Post your gaming setup!

[n0cturnal]

But FT02's are so bad with aftermarkt gpu's :P Haf x do even a better job there..

My FT02 keeps my very overclocked GTX 670 below 70c with only 45% fan speed even when mining, not sure how that is bad...

[Drunkenvalley]

Needs moar pictures of the other side!

Which one? You mean the underside, ie waterblock itself?

I might get around to it tomorrow when light's up again. Too late for today. Put together both cards now, too, so both have waterblocks now.

[SylarAC]

Got my other Titan back after blowing it up, the HUE looks a lot more blue in these pics than it actually is for some reason. Forgot to turn my under desk LEDs on for the second pic too - helps me see my keyboard!

Edit - pics too big.

Totally just realized the WoW server sitting at the top. How much did that cost?

[n0cturnal]

Which one? You mean the underside, ie waterblock itself?

I might get around to it tomorrow when light's up again. Too late for today. Put together both cards now, too, so both have waterblocks now.

Yes the side with the pretty rings

[Drunkenvalley]

Yes the side with the pretty rings

Clean blocks, so no rings.

[Cyanotical]

But FT02's are so bad with aftermarkt gpu's :P Haf x do even a better job there..

not true, and im not sure where you heard that either, in fact the unidirectional airflow is going to be better for aftermarket gpus than anything else, even a benchtop

[Drunkenvalley]

The FT02's airflow design is still one of the more beautiful examples of how to do things right. It's simple and unobstructed for the largest part. Air comes in from bottom, is pushed into case out the top. While many graphics cards will disrupt the flow somewhat due to their lacking of a blower design, the volume of air from below should still be among the stronger ways of pushing out air again...

Not to mention the fans are bloody good if I recall. You won't find much better for out of the box casefans.

[Majesticii]

Airpressure will take care of any obstruction. It's not like air will get caught in a pocket if it's obstructed or anything.

[Xuvial]

Hey guys.

<snip>

I think that's the first time I've seen a backplate with absolutely no holes and minimal markings. Looks incredibly sleek.

[Ghâzh]

Almost too sleek I'd say. I like the DCU II backplate better. Nonetheless, still pretty sweet one drunken.

[Drunkenvalley]

I really prefer to keep it sleek. The backplate is a bit more glossier than I expected, but ultimately that won't be too obvious when installed in a rig I think.

[DeltrusDisc]

Got my other Titan back after blowing it up, the HUE looks a lot more blue in these pics than it actually is for some reason. Forgot to turn my under desk LEDs on for the second pic too - helps me see my keyboard!

Edit - pics too big.

Decommissioned server! Woohoo! What server?

[Faithh]

not true, and im not sure where you heard that either, in fact the unidirectional airflow is going to be better for aftermarket gpus than anything else, even a benchtop

It's not really about the airflow, more about the heatpipes. I used to mine with 2 cards in a switch 810 at 80 & 70° with bequiet case fans, in this case it's 87°/80° with the AP181's on max (1200rpm) and both gpu's at 100% fan speed

http://en.expreview.com/2010/11/15/9...ler/11843.html

Here a few people claiming the same thing as I am: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2204972

They just work the best with blowers, gpu's with aftermarkt is just awful for in a FT02/RV02 & TJ11.

[Deleted]

For someone running a reference 7970 (which is a hot card combined with a horrible cooler) in a FT02 I can definitely say that the thermal design is exceptional. And, due to the design, it's actually great for aftermarket GPU coolers too, albeit it does perhaps not have as much positive impact as with a "blower".



It all boils down to the specific cooler of course, but most will actually benefit from the constant change of air in the case; around the GPU, even if the cooler wants to push air in 'all directions'. Sure, the flow design might directly impact the cooler negatively in one direction, but that also correlates to a positive impact in the opposite direction.

Check the NZXT 810 for example. That case (which I would argue has good airflow for a full tower) has the same basic principle in place with the extra fans on the HDD cages, although the HDD cages (and the flow of the other fans) will impact negatively. With the FT02 you get direct, almost entirely unhindered, airflow to the GPU. You basically have a 180mm fan entirely dedicated to the GPU.

---

Believe it or not, I can run my card at 25% fan speed (which makes it almost inaudible but severely damages the cooling potential - anyone who has ever owned a blower card knows what this does to the cooling of the card; it's basically almost non-existent) and still have it not run hotter than 85 degrees, even during "regular" gaming load. I should mention that when I run more demanding games I clock it higher and thus have to increase the fan speed to ~28-45% (which makes it very loud). And all this with the case fans (that is my 3x180mm fans as well as the two 120mm fans on the H80) run at their minimal RPM (i.e. if I turn the fan controller any lower they stop spinning).

With a reference 7970 that is impressive. It's actually not the loudest component in my computer with these settings; I can hear both my HDDs and the pump in the H80 parallel to the noise of the 7970.

[DeltrusDisc]

I used to run a HAF X and now I run a Fractal Design Define R4... you know how much my temperatures have gone up? Maybe 2 degrees Celsius? Maybe less? Honestly what is more important and impressive in cases nowadays, since they all seem to have enough airflow and technology has just improved all over... is dust filters, as little extra holes as possible, seriously... things like this. Sound dampening, but that doesn't affect the types of things we're talking about.

The HAF X has insane airflow, but at the same time, who cares? Who cares when it lets enormous dust build up get in because only some of the fans get filters and it still has TONS of holes ALL OVER IT (*ahem* ODDs and all over the top and back)... seriously, it's ridiculous! Not to mention the noise if you dare run the fans direct from motherboard or power supply. I used a fan controller, NZXT Sentry 2, so I had them at 40% all the time, so they ran slow enough you really couldn't hear them.

Compare that to the Fractal Design Define R4, which pulls in air through side vents but filters it with exceptional filters, THAT ARE EASILY REMOVED AND CLEANED, not like in the HAF X, and minimal holes, which are mostly covered up. Add in the sound dampening which makes it so you can pretty much blast the fans if you want and barely hear them. Oh and yeah, the ODD bays are blocked by a big door.

Winner? Should be obvious. Why the HAF X line remains popular? Teenagers and people who are just getting into computer building and think it has better airflow period, yes, it has great airflow, but at what cost?

I had a few spiders living in my HAF X, ffs.

[Drunkenvalley]

Welcome... to the arena. Suggestions for tubing runs, folks? (Note: The inlet on the pump is the one on the right side.) Note that the graphics cards will have one of those bridges that EK make. It just hasn't arrived yet.

[Ghâzh]

There's not that many options unless you wanna make it look like a jungle tbh. But you should probably flip that 240(?) radiator on the right around so the holes are on the top. And I'd probably flip the 360(?) as well so I could keep the tubing length to a minimum and make the loop go like gpu's->240rad->360rad->reservoir->cpu.

[Nidor]

Drunken, how many 45 or 90 degree fittings do you have available?

I'd say flip the EK CPU block so the outlet is on the left, flip the 240. Then go Res/Pump - CPU - 360Rad - GPU - 240Rad - Res/Pump

Have fun!

[Deleted]

I had a few spiders living in my HAF X, ffs.

My HAF 932 advanced has amazing airflow with 0 dust! Joking aside i think you described it close to perfect.


DrunkenValley wouldnt it be more efficient if you didn't have your tubing going from cpu to cards directly? As in pump outlet -> T section one to gpu's one to cpu then radiators (1 each) then before pump T-section again?

Also wouldn't it be more comfortable if you could flip the cpu block to have "out" @ left side?

[Nidor]

DrunkenValley wouldnt it be more efficient if you didn't have your tubing going from cpu to cards directly? As in pump outlet -> T section one to gpu's one to cpu then radiators (1 each) then before pump T-section again?

This is a bad idea, water takes the path of least resistance and if you did it like this one loop would have great flow while the other would not. Nothing personal here, just what I've learnt over the years

On another note, finally got the 780Ti that I had to RMA back! Yay fun fun fun