Decisions...

[Tyreal]

When you figure it out let us know and I'll see if I can you my opinion on your selection.

[Stormcrow]

Personally if I had two 8800's in SLI I'd want them on a loop of their own. CPU->8800->8800 just seems like the second GPU won't be cooled as efficiently considering the heat output of G80, especially if theres some overclocking in mind.

RAID, what cooler is that you have for the RAM?

[frostybrad]

Okay... shoot me if you want but I just spent 1200 bucks on water cooling products casue I wasn't sure what would work and what wouldn't........ LOL>>>...... JUST KIDDING!!!1


OKAY, seriously now.. I know you guys said prefab kits are poopy, but what about these.... I was thinking I could by 2, 1 for the CPU and another for the 2 8800's in SLI so they run separatly and I think I would have room on the back of the case for the rads.. Looks easy enough, simple enough for a "newcomer" like me.... go easy on me...


Swiftech (Swiftech H20-120 Compact liquid cooling system)(bottom right corner)
Swiftech(8800 water block

[Capper]

I'd recommend not water cooling the chipsets.....you have probably the very best cae for air cooling made.

As to external kits, or "bundled kits", its true that they used to be terrible, and I've always recommended against them......but the quality is improving to the point they are great entry level products.

The TT 760i is actually a nice little kit, I won't recommend it for you, but its a good kit. For your situation, I'd recommend Recommend one of the Swiftech kits with the external radiator (Take your time and come here for help, as its not new user friendly). Danger Den and DTek also make nice kits that would fit your needs.

If you are looking for a high quality external kit, and aren't worried about the price, check out Zalmans new Reserator XT, which runs $500....its a fantastic product, and moves a lot of heat. I've found that the included water block is inadequate for Quad core processors, but is perfectly fine for Dual Core processors and multiple video cards. Changing out the block with a good after market one with 3/8" barbs made a huge difference in performance.....and the best part is it takes about 15 minutes to set up.

[simple_inhibition]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

Personally if I had two 8800's in SLI I'd want them on a loop of their own. CPU->8800->8800 just seems like the second GPU won't be cooled as efficiently considering the heat output of G80, especially if theres some overclocking in mind.

RAID, what cooler is that you have for the RAM?

no it doesnt effect the last gpu as much as one thinks. see your not really cooling the cpu/gpu's, your drawing heat away from them in a watercooling setup. so the water temp is going to be pretty much the same throughout the whole loop. yes there will be slight variances however not enough to really notice. i guess the easiest way to explain it is a watercooling has a certain capacity to remove heat. so the more cpu's/gpu's you add to the loop, the more load you add to your watercooling setup. the more cooling capacity your loop has, the lower the overall temps will be.

[Elysium]

That RAM cooler is the OCZ cooler.

[Tyreal]

Swiftech kits are very good and I highly recommend them.

I just want to comment on one thing that Capper mentioned:

Changing out the block with a good after market one with 3/8" barbs made a huge difference in performance.....and the best part is it takes about 15 minutes to set up.

If you change out the block in the Reserator be careful about the material of the new block. The Reserator is composed of aluminum metal so if you were to add in a copper block you could have some corrosion problems. The coolant included with the Zalman reserator is "Corrosion Inhibiting" but in all truthfulness, it's not going to stop it.

[Elysium]

Originally Posted by Tyreal

If you change out the block in the Reserator be careful about the material of the new block. The Reserator is composed of aluminum metal so if you were to add in a copper block you could have some corrosion problems. The coolant included with the Zalman reserator is "Corrosion Inhibiting" but in all truthfulness, it's not going to stop it.

...and if you use an aluminum block, there's not going to be a big increase in performance (if any).

[Tyreal]

A copper block is better than an aluminum block. The same rules (generally) apply to heatsinks as they do to blocks.

[Elysium]

Originally Posted by Tyreal

A copper block is better than an aluminum block. The same rules (generally) apply to heatsinks as they do to blocks.

I have a question... If a copper block is plated in nickel, for example, does the plating affect performance at all? Also... If you have a copper block plated in aluminum in an aluminum loop (like the Zalman) will corrosion happen?