Watercooling - Is it worth it?

Monstermunch · 7 Apr 2006 at 22:27

I'm not far off my new build and thought I had it all sussed, but read a few threads recently about how far some people have managed to clock gfx & CPU's on water.

I really know nothing when it comes to water cooling and just want to know whether the extra is worth it and also whats available that'll do the job I want.

If I do it i'll want the whole lot, CPU, VGA & Chipset.

I suppose the main reason i'm now considering is that adding the seperate air coolers I want together comes to around £75, which nowadays doesn't seem that far removed from the water kits.

Rob43 · 7 Apr 2006 at 22:43

Yes it's worth it,imo at least.high overclocks & peace & quiet

Have a look at the swiftech H20 Apex kit & a gfx card block,i would'nt bother with the chipset block tbh.Good combo if you don't want to go down the custom route.

Rob

A.N.Other · 7 Apr 2006 at 22:57

It's definitely worth it, I'm looking at going that way pretty soon myself.

I have the Zalman CNPS 9500 atm, which is a very good air cooler but water cooling is far superior to this on the post part ... LINKAGE

Make sure you do your research with it though. Cheap water cooling offers very little advantage over decent air.

Jimi · 7 Apr 2006 at 23:09

I used to have my PC watercooled and it was a complete PITA to be honest. If ever needed to take the GFX card or processor out, I had to drain the system and pull it all apart. Bear in mind that you can only cool to the ambient temperature of the room unless you use a chiller.

.SJ · 7 Apr 2006 at 23:21

Monstermunch · 7 Apr 2006 at 23:48

Thanks for the reply's, I do like the sound of it and I don't really tend to tinker with my setup once installed (except new gfx card every 12-18months) and a good clean with an air duster every now and again.

What's the swiftech H20 like then.....Any good?

If I do go down the water route I would like to try and keep budget to around £150ish - can I get a good system for that?

Rob43 · 7 Apr 2006 at 23:58

Get the Swiftech Apex kit,great kit for the money

You would have to buy a vga block seperate though.

The swiftech MCW55 vga block is doing a fine job on my X1900XT

Rob

Monstermunch · 8 Apr 2006 at 00:30

Rob43 said:
Get the Swiftech Apex kit,great kit for the money You would have to buy a vga block seperate though.

The swiftech MCW55 vga block is doing a fine job on my X1900XT

Rob

What kind of increases are you getting, eg from xx to xxx!

Cos the aircooled Ati's i've had experiences with don't tend to clock that well. My 9800pro HIS excalibur Ice-Q thingy only manages 410core, 375mem (Stk=378core, 337.5mem) and it's supposed to be great for clocking. I remember getting much better clocks from my previous 4200ti

smids · 8 Apr 2006 at 00:31

Definitely worth it. I mean look at my sig - that's not easily achieved on air cooling, especially when I'm loading dual prime @ 41C on it

. Graphics loads at 43C.

I didn't go for a silent solution, I went for power (though I can indeed run silent thanks to my fan controller). My computer is no noisier than a good aircooled one but the temps are far better and that's how I prefer it.

Jack Bauer · 8 Apr 2006 at 00:41

What GPU block you using smids? Going to water cool my system over the summer.

agw_01 · 8 Apr 2006 at 00:53

I've been watercooled for about 2 years.

Currently running my Mobile XP2500 at 2.5GHz. It normally idles at 41'c (for some reason, my ALT key isn't working, grrrrr) in a hot room which I'm not very happy with... until I listen to my machine and hear very little noise.

It's been running at these speeds for about 6 months. Fans are on low speeds, system is on 24/7... gets to about 10 days uptime before I restart it... it's more stable than my dads Athlon 64 system which is running stock and is turned off everynight :cool:

I have an Eheim 1048 pump, Dangerden Maze 4 CPU block (used to be GPU as well but I took that out) and a Heatercore. Papst 120mm fan running around 5v for the rad.

Water temps are around 37'c.

smids · 8 Apr 2006 at 01:05

See sig Jack Bauer

- Silverprop HL Fusion.

barney · 8 Apr 2006 at 03:55

I was thinking of using a water cooling system myself but i just cant bring myself to put water into an electrical system. One leak and it can kill everything in your PC. You can get some great results from it though and if you set it up right it shouldn't leak i guess but i just dont want to take the risk.

I would suggest saving your money and picking up a 2nd hand phase cooler, you can get one for the same price as a decent water kit and the worst that can happen is that it kills your CPU (and i think there is less risk of that with phase then water).

Just my opinion though and there is probably no real good reason not to use water.

caister · 8 Apr 2006 at 09:49

With the new liquids designed for water cooling like the dangerden MCT and even by using normal deionised water there really is little risk of destroying your system even if there is a leak. When i frst added water cooling to my system I was unfortunate enough to have a leak that went all over my graphics card. However nothing shorted out and i quickly powered down and dried the card. Since then ive had no problems just dont rush when putting the system together.

MikeTimbers · 8 Apr 2006 at 10:12

Leaks really are not very likely if you take even a modicum of care.

ichabod crane · 8 Apr 2006 at 10:41

id recommend water cooling to anyone a descent kit will be silent and an awesome performer... plus they look good... i have never had a leak you always do a leak test of the loop for 24hrs anyway... and even if you do like to remove parts a lot you just remove the block and bend back the pipes and out comes the vid card or CPU no need to drain the loop... i have a full custom kit cooling my CPU and GPU all 1/2" in a wavemaster case its a cramped case as ppl know but it all fits in with ease and i get excellent temps... you will have great fun going watercooled

Jimi · 8 Apr 2006 at 13:17

If I had the choice between phase change or water cooling, I'd choose the phase change. Chilly1 over on the XS forums was making dual evaporator single phase change units a while ago.

Monstermunch · 8 Apr 2006 at 14:09

Okay well here's my next question then, if i'm going water cooled will I be better of with a 7900gt or an x1900xt.

TBH i'm still torn between the two, my main conclusion over time regarding ATI vs GeForce is that ATI seem to be much closer to their limit at stock than the GeForce cards. So IME GeForce tend to clock better and IMO are more stable than ATI......

Or am I wrong

smids · 8 Apr 2006 at 15:07

Monstermunch said:
Okay well here's my next question then, if i'm going water cooled will I be better of with a 7900gt or an x1900xt.

TBH i'm still torn between the two, my main conclusion over time regarding ATI vs GeForce is that ATI seem to be much closer to their limit at stock than the GeForce cards. So IME GeForce tend to clock better and IMO are more stable than ATI......

Or am I wrong

I don't think that is a fair summation. ATi's are indeed harder to clock (less programs support clocking and CCC limits overclocks on ATi's before Coolbits does for nVidias), but the world record is held by an ATi IIRC. ATi's can be software adjusted fully e.g. voltage etc and nV's need a hardmod for say voltage adjustment. Heat is not even a point when watercooling as the water has a much larger heat capacity than air and the difference in temps between the two will be minimal.

Each has their own quirks in all honesty but did you mean GTX vs XT, because GT is unfair

.

Monstermunch · 8 Apr 2006 at 15:28

smids said:
I don't think that is a fair summation. ATi's are indeed harder to clock (less programs support clocking and CCC limits overclocks on ATi's before Coolbits does for nVidias), but the world record is held by an ATi IIRC. ATi's can be software adjusted fully e.g. voltage etc and nV's need a hardmod for say voltage adjustment. Heat is not even a point when watercooling as the water has a much larger heat capacity than air and the difference in temps between the two will be minimal.

Each has their own quirks in all honesty but did you mean GTX vs XT, because GT is unfair .

Havn't made up my mind yet, it'll all depend on what's around at the time and best vfm etc. The one thing I need to keep in mind is that for my new system I want the NEC 20" widescreen IPS panel. So whatever route I go I think i'll be better off with 512mb instead of the 256mb on the gt.

Am I right in thinking that the x1900xtx is about equal performance wise to the 7900gtx, but the x1900xt is better than the 7900gt?

Basically, all things being equal I would prefer an nVidia card, however if the ATI's are better then i'll be buying one of those.

My HIS 9800 pro, has problems with artifacts and frequently crashes in games - plus it doesn't clock very well, surprising really cos it has the extra large dual speed fan attached which takes up another port, which does sod all as far as I can see.