Got water cooling - now I’m trapped!

[pegot]

So I just embarked on the wonderful world of water cooling - thanks to the folks at EKWB for making a new affordable entry level beginners kit (all aluminum). And although I made plenty of mistakes during the build (some my fault, some due to what I felt was the lack of instruction in just a few crucial areas in EK’s otherwise excellent documentation), my system is half way through the suggested 24 hr. leak test.

Everything appears to be working properly and I can’t wait to take off the paper toweling currently warped around my components and reveal the beauty of my two 1080 ti’s (one in the water block and one a hybrid).

But I realize now that my GPU’s are pretty much locked in. I will not be able to just pop them out if there is a problem. Even the Hybrid can’t be easily removed because the tubes from the other GPU’s water block are in the way (not to mention the hybrid’s mounted radiator and fan).

Just wondering how other people deal with that? My previous machine is a Hackintosh and there were many situations where I needed to remove the GPU’s to try and solve some boot or display issue.

My current water cooled machine, for the time being, will be strictly Windows 10 so I think I can avoid lots of those kinds of issues. But still - this lack of flexibility preventing one from easily removing or moving things around is a bit sobering.

Are there techniques that allow removal of just parts of the cooling system without having to drain the entire loop? With EK’s new aluminum kits there currently aren’t any available expansion or accessory options (they are saying expansion parts will be be coming later in the year). So I’m wondering if its possible to just clamp parts of the tubing so that a component can be removed?

And what are some of the ways of doing this in a normal (non aluminum) system?

[smicha]

First - watercooling does not make any sense for 3 GPUs (even 4 with my new case that will appear soon - with a single slot distance between aircooled gpus for great temps and lower noise). Second - mixing watercooled gpus and hybrids (pretty noisy)... is also not a good direction. 3rd - all gpus for watercooling (4-11) shall be all the same. Yes - it is more work to replace a WC gpu compared to aircooled one but with a well designed loop and a valve it shall take no more than 5-10 minutes. Always put the valve at the lowest point of the loop....

PS send some photos of your machine to let us see what may cause problems...

[pegot]

First - watercooling does not make any sense for 3 GPUs (even 4 with my new case that will appear soon - with a single slot distance between aircooled gpus for great temps and lower noise). Second - mixing watercooled gpus and hybrids (pretty noisy)... is also not a good direction. 3rd - all gpus for watercooling (4-11) shall be all the same. Yes - it is more work to replace a WC gpu compared to aircooled one but with a well designed loop and a valve it shall take no more than 5-10 minutes. Always put the valve at the lowest point of the loop....

PS send some photos of your machine to let us see what may cause problems...

Thanks Smicha. Yes I'll take some photos. In my case the water cooling on the two GPU's is definitely making a difference. Running Octane Bench my temps on those two WC cards never got past 44 c and mostly stayed at around 40 - 42c. The bottom air cooled card I think shot up to around 75-80c. Those were the temps for three air cooled cards in my previous computer - which sometimes even went up to 85 and 90 (two two cards in that system used reference blowers).

I wanted to keep the same card type but the hybrid I had already gotten was an SC2 and the EK aluminum water cooling kit did not support those, so I had to get SC1 for the its water block. Also I used a hybrid because my WC kit only included one waster block and I didn't want to purchase an entire new kit just for that plus I don't think the 240mm radiator is big enough to cool a CPU + 2 GPU. I can't add a water block to the 780 because the aluminum kits only support series 10 cards. So my plan is to eventually replace that 780 with another 1080ti. And by that time there should be a few more options available to the aluminum kits, such as a larger radiator. Hopeful when those expansion options do come there will be a draining valve add-on, which the current kits do not include

I imagine some here might be a bit critical of the new EK aluminum systems but I must say that for an absolute beginner like me it really opened the door to water cooling in an easy and low cost way. I wouldn't have attempted it were it not for these kits. I did make a few mistakes in set up but was able to reverse and correct. And the cost was low enough that I didn't stress too much. Also now I understand how to do this much better and my next system will employ a more efficient metal with better expansion options.

[pegot]

Here are the pics of my set up. I have a Corsair Air 540 case which is divided into two champers.

I originally wanted to mount the pump / reservoir horizontally on the back of the case in chamber 2 (where the PSU and drives reside). But after checking with the EK rep they advised against that as the unit was designed for the pump to lay vertical. He said while other customers do take the risk and mount the unit horizontially, it does void the warranty if something happens. So I decided to play it safe and the only other place it would fit was inside the 5.25" drive bays.

I also plotted out the fan directions in one of the photos. I didn't mount the radiator in the front as intake because that would mean mounting the radiator for the hybrid on top and I don't think I would have been able to use all of my fans then. Not sure if my choices were optimal but this was my thinking:

Two fans bring in cold air from the bottom.

The back fan towards the top pushes out the raising hot air.

The Hybrid fand pushes onto its radiator and expels hot air out the top front of the case (i'm assuming this hot air will not be re-circulated back into the case as it will rise above the two bottom intake fans).

And at the very top the two fans push out air from the main 240mm radiator.

[Notiusweb]

But I realize now that my GPU’s are pretty much locked in. I will not be able to just pop them out if there is a problem. Even the Hybrid can’t be easily removed because the tubes from the other GPU’s water block are in the way (not to mention the hybrid’s mounted radiator and fan).

Just wondering how other people deal with that? My previous machine is a Hackintosh and there were many situations where I needed to remove the GPU’s to try and solve some boot or display issue.

My current water cooled machine, for the time being, will be strictly Windows 10 so I think I can avoid lots of those kinds of issues. But still - this lack of flexibility preventing one from easily removing or moving things around is a bit sobering.

Are there techniques that allow removal of just parts of the cooling system without having to drain the entire loop? With EK’s new aluminum kits there currently aren’t any available expansion or accessory options (they are saying expansion parts will be be coming later in the year). So I’m wondering if its possible to just clamp parts of the tubing so that a component can be removed?

And what are some of the ways of doing this in a normal (non aluminum) system?

Okay, first, take into consideration everything Smich says, he is a pro at this. However, your rig is your rig now, and you can do whatever the heck you want. Nobody has to justify what you did as correct. I give you credit for taking the step towards getting what you wanted, I am proud that you are proud. IT IS YOURS.
And , you will have doubts no matter what, this is normal and quite honestly advisable if you are watercooling. Imagine if you said, "Yes, everything's gonna be 100% fine!!!" (Not a good start point!)

In Smicha's rig he is trapped x11 . I am trapped x3, twice. 2 separate loops of 3...my Titan Zs go up to 80 so easy because they are dual GPU on air, so I am actually cooling 6 GPU cores. I see you are also cooling your CPU. In my rig I am also, but with one of those separate fan-based coolers. The fact that you are trapped comes with the territory and you did nothing wrong. If you need to unwind the system, then that is what you do. Drain outside where possible, then towel area when you unhook tubing. There is no magic way around it. Go slow, do not rush or be in a hurry. I have been there many times and made some mistakes, luckily my GPUs have lived to tell the tales.
YOU WILL DRIP WATER. That's what water is supposed to do, but you will master it if you follow a protocol of organized pacing. Buy zip-lock bags, easier if you use the slide-close ones, and place loose tubing immediately inside those while you unhook and work. The little plastic bags can fit any direction and position, and will capture loose water. You can even put a paper towel inside the bag and the put the loose tubing inside that....like a diaper.

You opened the door to rig building in more ways than just watercooling, you will see.
As far as Octane, If you see your temps at 40 vs 80, you are going to get better rendering speeds, no doubt. This is power, embrace it!

[smicha]

I agree with Notiusweb - this is a great move that you moved to water. The most important is that it works.

If you don't have a dedicated valve at the lowest point of the loop you may always use quick disconnects on the longest and lowest tubing in your loop - this is what I still have in my personal machine.

[pegot]

Buy zip-lock bags, easier if you use the slide-close ones, and place loose tubing immediately inside those while you unhook and work. The little plastic bags can fit any direction and position, and will capture loose water. You can even put a paper towel inside the bag and the put the loose tubing inside that....like a diaper.

Thanks Notiusweb - the zip bags are a great idea.

Smicha - when you mention 'Quick Disconnects' is that a specific part or piece of equipment you're referring to or do you just mean unfasten the bottom tube really fast from the component?

[smicha]

Buy zip-lock bags, easier if you use the slide-close ones, and place loose tubing immediately inside those while you unhook and work. The little plastic bags can fit any direction and position, and will capture loose water. You can even put a paper towel inside the bag and the put the loose tubing inside that....like a diaper.

Thanks Notiusweb - the zip bags are a great idea.

Smicha - when you mention 'Quick Disconnects' is that a specific part or piece of equipment you're referring to or do you just mean unfasten the bottom tube really fast from the component?

Look at gen 4
http://koolance.com/help-quick-disconne ... -couplings

if you have more questions I will be pleased to answer them