Are watercooling kits really that bad for the money?

Clum

Clum

Clum

Soldato
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As per the title, i'm thinking of getting a cheapish watercooling kit to replace my tame freezer 7 pro. now i know that im not going to see sub zero temps or anything but are kits like the swiftech h20 120/220 compact that bad considering the relatively cheap prices?

I've never had watercooling before and only fancy one of these to test the em....water (sorry). Dont mind paying the extra over a mid/high end air cooler just for the experience and the aesthetics but dont want to fork out much over £100 for this as im going to be building a new system in 6-8 months and will go all out on that one.

Input appreciated!
 
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Clum said:
As per the title, i'm thinking of getting a cheapish watercooling kit to replace my tame freezer 7 pro. now i know that im not going to see sub zero temps or anything but are kits like the swiftech h20 120/220 compact that bad considering the relatively cheap prices?

I've never had watercooling before and only fancy one of these to test the em....water (sorry). Dont mind paying the extra over a mid/high end air cooler just for the experience and the aesthetics but dont want to fork out much over £100 for this as im going to be building a new system in 6-8 months and will go all out on that one.

Input appreciated!
Click to expand...

There's a Swiftech 120 Compact on MM for £35 delivered at the moment. For that sort of money it's a superb bargain.
 
the swiftech seems to be ok...
buy a good cpu block, a cheap RAD and pump/res then swap bits out and flog em on bay you might lose £10 on he RAD and pump/res but you can build a system that way...thats what i have done.
 
Sayso said:
the swiftech seems to be ok...
buy a good cpu block, a cheap RAD and pump/res then swap bits out and flog em on bay you might lose £10 on he RAD and pump/res but you can build a system that way...thats what i have done.
Click to expand...

Absolutely - there is such a high demand for good watercooling parts that you can buy a radiator for £15, use it for 6 months then sell it for exactly what you paid for it. Likewise pumps and reservoirs. CPU blocks are a bit flavour of the month, but they usually hold their value quite well. Graphics blocks on the other hand are the watercooling equivalent of burning £60 every time you change the graphics card. (says the man who's just shelled out £150 on 3 EVGA GTX200 series blocks:o).
 
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But to answer your original question, the Swiftech is a great idea badly executed. The CPU block is a good one (Apogee GT base) and the pump is a modified base Laing DDC 10W, and the reservoir is about as good as you'll get if it doesn't say Thermochill or Feser on the side, but the seal between the pump and block leaks and the green coolant they supply makes a right old mess of your motherboard and CPU socket when it leaks, and Swiftech will very politely tell you to stick it where there is an absence of solar illumination when you complain.

[Did I type that out loud?]
 
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