Water cooling a GTX480

Shtanto

I got a free GTX480 from college last week. The next day my MS relapsed in a big way. Despite this, I managed to get it installed and running. Then I realised the fan is super noisy. So I figured I'd give water cooling a go.

http://shop.aquacomputer.de/product_info.php?products_id=2487 appears to be the block I need. Now I need a pump, reservoir and tubing. Do I need anything else? Danger den are no more. Most of their pumps were rebranded anyway. As you may suspect, my sensibilities have so far meant I mostly used air cooling solutions. Anything >25dB is fine by me. Noctua fans, by and large. It seems watercooling is an investment. Air cooling is cheaper no doubt, but which is quieter?

So I can either
A: build a water cooling loop and hope that it'll be quieter or
B: go for a quiet fan mod on the card.

Those of you who read my earlier thread will be pleased to hear that yes, the card does indeed run on a 750W PSU. That 60A single rail seems to be doing the trick.

My referencing thread is here: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/277130-29-read-first-watercooling-sticky

A or B though?

jumbobreakfast

You could experiment with MSI Afterburner to override the automatic fan speeds. I dont have much experience with 480s, I know they run hot but with Afterburner you can easily set several different fan speeds depending on temperatures and perhaps you dont need to run the fans on 100% at all. You should also make sure that your PC is ventilated properly, simple things like the rear exhaust fans blowing air into your PC instead of out can make a big difference too (hold a thin sheet of paper near it to see which way it is blowing if you're not sure). I'm sure someone here will chime in with better advice on ventilation.

Also, make sure that check that all fans on the 480 are actually spinning as well (take a look)

edit: you can also underclock the card with Afterburner which would also keep the temps and hence the fanspeed down

edit2: Please do some research before doing any of this or wait for someone with more experience to give you some advice, I'm just throwing out suggestions but I reckon that watercooling is a bit expensive for a card that's 4 generations old (still a great card though)

BloodBath

Didn't see this post but wouldn't buying a new quiet card make more sense than buying water cooling for an old hot and noisy card.

Shtanto

Of course it would, but the card was free. And if I can water cool this, I can water cool anything

BloodBath

Then sell it and buy a new card. It still makes more sense.

Shtanto

Yeah, but selling an OEM bulk card without even a box is a tricky proposition. Technically speaking, it still belongs to IT Tallaght, so it's not really mine to sell. But I got modification approval before the end of the semester.

Gear is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. It's going to be a fun weekend.