Good morning bit-tech I'm just asking this question before bed, not really expecting many answers before lunch tomorrow so I'll check back in then I'm considering the possibility of liquid cooling my FT02 when I get it. What I'm cooling is; i7 980x @ 4 GHz. GTX 295 on Koolance NV-295. EVGA X58 Classified (3x SLI version) with Koolance full cover blocks. And my question is whether or not that hardware config could be cooled effectively by a single loop with one HWLabs 560mm SR1 (driven by a pair of D5s in series)? The FT02 really only has space for one radiator, and that's the biggest one that will fit. I'm a bit worried that all of that hardware would be slightly too much for one rad, even the monstrous 560mm SR1. I'd also like to have some headroom for upgrades - the 295 being one of the things that I'd like to upgrade sometime in the next 12 months. I know it's an ancient card compared to some of the newer generation cards, but it does exactly what I need it to do at the moment and it looks awesome with the Koolance sandwich block illuminated between the two PCBs, so I'll make it last as long as possible! Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!
I appreciate the link to a very useful guide, but this isn't my first rodeo! I've been building liquid cooled rigs since before it was mainstream I've never used an SR1 though, hence the question So you reckon it'll cope with that hot-hot-hot 980x and GTX 295? Come to think of it, the chipset on the EVGA gets pretty hot too. It's a big ask to put that all in one loop and ask one radiator to keep it all cool, is the SR1 really that good?
well how many watts in total does your watercooled hardware pull? Obviously it would also depend on your fan setup, but whilst I'm not sure about the 295's heat, I know it would cool a 500 series card and an i7 easily
The 980x has a 130W TDP, the dual PCB 295 is 298W and the board is bound to produce in excess of 20W when it's being pushed hard, because without a 60mm cooling fan on the heatsink on air, it BSODs with the 980x @ 4GHz. I have seen mention on the EVGA forums of the X58 ICH on the Classified 3xSLI having a TDP as high as 25W, so overall I'd call it about 455W. By the way, I should mention that the 12GB of Dominator GT RAM in this system is kept under control by a Corsair air cooler, which does the job just fine. I have no interest in liquid cooling the memory in this one.
well if you felt confident with a dremel id suggest this http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop...m-180mm-Triple-Radiator--Black-pid-15191.html if not you could pick up the dual 180mm rad as im pretty sure that would fit without modding ( you could likely send them an email asking for a printout of its dimensions http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/Magicool-Slim-180mm-Dual-Radiator--Black-pid-15190.html now THAT is a thing of beauty, especially since silverstone just released the AP182s now if only i had the funding
Confidence with a Dremel will never be an issue with me - I'm well experienced, even though I prefer to get case modifications cut by water jet these days - it's just faster and more accurate. But seriously though, I've modified more cases in the past than there are topics on the first page of the "project logs" forum. That being said, I'm now confused - does a triple 180mm radiator not just fit straight to this case once the bottom fans and mounts are removed? It's a triple 180mm fan mount, after all... Even though it would be easy for me to do, I don't particularly want to modify limited edition FT02-WRI that I'm getting. I want to make the liquid cooling gear (which in this case is just the radiator) fit without modifying the chassis at all if possible (except for maybe removing the lower drive cage which can easily be put back in again). Which radiator this is possible with (excluding the use of Silverstone's included radiator bracket) is what I'm confused about. I blame the guys on Xtremesystems for confusing me really, I'm going to have to do a little more digging to find out what will fit without modification. Also, the rig you posted is nice, but a bit untidy by my standards. If I was using a triple 180, it would end up looking more like this; Also note how that guy got a single 120mm in the top by using a push/pull fan config to offset the radiator from the case. This one uses a quad 140 from XSPC and looks nice also; But like I said, I want to avoid cutting the limited edition FT02 up, so if the triple 180mm rad will fit on the stock fan mounts and will be enough to keep my hardware cool, I'll go with that. If it's not enough to keep my hardware cool, I'll keep the limited edition case air cooled and maybe get a standard FT02 to modify for a liquid cooled system in the future. So, new questions; 1) Will a 3.180mm radiator fit in the case without modification? 2) If not, what will? 2) If so, will it be enough to keep the system cool? I could add a second, 1.120mm rad at the top of the case as above.
I'm putting this in a new post to stop myself from getting confused later, even though it probably is double posting. Sorry mods :/ So, 5 minutes after I posted ^that^, I had my answer - This is an FT02 chassis which shows the 180mm fan mounts; Note how there are no actual fan "mounts" as in no square spaced 180mm screw mounting holes. This means that even if I wanted to mount the radiator on top of 3x 120mm fans, I would have to cut the chassis grills for airflow and drill square spaced fan mounting holes, none of which would be particularly difficult for me to achieve, but also none of which I would feel good about doing to a limited edition FT02-WRI case. The UK only got about 3-400 of these, and I don't think that I can bring myself to modify one, even though I would be having it cut by water jet and it would look factory cut. For the record, this is the first case that I've said that about - usually I'm plugging the Dremel in before I even open the box on a new case, because I already know what I want to modify on it and how I'm going to do it. I had my big aluminium Akasa Eclipse 62 (the most expensive case I'd bought to date back then) cut up an hour after it arrived in the workshop, and the same went for my Antec P160 before that, and more recently the Lian-Li A05, which went to the factory for some water jetting the day after I got it. This one is different though. I don't think I can bring myself to cut up that amazing red chassis. So, I will probably just keep this one air cooled and get another FT02 for that liquid cooled LGA 2011 rig that I'd like to build myself next year
I ran an overclocked GTX 295 and a heavily overclocked i7 920 off two skinny rads - one 360mm and one 240mm. 3x180 is about 30% more rad and should be ample.
You are asking a beginner-type question, so you are getting a beginner-type answer. In any case I found phoenixck's link a very useful read, and I'm not exactly new to the topic myself. A 560 SR-1 is more than enough for your needs, and yes, they really are that good. People always overstimate the size of the radiator needed. In that respect the table in phoenixck's linked article is fairly conservative --at a push you can cool 250W per 120/140 fan radiator, with fan at medium RPM. Keep in mind that 180mm fan radiators provide relatively less increase in capacity for their size as 180mm fans are not yet as developed as their smaller brethren, and generate less static pressure.
Looking at the topic from someone else's point of view, that's a perfectly valid point. Apologies if I sounded unappreciative For now, I've decided that it's in my best interests to use the FT02-WRI to keep my current hardware air cooled and possibly transfer it to an ordinary FT02 down the line, which I'll be more than happy to modify, and then put a new LGA2011 system in the FT02-WRI on air. The reason I wouldn't liquid cool the newer LGA2011 system is because I already have blocks for all of the current hardware - the 1366 socket (980x), the X58 Classified board and the GTX 295. When I do eventually get a standard FT02 to cut up, I'll use the 3.180mm rad, which seems to be the best fit for the case
Also remember, you would only have to deal with that large a TDP when running some HEAVY tasks, which should mean gaming, which should mean loud explosions, which in turn should mean that you could put Deltas on those rads and still not hear a thing over the thunder in your ears.
I usually game with headphones on, yeah. I'd still like the rig that lives in my room to be whisper quiet though, because I do use it without headphones on at times, and occasionally leave it on all night.
I was just going to ask what's so special about the Silverstone FT02-WRI. Then I Googled some pictures of it. I can understand your reluctance to cut into it.
Yes, it's a very limited edition and as you can see, a very pretty thing straight out of the box! I'm 100% sure I won't mod it, but unfortunately I'm also 100% sure that I want a modded, liquid cooled FT02 at some point
Ahaha, brilliant! I could, easily too One 20 minute drive and a one day lead time and I could have that sucker powder coated any colour on the RAL chart The problem is that I've already agreed to buy the WRI from the marketplace En plus, it's the one I've wanted for a couple of years
Yeah, and there's nothing like having The Real Thing. You might built your own copy of a Ferrari F40, but it still won't be a Ferrari. Just a copy.
Just mod it! Take your time, plan your changes and it will look awesome. At the moment your case is rare.......... mod it and make it unique.
Absolutely right! That's a very relevant analogy You're right and part of me wants to do it, but at the same time I don't think I can bring myself to actually do it. I'll see how I feel when it actually gets here. I may change my mind, but honestly, if I was going to do a full liquid cooled system in an FT02 (knowing now that it's not as plug and play in the "WRI" than I thought) I would want a different chassis colour to red. See? I already have ideas
