Custom Cooling Advice

[SomeAngryNerd]

Hey guys, I'm in the process of making a build and id like to custom cool it to allow for more overclocking headroom. This is my first time attempting it and would just like some general advice / thoughts on the parts I will be using. I'm pretty positive I have everything I need ready to be ordered, but if anyone can spot something i'm missing, id appreciate it if someone could point it out. My main issue is that I cannot seem to find a water block for the 780 Ti. I see plenty of 780 ones, but from what I can tell blocks for the 780 Ti are very new. The few I can find are being so for euros as well. Can someone possibly help me find a 780 Ti being sold for USD? My only other question is, do you need to cool the motherboard and if so what else do I need to do it?

The build I will be cooling is this one -

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($324.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: PNY XLR8 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($169.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($82.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Video Card ($724.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case ($139.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($116.66 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B3ST/BLK/G/AS DVD/CD Writer ($23.28 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit) ($94.98 @ OutletPC)
Speakers: Logitech Z506 155W 5.1ch Speakers ($74.99 @ B&H)
Total: $2037.82
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-21 21:04 EST-0500)

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The website i'm buying the cooling supplies from does not having any easy way to list them, so I will do my best to sort it out.


Tubes: XSPC High Flex PVC Tubing - 3/8" ID (5/8"OD) - Blue / UV Blue $7.50 (3ft)
Gpu Block: Aquacomputer Kryographics GTX 780 Ti Full Coverage Liquid Cooling Block - Copper / Stainless Steel (23582)
$135.97
Reservoir: Bitspower Water Tank Z-Multi 150 Inline Reservoir - Ice Blue (BP-WTZM150P-IBLBK) $55.93
CPU Block: XSPC RayStorm High Performance Acetal CPU Liquid Cooling Block - Intel (Sockets LGA 115x / 1366 / 2011) $68.97
Pump: Swiftech MCP655-B 12v Water Pump w/ 3/8" Conversion Kit (317 GPH) $89.95
Radiator: XSPC EX360 Triple 120mm Low Profile Split Fin Radiator $68.97
Fans: (x3) XSPC 120mm x 25mm Radiator / Chassis Fan - 1200 RPM $29.37
Add Fan Screws: Add 4 Fan Screws - Black ($0.80)
Barb Fittings: (x8): G 1/4" Fittings: 3/8" ID Barb ($23.92)

Subtotal: $456.66

The website ill be purchasing the parts off of is http://www.frozencpu.com if anyone cares.

PS - I will be updating this thread as I get more advice from my build thread.

[Toffie]

Oright, heres the problem with custom loops on graphics cards & haswell CPU's.
780 Ti is voltage locked unless you hack the settings through MSI Afterburner to allow for higher than 1.212vmV, not recommended unless you want to lower the life span of your cards by several years. The most you're getting out of that 780 Ti is about 50-80MHz with a safe voltage limit (1.25-1.3mV) which is no more than 4-6 fps.

Now the haswell CPU's get very hot and doing a custom loop might lower your temps by 10c compared to the best air cooler which MIGHT allow you to reach 200MHz higher in speed which isn't worth the money honestly.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/I...parison/9.html

4770K 4.7GHz (WC) = 78 c
4770K 4.7GHz (AIR) = 88 c

I would go ahead and say water cooling is mostly for show or for people that does GPU benchmarks like valley / heaven which enables them to push the GPU voltage all the way up to 1.4mV just for the sake of epeen or whatever.

[SomeAngryNerd]

Something I've always been confused over is - I keep having people suggest those prebuilt water coolers (Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler). Does that imply that the GPU does not need to be cooled? What about the motherboard?

Is this sort of thing better than an air cooler or is it used in combination with one / normal fans? If its not better can you recommend an air cooler (and is there any reason for multiple)?

Lastly, with air cooling (and the build listed above) could I support 2 - 3 monitors and still keep the computer running cool?

[Toffie]

Something I've always been confused over is - I keep having people suggest those prebuilt water coolers (Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler). Does that imply that the GPU does not need to be cooled? What about the motherboard?

While the closed loops (h60, h80i h100i) will provide just as good cooling as the best air cooler they are gonna be a tad louder. The 4770k/4670k will ship with a cheap air-cooler and will do the job. The 780 Ti are already shrouded in a cooler but there is other models of the 780 Ti that offer better cooling and higher performance. Your motherboard does not need to be cooled since it does not have any hot chips like the CPU & GPU.

Is this sort of thing better than an air cooler or is it used in combination with one / normal fans? If its not better can you recommend an air cooler?

Let's compare the best closed loop vs air cooling.

4770K 1.3V 100 % load

H110 (CL)
= 72c
NH-D14 (AIR)
=72c

Noise
= 39 DBA
= 40 DBA

- http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages...review,13.html

So both will offer the same performance and pretty much both be very quiet under load, but the H110 will be more expensive and also take MUCH less space.

Lastly, with air cooling (and the build listed above) could I support 2 - 3 monitors and still keep the computer running cool?

You wont have heat issues If you're running CPU & GPU at acceptable voltage.
A 1.212mV (GPU) & 1.25 voltage (CPU) will have no heat issues even in the hottest time of the year for your setup.

[SomeAngryNerd]

While the closed loops (h60, h80i h100i) will provide just as good cooling as the best air cooler they are gonna be a tad louder. The 4770k/4670k will ship with a cheap air-cooler and will do the job. The 780 Ti are already shrouded in a cooler but there is other models of the 780 Ti that offer better cooling and higher performance. Your motherboard does not need to be cooled since it does not have any hot chips like the CPU & GPU.

Even if the 4770k comes with an air cooler id still prefer to get one that is better just to ensure lower temps. Which would you suggest? The H110, NH-D14, or even the kraken x60?

Which version of the Ti might you be referring to? If they are better / run better im probably better off with them even if the cost is a bit higher.

[Toffie]

This would be the card I would get if I had to buy the 780 Ti today.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc..._-na-_-na-_-na

[SomeAngryNerd]

This would be the card I would get if I had to buy the 780 Ti today.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc..._-na-_-na-_-na

First of all, you have the patience of a saint to be dealing with my stupid questions for this long, and for that thank you so much! I really do appreciate it! Here comes my (hopefully last) questions.

So that Ti beats the one from my listed build then? The one from my build shows the base block at 1.08Ghz (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyt...d-gvn78tghz3gd) vs that ones 1.02Ghz (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-vid...gtx780tigaming), but i'm assuming there is a reason behind your choice?

I had edited my last post so i'm going to assume you didn't see it, but between the H110, NH-D14, and the kraken x60, which one would you suggest (assuming the difference in sound is not horribly loud between them)?

[Toffie]

First of all, you have the patience of a saint to be dealing with my stupid questions for this long, and for that thank you so much! I really do appreciate it!

No problem at all, I am on these forums because I enjoy doing this

So that Ti beats the one from my listed build then? The one from my build shows the base block at 1.08Ghz (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyt...d-gvn78tghz3gd) vs that ones 1.02Ghz (http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-vid...gtx780tigaming), but i'm assuming there is a reason behind your choice?

It's a extremely quiet card, the quitest 780 Ti by far.
Also operating clock will depend on the chip, but on average the MSI 780 Ti will boost to 1130-1150 MHz while the gigabyte will do 1120-1140.

Review of the 780 Ti MSI : http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/M...Gaming/29.html

MSI 780 Ti "MSI's GTX 780 Ti is almost too good to be true. The card comes overclocked out of the box, to 1020 MHz base clock, which, thanks to Boost 2.0, runs the card at 1144 MHz on average - higher than most other custom GTX 780 Ti cards."

Gigabyte 780 Ti "What we can say, with a fair degree of certainty, is the core overclock will enable this OC to be the fastest single-GPU card we've ever tested, and our sample consistently boosted to 1,120MHz in every game."

Also I'd go for the H110 versus the X60 which only beats the H110 in performance(2c) when running at extreme which makes it MUCH louder.

[SomeAngryNerd]

It's a extremely quiet card, the quitest 780 Ti by far.
Also operating clock will depend on the chip, but on average the MSI 780 Ti will boost to 1130-1150 MHz while the gigabyte will do 1120-1140.

Review of the 780 Ti MSI : http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/M...Gaming/29.html

MSI 780 Ti "MSI's GTX 780 Ti is almost too good to be true. The card comes overclocked out of the box, to 1020 MHz base clock, which, thanks to Boost 2.0, runs the card at 1144 MHz on average - higher than most other custom GTX 780 Ti cards."

Gigabyte 780 Ti "What we can say, with a fair degree of certainty, is the core overclock will enable this OC to be the fastest single-GPU card we've ever tested, and our sample consistently boosted to 1,120MHz in every game.".

Well then I guess that leaves me one even stupider question. By boosted do you mean further overclocked or does that have another meaning that i'm unaware of?

[Toffie]

Well then I guess that leaves me one even stupider question. By boosted do you mean further overclocked or does that have another meaning that i'm unaware of?

http://www.geforce.com//hardware/tec...t-2/technology

It adjustes the performance according to the temperature.

[SomeAngryNerd]

http://www.geforce.com//hardware/tec...t-2/technology

It adjustes the performance according to the temperature.

I see on one review (http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages..._review,4.html) that the "set" temperature can be adjusted. Am I better off leaving it default since i'm not cooling the card itself (for example they say they set it to 90c, but do not mention if they were cooling it)?

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Having said that, that pretty well sums up everything I wanted to ask about, and will be purchasing this build on Monday. Thank you once again, you have been a lifesaver (and money saver!), and I really do appreciate the amount of help that you have thrown my way!

Thank you!

[Cyrops]

Even if the 4770k comes with an air cooler id still prefer to get one that is better just to ensure lower temps. Which would you suggest? The H110, NH-D14, or even the kraken x60?

I use Evo212 heatsink and I have 2 Enermax magma push&pulling, the highest CPU temp I saw was 61C while playing Shadow Warrior, but it was only once, usually it's around 58C while gaming. Idling at 30-40 (the actual cores)
I guess I should add it's 4771.

[Toffie]

Just leave it at stock, Boost 2.0 should do It's own thing.
You can always create a new thread for overclocking your 780 Ti but I suspect you wont need the extra power for a long time for the games you play.
Also good luck with your build, be sure to post in the http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...r-gaming-setup! once you're done ^^

[SomeAngryNerd]

Just leave it at stock, Boost 2.0 should do It's own thing.
You can always create a new thread for overclocking your 780 Ti but I suspect you wont need the extra power for a long time for the games you play.
Also good luck with your build, be sure to post in the http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...r-gaming-setup! once you're done ^^

Will do

Thank you once again!

[Xuvial]

Was the whole custom loop idea scrapped then? Going with H110 on the CPU + MSI 780 Ti?