(another) 'new to WC' thread

V|per · 18 Jan 2007 at 23:08

decided i want to have a fiddle with watercooling.. getting myself a nice cheap setup, but one i can (hopefully) clock the hell out of.

Rig in question:

abit nf7-s
athlon xp-m 2500+ IQYHA

Kingston Hyperx 1 X 512MB PC4000 DDR 500 (hopefully)

Nothing else decided upon, although i am probably going to use this generic case i have.. fairly roomy..

I am basically looking for your expertese in what to get.. preferably 2nd hand, preferably quiet, both not a necesity, and i am thinking just wc the cpu for now, with the option to gool the northbridge and possibly the gfx at some other point..

im thinking 120.2 rad as apposed to .1 or.3, just would like your knowledge guys, ta

Oh yeah, would like to keep under £100 if at all possible... cheers!

clone · 19 Jan 2007 at 08:23

You could build a secondhand kit from the MM with luck,i may have a thermochill rad 120.2, shroud and grill for sale.

w3bbo · 19 Jan 2007 at 08:29

Yeah keep a close eye on the MM for WC bits as you will get a better setup for the cash you are spending, aslong as you give it all a good clean before use.

A 120.2 is plenty for CPU and NB although I wouldn't WC the NB unless silence is a major factor for you.

Marci · 19 Jan 2007 at 10:50

Just for reference of what's achievable with what you've got there...

HE120.3, Eheim 1250 pump, and DD TDX block got my XP-M 2500 to 2.6Ghz on NF7-S. I Added 226w Tec & Meanwell s320-12 with a Maze4 CPU Block and saw 2.7Ghz stable.
Prommi Mk1 got it to 2.8Ghz. Prommi MkII got it to 2.9Ghz, and regassed-to-507-Prommi-Mk-II got it to 3Ghz, but needed 2.2vcore (hardware voltmods) to do it...

I'd hazard a guess with PA120.3, Panaflo H1A's at 7v, Alphacool DDC Ultra and Swiftech Storm G4 (which WILL be the best block to use on that particular CPU) you'd see 2.65 to 2.7ghz. However, that lot wasn't available back when I had that hardware combination...

V|per · 21 Jan 2007 at 19:04

hmm, was hoping for a bit more of a performance increase... i can get 2.5 stable under the stock cooler... but as its just for a fiddle.. what the hey!

Cheers for your input guys..

Hades · 21 Jan 2007 at 23:36

V|per said:
hmm, was hoping for a bit more of a performance increase... i can get 2.5 stable under the stock cooler... but as its just for a fiddle.. what the hey!

Cheers for your input guys..

Ultimately every CPU will have a limit on how far it will go, regardless of how many volts you put through it. But the advantage of water is that you can overclock, overvolt and still run incredibly quietly.

Is the current restriction on your overclock the temp or the amount of volts you can put through it? Water can help both of these but it can't do miracles if you've already hit the ceiling on the motherboard or CPU.

Nice stepping btw

V|per · 22 Jan 2007 at 00:45

well, its got 1.75 volts going through it, and its hitting 75c on full load... dont particularly want to push the voltage and up temps any more...

Hades said:
Nice stepping btw

Hades · 22 Jan 2007 at 01:45

V|per said:
well, its got 1.75 volts going through it, and its hitting 75c on full load... dont particularly want to push the voltage and up temps any more...

Water will help reduce those temps but I doubt you'd be able to safely push more volts through it. So it probably won't clock much further.

IamMed · 22 Jan 2007 at 10:48

Decent air cooling 1.8v is fine on XP-M's as long as temps are ok, btw you should be aiming for 65c load max as 75c is rather toasty.

On water you can push the volts up to 2V 24/7 as long as its stable and below 60c load and can try upto 2.2v for benching purposes.

My old IQYHA did 2.64ghz with a decent aircooler and 2.83ghz with water cooling.

Not a huge increase but it was a lot quieter and idle/load temps were a lot lower, plus I had the NF7-S Northbridge and my old 9800pro in the same loop so PC all round was a lot quieter!