Watercooling an nVidia 8800gtx videocard

Gryzemuis · Post by **Gryzemuis** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 5:06 am

I used to have a fully watercooled system. I want one again.

AMD3400+ cpu, Radeon9800Pro, SilentMaxx psu. All watercooled with a Resorator1. No airflow through the system. Worked pretty well for 1-2 years. Then one hot day, the memory on the r9800pro melted. I replaced it with a GF7950gx2. Which is aircooled. I didn't dare remove the fan on that card. And a little airflow through the box wouldn't hurt either.

I'm planning to upgrade my machine. DualCore cpu probably. Will be easy to watercool. I'm keeping the SilentMaxx. The biggest problem is the videocard.

I'm planning to buy a 8800gtx. Because the next generation of faster cards might be more than 6 months away. But now I want my videocard watercooled again.

I can see three options:

Buy the BFG 8800gtx that comes with a waterblock installed already.
http://www.bfgtech.com/8800GTX_768_PCIe_wc.html
Unfortunately it seems this card is not sold anywhere in my country (netherlands), nor in neighboring germany.

Buy the new Asus 8800gtx with aquatank.
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1 ... 941,00.asp
However, it seems the card is not available in europe yet. Might take a few weeks. A drawback is that the card comes with its own radiator with fan. That makes noise, so I want to attach the videocard to my resorator. It seems the tubes are different diameters, so it might be hard to connect the card. Also thinner diameter might hinder the waterflow through the overall system.

Buy any 8800gtx to my liking. Remove the fan and cooling block. And replace it by a Danger Den waterblock. Unfortunately I couldn't find any sites in the netherlands or germany who sell the DD waterblocks anymore. I'm also not looking forward to replacing the fan myself. I don't mind messing with my PC a bit, but removing such a huge fan might be a bit tricky.

My questions:
Does anyone here have any experience with any of these 3 solutions ?
Is the Resorator enough to cool the 3 components ? (I think it is).
Is the BFG card still produced and sold ?
Does anyone know any webshops (in europe) who sell any of these parts.
How hard is it to replace the fan with a Danger Den block ?
Can I attach the Asus card to my own Resorator, in stead of to the aquatank ?

Thanks in advance,
Henk.

HammerSandwich · Post by **HammerSandwich** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 6:49 am

I'd expect a Reserator to give pretty high temps in such a system, but you don't know until you try. Big variations arise from environmental factors.

You may want to look for an Evga 8800. They (still?) have a policy that allows changing the HSF without affecting the warranty.

christopher3393 · Post by **christopher3393** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 1:39 pm

The BFG card is available in the US:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814143079 but all the US sources I've found only ship in US

Gryzemuis · Post by **Gryzemuis** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 2:23 am

Thanks for the replies.

I think I've found a german reseller who ships to NL.
http://www.aquatuning.de/product_info.p ... ready.html
Leadtimes seem pretty precise, so if they do what they promise, they will ship 2 different brands of blocks later this month. Not the BFG card itself though.

So far the Resorator does fine. I don't think adding a 8800gtx will make it too hot. I'll keep an eye on temperatures anyway.

I'd still be interested in experiences with the Asus solution. Or in any experiences from anyone who is watercooling a 8800gtx.

echn111 · Post by **echn111** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 12:39 pm

A lot of people say they prefer the EK-FC8800 GTX block to the DangerDen/BFG for performance. Can't confirm it, but I have to admit it looks great and it's cheaper. So good choice. (I'm getting one too

)