What do you think of this Accelero Hybrid? I'm thinking in giving it a try. Not a cheap toy (~120€)!

Looks good. Anything that takes the heat out of the box should help. As it's expensive (~£100) I would only use it on a really big card though (780 or higher); you are more likely to see cooling improvements on the more power hungry cards anyway.

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The screw heads on the bottom of the waterblock suggest to me that there is a gasket between the bottom of the waterblock and the top. That gasket (if there actually is one) is guaranteed to leak at some point in the future. Guaranteed! It might even need to be replaced. Will there be replacement parts available when you need one? Are you willing to make a new gasket if you cannot buy one?

The only good way to make a 2 piece waterblock is to weld the 2 pieces together prior to machining the contact surface. If you buy anything else you're buying a guaranteed failure.

The numbers are impressive but read the fine print.... the tests were conducted in 24 C ambient. Can you maintain 24 C ambient? If not then the pump and/or fans will have to run faster which means they will be louder. Obviously I can't say whether they'll be too loud for you or not but it's something to think about.

With water cooling you always have the option of extending the hoses and putting the radiator plus the fan outdoors.

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BOINC <<--- credit whores, pedants, alien hunters

That gasket (if there actually is one) is guaranteed to leak at some point in the future. Guaranteed!

I don't understand you. You have a closer look at 8:55. But the pump is inside there! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SGTg9YIGvo

With water cooling you always have the option of extending the hoses and putting the radiator plus the fan outdoors.

I don't think you can with this cooler, seeing the way the hoses are hooked and that the pump is included in the cooler. This is the main feature of this desing is all one packet.

Compared with Accelero Xtreme III
35.3 dBA vs 36 dBA
46 °C vs 47.6 °C.
2 vs 3 slots

True about 24ºC ambient, but this is Spain!! Here gets REALLY hot in summer, little can be done there.
but as skgiven said, the advantage is that it blows hot air outside, and seems a little smaller. Difference in price is 50 €.

@skgiven
Yes, I'm thinking on an upgrade, that's why I'm seeking a few possibilities, and maybe go for a second rig. Max. Cooling Capacity of this design is 320 Watts

That gasket (if there actually is one) is guaranteed to leak at some point in the future. Guaranteed!

I don't understand you. You have a closer look at 8:55. But the pump is inside there! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SGTg9YIGvo

Waterblocks have cooling fins inside. The only way they can make those fins is to make the block in 2 pieces then join the 2 pieces during assembly. There are only 2 practical ways to seal the joint between the 2 pieces: weld them together or screw them together. If they use screws then there must be a gasket. I see screws in the bottom of the waterblock so I suspect the 2 pieces are held together by screws, not welded.

Now that you remind me the pump is inside there I can almost guarantee the waterblock is 2 pieces. The vibration of the pump will cause the gasket to shrink even faster. Sooner or later that gasket will leak and you'll have to fix it. I guarantee that will happen.

If you cannot understand that then please let me know which words or phrases you don't understand and I will try to clarify.

With water cooling you always have the option of extending the hoses and putting the radiator plus the fan outdoors.

I don't think you can with this cooler, seeing the way the hoses are hooked and that the pump is included in the cooler. This is the main feature of this desing is all one packet.

You can cut the hoses and add more hose to make them longer.

True about 24ºC ambient, but this is Spain!! Here gets REALLY hot in summer, little can be done there.
but as skgiven said, the advantage is that it blows hot air outside

True but then the heat is in the room which raises the ambient even higher. Higher ambient means louder fan and pump. If it's too loud for you then how do you plan to deal with that? Do you have AC (air conditioning) in the computer room? Will you stop crunching with the GPU in the summer? If you have to put a portable AC unit in the window, will you be able to stand the noise it makes and the electricity it requires?

I ask these questions because as you said it's not a cheap toy. It is a good idea to ask questions now and decide if it's going to work for you and decide how you will deal with it if it does not work the way you expect it to.

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BOINC <<--- credit whores, pedants, alien hunters

Thanks very much for your explanation, really interesting thoughts!!

You can cut the hoses and add more hose to make them longer.

I wouldn't do this, as the design is so compact I don't think it is designed to extend the resistance of a longuer hose.

Higher ambient means louder fan and pump.

dB specs are at Full Load.
Anyway I found somebody that is lending me a sound meter. I find quite difficult to know how unpleasant/noisy are 35 dB vs 36 dB or 40 dB. The scale is logaritmic, but I don't know how much logaritmic are my ears :P

I find quite difficult to know how unpleasant/noisy are 35 dB vs 36 dB or 40 dB. The scale is logaritmic, but I don't know how much logaritmic are my ears :P

Your ears (as everybody else's) are logarithmic.
The main drawback of water cooling is that the water pump is hidden, so you won't see its status. You'll know that it stopped only when it's too late - it fried your GPU. In this design the water also hidden (the hoses are black), the tank (reservoir) is probably small and integrated into the radiator - so you won't see the level of the coolant. This is a very dangerous design for 24/7 crunching.

Another thing I don't like about their system is that the radiator is aluminum and the cold plate is copper. That will create a Galvanic reaction which will corrode either the cold plate or the radiator and create a leak.

For that reason alone I would not install their cooler in my computer even if they gave me one for free. If they gave me a free cooler and a free computer to put the cooler into I would sell the cooler to my enemy (not a friend) and keep the computer.

Thanks very much for your explanation, really interesting thoughts!!

You can cut the hoses and add more hose to make them longer.

I wouldn't do this, as the design is so compact I don't think it is designed to extend the resistance of a longuer hose.

Good point but if you can put the computer in a place where you have to add only 1 metre of hose it will still work.

Another option... There are a number of waterblocks on the market rated for 320 watts. You can buy one and make your own backing plate and mount system very easily. Then buy a radiator, fan, pump, reservoir, coolant, hose, connectors and clamps and build your own. Get a big, powerful, noisy pump for cheap and put it, the radiator and the fan outside. That would be a very quiet system. If the pump and radiator are big enough you could also cool the CPU and eliminate the CPU fan. Then all you have left is the PSU fan.

Higher ambient means louder fan and pump.

dB specs are at Full Load.

By "full load" they mean the GPU is running at 100%. They ran the GPU at 100% load in 23C ambient. Does your computer room stay at 23C all year, even in the hot summer? If your computer room goes above 23C then the pump and/or fan will have to run faster (to maintain the target temperature) and will make more noise.

Anyway I found somebody that is lending me a sound meter. I find quite difficult to know how unpleasant/noisy are 35 dB vs 36 dB or 40 dB. The scale is logaritmic, but I don't know how much logaritmic are my ears :P

What is the point of that when you haven't even estimated how loud the system will be in the conditions you will subject it to? If you don't have AC to keep the ambient at 23C then I don't think it will run at the sound level they give in the test results during a Spanish summer.

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BOINC <<--- credit whores, pedants, alien hunters

The main drawback of water cooling is that the water pump is hidden, so you won't see its status. You'll know that it stopped only when it's too late - it fried your GPU. In this design the water also hidden (the hoses are black), the tank (reservoir) is probably small and integrated into the radiator - so you won't see the level of the coolant. This is a very dangerous design for 24/7 crunching.

Very good point. Air cooling is far simpler than any water cooling system and less prone to failure. Still I don't trust it and I don't trust the GPU's thermal protection either which is why my gpu_d script monitors the GPU temp and if it rises 5C degrees above the target temp and stays there for more than a few secs it tells BOINC client to suspend crunching. If the temp doesn't drop down to target temp with crunching suspended it shutsdown the computer and logs the event.

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BOINC <<--- credit whores, pedants, alien hunters

Another thing I don't like about their system is that the radiator is aluminum and the cold plate is copper. That will create a Galvanic reaction which will corrode either the cold plate or the radiator and create a leak.

For that reason alone I would not install their cooler in my computer even if they gave me one for free. If they gave me a free cooler and a free computer to put the cooler into I would sell the cooler to my enemy (not a friend) and keep the computer.

Hello: What you say is true but not valid for this case, the tubes that connect the head-pump with the radiator are plastic and the liquid used is non-conductive type, is so general in this type of cooling system, whereby there can be no galvanic corrosion.

Personally I am using for my CPU from over two years ago with no problems and great performance.

Personally I am using for my CPU from over two years ago with no problems and great performance.

The short story of my water cooling adventure:
I've bought my i7-980X with a Corsair H80 (similar design compact water cooling). Both were used parts from the same system, I saw them working fine together, the CPU temp was around 55°C under full load at 4GHz. I took it out from the working system, a day later I've installed it to my system, and it almost fried my CPU. The pump was stuck, and there was some air in the (in theory) closed water circuit. I've RMAd it, and sold the replacement one - which is working fine since then.

I have an Alienware with a liquid cooler on the CPU and that ran fine. The noise is normal to a fan cooler as the radiator has a fan and that one is mounted at the back of the case. Other computers have a 120 or 140 mm fan there to blow out air from the entire case. The Alienware is missing that.

Pump has indeed a gasket (O-ring) but fits nice in a chamber so leaking is not very likely and the vibration of the pump is minimal.
However at full load (i7 960) temperature goes to 68-70°. My air cooled systems are running 55-64°C. But that are other CPU's. And depends on which program you use to monitor.

Anyhow after three year the temperatures went to 75-80°C. So an indication that there is something wrong with the cooler. It is a close system so nothing to do about it for me. Even replacing the liquid or cleaning the pump is not possible or it must be dismantled completely. I can do that but I don't know if I can replace it properly. So I bought a new one, an all-in-one with, pump, radiator and fan. Temperature now (ambient 25°) at 58-62°.

I am not a big fan of liquid cooling but they are small the pumps to fits easily and there is then room to put a special fan on the memory. These don't fit with the air coolers I have, especially the Zalman CNPX12X needs a lot of space. I even needed to make the bracket that holds the cooler shorter to fit.
But temperature is around 56°.

In the future it could be that I would buy another liquid cooler. It would work on GPU's as well. But I don't know if there is space enough to fit then two or even three GPU's with this type of cooler. The hoses are a bit stiff to bend easily as well.

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Greetings from TJ

Instead of bending the hoses you should use elbows which are metal fittings that have 90 degree or 45 degree angle. When you bend a hose it pinches shut and restricts the flow.

There is nothing magic about closed systems. You can open them, repair them, refill the fluid and close them up again as long as you bleed all the air out of it. Or you can just convert it to an open system with a reservoir which makes it easy to remove all the air.

O-ring seals are easy to replace. O-rings and bearings are so vital to industry that they have been standardized around the world and mass produced to keep costs low and availability high. You could buy a replacement for that O-ring at many automotive parts stores and any industrial parts supply store. They can measure it precisely for you and give you a replacement guaranteed to fit properly. Then all you have to do is clean the mating surfaces well with scotchbrite (a very fine, light abrasive pad), rub a wee bit of petroleum jelly on it, put the O-ring in place and re-assemble.

The problem gaskets are the flat gaskets. They are not standardized and if the manufacturer cannot supply a replacement then you have to make your own. That's not difficult but if you make it too big and a piece breaks off inside the system it can jam a small pump or block small diameter hose like what is used in PC cooling.

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BOINC <<--- credit whores, pedants, alien hunters

Assembling that Accelero cooler doesn't look particularly handy.
In the past I used similar memory module heatsinks and they were awful. Made of tinny material rather than aluminum and stuck on with regular glue, so instead of heat transfer they acted as insulators. I had to downclock the memory after sticking them on and even then the card often became unstable. If you take them off the glue remains on the modules (so they stay insulated). They also mess with the airflow inside the GPU casing. As far as I know there still isn't an app that tells you the GPU memory temps, and using a temperature probe would be difficult.

If you have or can get a cheap CPU water cooler and have a hot/noisy/inexpensive GPU,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnOS5jMwoPM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1Rj3HuG2Sg

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However at full load (i7 960) temperature goes to 68-70°. Anyhow after three year the temperatures went to 75-80°C.

Seems like I really made a good choice with my CPU cooler: bought a "Thermal Ultra Extreme 120" for ~50€, if I remember correctly, around mid 2000 together with a Q6600 when they first became available (it was probably 2006). I have used this cooler on my Sandy and now Ivy Bridge. Wouldn't mind if it's going to fit a Broadwell K sometime in Q3 :)

MrS

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