dual radiator needed for a gpu ?

[holysquid]

I'm thinking of getting a NZXT Kraken G10 and a closed circuit water cooling for my GPU, but is it worth or needed to go for a double RAD. was thinking of getting the corsair 105 with it.

I currently have a AMD XFX 6870 1gb, (its very loud) but I also want this to be a future proof cooler, one I can put on another GFX card down the line

all advice or help appreciated

[OneIT]

If your considering another GPU in the future I would definatley recommend at least a double 120mm radiator.

In the past I've built a system with 2 6950's in crossfire, flashed to be 6970's. I had a single cooling loop for both cards and my 2500k clocked at 4.8GHz.

I used 2 double 120mm radiators for that.

[harrisck]

I have a Corsair H80 (120mm rad) cooling a GTX 780. Stock cooler kept hitting the 80c throttle limit but now it's around 60ish under full load in furmark.

[GoNz0]

bigger the better, more surface area allows for slower fans keeping the noise down. I have a triple 140 running a pair of old gtx 480's that are overclocked and things stay cool and quiet, so always factor in as big as you can

[iMimix]

A double rad would really not be that necessary for a single GPU. A single rad would be more than effective.

[holysquid]

i went for the H105 and although it says its compatible with a nzxt G10 the lip on the surface plate made it almost impossible to fit, had to cut the bolts down, but now running at 40 when playing BF3. should probably get a smaller one for my CPU next

[Bugbait]

bigger the better, more surface area allows for slower fans keeping the noise down. I have a triple 140 running a pair of old gtx 480's that are overclocked and things stay cool and quiet, so always factor in as big as you can

This basically. A 120 or 240 radiator, especially the double thickness ones can dissipate a lot of heat. However, if silence is an important part of the equation then the bigger the better. I run a 360 and 480 for my CPU and GPU in a single loop which allows me to run the fans quite low while maintaining good temperatures.

[HDGamer]

Personally I would rather have a 240mm on my CPU and I think a 120mm would suffice for the GPU.

[Bugbait]

Personally I would rather have a 240mm on my CPU and I think a 120mm would suffice for the GPU.

Why? Unless you’re running a low end gaming card, which could probably be passively cooled or only need a small fan a mid to high end GPU will always consume more power and need more cooling. An overclocked GPU can easily consume near or over 300W. An overclocked CPU would be about half of that. Put them both on a single loop or the GPU on the larger radiator in my opinion.

My old AMD 5970 (dual GPU) would consume 400W+ of power when overclocked. If the fan speed was set too low the top of the case (800D at the time) with an XSPC RX360 would heat up to the point it was uncomfortable to touch. I doubt a single CPU would ever produce that kind of heat.