# Changing to Liquid Cooling



## Raziel1988 (Aug 14, 2012)

I recently got a new graphics card. There were some issues (like it and my motherboard not getting along..) but I'm here because of the overheating. The graphics card is a GTX 760. During the winter I had no problems, but now that it's starting to get hot in here (generally upper 70's to mid 80's, and it's not even summer yet...). My graphics card can't take the heat. I was wanting to get a liquid cooling kit for it and wondered if I should do the same for my CPU. 

This got me to wondering, is there a kit that does both? Would it even be necessary? The CPU has been fine so far with what it's got already.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

How hot is the GPU running?

It's unusual to see a GPU overheating and the CPU running cool do you feel hot air being blown out of the card?


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

To answer your question, i.e. a liquid cooler for the GTX 760: the NZXT Kraken 610 allows you to mount one of several all-in-one liquid coolers to the GTX 760.
Other than that, you are most likely looking at building a custom loop.

Couple questions for you: 

What temperatures are we talking about? Graphics card operating temps in the 70's Celsius are fine and even 80's are acceptable. Now if you are getting into the 90's or over 100°C then that would be worrisome.

Have you blown the dust out of the stock fan and heatsink yet?

PS: Another option; Install a PCI slot fan to pull heat off the card. Mind you those can be noisy at high rpm's so you will probably want to have some sort of manual controller for it.


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## BowHunter41 (Apr 19, 2015)

Hi. I believe this cooler will work with the GTX 760, though pricy it's very good. It's unlikely that the PCB or GPU is bad as the above has outlined it's likely just a heat issue. You might be able to fix it with a reseating of the stock cooling unit with some new thermal compound.

Here is a cheaper yet effective single fan option. Good luck!


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## Raziel1988 (Aug 14, 2012)

I can't be 100% sure of the temp it gets to. I can say, however, that it gets hot enough that it'd be a terrible idea to just reach in and touch it to find out. It most certainly gets over 90, there is no doubt in my mind or the nerve endings in my finger tips. 

I have blown the dust out. I bought a small air compressor with a moisture trap to blow it out (since I was going through cans of air rather often when cleaning out my keyboard... thank you dogs...). 

The thing is it runs just fine when it's cool in the house, so I doubt that it's a faulty card. For the past couple days it's been cool (low-mid 70s in my room) and it's barely blown off much warm air at all. I honestly think it's a split between not enough airflow and poor design. I mean the fan on the graphics card blows hot air straight down. Heat rises, and in a cramped midcase with a massive graphics card in it there's not alot of room for the heat that goes down to slip around past it so the heat gets stuck right there on the graphics card slowly cooking it. 

Maybe I need to look and see if there's somewhere on the bottom to put a fan to blow upwards, create a push-pull airflow. Then maybe the hot air will get pushed past the graphics card and out the top?


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Hi Raziel1988 :wave:

What make model of PC do you have or, if custom-built, what make & model case? - It's usually a matter of 'trial-&-error' but bottom, side and top fans can help with cooling. Sometimes they can make things worse, as they can disrupt the smooth airflow from front to back, side-fans especially, as reversing the fan (blowing in or sucking out) can worsen/improve the temps.

Also, bunches of cables can cause major disruptions to the airflow, tying them back to out-of-the-way bits of the chassis and/or tucking them behind the motherboard can make drastic improvements.

Alternatively, it might be worth getting a larger PC-case, to allow more room for air to circulate.


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## Raziel1988 (Aug 14, 2012)

WereBo said:


> Hi Raziel1988 :wave:
> 
> What make model of PC do you have or, if custom-built, what make & model case? - It's usually a matter of 'trial-&-error' but bottom, side and top fans can help with cooling. Sometimes they can make things worse, as they can disrupt the smooth airflow from front to back, side-fans especially, as reversing the fan (blowing in or sucking out) can worsen/improve the temps.
> 
> ...


It's an NZXT source 210 with window.

As for just getting a larger pc-case, I'll add that to my list of things to upgrade. 
1. motherboard (computer thinks there's a driver error with the graphics card, regardless of how many times I freshly install them, update them, or roll them back. Looked into it and saw some people being told it's a conflict between their motherboard and graphics card.)
2. borrowed psu (to accommodate the graphics card)
3. ram (for some reason chrome takes up half my ram...)
4. case

Almost be worth it to buy a whole new computer x.x


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

According to the manufacturer's specs, the case can take 2x120mm fans on the bottom, 2x 120mm/140mm on the top and 2x120mm fans in the front.

It would be worth fitting 2x120mm fans in the front, then monitoring the temps for a couple o' days, before adding any more fans.



Raziel1988 said:


> ..................
> Almost be worth it to buy a whole new computer x.x


It'd be even cheaper to build your own, plus you know exactly what quality the various parts are :wink:


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## MoonDragn (Apr 22, 2015)

Check to make sure your GPU's fan is actually working properly. It may not be cooling the card because it is defective.

The Kraken is certainly the easiest way to go because you don't need a liquid block for the GPU. Otherwise you're looking at upwards of $100 for the GPU block and another $100 for radiator, fan, pump etc.


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## Raziel1988 (Aug 14, 2012)

WereBo said:


> According to the manufacturer's specs, the case can take 2x120mm fans on the bottom, 2x 120mm/140mm on the top and 2x120mm fans in the front.
> 
> It would be worth fitting 2x120mm fans in the front, then monitoring the temps for a couple o' days, before adding any more fans.
> 
> ...


I'm terrible at building my own. I search for the parts I want and the total always comes out way higher than expected so then I look at cyberpower pc and get even more depressed about the pending death of my wallet lol.


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

The thing with OEM PCs is that they're mostly built to minimum specs to get the speed advertised. Usually the PSU is rock-bottom quality, if you're lucky it can handle an extra hard-drive or 2 plus a couple of extra RAM-cards.

Nowadays, building a PC is fairly easy, most of the connectors only fit 1 specific socket and the various cards just slot and screw in. Most decent motherboards have got rid of the umpteen different switches and have a BIOS which auto-detects the various components. The hardest part of my last build is disposing of the loads of boxes and packing :grin:

Another advantage is the knowledge gained at the end, when something goes wrong, you've a lot better idea of what and where it is. Careful shopping around can reveal some very good bargains, for pricing up too.


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