Water cooling problem

[Pete1burn]

Before anyone freaks out, I'm home with my wife now.

I ran into a problem. I have Zalman VF900s on my 4850X2. If I put the card in the first PCIe slot on the M4A79T, the cooling fins are hitting the next PCI slot down. The bottom slot is the only one it will fit in, but if I put it there, it's touching the pins on the bottom of the motherboard for the reset switch, etc.

I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to put the stock fans back on because they were loud as hell. I'm also not sure I want to add them to the loop at this point. I have two MCW60 R2 blocks for it, but it's cool and silent with the VF900s so I had decided against it originally.

I can take a pic if it will explain better.

Also, with the card in, the EK res won't fit in the only place I can see that it would, right in the middle between the mobo and the drive cages. So now that positioning is messed up too.

 

[Binge]

why not take some non-conductive material and cover the pins in question?

 

[sneekypeet]

can we get an image?

I realize this is a multi-core card, but basic instalation of these should not interfear with the mobo at all really. I'm guessing you have them rotated 90* to make them fit or something?

 

[_jM]

can we get an image?

I realize this is a multi-core card, but basic instalation of these should not interfear with the mobo at all really. I'm guessing you have them rotated 90* to make them fit or something?

Im wondering how he mounted these as well.

Can we get a CLEAR img of the inside of the case to see where your putting the res. Also get another img of the VGA itself so we can see the cooler(s) that are mounted aswell?

 

[SonDa5]

That fan is slightly offset. Have you tried spiining it around in different position?


Will the new Accelero 3 fan fit on there?
Probably a much better air cooling solution.

 

[Pete1burn]

Thanks for the responses. Video card pics below. Sorry they're kind of crappy.

1.

2.

The fans on the video card are oriented right and left. The one on the right is offset to the right and the one on the left is offset to the left. I haven't tried seeing if they'll fit facing upwards or something, but it looks like they will hit the passive cooler. I suppose I could just take the fans off and see if they'll fit that way.

As for the res, I set it up to be almost exactly like this guy's set up:

I guess the 4850X2 is a lot longer than a gtx285.

 

[Pete1burn]

Here is how it looks at the moment. Any thoughts?

I moved the card to a lower slot, which puts it right above the power supply, but it's not hitting anything else and my res fits.

Don't mind the res placement now. It's only hanging there so I can measure and cut hoses.

 

[BumbleBee]

poor pete lol, you know what would make life easier? a bay reservoir or EK 150. pete how come you didn't unscrew the top power supply plate? extra ventilation. stick your hard drives at the bottom of the rack and remove unused brackets. that video card doesn't look too healthy, I wish I could help you with your video card but if it was me I would of had the MCW60 on them already. you have to move the video card back up it's too close the power supply housing, heat is going to radiate up into the video card if not get sucked in before it gets exhausted out the expansion slots, probably don't need the 1200 Watt Toughpower (might consider a trade down the road) try flipping the radiator 180.

PS, what kind of heatsinks are on your memory?

 

[phanbuey]

yeah man that vid card looks bent.

 

[SonDa5]

Like I first posted.

Try spinning them around at different angles till you find the best position.

IMO you should sell those and get a new Accelero with the 3 fans. I'm sure it is much better.

 

[SonDa5]

Try spinning them till they fit like mine.

 

[tong]

I got a simple solution, unless you are really set on the reservoir, make a drive bay extension that feeds back into the mobo area, change to one of these bad boys:

and boom prob solved, you even already have the pump so all u need is the reservoir section of it.

 

[_jM]

This is what I would do if I were you....

 

[Pete1burn]

Awww, you guys don't like my water cooling. lol

 

[SonDa5]

Awww, you guys don't like my water cooling. lol

Not that i don't like it. I think people are just trying to help you make the most of your set up.

Your case does look a little small.

I like that pic with the loop going to the cpu then the GPU. That is a sweet set up. Much larger case and another water block for the GPU would be needed.

 

[Pete1burn]

I have two water blocks for the video card. I was just debating on whether or not to use them. XSPC also just came out with a full cover block for the 4850X2.

My case is the HAF 932. It should be big enough for this! I've never seen a bigger case.

 

[BumbleBee]

I have two water blocks for the video card. I was just debating on whether or not to use them. XSPC also just came out with a full cover block for the 4850X2.

My case is the HAF 932. It should be big enough for this! I've never seen a bigger case.

forget full coverage waterblocks they are restrictive, expensive and limited to one card. sell the Zalman's and Reservoir. by the way in my Cooling Guide I mention removing the Hard Drive Rack look at how much extra room you get and as you can see you don't need a EK 250 reservoir lol oh and look a Corsair Power Supply, see where the Hard Drive Rack is supposed to be? see indents on the back panel? you could mount 2 of those little reservoirs there or lay your EK 250 horizontally.

 

[SonDa5]

From my experience the Zalman VF900 doesn't work very well for cooling the HD4850.
Use your water blocks and be done with your build.

 

[Pete1burn]

I don't see where the hard drive racks should be. I don't see any hard drives in that pic.

I was considering selling the 250 and getting a 150. I don't like the res tops. I like the looks of the EK res too much. Maybe a 150 will fit better.

The other problem with using the MCW60s is that 1/2 inch tubing kinks pretty easily, and the gpus are so close together that it seems impossible not to kink it. There also might a clearance issue with the big side fan.

I have an idea how to make it work, but it's hard to explain. In to the inner port on the right block, out to the outside port of the left block, then out from there to the CPU or rad, depending. (That's a lot of heat to be putting into the loop with one radiator.)

I forgot to mention, I did rotate the VF900s so that clearance to the PCI ports isn't an issue anymore. It's just the res. So I guess my only option is to sell it and get something smaller.

Thanks for all of the help so far. Keep it coming! I wish I could make my case look like the ones above.

 

[BumbleBee]

forget the side 230mm it has no static pressure it's useless use 4x 120mm, this case has almost zero air flow at stock the temperature reduction people experience is due to it's size and ventilation. you could drop down to 7/16" tubing and try to compensate for flow loss. you could also sell the 4850 X2 with the Zalman's should net you a penny. there is no hard drive rack that was my point it gives you more air flow and space, you pop it out with a drill..

 

[Pete1burn]

Where would you put the hard drives then?

I thought of using 4x120 but the noise seems like it would be too much unless I threw them on a fan controller.

I had been thinking of selling the 4850X2 for a little while now. Not sure what I would get in its place. It's just so damn long. It's a kickass card, don't get me wrong, but I think there are smaller, comparable cards out there that might not even need after market cooling.

 

[<<Onafets>>]

Any chance of you getting a Nvidia 260 GTX,250GTS, or a 285GTX? Then remove the HD bays and cut a hole in the side panel, Mount the HD bays outside and it will still look good.

You could go the next step up and cut a 230mm hole under the HD bays for cooling too.

 

[BumbleBee]

look in my signature for my Cooling Guide and give "230mm Fans" and "Modifications" a quick glance. you use a 5.25" to 3.25" Hard Drive Adapter it's kinda like the 3.5" to 5.25" Adapter that comes with the case but suited for Hard Drives you mount the Hard Drives in the top bays the Adapters are $2-4 a piece the only problem is they are hard to track down. alternatively you can purchase one of these and install it in your 5.25" bay it will take up 3x 5.25" bays and you can mount 4x Hard Drives in it with a extra 120mm in the front of the 4:3 module you can also take the front off so it should fit even with the drive bay cover on and since it only takes up 3x 5.25" drive bays you can still have 2x Optical Drives and 1x Fan Controller.

 

[Nick89]

Rotate the VF900's 90' degrees you have them sideways.:shadedshu

 

[Pete1burn]

Rotate the VF900's 90' degrees you have them sideways.:shadedshu

I know, I did that already.