Watercooling worth it over high end air?

Straz

Straz

Straz

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I haven't looked into this for a while but I'm tempted to set watercooling up in a new pc, although I don't know how it compares to coolers such as the megahalems etc. My udnerstanding was that you need atleast mid to high range watercooling to beat high end air?

Cheers.
 
Yes you need a decent watercooling setup to beat air. This will tend to be quite a bit expensive. £200+ for good kits.

but on the + side it is:

cooler
quieter
more overclocking headroom
looks much better
 
anant_shah94 said:
Yes you need a decent watercooling setup to beat air. This will tend to be quite a bit expensive. £200+ for good kits.

but on the + side it is:

cooler
quieter
more overclocking headroom
looks much better
Click to expand...

this^

i high end air cooler is loud, high end water quiet.

once you make the step be prepared to spend a lot of money tho
 
anant_shah94 said:
Yes you need a decent watercooling setup to beat air. This will tend to be quite a bit expensive. £200+ for good kits.

but on the + side it is:

cooler
quieter
more overclocking headroom
looks much better
Click to expand...

Not entirely correct, i have a 240 rad cpu only loop that cost me £100 all new, and comfortably beats any top end air, with fan speeds of 700rpm, even better performance if i up the speed.

Watercooling dos'nt have to cost a fortune, if sourced right, or u use stuff thats adequate for your needs.
 
bifday2k said:
Not entirely correct, i have a 240 rad cpu only loop that cost me £100 all new, and comfortably beats any top end air, with fan speeds of 700rpm, even better performance if i up the speed.

Watercooling dos'nt have to cost a fortune, if sourced right, or u use stuff thats adequate for your needs.
Click to expand...

Ah yes. If you are using a cpu only loop it can be done for cheaper. I was basing on the assumption that it would be top end cpu watercooling, with the flexibility to add other components and to overclock the nuts off the cpu ;)
 
Id be interested where you could get CPU watercooling dual rad for £100. For res, rad and cpu block its £130 alone from OCUK using the cheapest parts.
 
anant_shah94 said:
Ah yes. If you are using a cpu only loop it can be done for cheaper. I was basing on the assumption that it would be top end cpu watercooling, with the flexibility to add other components and to overclock the nuts off the cpu ;)
Click to expand...

Yeh it gets very expensive when doing, cpu, mobo, gpu, thats for sure, pump needs to be top notch, blocks, so all adds up thats for sure .

koooowweeee said:
thats not bad £100 what have you got?

must be ok to get a i7 920 at 4.2
Click to expand...

I currently have the following, ThermoChill PA120.2, XSPC Single 200 Bay Pump/Reservoir, EK-Supreme LT, 1/2" Barbs, 7/16" Tubing, and 2 vipers generally @ 700rpm when idle/web browsing/films/gaming. Raise that to 1100rpm when the ambient creeps up.

Rad was on offer at the time when i got all that, think about £30ish instead of £50, so would have easily been over £100 if i did'nt get it at that time lol.

4.2 is still in testing phase as i need it stable for F@H, but its prime/ibt/linx stable with temps mid 60's, just some issues now and then with folding so will take abit more tweaking for that.

I have had it to 4.6ghz with HT on but summer ambients make the temps rise to much for my liking, touching 80's, some don't mind that but i do lol, so those kinda speeds can wait for winter :p

1LANCS said:
Id be interested where you could get CPU watercooling dual rad for £100. For res, rad and cpu block its £130 alone from OCUK using the cheapest parts.
Click to expand...

Thats the thing, don't allways spec up via OCuk for water stuff lol, but that being said the Rad was bought from here, when they had them on offer. Was end of last year.
 
Last edited:
I have been thinking long and hard about the OP's question this weekend. Let me explain.

Every year or so it is advisable to drain your loop/s, swap out the tubing and give the rads a good clean out. Unfortunately for me, in adding another couple of low profile fans I screwed the Thermochill nuts in slightly too far and managed to puncture the rad. Water went everywhere and it has cost me £70. I'm usually quite sensible when working with my rig but I was in a rush and made a simple mistake.

After all of this however, I'm still an advocate of watercooling. As above it is quieter (I run my fans at low) and generally better for high performance clocks 24/7. If those advantages are "worth it", it's entirely up to you.
 
Yeh i would agree with that my first ever loop i punctured my rad, good thing it was external and in the leak test stage, so no stuff in my case.

Basically its worth it if u are willing to research, take your time with the build, and if u can get stuff when they are on offer, can be cheap to lol.

I personally went water not becuase i felt i had to, but wanted a new challenge, so its not for everyone, but also it can be enjoyable too.
 
Well i have just picked up a XSPC Delta V3 and a XSPC RX120 Radiator both brand new for £50, now all i need is a pump and a res :)

I have already got about 2m of tygon tubing left over from my last watercooling atempt.

Oh and some compression fittings for the tubing are a must for no leaks :)

This loop should easily outperform a H50 and H70 for not much extra cash and much more options on upgrading.
 
You don't need compression fittings if using 7/16 tubing. Just adds unnecessary cost to a build IMHO.
 
As already said you can build a decent loop that will outperform a high end air cooler on a smaller budget, some parts will be second hand (i picked up my res, pump and original cpu block from the members mart) or look for reduced components like ocuk have done recently.
I started out with a budget but it rapidly spirals and costs add up very very quickly. I am very pleased with my loop, it's achieved exactly what i wanted it to, a silent system whilst still maintaining a good overclock. I just wish i'd put the gpu in the loop from the start as draining and replumbing it all was a bit of a pain but at least i have that knowledge now for the next time. I don't see myself going back to air any time soon. the gains have been dramatic, it's so quiet i often find myself checking my res to see if the water is moving :)
 
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