Planning Water cooling pump + reservoir for GPU Loop

Hi Guys,

I'm planning to have a water cooling loop to only cool my GPU (HD6950) as I already have a Corsair H50 for the CPU (i'm happy with this).

I'm looking for a "Pump and reservoir" combo unit, that can be sealed easily so i don't have to worry about it! I'd prefer it to be one unit, and not two seperate items.. something like this looks ok:
http://www.overclock.co.uk/product/XSPC-X2O-Compact-450-12v-Water-Pump-and-Reservoir_39679.html

At some point in the future i'll probably get a CPU block to go in the loop, but for now its just the GPU..

At a price point, I don't plan on spending much (£40? Preferably less if i can get away with it!) and so it doesn't need to be the best of the best, just something to get me by!

Any ideas/recommendations? Would be much appreciated!

 

If you want to go that route have a look at the XSPC 5.25 bay mounted combos, if you've got spare bays it sorts out any mounting probs you might have or finding space for the pump.

 

Get a 2nd hand H50/70, remove the old cooler and strap it in

Plenty of folk have done it.

 

Thats exactly what i was going to do.. (with another H50 i have)

The only issues are that...

1. The H50 has the tubes coming out vertically, and so would take up the 3rd PCI slot
2. The 4 mounting holes are the exact same place as the 'ring' that holds the H50 unit in, so some serious bracket would need to be fabricated..
3. The location I want to put the radiator, the tubes aren't long enough so i'd have to cut them off and buy some longer ones.. (not a huge issue but still one none-the-less)
4. The stock heatsink for the HD6950 appears to have the copper fins glued to the black aluminium that cools the RAM and VRMs... so i'd have to buy this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/270817407294?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_1313wt_1037

So instead, I thought about getting a full waterblock for it, and i've already got a 120 rad and then just simply get a pump/res combo unit and some tubes and pipe it all up

I know the modding would be the cheapest route as i already have all the bits, but i want this unit to be reliable and not have risk of leaking, and also the mounting wouldn't be as easy as the other mods (as the 4 mount holes are further apart on the GTX480) and unless i can remove the copper fins from the black aluminium i'll still have to buy that heatsink i linked..

Ideally i'd need a H70 or one of the waterblocks which is flat, and doesn't stick out vertically.. and that doesn't have a wide a "ring" that holds the block on.. I can post photos of all these tomorrow to illustrate my points

Any more thoughts?

 

Chopping up a H50 is just not worth the agro. I not to sure what the pipe diameter is on them but you could run into probs getting a good seal on it. It would be best to go the proper water cooling route and put everything where you want it and saving yourself a lot of potential agro in the process.

 

Yeah i agree with you there,

In regard to your suggestion of pump/res, I would prefer something smaller (like the one i linked (XSPC X2O 450)) as it is not going into a standard case (going into a G5 that i modded) so ideally I'm going to try and mount the pump onto the GPU block to make it like an enclosed loop system..

But thats kinda thinking ahead, i'd like to have a few options for pumps as i can't really find any that fit my needs!

There are many that are "TOPS" that go onto a normal pump, but I'm finding it a little difficult to find ones that are compatible, and then coming to a reasonable price (£80 is to expensive)

 

If you want a combo you're a bit limited, it's some thing like the one you've picked or a bay mounted combo. Most of the time every one goes for separates any way. I use 2 of the XSPC 750 combos and I rate them very highly. The smaller single bay 250 is ok for a single component loop.

 

this is what i've just got.. which is a res and pump combined...

http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/12V-DC-Magicool-Pump-Inc-Reservoir-With-G18_11017.html

Does the trick.. my only problem is i was struggling for space and this seemed a good compromise!
The only downside is that it doesn't let you know how much water you have in the system!

 

I would suggest EK 2.2 pump and this small reservoir.

pump
It's very small and perfect for gpu loop. I use this for my GTX580 and it is perfect.



I actually have this res for sale here

 

Neither of us would be able to see that.. as we dont have enough posts!
Though that looks like it might make a nice replacement for mine as well!