water cooling

drak3 · 7 Jan 2007 at 17:04

Hello

I have been reading the OC forum for the past week and I am totally confused on what is best to buy to start with water

So far I think everyone likes swifttech stuff and danger den, but if any veterans can guide me to good entry level stuff I ll be pleased.

Thanks!

MikeTimbers · 7 Jan 2007 at 18:08

I think I count as a veteran but I will also merely guide you to Swiftech stuff. You see, "good entry-level stuff" is an oxymoron. There's no such thing. Anything that uses stupidly skinny tubing and blocks with pumps built-in and fixed tubing which you can't remove, that usually has see-through tops on the blocks and has strange names in mock chinese, they're just a waste of money in my opinion. For what is a reasonable amount, you can get a top-notch Swiftech kit which will be easy for you to expand as you learn more. I've done custom water-cooling and although it's a great way to really learn a lot, it's also a lot more money for only a little more cooling. As with all things, the 80/20 rule applies.

drak3 · 7 Jan 2007 at 18:15

Thanks for you reply

and sorry for using "entry level" without clarifing what I meant

By entry level I mean I need top quality stuff I can use as I learn more but for now only basics. Pump, good tubing, nice rad and tank.

PS: I like the 80/20 rule. I am willing to spend on the 20 what it takes

drak3 · 7 Jan 2007 at 18:56

Swiftech Storm Extreme Performance Universal Waterblock

is the same as cathars I read about?

and its better than apogee?

thanks

Myocardial Inf · 7 Jan 2007 at 20:20

Hehe the Storm/Apogee debate

Storm is roughly twice the price for 1 maybe 2 degrees better cooling and only if you have a pretty beefy pump to maintain high flows. Storm has small jets which focus the flow internally. This has been good for the smaller single core processors but with multi core the apogee is pulling level and sometime beating the storm.

If you are running a loop with say Storm, SLI'd GPU's, Rad, Chipset, Res and pump your going to need a very decent pump to maintain the high flow that the storm likes adding to the cost for very small differences.

Obviously if money is no object then you'd buy both and test which one works best for you

drak3 · 7 Jan 2007 at 20:31

I have in mind this kit:

Swiftech H20-220 Apex Ultra+ Watercooling Kit (Socket 462/478/LGA775/754/939/940)

what do you thing? Is there anything better to spend my money on?

thanks for your help

Myocardial Inf · 9 Jan 2007 at 20:42

That's a pretty good kit for the money. Certainly get you started off well.

I'm building a pretty similar kit up atm to include those blocks, but swapping the Swiftech Rad for a Thermochill PA120.3 rad and going for an Alphacool Laing DDC-Pump 12V Ultra