front.

You can always find some watercooling parts for sale here, and that way you will not be busting the bank to find out if this will work for you. Any watercooler is going to tell you this is not optimal and you need to add rad space, as I'm doing. But if you are really ok with the system, then it works...that's the bottom line.

I think a single 240 would probably put you in the high 70's. The thing I think you are forgetting is that the vrm and memory on those quads is going to put out lots of heat...so you are going to need some type of decent air flow in that case.

 

[UaVaj]

thanks for the clarification. greatly appreciated.

as for any watercooler
not interested in a bigger case with lots of rad space only to achieve low low gpu temp or near silent noise. could care less about low low temp and near silent noise. not even interested in it looking bling bling. yes - my water cooling goals are totally opposite of a typical water cooler.

as for temp.
high 70 is golden for me. even 93.9 is fine. as long as it does not throttle.

as for noise.
as long as it is not jet engine annoying loud. moderate fan noise is tolerable and expected.

as for look.
will not open the case until the next de-dusting interval. much less even look at it. it just has to work.

as for vrm and memory cooling.
if an after market water block does not cool the vrm and memory like a stock cooler? that is an epic fail. that is clearly unacceptable. if that is so the case? will put the pc in another sound dampening room/box and the 290x can scream its heart out.

 

[guskline]

UaVaj: First I am NOT a water cooling expert but let me tell you what I have in my rig below.
Case is a CM HAF932 Adv (should have bought a bigger one when you custom water cool)
MB is Asus Sabertooth X79
CPU 3930k OC'd to 4.5Ghz
GPU EVGA GTX 780 Classified with EVGA HydroCopper waterblock and EVGA backplate.

I have 2 XSPC 360 radiators, RX360 internally at the inside top and a EX360 mounted externally to the rear of the case vertically. I used the XSPC mounting kit @$15 and it works VERY well.

I use a Swiftech D5 655b pump with a Swiftech ApogeeHD cpu water block. I have 6 Corsair SP120 HP fans controlled by a NZXT 6 channel fan controller.

First things first. If you intend on running 4 R9 290x gpus you are going to need a UBER power supply AND you are going to throw off a LOT of heat.

What mb/cpu combo are you going to use?

Watercooling 4 290x's is NOT for the feighnt of heart nor should it be done on the "cheap". Just too much heat. I know AMD has the 295 running 2 290x chips off 1 120 mm rad BUT I would be cautious. In addition to the watercooling it has a HUGE copper heatsink/fan combo to cool the VRM.

If you use a classic waterblock which cools both the gpu AND the VRM a 120mm rad per card is the very minimum with a highspeed fan running at a noisy level.

I know my system runs real cool because I have tons of rad for 1 cpu and 1 gpu BUT I have OCing headroom AND I can run the fans at a quiet or low level.

Bottom line? If you attach 4 waterblocks that cool both the gpu and vrm at the very minimum you'll need 480mm of rad space with high speed fans to keep 4 290Xs from overheating.

Just my 2 cents and opinion.

 

[UaVaj]

thanks for another impression.

perhaps going underwater is not all that? 480mm rad and high speed noisy fans. seriously? so much work, effort, cost for so little reward.

so what the drive? the bling bling from the custom water install? that bling bling has absolute zero value to me.

goals is simply trying to fix/bandage (1) the throttling issue due to exceeding 94C and (2) the jet noise issue. everything else is moot. including overclock.

if 295x2 can make do with a single 120mm rad. thinking 4 290x will make do with a single 240mm rad. the less complex the loop is the better.

 

[Tweakin]

...perhaps going underwater is not all that? 480mm rad and high speed noisy fans. seriously? so much work, effort, cost for so little reward...

In my opinion water is the only way to cool any high-performance computer. It offers superior thermal loading, minimal noise and little maintenance once installed.

This is not what your original question revolved around however, you are trying to make do with an other than optimal solution. It most likely will work to some degree, but the only way to know what the outcome is would be to try it.

I cool my entire rig with 720mm of rad and low rpm (~600) fans and my thermals never exceed 40c. Maybe you can get by with a single 240mm rad, and with that I wish you the best. I would love to know how it works out.

 

[Airs]

FWIW, I have 3x 290x and a 3770k under water. MCP35x2 pump. Three 120x4 rads and one 120x3 rad, all with GT AP1850 fans. Aquaero to control it all. With the GPUs fully loaded they operate around ~48-50C. CaseLabs STH10. Water temp pre loop is around 33C and post is 36C. All of this is dependent on ambient temp, of course. Antec 1300W Platinum, pulls about 1050W AC from the wall with the GPUs loaded.

 

[Adamantine]

If you are doing a single loop with only the 290x's and you'd happy with 80-85c, you could get by with a 240 in push/pull. If you're also adding in a CPU, then you'll need a LOT of radiator and fans to get good CPU temps in a single loop.

Getting more radiator for what you're looking for, is simply for noise reduction, since you simply need to stay under 90c or so.

I had a total of 120x5 and wasn't even breaking 45c (well, with room AC on anyway) with 3x 7970's and a CPU in the loop doing essentially nothing (it's a mining rig, with the rare game now and then).

Your PSU is probably a bigger concern than how complex you make your water loop.

 

[guskline]

FWIW, I have 3x 290x and a 3770k under water. MCP35x2 pump. Three 120x4 rads and one 120x3 rad, all with GT AP1850 fans. Aquaero to control it all. With the GPUs fully loaded they operate around ~48-50C. CaseLabs STH10. Water temp pre loop is around 33C and post is 36C. All of this is dependent on ambient temp, of course. Antec 1300W Platinum, pulls about 1050W AC from the wall with the GPUs loaded.

Now there is a definitive answer and he has 3 290x, not 4!:thumbsup:

 

[Airs]

 

[Tweakin]

Love those rads in that case!!!

 

[SimsReaper]

I don't know how much work has been done specifically to what you are asking OP.
A lot of the water builds here on the forum are built with the intention of maximum cooling, and I really haven't seen any that are built to the true bare minimum that you are proposing. You will definitely be able to get away with less rad space than but I don't know if anyone could say for sure exactly how much less. With 4 290's, it would be my guess that you may get away with a 120X3 rad, but you should definitely be prepared to add another 120X2 if it doesn't provide enough cooling. Same as Tweakin, I too would be interested in what you end up trying and how it works for you.

 

[UaVaj]

for you - water cooling is a representation of who you are. all the time and effort you want to show off. your pride and joy.

for me - water cooling just has to work. going underwater is simply more stuff to break. only going underwater cause there really not another option to run these 290x in x3/x4 configuration.

that is why 85C is fine and that is why some noise is acceptable.





airs - pretty very pretty.

 

[rgallant]

another option thats not full external rads

http://www.mountainmods.com/tower-pedestal-24-p-566.html
-fitting all the crap in any case is a pain.
-put a double bay res. in up high /with a fill port installed in the top of the case,all the rads and pump below.