WaterCooling kit Guidance ?

jolly_dodger

jolly_dodger

jolly_dodger

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I need help deciding between two watercooling kits that I have found on my travels round the web. Ive been researching my new watercooling kit for some time and have decided that this time ill hold off on the custom set up and go pre made. The two kits in question are the

Alphacool Xtreme Pro 240 - with XSPC passive radiator added in

XSPC X20 Dual Xtreme - with XSPC passive radiator added in

I know for a fact that the Nexxos XP block is the king of CPU blocks but im not sure if its worth the extra 35 pounds for the alphacool kit for a single degrees difference. Any advice is appreciated
 
jolly_dodger said:
I know for a fact that the Nexxos XP block is the king of CPU blocks
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O'rly? :p

The Alphacool Xtreme Pro 240 WITHOUT the passive rad is the best choice of the 2. More info on rads is in in the sticky.
 
Personally would'nt go for either of those kits; easy enough to make up your own.

Thermochill 120.2 or 120.3 - prob best rad around
Swiftech Storm cpu block - best temps block (Nexxos is 2nd with Aquaextreme MP-05)
 
From the reviews the Storm, Nexxos XP, and MP-05 SP all seem to perform roughly the same. Givem a pump with a decent head rating though.

The Thermochill PA series are definitely the best radiators you can buy though.
 
Build your own kit to be honest.
even with a 'kit' the only thing you dont have to do is open more than one box tbh. no difference in the amount of work involved.

dante6491 said:
Im pretty sure a swiftech storm or a AquaXtreme MP-05 SP Limited Edition would probably take the best cpu block crown.
Click to expand...

theres no such thing as a best block crown.

IMHO you would be better off with the Apogee, theyre half the price, a whole world less restrictive and are only beater by storms by the odd degree.

this argument has been around for a while and yet people still think that storms and MP-05s are 'better'
storms are more suited to bare chip CPUs as they can cool a smaller, concentracted area more effectivly. where as the apogee is suited to bigger areas such as dual core and CPUs with IHS' ala Conroe.

so i would say that the "better" block would be an appogge.
Pros:
- half the price
- in a different league of restriction
-more suited to conroes
- doesnt have jet nozzles to clog up like the storm does.

Cons:
results in a smaller E penis.

as for Rads, theyre a bit harder to compare, but the thermochill PA series always seems to come out tops


Rick
 
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;) Nice links...one looks strangly familiar :confused: :p

Although I have to disagree on impingement blocks, blocking. My Silverprop Fusion and old TDX NEVER blocked or became restricted in any way. If anything the Apogee is more likely to block due to bits falling off :O.
Some of it may be down to the type of water used. I know of a few people that use tap water with no problems :O

The results are slightly misleading in that they are based on a 100w heatload (although you can work out other load temperature). Start overclocking and the Storm will start to shine.
 
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I'm just bone idle, once the loops bled I can't be asked to take it apart for servicing. The other thing is with the kind of head loss on a full impingement, well it just seems a bit much if you put a GPU block in as well. I'd prefer to keep the flow rate up if possible. Then again with a decent pump and loads of head....

#2


All those itty bitty holes, shudder.

#3
 
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something i dismmissed a long time ago was the possibility of using the freezone TEC cooler on a c2d based platform, can anyone comment on how this cooler performs on a highly oc'd c2d cpu
 
So Its looking like custom is the way to go, bearing in mind at ill only be cooling the CPU at present, if i was going to go custom id prefer to go for the base parts that would be suited to my future set up, which will be a c2q with sli 8800gtx, plus i cant fit a triple rad in my set up only a double, or if the rad was slim enough i may be able to fit 2 240rads side by side, what would people reccommend as a base kit for cooling an oc'd c2q with 8800gtx sli, looking @ pumps, rads cpu blocks and reservoirs - considering adding a Cora 442 as well as a 240 rad for the added g80 heatdump, what are your thoughts
 
I have had the storm now for over a week after coming from a Nexxos and after numerous mounts were performed, I can state that it made 1c difference at idle and 2c @ load (this could even be put down to ambient temps tbh) - hardly worth the effort never mind the massive difference in price. If I was buying new I would deffo go with the nexxos - half the price of the storm and very nearly up to the performance of it without the headache future nozzle blockages the storm will no doubt provide.

If you want the absolute best, believe that 1c difference will make a difference to an overclock and have more money than sense then go with the storm otherwise the nexxos would be a wiser mans choice imo.
 
looking for an internally mountable res that provides efficient cooling, preferably not a drive bay res, heck if i wasnt so lazy i would make a res for the gaping 7 inch drive bay ive got spare, but i am lazy
 
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