So, I decided spending a lot of money would be a good idea... (regardless of what my wife really wanted) Anyhow! I want it. I haven't upgraded video cards in about 3 years and finally decided it was time again. AND, I managed to find one in stock on NewEgg yesterday and ordered it right up! I should have that bad boy by Thursday. I'm excited

Nice! Get some unboxing videos. I want to see it!

No videos, but I do have some pictures. I'll upload them after whiel. I just got the thing today and have been playing with it! It's loud as hell when its hot, but eh, I don't notice when the volume is where I play at. It beats the socks off of my two 8800GTXs. I can now stream all my games without any problem I'll do some streaming later, and I'll update you with some more details tonight or tomorrow.

I wish I could have a nice graphics card but it take a new power supply, plus voiding a warranty...

I am so building my next computer myself.

That's the weakest link on my pc is the graphics card... someday I'll upgrade.

Unboxed:

The old 8800GTXs that are being retired ( probably going to my server )

Well, here she is installed:

The rest of the gallery is here:

http://photo.dateran...480gtx/<BR><BR>

I'll throw up some benchmarks later, but I did stream last night ( MUCH smoother streams with this card ). Here are some videos:

NVIDIA Rocket Sled Tech Demo:

http://www.justin.tv...r=uFUbpRA~&s=li

Just Cause 2:

http://www.justin.tv...r=uFUbpRA~&s=li

Batman: Arkham Asylum:

http://www.justin.tv...r=uFUbpRA~&s=li

Rocket Sled Demo:<BR><BR>

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Look at all that space you have inside now. You're water cooled anyways, though, so it doesn't really matter much.

Did it come with the Twizzlers? =]

Look at all that space you have inside now. You're water cooled anyways, though, so it doesn't really matter much.

Did it come with the Twizzlers? =]

lol, nope. Those and the Coors light was my dinner. The case is roomy now, and though the cpu doesn't need it, the graphics card isn't water cooled. It needs the air. I'll record it when its ramped up so you'll know what I mean by jet plane. I'm thinking of water cooling it just because of that, but first I want to remove the heatsink and fan and change the thermal paste that's on it right now. Cause a full cover water block is somewhere in the $120 range.

Well, I finally became fed up with the heat and noise of this card. Decided to water cool it as well.

To sum up a story most people won't be interested in I'll say this:

Stock Heat Sink and Fan during an extreme graphics test the card went to 108C! That's hot enough to boil water, and the fan sounded like a jet taking off:

WaterCooled during an extreme graphics test the card hit around 54C. Half what it was before, and no fan noise at all :

Water Block Installed:

480GTX in computer and water loop filled again:

Was a fun little project to do on a rainy day, and well worth it since I had all the parts here already from an old setup. Funny part was, the power went out and I had to use a UPS to run the pump to fill the water loop while it was out. Anyone interested in the rest of the build can find the pictures here:

Attempted to replace the Stock Thermal Paste before watercooling( only about 4C difference )

http://photo.dateranoth.com/users/Dateranoth/Computer/480gtx/stocktim/

Water Cooling Installation:

http://photo.dateranoth.com/users/Dateranoth/Computer/watercooling/480GTX/

Someday, I'll go hardcore on a system and water cool it too. Someday.

Someday, I'll go hardcore on a system and water cool it too. Someday.

I would recommend it. I bet I have between 300 and 500 $ worth of Water Cooling equipment, and I've been using the same stuff ( with the addition of some brackets here and there ) for the past 4 years. Probably the best investment in cooling I've ever made. Plus its fun!

Thats a pretty big difference. 108C? .

I'd be too scared of doing something wrong and having it spill in the computer. But I don't know anything about water cooling.

I'd be too scared of doing something wrong and having it spill in the computer. But I don't know anything about water cooling.

Same with me! If I ever did manage to put something like that together, I'd just get paranoid about it. lol

I would recommend it. I bet I have between 300 and 500 $ worth of Water Cooling equipment, and I've been using the same stuff ( with the addition of some brackets here and there ) for the past 4 years. Probably the best investment in cooling I've ever made. Plus its fun!

This case is set up for it too. Maybe this summer when I get some extra cash, and have some patience to learn something new.

This case is set up for it too. Maybe this summer when I get some extra cash, and have some patience to learn something new.

Well, it's not nearly as scary as everyone lets on. Most times you would test the loop ( I did the very first time ) with a 24hr leak test. Just power up only the pump and let it run for 24 hours. If you don't have any leaks you should be good to go. Obviously stuff can happen, but everything requires maintenance. Just have to check levels and all that from time to time ( no different than cleaning the dirt out of heatsink fins ) . I also run an app in the background that constantly monitors my cpu temps and "rpm" of the water pump. If either one gets to high or low I am notified. If it reaches what is a critical level it automatically shuts down my computer.

There are of course hardware flow sensors you can put in if you were so inclined. That would kill power if the flow was lost or a leak occurred. Using distilled water, it's not all that conductive. The only thing conductive is the trace amounts of copper sulfide used as an anti-algae.

It really is a fun project, and I can hook you up with some sites and places to learn if you are interested. You can always start with the basics and work your way up. Then again, computers in general are my hobby, anything I can do with them is fun to me