Project:
Cool the newest and latest PC as quietly and as efficiently as possible.

Rig:
CPU: Intel Core2 x6800 Extreme.
GPU: 2x nVidia Sli 8800GTX
Mobo: eVGA 680i
RAM: 4Gb Corsair Dominators PC2-8500
PSU: Enermax Galaxy 1Kw PSU
Case: Thermaltake Armor
Planned cooling solution: Zalman Reserator2

As you can see this is a monstrous build, by my calculations it's the only PC to be able to play Microsoft Flight Simulator X at a decent frame rate in an uber setup.

I've planned on using a combination cooling solution. Using the Armor case's massive fans to cool northbridge, HDD & Mobo etc. And using the Reserator to cool the 2x GPUs and the CPU. This is quite a task and I'm not sure a passive solution will be up to task. However this system isn't for me and a passive solution is what has been asked for... should I go for it?

Supplement: Oh I'll be overclocking the PC but well within the safety limits.

You can't go passive with those parts unless you have heatsinks the size of Nebraska. A heavy-duty watercooling setup might be reasonably quiet.

That's as I feared. This system needs to be reasonably quiet... ie. don't wake the kids quiet, but not excessively quiet. Is there a happy medium between high powered cooling and quietness?

The CPU is not actually that hot, 75W TDP, can be cooled with a Scythe Ninja and Nexus 120mm; your main cooling problem will be the SLI 8800GTX. Also, depending on how many HDD's are planned, you only need a 600/700W power supply, for example Seasonic Energy Plus 650W. There's a big thread in the PSU forum about how much an SLI 8800GTX needs.

Yeah you're right on the PSU front for sure, okay, so considering we need an active water cooling system for a monster like this, what would you recommend as an all in one water cooling solution... something REALLY cold.

you'll have to ask in the Watercooling forum, I'm strictly air-cooled I'm afraid. Maybe something involving icewater?

Nah. Change the case to something else, like a 7-series Lian Li. Then make some holes in the sidepanel for two 3x120mm rads. Or if you get the 7077, you could mount on in the front with a custom front. Plastic/wood/metal works, i´ve had a polycarbonate and a wood front on my 6077. It all involves some hacking though.

I seriously doubt you can get away witha reasonably sized passive radiator. As for reserators, if one reserator1 is able to cool one card, you could run two of them, one for each card.


The CPU heatsink will most likely be the noisiest part, a stock intel heatsink is louder than a stock 8800GTX fan when neither of them is ramping up. So with just a new CPU cooler like the Ninja the system should be reasonably quiet, definately "don't wake the kids" quiet

So before spending a load of cash for a watercooling system, i would at least give aircooling a chance.

Well the thing is money isn't that much of an object in this respect and the guy I'm making this for suggested that he could buy a 'custom' radiator... like a really big one... in that case there'd be such a huge volume of water passing through the system that it would cool it more effectively. Obviously I'm not talking the kind of radiator you use in your house, it's going to need to be a) copper (cos it does) and b) it needs a huge surface area.

What you think? Cooling 2x 8800GTXs, an x6800 Extreme Intel chip and the northbridge... I'll go hassle the water coolers

I know BFG has released a watercooled 8800GTX. That might help the setup. You may also want to try a large Seasonic PSU instead of that 1kW monster from Enermax, which would probably be pretty loud.

However, you most likely would have to either use:

1) more than one Reserator (1 or 2)

2) a custom radiator with ample cooling capacity (not easy to make and have it look good)

3) a large actively cooled radiator with some fan swapping...

I think there was an old proverb that has been modified around here, but sometimes still applies.

"Fast, quiet, and cool: pick two."

That's a joke, boys. We all know why we're here...

lol. I like the quote... ok I pick fast and cool... oops did I just break the silentpc code? Well before you start brandishing pitchforks and calling me a heretic, how about the vapochill external. A compromise is in order... quiet is nice, but cool and fast are the most important things...

I'm surprised nobody mentioned what a monumental waste of money the X6800 chip is - especially if you plan on overclocking. The E6600 effortlessly overclocks faster than stock X6800 speeds. When both are overclocked, sample variation determines which will overclock better - not the model. If the person you're building this for really insists on spending $1k on the CPU, but 3 E6600s and test each to find the best overclocker in the low.

As others have mentioned, you can easily cool an overclocked C2D with a good tower heatsink like a Ninja.