Adding a GPU to my loop

[Bastiaan_NL]

That's a sweet pump E!

I decided to go with a normal D5, but it took some time to make up my mind.

Pretty sure it'll serve you well the coming years!

[Supercrumpet]

That's a sweet pump E!

I decided to go with a normal D5, but it took some time to make up my mind.

Pretty sure it'll serve you well the coming years!

 

I've seen them before, but I never actually set one up and I've forgotten where they're from... how did you set up your folding stats in your signature?

[Bastiaan_NL]

 

I've seen them before, but I never actually set one up and I've forgotten where they're from... how did you set up your folding stats in your signature?

 

PB ?

[J7SC_Orion]

 

Yeah will be sure to post pics. It will not look like a showcase build as mine are more for purpose than looks and I use trusty EPDM tubing for low maintenance but it will be interesting nonetheless. Yeah the D5 Next was a fair bit more expensive than I thought but I treat it as an investment as it will hopefully not only serve me for a long time but is also an AIO solution as it comes with the flow meter etc and will give me some nice statistics to look at on Aquasuite haha.

 

Yeah the X570 luckily is supporting the next gen, though I may not go next gen. My 3950X is working great for me and is fantastic middle ground for workstation and gaming. It gives me PCIe 4.0 for my M.2 drives and future GPU. There is no need to really upgrade to the next gen, I would rather wait it out and do another build when DDR5 is commonplace, or even PCIe 5.0 as I know that standard is not a million miles away either. Upgrading now I think would be more spending money for the sake of spending money with very little gain.

 

 

I know what you mean...I have been thinking about upgrading from the 2950X / X399 / dual 2080 Tis but there really is no need, at least not yet. The 2950X is a good sample (low-v, high oc, strong IMC) and I use 4K monitors, so GPUs carry a bit more weight in upgrade decisions. Also, I need HEDT work-wise.

 

That superb 3950X / X570 Aqua should last you for quite a while; still, it is good to have an upgrade path if / when you want to exercise that option. BTW, how do you like that EVGA 1600 Supernova P2 ?

 

 

[ENTERPRISE]

 

 

I know what you mean...I have been thinking about upgrading from the 2950X / X399 / dual 2080 Tis but there really is no need, at least not yet. The 2950X is a good sample (low-v, high oc, strong IMC) and I use 4K monitors, so GPUs carry a bit more weight in upgrade decisions. Also, I need HEDT work-wise.

 

That superb 3950X / X570 Aqua should last you for quite a while; still, it is good to have an upgrade path if / when you want to exercise that option. BTW, how do you like that EVGA 1600 Supernova P2 ?

 

 

No, with a system like yours there is no real compelling need to upgrade. The only thing I am upgrading in my system will be to the 3080Ti when that surfaces, selling my SLI setup (actually already sold one) and will go with a single GPU solution moving forward but wanted to include it in my WC loop instead of the more bulky GPU's or GPU with an AIO WC solution.

 

The EVGA 1600 Supernova P2 has never caused me any issues at all (Touch wood), it is actually a little overkill. When I had the 2990WX and the dual 2080Ti's + Overclocks I thought it prudent to go a little over the top, I prefer more headroom than less. I also chose it after doing some research, the oem producer of the psu is SuperFlower and they have a grand reputation (among others) for creating quality units.

[J7SC_Orion]

 

No, with a system like yours there is no real compelling need to upgrade. The only thing I am upgrading in my system will be to the 3080Ti when that surfaces, selling my SLI setup (actually already sold one) and will go with a single GPU solution moving forward but wanted to include it in my WC loop instead of the more bulky GPU's or GPU with an AIO WC solution.

 

The EVGA 1600 Supernova P2 has never caused me any issues at all (Touch wood), it is actually a little overkill. When I had the 2990WX and the dual 2080Ti's + Overclocks I thought it prudent to go a little over the top, I prefer more headroom than less. I also chose it after doing some research, the oem producer of the psu is SuperFlower and they have a grand reputation (among others) for creating quality units.

 

 

Tx...I also wonder what the specs of the 3080 Ti will be, including on power consumption....not least as the just-announced Ampere A100 7nm workstation card at 6192 Cudas / 40GB HBM2 is rated at 400W @ ~ 1.41 Ghz, according to AnandTech (repeated below) - and that apparently is still not the full-fat die GA100, which has not yet been revealed.

 

3080 Ti is unlikely to have the 6192 Cuda and respective Tensor cores (though it is all just guessing at this stage) and likely will come with a smaller GDDR6 VRAM set. But still - 400W @ ~ 1.41 for a 7nm is a lot, though it has 54 billion transistors...May be I should stock up on SuperFlower's LEADEX Platinum 2000W PSUs, HeHe

 

Edited May 17, 2020 by J7SC_Orion

[ENTERPRISE]

 

 

Tx...I also wonder what the specs of the 3080 Ti will be, including on power consumption....not least as the just-announced Ampere A100 7nm workstation card at 6192 Cudas / 40GB HBM2 is rated at 400W @ ~ 1.41 Ghz, according to AnandTech (repeated below) - and that apparently is still not the full-fat die GA100, which has not yet been revealed.

 

3080 Ti is unlikely to have the 6192 Cuda and respective Tensor cores (though it is all just guessing at this stage) and likely will come with a smaller GDDR6 VRAM set. But still - 400W @ ~ 1.41 for a 7nm is a lot, though it has 54 billion transistors...May be I should stock up on SuperFlower's LEADEX Platinum 2000W PSUs, HeHe

 

 

At this point it really is a guessing game on the 3080Ti. I think we will still see 12GB V-RAM, especially now it looks like they will be using tensor cores to do some funky memory compression. The full fat GA100 IMHO will be the new Titan card. I thing this gen there will be a larger disparity between the new Titans and RTX cards. This gen...there was really little reason to go for a Titan unless you needed the extra VRAM. This must have eaten into the profits Nvidia could have seen from the Titan cards this gen. I think we will see Cuda count at the upper end of the 5000's. I think when you start nearing the 6000+ mark you are entering the Titan range. The earlier rumors of a card at the 8000 range of Cuda cores I think is a little out there. In any case it is all best guess right now. The new rumored tech coming out for the new RTX range though is exciting to say the least, it really does show that Turing really was a Beta. Which I knew going into it that it was obvious that the second gen ray tracing would be far superior, especially considering we know NV were moving to a smaller node.

 

Haha yeah, they are really good PSU's from what I hear, just not cheap, but you get what you pay for, well most of the time lol.

[J7SC_Orion]

 

At this point it really is a guessing game on the 3080Ti. I think we will still see 12GB V-RAM, especially now it looks like they will be using tensor cores to do some funky memory compression. The full fat GA100 IMHO will be the new Titan card. I thing this gen there will be a larger disparity between the new Titans and RTX cards. This gen...there was really little reason to go for a Titan unless you needed the extra VRAM. This must have eaten into the profits Nvidia could have seen from the Titan cards this gen. I think we will see Cuda count at the upper end of the 5000's. I think when you start nearing the 6000+ mark you are entering the Titan range. The earlier rumors of a card at the 8000 range of Cuda cores I think is a little out there. In any case it is all best guess right now. The new rumored tech coming out for the new RTX range though is exciting to say the least, it really does show that Turing really was a Beta. Which I knew going into it that it was obvious that the second gen ray tracing would be far superior, especially considering we know NV were moving to a smaller node.

 

Haha yeah, they are really good PSU's from what I hear, just not cheap, but you get what you pay for, well most of the time lol.

 

 

Yeah, the RTX launch was a bit odd. That includes the closely-spaced release of the Titan RTX with only marginal gains for twice the costs compared to the 2080 Ti (unless the extra VRAM was crucial to given apps)...perhaps all rushed because of the mining collapse ? I'm taking my time re. a potential 3080 Ti upgrade as I want to know more about AMD's upcoming flagship, and even NVidia's 'Hopper'. Add to that the much stronger performance and applicability of DLSS 2.0 even for current RTX cards...

 

That said, on the 'mini-enterprise' level, NVidia's Ampere DGX-3 'mGPU' actually looks like a deal for a given set of companies...8x A100 GPUs, 600gb/s NVlink bridges (non-SLI), 2x 64c/128t AMD CPUs and on and on...about half price of the current version but with much higher performance...since NVidia is not in the charity business, they must be expecting some stiff competition in that lucrative space from Intel and/or AMD and their next-gens (and are perhaps even pulling Hopper ahead for that).

 

All in all, this should mean a whole busload of architectural trickle-down tech for consumer and prosumer cards

 

Edited May 17, 2020 by J7SC_Orion

[ENTERPRISE]

 

 

Yeah, the RTX launch was a bit odd. That includes the closely-spaced release of the Titan RTX with only marginal gains for twice the costs compared to the 2080 Ti (unless the extra VRAM was crucial to given apps)...perhaps all rushed because of the mining collapse ? I'm taking my time re. a potential 3080 Ti upgrade as I want to know more about AMD's upcoming flagship, and even NVidia's 'Hopper'. Add to that the much stronger performance and applicability of DLSS 2.0 even for current RTX cards...

 

That said, on the 'mini-enterprise' level, NVidia's Ampere DGX-3 'mGPU' actually looks like a deal for a given set of companies...8x A100 GPUs, 600gb/s NVlink bridges (non-SLI), 2x 64c/128t AMD CPUs and on and on...about half price of the current version but with much higher performance...since NVidia is not in the charity business, they must be expecting some stiff competition in that lucrative space from Intel and/or AMD and their next-gens (and are perhaps even pulling Hopper ahead for that).

 

All in all, this should mean a whole busload of architectural trickle-down tech for consumer and prosumer cards

 

The current gen was rushed out due to the mining crisis, that and I think they wanted the foothold on hardware driven realtime ray tracing as soon as they could. I think they know AMD is making some larger strides in the GPU game and wanted to get Turing out to claim the ray tracing crown while they worked on their non beta test generation...Ampere.

 

I honestly think if AMD were not competing in the ray tracing until later that we would only have been introduced to ray tracing with Ampere.

 

To be honest we have the next gen consoles partly to thank for pushing AMD which I think in turn forced Nvidia to rush out Turing. These are all just theories.

 

Nvidia not doing charity work ? I never knew !

[ENTERPRISE]

Hey guys,

 

So I got my loop sorted 99%. The only issue I have is I notice that in one of the lower corners of the resevoir, I see some leakage, but only a very tiny one where I can see the coolant glisten when it is at the surface. Note that it does not seem to build up and leak over the edge as such just stays at the surface. I did dry it with a cotton bud but it does come back. I did wonder if it was a pressurization issue as it has happened to me before but it settled down after a little while. I have not left it all that long this time as of yet, but wanted to get an opinion. I am hoping it settles as I dont fancy bleeding the system again do a res reseat (The Glass cylinder to Gaskets, with this res there is one on the bottom and one at the top, I did check to make sure all the bolts were tight and they are.

 

It may not even be anything to worry about. I took a picture, although difficult in the current lighting to show you were it is occuring.

 

 

 

[J7SC_Orion]

Bummer ! But at least you noticed it early enough. Loop pressure should not be able to do that within normal parameters. Can you actually tell exactly where the 'leak' is coming from on the reservoir (i.e. is the area where you see it also the source or just the collection point due to gravity etc) ? Or could it possibly even be condensation, or does it match your loop liquid ?

 

I ask because I have used the stuff below on leaking cooling blocks for a PC to great effect, as well as fixing a huge fuel line for the carb in a car I had at the time (the fix lasted for at least another 200k km before I sold that beast).

 

[ENTERPRISE]

Bummer ! But at least you noticed it early enough. Loop pressure should not be able to do that within normal parameters. Can you actually tell exactly where the 'leak' is coming from on the reservoir (i.e. is the area where you see it also the source or just the collection point due to gravity etc) ? Or could it possibly even be condensation, or does it match your loop liquid ?

 

I ask because I have used the stuff below on leaking cooling blocks for a PC to great effect, as well as fixing a huge fuel line for the carb in a car I had at the time (the fix lasted for at least another 200k km before I sold that beast).

 

Well that is a good question, all I know is the coolant is only visible in that corner and nowhere else. It is for sure not condensation. I wonder whether or not I should drain the loop and take out the glass tube and re-seat it. I Looked at the gaskets before putting the loop back together and looked just fine. I could use the sealant you recommended but may see if I can fix the issue at the source. If I did use the sealant I assume I would just apply it to the affected corner on the exterior ?

 

Wondering if anyone else applies anything to the gaskets prior to putting in the tube to "Aid" the seal ?

[ENTERPRISE]

*Update* Drained the system. Had a look at Watercool.de for replacement Gaskets, going to get myself some of those. Interestingly I did not realise that each res due to machining tolerances can come with different sized O-rings 55x4 or 55x5. Now apparently when replacing the O-rings you should measure them and replace like for like, but if my O-rings are 55x4 I may be tempted to try the 55x5 ones.

[J7SC_Orion]

*Update* Drained the system. Had a look at Watercool.de for replacement Gaskets, going to get myself some of those. Interestingly I did not realise that each res due to machining tolerances can come with different sized O-rings 55x4 or 55x5. Now apparently when replacing the O-rings you should measure them and replace like for like, but if my O-rings are 55x4 I may be tempted to try the 55x5 ones.

 

 

...ahh, so the o-ring is the culprit !? Depending on cost, may be get both sets (55z4, 55x5), also for future reference ?

 

BTW, here's another 'gunk' item that can be helpful, for example to (thinly) coat older gaskets and o-rings with. It's non curing (unlike the Seal-all above) which is good for subsequent disassembly. This is the polyurethane version; there's also a silicone-based version. I have this before in 'universal VGA blocks' after taking them apart after noticing a small leak due to a worn o-ring seal (...again, if used, should be thinly applied, and double check list of materials for compatibility)

 

 

 

 

[ENTERPRISE]

 

 

...ahh, so the o-ring is the culprit !? Depending on cost, may be get both sets (55z4, 55x5), also for future reference ?

 

BTW, here's another 'gunk' item that can be helpful, for example to (thinly) coat older gaskets and o-rings with. It's non curing (unlike the Seal-all above) which is good for subsequent disassembly. This is the polyurethane version; there's also a silicone-based version. I have this before in 'universal VGA blocks' after taking them apart after noticing a small leak due to a worn o-ring seal (...again, if used, should be thinly applied, and double check list of materials for compatibility)

 

 

 

 

Well I have ordered a new set of O-Rings which has both sizes. Will measure to see what mine already are and take it from there. Will replace the O-Rings with new ones anyway to remove that as a factor (Kind of hoping im already using the smaller ones so I can see if the bigger ones fix the issue). Also ordered some of that Seal All. If all else fails will use some of that either in places of issues or will maybe try applying it to the top and bottom of the O-Rings which would glue the O-Rings into the base aswell as the glass tube, obviously that has some issues when it comes to maintenance of removing the glass tube later for cleaning but its a worthwhile tradeoff if it works.

[ENTERPRISE]

Another thing, I noticed the top and bottom faces of the glass tube is rough as opposed to smooth which is something I never knew. Not sure if that plays a part in the sealing of the unit (Rough edge to O-Ring).

[ENTERPRISE]

Well an update, a good one I hope. So I drained the rig and I took the glass tub out from the res. Gave it a good clean and cleaned the top and bottom surfaces (that make contact with O-rings) with 99% alcohol to give them a good cleaning. I re-washed the O-rings as well for good measure. I cleaned both the top and bottom crevices that hold the O-rings into place with alcohol to make sure there was nothing sinister lurking. What I did notice is that when I put the glass tube back in last time I put it round the other way round, now as each end is equal this should have made no difference but for good measure I put it back as it was (why break what was a working formula). I tested the rig filled (No pressure) and tested with the loop in action and thus far no leaking at all. So not 100% sure what the cause was but I am going to go with the fact that the bottom o-ring was maybe sitting on a tiny bit of dirt and it was not making full surface contact ? Hard to tell when you have a few factors but as long as it works I am happy lol.

 

Couple of pictures. Some of the looping working looks a little top and tail but I actually did it this way to make sure the tubing gave me good clearance in key areas for maintenance and upgrade reasons. Ultimately it is not meant to look pretty but it needs to function haha.

 

 

Excuse the placeholder Quadro, for testing only lol.

[J7SC_Orion]

Nice. I also like placement for the D5 Next with quick readout...and I gather you did not have to use the new O-rings (good to have some spares, though) ?

 

Another quick question: Is that some sort of valve (green circle) ?

 

 

[ENTERPRISE]

Nice. I also like placement for the D5 Next with quick readout...and I gather you did not have to use the new O-rings (good to have some spares, though) ?

 

Another quick question: Is that some sort of valve (green circle) ?

 

 

I used the existing O-Rings so will have some spares which is handy ! Yes that is right. I put valve fittings on the mobo inlet and outlet aswell as the top rad inlet and outlet. This is purely for upgrades or closing off sections of the loop. The mobo while lovely is difficult to fully drain, so If I removed the compression fittings from it, you would get additional coolant leaking out which I did not fancy, so decided to tap it off so I can disconnect and reconnect at the valves rather than the motherboard. Same principle for the top rad and to avoid gravity being too much off an issue and having surplus coolant from the depths of the rad spilling out.

[J7SC_Orion]

Those valve fittings are a smart idea with a mobo monoblock ! I remember trying to drain a loop with "just" two GPU card blocks and mobo_vrm w-cooled setup for an upgrade, and that was some theater (in the Greek tragic sense). Since then, I do discreet loops for GPU(s) and CPU/VRM anyway, but valve fittings would do the trick even better.

 

Another quick question: Are those hoses / tubes in your pic EK ZMT, or other ? I would like to use EK ZMT for an upcoming workstation build, but also read that EK ZMT only plays nice with EK fittings (not sure if that is true).

[tictoc]

Those valve fittings are a smart idea with a mobo monoblock ! I remember trying to drain a loop with "just" two GPU card blocks and mobo_vrm w-cooled setup for an upgrade, and that was some theater (in the Greek tragic sense). Since then, I do discreet loops for GPU(s) and CPU/VRM anyway, but valve fittings would do the trick even better.

 

Another quick question: Are those hoses / tubes in your pic EK ZMT, or other ? I would like to use EK ZMT for an upcoming workstation build, but also read that EK ZMT only plays nice with EK fittings (not sure if that is true).

 

I've been running ZMT tubing for about the last 5 years. Prior to that I ran norprene tubing. The ZMT does tend to a have an OD that is on the large side of 16mm|5/8". I've yet to have a single fitting not work or leak, but some are a bit tough to tighten down all the way. Currently running the following fittings with 10/16mm ZMT: EK, Monsoon, Bitspower. and Barrow.

[ENTERPRISE]

Those valve fittings are a smart idea with a mobo monoblock ! I remember trying to drain a loop with "just" two GPU card blocks and mobo_vrm w-cooled setup for an upgrade, and that was some theater (in the Greek tragic sense). Since then, I do discreet loops for GPU(s) and CPU/VRM anyway, but valve fittings would do the trick even better.

 

Another quick question: Are those hoses / tubes in your pic EK ZMT, or other ? I would like to use EK ZMT for an upcoming workstation build, but also read that EK ZMT only plays nice with EK fittings (not sure if that is true).

 

I actually have a mix. One of the brands I cannot remember but the main bulk of my EPDM is EK branded. All I can say is they work fine with Barrow fittings. They are a tighter fit on my barrow fittings as they do indeed have a larger OD. However I kind of prefer the tight fit as once you screw that ring down, you know that tube is not going anywhere !

[J7SC_Orion]

 

I've been running ZMT tubing for about the last 5 years. Prior to that I ran norprene tubing. The ZMT does tend to a have an OD that is on the large side of 16mm|5/8". I've yet to have a single fitting not work or leak, but some are a bit tough to tighten down all the way. Currently running the following fittings with 10/16mm ZMT: EK, Monsoon, Bitspower. and Barrow.

 

 

 

I actually have a mix. One of the brands I cannot remember but the main bulk of my EPDM is EK branded. All I can say is they work fine with Barrow fittings. They are a tighter fit on my barrow fittings as they do indeed have a larger OD. However I kind of prefer the tight fit as once you screw that ring down, you know that tube is not going anywhere !

 

 

Thanks gents ! I use some Bitspower fittings (including QDs) which shouldn't represent a problem then w/ ZMT and similar. But I am not sure though about a pile of older Swiftech compression fittings that can get tight even with advanced Primochill PrimoFlex LRT. I should order some EPDM / ZMT and just try it out with all the fitting I have.

 

 

[ENTERPRISE]

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks gents ! I use some Bitspower fittings (including QDs) which shouldn't represent a problem then w/ ZMT and similar. But I am not sure though about a pile of older Swiftech compression fittings that can get tight even with advanced Primochill PrimoFlex LRT. I should order some EPDM / ZMT and just try it out with all the fitting I have.

 

 

I have to admit that I am a sucker for buying new fittings if I am unsure about them, granted sometimes it ends up with me having extra fittings when it turns out the ones I had were fine...but hey, extra fittings are good. Nothing worse on when you cannot complete your loop due to one missing fitting lol.