Water cooling - GPU Upgrade Noob advice needed

Con Man · 27 Sep 2020 at 12:24

Hi, Ok so this is a noob question so please be gentle.

About 6 years ago I bought a pre-build from Overclockers which was the Infinity Equinox water cooled gaming PC. It was fitted with GTX970 in SLI config and water cooled.

All has been good but I am now looking at a GPU upgrade and have zero idea where to start because of the water cooling.

I am thinking of going to an Nvidia 3080 but I have no idea where to even start when it comes to removing the old ones and putting the new one in because of the water cooling.

I have built numerous PCs before but have never done anything with water cooling.

Any advice would be appreciated.

mickyflinn · 27 Sep 2020 at 13:21

Is this your system ?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ov...extreme-gaming-pc-fs-454-oe.html?template=amp

Con Man · 27 Sep 2020 at 15:52

mickyflinn said:
Is this your system ?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.overclockers.co.uk/infin8-equinox-intel-core-i7-5930k-4.2ghz-overclocked-watercooled-extreme-gaming-pc-fs-454-oe.html?template=amp

Yes that’s the one.

mickyflinn · 27 Sep 2020 at 16:43

The easiest soloution would be to take it all out and get an air cooler for the cpu.

If you want to reuse your water cooling system then that's gonna get a bit complex.

What do you want to do ?

Con Man · 27 Sep 2020 at 17:17

mickyflinn said:
The easiest soloution would be to take it all out and get an air cooler for the cpu.

If you want to reuse your water cooling system then that's gonna get a bit complex.

What do you want to do ?

ok so sounds like I may be best to remove the water cooling and go with air cooling.
The CPU is overclocked so I’d just need a good enough CPU fan I suppose?

mickyflinn · 27 Sep 2020 at 17:39

Con Man said:
ok so sounds like I may be best to remove the water cooling and go with air cooling.
The CPU is overclocked so I’d just need a good enough CPU fan I suppose?

Take a look at the dark rock pro 4 if you go air cooling.

There is the option to watercool the 3080 it mite be best to contact overclockers that could help you with parts and advice.

Con Man · 28 Sep 2020 at 07:11

mickyflinn said:
Take a look at the dark rock pro 4 if you go air cooling.

There is the option to watercool the 3080 it mite be best to contact overclockers that could help you with parts and advice.

Ok so I have some things to think on. I may contact Overclockers to see if they can advise on the parts I’d need to keep it water cooled but if it sounds too difficult then maybe I will go with air. Thanks. Having not done water before not sure how you “drain the system” down when doing work and refill. With hindsight maybe buying water cooled was not the smartest move.

Defy Belief · 28 Sep 2020 at 11:51

Drain the loop, remove the gpu's fitted.

Flush loop out until it runs clear.

Fit the waterblock to the new card, install it back into the pci-e slot and you'll likely need a different length of tubing from the gpu to the next part of your loop as you're going from 2 gpu's to 1. Tube from cpu to gpu should still likely fit though.

leak test it then fill with proper coolant once confirmed no leaks.

Draining is pretty simple, you'll either have a drain port, or you'll have to just remove one fitting (ideally lowest part of the loop) and let it drain out, give it a good shake and twist

GilesGuthrie · 28 Sep 2020 at 12:31

Is it soft tubing? If so, it's pretty trivial to cut new pieces to do whatever you need. If you don't know the exact specs of your build (i.e. what size/type of fittings and tubing to use) I'm sure that the folks at OC will be able to tell you and guide you to buy the right stuff.

Watercooling feels scary because it's water, and water + electronics = bad. But if you take your time, plan your moves, and take care, you'll be totally fine. There are loads of videos on how to do it, so just watch and watch and watch until you're feeling comfortable. Inspect your PC so that you know how it was put together, where the fill & drain openings are, etc.

My recommendation, personally, would be to remove the GPUs and run the watercooling purely on the CPU for now. Run the 3080 on air until there is a clear outcome on the crashing of current cards. Waterblocks for GPUs are coming, and you can fit a water block once you're fully ready to.

By the way: mad props to Overclockers for building a watercooled system that has required zero maintenance over 6 years

Con Man · 28 Sep 2020 at 17:19

Thanks guys for the advice.

Looking at the issues with Nvidia at the moment I may well hold off for a bit to see how it all pans out.

Good tip on the YouTube videos as well. I am very wary as I have done loads of air cooled builds but this is something totally new.

Giles also agree. 6 years and this puppy is still going without any issues, thus far , is a credit to the guys at OC for sure

mickyflinn · 28 Sep 2020 at 17:37

Con Man said:
Thanks guys for the advice.

Looking at the issues with Nvidia at the moment I may well hold off for a bit to see how it all pans out.

Good tip on the YouTube videos as well. I am very wary as I have done loads of air cooled builds but this is something totally new.

Giles also agree. 6 years and this puppy is still going without any issues, thus far , is a credit to the guys at OC for sure

If you decide to water cool your 3080 make sure you pick s manufacturer who doesn't void the warranty by removing the air cooler.

Con Man · 28 Sep 2020 at 17:38

mickyflinn said:
If you decide to water cool your 3080 make sure you pick s manufacturer who doesn't void the warranty by removing the air cooler.

Ok that’s a really good tip. Will source from OCUK but will be sure to check that first.

koooowweeee · 29 Sep 2020 at 07:33

Where are you based? Maybe someone can help you out

Con Man · 29 Sep 2020 at 07:39

East Northamptonshire but I guess with COVID at the moment this sort of thing is a bit more difficult but you never know.