ViperJohn's Mod on a X850-XT

[Morlak]

Received a nice package from the postman a few minutes ago. Sorry about the size. I'll try and get a few more. As you can see, John does awesome work, and worth every Washington.. uhh I mean Jackson lol.

 

[gR3iF]

now its an x850 wiht watercooling?

 

[djbbenn]

Very nice!! Get some benchmarks done on it and post them.

-Dan

 

[Morlak]

now its an x850 wiht watercooling?

Its always been water cooled. John installed a custom Danger Den Water Block with extender that replaced my ThermalTake VGA block. Its got a Temp sensor now thats installed directly on the GPU. The sensor readout is in a front panel LCD mounted on a drive bay cover.

I'll run benchmarks when I can figure out why my UPS is now complaining when I run them Something may be amiss here but temps on the card look great.

Edit: Nothing is amiss. When I run both the card overclocked, and the PC overclocked. It's drawing more curent than the 1200VA UPS can supply. Guess its time for a bigger UPS. My future plans call for 2 video cards, so its gonna get worse lol. I'll get something figured out and run some benchmarks soon.

 

[Morlak]

Well my first lame try gave me 7129 3DMark05. Ive just started playing around with it, so I hope I can do better.

7129 3DMark05

 

[wtf8269]

[SARCASM]Psshh only 7129 3d05? My 9000 Pro 128mb in my server does better than that! That's gotta be the worst 3dMark score I've ever seen in my entire life![/SARCASM]

That's fricking crazy!

Oh yeah... and you could go ahead and slide that old GPU water block my way if you wouldn't mind.

 

[Urlyin]

Well my first lame try gave me 7129 3DMark05. Ive just started playing around with it, so I hope I can do better.

7129 3DMark05

Dang ... Morlak you got me by one point ... LOL Now I have to go back and tweak some more to get 7200 .... But the card looks great!!

 

[Morlak]

I raised it some 7239. Might even have a little room left. Clocks are 667/637.

 

[Morlak]

Dang ... Morlak you got me by one point ... LOL Now I have to go back and tweak some more to get 7200 .... But the card looks great!!

Thanks. John did an awesome job like usual. He said my card was no race horse, but not a dog either, so it will never be the fastest card out there. It's just the luck of the draw according to him. I think going from stock 520/540 clocks to what its running now is amazing in any case. If I can get some better cooling however..... Anyway time to play some games and see how the new cooling on the card does.

 

[Morlak]

[SARCASM]Psshh only 7129 3d05? My 9000 Pro 128mb in my server does better than that! That's gotta be the worst 3dMark score I've ever seen in my entire life![/SARCASM]

That's fricking crazy!

Oh yeah... and you could go ahead and slide that old GPU water block my way if you wouldn't mind.

Lol.

Hey the old water block along with the rest of this cooling system will make its way into a server. I Just need a few more parts to complete a .5" cooling system for this machine. Recycle.

 

[djbbenn]

I raised it some 7239. Might even have a little room left. Clocks are 667/637.

Sweet score, what kind of temps to get with those clocks then?

-Dan

 

[Morlak]

Ran 49.3C. Test only took 4 minutes though. Both CPU and Video are on the same cooling loop remember. That didn't help any at all because the CPU was clocked pretty high as well. Under a constant loop, I am sure the temps would have continued to rise, which is why I said "Might" have a "Little" room left. LMAO. I declocked it back to Viper's torture test stable 647/630. Even at those clocks my cooling system can only maintain a constant temp of 48C. Fully loaded for 30 Minutes temp holds steady at 48C. Thats not really bad, but consider ViperJohn's system maintained 40C at 657/630 on my card under almost the same conditions. I just need much better cooling. This setup is far beyond the 0.25" cooling capabilities the Tt Big Water system provides. The P4 overclocked produces enough heat on it's own. Thats a understatement lol. Add the ViperJohn overclock to the mix, and it simply overtakes this cooling system, not to mention my poor UPS that started screaming overload. The power supply fans also change pitch when the tests kick in at 667/637. I watched the voltage of the power supply, and no dips occured, but Im sure this is approaching the limits of even the 500W power supply. It's interesting to experiment but that is all that is. an experiemnt.

 

[djbbenn]

Nice!! So you get 48C under load, hmm thats good in my books. I see what you mean you water system is up to it limits, the heat it must be moving. I think I might get one of those AC ATI Silencers this weekend to cool mine better, If my rents will let me.

-Dan

 

[Morlak]

Nice!! So you get 48C under load, hmm thats good in my books. I see what you mean you water system is up to it limits, the heat it must be moving. I think I might get one of those AC ATI Silencers this weekend to cool mine better, If my rents will let me.

-Dan

Dan I had bad luck with an ATI Silencer 5. Like so many other people, the fan just died about five minutes after I pluged it in. I restarted it with my finger a few times, but it finally shut down for good. I can't recommend them now. They look very cool, and the heat sinks are massive for the GPU and memory. Its just the fan electronics they use seem to be faulty. Not everyone has this problem, but just be sure to ask about the return policy.

 

[djbbenn]

What about the AC 5 rev.2? Thats what I was looking at, and it seemed to have very good reviews.

-Dan

 

[Morlak]

What about the AC 5 rev.2? Thats what I was looking at, and it seemed to have very good reviews.

-Dan

Thats what I had Im pretty sure. It may work, and it may not. They were supposed to fix the fan problem with rev.2 but I had a dead one. It could also be my card's fault, but ViperJohn's fans seem happy with the card, so I dunno. Another thing is the cooler is much longer than a stock card's cooler. The fan sits out back. All in all, it just didn't like my setup. I did love the sinks it had. Just make sure about the return policy. If it's gonna go, it'l be about 5 minutes after you plug it in.

 

[wtf8269]

You could throw on another radiator into that system and sounds like you 'd be dandy. As far as power goes, sounds like a job for a 600w Enermax or a PC Power and Cooling PSU.

 

[djbbenn]

Thanks Morlak, for your input. I wish I had local comouter stores around here. But I don't see how your going to sell a product that dies after 5mins of use, lol.

-Dan

 

[Urlyin]

Ran 49.3C. Test only took 4 minutes though. Both CPU and Video are on the same cooling loop remember. That didn't help any at all because the CPU was clocked pretty high as well. Under a constant loop, I am sure the temps would have continued to rise, which is why I said "Might" have a "Little" room left. LMAO. I declocked it back to Viper's torture test stable 647/630. Even at those clocks my cooling system can only maintain a constant temp of 48C. Fully loaded for 30 Minutes temp holds steady at 48C. Thats not really bad, but consider ViperJohn's system maintained 40C at 657/630 on my card under almost the same conditions. I just need much better cooling. This setup is far beyond the 0.25" cooling capabilities the Tt Big Water system provides. The P4 overclocked produces enough heat on it's own. Thats a understatement lol. Add the ViperJohn overclock to the mix, and it simply overtakes this cooling system, not to mention my poor UPS that started screaming overload. The power supply fans also change pitch when the tests kick in at 667/637. I watched the voltage of the power supply, and no dips occured, but Im sure this is approaching the limits of even the 500W power supply. It's interesting to experiment but that is all that is. an experiemnt.

Morlak ... would adding a resivour in the system help? adding a little more volume and maybe cool the water a little longer... just a thought

 

[Morlak]

You could throw on another radiator into that system and sounds like you 'd be dandy. As far as power goes, sounds like a job for a 600w Enermax or a PC Power and Cooling PSU.

Since my goal is to go with a R520/X850 Crossfire, even a 600 Watt supply might not do the trick then. Maybe a 800Watt? External DC supply? I have a 100Amp 12V supply. It weighs about 50lbs, but hey. whatever works. lol.

I think the 1/4" system just doesn't move the volume of water required to take massive heat away, and running a 3.4 P4 at 4.2Ghz, and a 520/540 card at 667/637 produces massive heat. No lie, It heats the room. The Power Supply does the room heating btw. A new, or additional radiator may help in the short term, but a 1/2" system would be much better. I can run the card at high clocks and run the CPU stock, or vise-versa with no problems at all. Combined though it's just too much. It slowly looses ground, and it's kinda cool to watch the temps.

Almost all products out there except the Tt Big-Water are either 3/8" or 1/2". The best pumps made are mostly 1/2". Look at Swiftech or PolarFlow. Those two companies make the best pumps, I think, period. I know that doesn't mean squat, but check em out. Just from my own limited exposure to water cooling, the pump seems to be the key, followed by the radiator. I may be wrong, but thats what I feel. It seems the cooling system's ability to pull heat is related to volume and flow rate above anything else. Many other things have an effect, but those two things are the most important. This system does a real good job, at mild overclocks up to 20% or so, keeps everything nice and cool. The Tt is a begineer's kit. It's neat, it helped me learn a great deal, and it will eventually have a good home in a server that isn't a constant experiment. I do want dual radiators, but have not decided on which ones. I may even keep this one, its not the problem oints at gimp pump:

 

[Morlak]

Morlak ... would adding a resivour in the system help? adding a little more volume and maybe cool the water a little longer... just a thought

Yeah I thought of that bud. But instead of patching a 1/4" system, I thought replacing it with 1/2" would be better long-term. John actually talked me into it. He can be a awesome salesman lol.
If I can decide on a good resivour that will mate up with my Tt BW, I'll do it.

I was thinking of SwifTech's 5.25" drive bay resivour but don't know if my poor little pump can push any more than it already is. I may get two of those swiftech's and chain em together. The pump I have for the 1/2" system will do that job with ease. Good idea btw.

EDIT: I should have said "was thinking along those very same lines myself". That would have sounded better.

 

[gerrynicol]

I think you are right, your temp prob may lie with the Tt BW res/pump, I got a bigwater also(modified with a double 120mm rad and 8mm inner tubing, as oppossed to 6mm). I am only cooling my proc, and that is fine but trying to cool an uber modded card will push the litttle pump fairly hard.

I would recommend just biting the bullet and getting a new pump and res.

Just my two cents.

Gerry.

 

[Morlak]

I will be using a Swiftech MCP-650 Pump. I have not decided completly what res I want, but one of these top my list. Inside the case I have two open 5.25" bays, so that would take care of the Resevoir issues. To start with, I may keep my current Tt Radiator and switch out the connectors, but Swiftech also has some good ones. PolarFLO, and Danger DEN do too.

 

[djbbenn]

Sounds like its going to be a sweet cooling system. So are you gong 1/2" pipe then?

-Dan

 

[Morlak]

Sounds like its going to be a sweet cooling system. So are you gong 1/2" pipe then?

-Dan

Oh yeah 1/2" is the most common size I have seen out there in my research so far.