Water Cooling Questions

MR.B

MR.B

MR.B

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I've never used water cooling before, so have a few questions... i want a good complete water cooling kit (CPU, Chipset, Graphics card). I have a socket 939 system...

What are some good kits to look at? price aint a porblem.

Are they totally silent? because this is one of the main reasons i want one - silence!

Anyone got a WaterChill? i was looking at them and they seem to be what i want... but they have so many different kit versions that are very much alike i dont know what one i'd get??

Some water cooling kits have things like "1/2 inch" and "10mm" whats that all about?

Oh and last of all, but very importantly, could i have any problems with the kit when i upgrade to AMD's new AM2 platform when it's out... because socket 939/940 heatsinks/fans wont fit it, AM2 has a new design, but i'm hoping it shouldnt effect it with water cooling?
 
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If you're going to buy a kit, go for the swiftech ones, they are head and shoulders above the rest, as for being completely silent, unfortunatly no, there still need to be fans on the radiator and the pump itself does make a very small amount of noise, but if you get yourself the quietest 120 fan you can find the whole system should be a lot quieter than a normal air cooling setup,
 
A word from the cautious...

I took the plunge and went the way of the watercooling about six months ago. I got a Waterchill kit and ok, it's nice and quiet (although the pump makes a vibrating, mechanical noise) and I can overclock pretty well with it, but I'd love to go back to air cooling!

Anyway, the sizes you refer to are the diameter (or is the radius?) of the piping and the connections to each of the units within your setup. Basically, keep them all the same so that stuff plugs together! Although I think you can get adaptors from one size to the other. Have a look at the many watercooling guides for full info.

And I think that existing waterblocks (with the Waterchill kit anyway) will work fine on the new socket, as currently you need to remove the whole base-section thing of the socket to connect the waterblock anyway...
 
Thanks guys.

Orphanboy - Why would you like to go back to air cooling? and is the noise it all makes only just noticeable? oh and how far can you overclock? because i also have a DFI Lanparty board (SLI-DR)

Would it be best to get the bigger piping? because i'd assume it pushes more water then and does a better cooling job...
 
Bigger piping looks nicer :)
As for the fans, you can get away with using slower fans and therefore quieter, so it can be less noisy than air cooling. It all depends on what kind of cooling you want.
 
12mm = 1/2"
10mm = 3/8"

There is a small benifit in temperatures with 1/2" over 3/8" but 3/8" is easier to work with and can look less cluttered 7/16" is a compromise between the 2 and seen as the best solution.

What fan you use depends on the radiator you use.

The Swiftech kit is a lot better than the Waterchill.
 
Whats so good about the Swiftech kit? and if anyone has one whats the noise level like?

I'm looking at the Swiftech "H20-220 Apex Ultra Watercooling Kit" now..
 
The swiftech kit has some of the best parts available. DD D5 is IMO the best pump. The Apogee is in the top 5 best blocks available. The rad is the second best available. The tubing is the best size. Fans are among the most efficient and quiet available given thier CFM rating,

The Waterchill kit has a weak pump that is prone to fail, a CPU block that is beaten on performance by at least 10 other blocks on the market and a rad that is beaten by at least 3 others of the same size.
 
Cheers weescott, just what i wanted to know.

Seems i will be getting the Swifttech H20-220.... Just a few more questions.. might i have problems installing the kit on the CPU when i move to the AM2 socket? i dont think i will because it seems i have to remove the whole base section thingy around the CPU...

Does the kit also come with GPU cooling too?

and lastly, will i have to remove the motherboard for installation? (i hate doing that, it's such an effort)
 
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Yes you have to take the motherboard out to mount the block.This is a good thing as it is more secure and will probably be advantagous when socket AM2 comes out in 6 months time.

For GPU block look at the Silverprop Fusion HL (if you can find one) or a DD maze 4. Swiftech has just released a new GPU block but it's too early too tell if it's any good.
 
MR.B said:
Orphanboy - Why would you like to go back to air cooling?
Click to expand...

This is obv a personal opinion (so don't flame me, people!) but I just think water cooling's too much of a worry! I damaged my radiator when installing it and so it leaked from day one! (fixed with araldite) But it hasn't let out so much as a drip since though :)
The other thing I'd love to be able to do is to poke around inside my computer, but with all that piping (and the constant worry about leaks) I put off plugging in/unplugging things until I really have too...

MR.B said:
and is the noise it all makes only just noticeable?
Click to expand...
The loudest thing in my system is my hard drive :) It's really quiet, but not silent. And as the pump vibrates - although you can't really hear it - you can hear it on the floor below a bit more! Now if only I could get the fan off my video card I'd be sorted!

MR.B said:
oh and how far can you overclock? because i also have a DFI Lanparty board (SLI-DR).
Click to expand...
As I've never had a stock fan, I have no idea of how far I can go on air or what temps I'd get, but I can get to 2.4GHz easily, but I think I have a bit of a dud chip as I need like 1.7v to get to 2.7+... (but the load temp never goes above 40deg!)

One thing to note: as there's minimal airflow in my case, I need to actively cool my RAM. So watch out, as you may need to too.
 
Thanks Orphanboy :)

Would the 7/16" tubing that comes with the Swiftech kit fit any GPU water block? like the swiftech one or the DD maze 4? I like the maze 4 but cant find a UK place that sells it...
Although being as i'll be getting a 7900 when there out soon-ish, i think i might wait 'till then before i get a GPU block just incase current ones dont fit it...
 
I've had the swiftech apex ultra kit for a couple of months now and i'm very impressed with its performance and how quiet it is (although I did swap out the fans that came with it for akasa 120mm amber fans and they are much much quieter and havent lost any cooling performance because of them)
I bought the MCW 55 gpu block along with it and that is excellent also , keeping my oclocked 7800gt(500/1.25) below 40c even under full load , altho probably not needed I did buy some ram sinks as well for the vid card (just kinda looks nice ;p).
Overclocking has improved somewhat , not a massive amount but still a decent gain , before I was 2.6 on my a64 3200 and 460/1.18 and now im at 2750 on the a64 and 500/1.25 on the vidcard (the vidcard has also had the pencil trick to up the mem voltage ever so slightly) (gonna do a proper volt mod on the card(core and mem) when I eventually get chance)
On the noise front with the fans on full speed its still much quieter than when I was on air mainly due to the graphics card fan not being there , with the fans on slow and the pump turned down to 1(slowest) which I do leaving it on overnight in my bedroom , the system is competely inaudible from my bed which is 5m away.
Tbh there is not THAT much cooling difference having the fans on full and the pump on 5(fastest) than fans slow and pump on 1 , only 3-4 degrees max.

Hope that helps ya some :)
 
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