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Loving new Water Chiller

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Loving my new setup lol :)


loving_new_setup.jpg



And no condensation :)

Got a cheap dew point/ relative humidity meter and I can go as low as 8 degrees C water temp without issue. (how far down I can go will vary day-to-day) but as long as I don't open all the Windows and keep the thermostat in my house at 21c I can maintain a 'relative humidity' indoors of about 40-45% which = 8c without a single iota of condensation :)

As long as I keep an eye on the dew point meter I'm fine :)

And I don't even have a dehumidifier yet :)

Also even with the EK D5 pump running at its LOWEST setting the water still gets around the system flawlessly.

Under Furmark full load with power target at 130% on my EVGA Classified (that's a 320W draw compared to an Nvidea maximum of 180 watts) and my temp still never exceeds 19-20c.

The SECOND I turn Furmark off the temp drops back to 10c before I can blink :)

Not sure whats up with my CPU though (temps are still reaching 48c with PRIME95) and when I stop the sress test it takes 1 min 20s for socket temp to drop back to 20c.

'Package Temp" on CPU on the other hand never exceeds 22c and drops down to 5c in 2 flashes when stopping test (but 'Package Temp' on AMD is never reliable).
 
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dorsetknob

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Impresive temp control
now the important Question
Does it also keep your beer tins cold ?
 
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Keeping it between 10c and 20 under load and idle is like, the holy grail for me. No condensation to worry about and tons of cooling headroom. Nice! :toast:
 
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Impresive temp control
now the important Question
Does it also keep your beer tins cold ?

I suppose it could if I coiled my tubing around a can lol (its quite long with plenty room to move things about)

I like to take my block off my GPU and fiddle around with shims and pads all the time (trying to get lower memory and VRM temps) so I have it set up that way, so I don't need to disconnect the loop. :)
 
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It's awesome isn't it. :toast:

So... you going to push that thing past 4.6 or what?!!!! :)

it is indeed, lol

not got any armaflex insulation yet; nor have I figured out how I'm going to insulate the inside of my GPU without using liquid electrical tape or dieletric grease that will make a mess of an £800 GPU so 9 degrees C is the limit until I figure that one out lol.

I'm hitting 2215mhz on my 1080 now rock solid (not tried to go faster yet).

at idle even my GPU memory temps are sitting 6c below ambient and my GPU vrm is sitting *at* ambient. :)

I've emailed a few armaflex suppliers (as the minimum height seems to be 1mm (if I could get my hands on 0.5mm armaflex that would solve the problem) as I could cover the entire GPU with it and it wouldn't hinder memory or vrm contact with block (and will peel off easier than a thermal pad).

The I/O side of the GPU generates no heat so that's where my worries are mostly.

As for the rest of it:
Tubing is easy enough to cover.

And the socket still reaches 40c under load so I can't see the CPU needing any insulation (apart from maybe the top of the block which is easy enough to do with simple tape or just chuck a bit tissue / kitchen roll over it for 30 mins

If I could keep it at this temp all the time I wouldn't even need to worry about bacteria in my loop :)
 
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Improving Temperatures beyond standard EK instructions
Why: The 3 memory chips nearest the VRM run hotter (hindering best +mem overclock)
Absolutely necessary: No
Doing it anyway: Yes :)

FIRSTLY Regarding (1) and (2) in this 1st picture of my PCB:
(3) & (4) covered further down

-They make no contact with stock ACX 3.0 heat sink via the baseplate (when using stock EVGA cooling).
-Also no instructions in EK manual to add pads to (1) and (2) therefore they are not cooled when water cooling.

However I was wondering how hot these components actually get?
The bank of 3 memory chips nearest the VRM (to the right of the core) are still running 10c -20c hotter than left & middle banks. I believe this is hindering my memory overclocking by maybe 25-50mhz.


I could probably use extra 1.5mm - 2mm pads to get (1) & (2) to make contact (with some trial & error); but would it be worth it?

~Has anyone whose ever installed a universal GPU block tested these areas for heat?




further_improvements.jpg





-----------------------
SECONDLY


Also; I am planning on attaching small adhesive heat sinks to (3) and (4) because waterblock only reaches as far as 2nd row of capacitors (so doesn't cool the 3-phase memory VRM) which I also believe is causing extra heat on the VRM side.

(When I kneel down and hold a 3000 RPM fan at (3) & (4) - 1 inch away - my CORE VRM temp drops 10c). And memory along with it ;-)



The problem when attach *double sided* self adhesive thermal pads they fall off as soon as they heat up. (gravity pulls them down, they usually end up on the floor of my case, lol) \/ \/

Any ideas how I could get around that?(3) & (4) marked in BOTH pictures :lovetpu:

What about a: "non-permanent glue that would hold but could still easily be removed without causing damage"? (thermally conductive & electrically insulating)?


under_block_1.jpg

 
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Didn't you get 2202mhz GPU core on water before the chiller? I only ask because surely the extra 13Mhz you're now getting isn't worth the extra power consumption and noise of the chiller unit.

Frankly Nicholas, your obvious leap before you walk enthusiasm should be focussed not on chiller units but LN2 pots and hardcore overclocking.

You're doing enough work, research and have the motivation. I find your chiller results disappointing with such low overclock on the GPU. I goad you to swiftly move to hugely sub zero.

Something I don't wish to do myself but you ought to.
 
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Didn't you get 2202mhz GPU core on water before the chiller? I only ask because surely the extra 13Mhz you're now getting isn't worth the extra power consumption and noise of the chiller unit.

Frankly Nicholas, your obvious leap before you walk enthusiasm should be focussed not on chiller units but LN2 pots and hardcore overclocking.

You're doing enough work, research and have the motivation. I find your chiller results disappointing with such low overclock on the GPU. I goad you to swiftly move to hugely sub zero.

Something I don't wish to do myself but you ought to.

It's never been totally essential (I've always maintained that) always been for fun.

I enjoy overclocking and seeing how hard I can push everything. This re-opens the whole thing back up for me.

People install 4+ radiators in pursuit of temps. I paid the equivalent of two.

I've not actually attempted to go higher yet :)

Regarding Noise + Power
If I set the chiller at a temperature just above ambient (comparable to what the water temp was *before*) it only runs several seconds every 7-10 mins. (due to the 5 L tank).

Noise isn't bad. Nor is power. When compared against setups with 2 radiators in push-pull & 10 fans all drawing combined 50 watts ever second, every day.

The chiller uses about 230 watts but only runs several seconds.

If I set the temp at 8c it will probably be running about 35% of time.).

It's quieter than all those fans spinning. I get *complete* break from the noise when its not running. Most of the time; its *blissfully quiet*,

I could also decouple to another room if I wanted!

Lastly; I've not even had the chiller down to its minimum yet; or tried to manipulate the thermostat for subzero -- these are all options open to me!
 
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Got my 1080 at 2252 mhz now in Heaven lol :) (not tried to go faster yet nor tried the classified voltage tool)

Core temp is only 11-13 degrees C at load (Heaven benchmark).

Memory temps are only 24-27c. (not even tried to O/C memory faster than +775 yet lol -- can't wait to try this) at idle memory is sitting at 16c lol (GDDR5X memory is rated at 94c max & EVGA Hybrid memory reaches 60c. ACX 3.0 air cooled can hit 85c)

VRM is only about 38c and is 23c at idle. (stock EVGA load temps for all ACX 3.0 cards is 85+ degrees C for VRM)

Water temp of 6c-8c. (condensation started setting in at 5-6c so had to do an emergency shutdown lol).

Got a fright though; was continuously checking tubing for condensation (and nothing) then had a look at a metal fitting and it was wet. Then noticed the "power" LED on GPU, for core, was flashing (indicating irregular voltage supply to core). Done an emergency shut down.
....Pulled block off card and there was condensation over the metal parts (acrylic was fine). I must have just saved it in time.

\/ example picture only (couldn't be bothered taking another photo, this pic is for the 780ti Classy but its almost the same)
CLASSY LED.jpg


As soon as that LED begun flashing my card also seemed to go into 'safe mode' and down-clocked its self to 253mhz which probably stopped a powerful short-circuit which at full load (300 watts) would probably have fried something.

I'm lucky lol -- and learnt my lesson. I was pushing past the dew point (my "relative humidity meter" was showing 9c and I was pushing for 5c.

Used the chance to apply extra thermal pads (covering more than what EK state in manual):


extra_pads - Copy.jpg





P.S.
This chiller has completely re-opened the whole overclocking ball-game for me (and moved it)!

I feel like a N00b again getting to do everything O/C'ing wise from the beginning on the same PC! :)

Going to hit the CPU and GPU memory next.

P.S no.2

Got these coming for the 'GPU memory VRM': (not required according to EVGA & EK but when I hold an industrial 3000 RPM fan within 1 inch of 'GPU memory VRM' I see temps on adjacent components dropping 10c)
memory_vrm_cooling.jpg
 
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the54thvoid

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I'm only a standard water cooling noob so can't help too much. But.... I'm sure it's better to use a single GPU only block (not full cover) when doing more adventurous over clocking. That way with a more exposed PCB you can better pad, cover and insulate against condensation.
 
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It's no surprise the GPU is able to go to those speeds, it's heavily bottlenecked by that CPU.
 

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I have one of those things brand new, never used it.
 
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It's no surprise the GPU is able to go to those speeds, it's heavily bottlenecked by that CPU.

Before I had the chiller it wouldn't go past 2152 on a traditional overclock (just changing the core offset) and would crash at 2176+ using curve o/c method (occasionally under very light load or for a very quick run) I could get a rare validation at 2189 - 2202 using the curve overclocking method, if I turned fans off, causing an immediate temp throttle.

I'd also have to run the test 5 times until it made it through once without crash!

It would throttle back 2/3 steps to 2164-2176 but 3dmark would still show the *starting* speed giving me a 2189-2202 validation. (on short graphics only runs).

Now, with chiller; I have it running Heaven benchmark on a loop continuously at 2252 MHZ (I haven't even tried to go higher yet or tried the updated 1080 Classy voltage tool).

Its got nothing to do with my CPU; there are environments that are not bottlenecked by CPU (such as 3dmark Graphics Only tests); 4k resolutions and even 'The Witcher 3' game is very well optimised for an 8-core GPU and shows no throttling in reviews.

I'm also overclocked to 5GHZ (which is the same performance of a AMD FX 9590) currently still AMD's highest performing offer.

Moreover; I'm waiting for ZEN :)

Refuse to get raped by intel when ZEN will give i7 6900k performance for half the price!
And I won't even need to de-lid. Because AMD cater for the over-clocker and actually understand the enthusiast community :)
 
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