Watercooling - some advice please

ChrisD. · 16 Jul 2007 at 17:25

I'm somewhat intrigued by going down this route. The benefit of having cool components and the quietness it offers is really starting to hit home and the more I read about it the more I keep thinking of going down the H20 route. I know some people will say air is fine and that it can cool nearly as good, but I love having something new to do and after owning and modding PC's for about 7 years I think it's time to start thinking about going ahead to do it.

I've just got a couple of questions that I'd like for people to answer for me that have done it.

I currently have the Jeantech Nitro case. Could I keep this, or would I have to get something different.

I'd like the kit to last a couple of years with the option of upgrading as hardware moves on. I might go SLi, I might not, I might get a quad core, possibly more when the time comes. Could someone spec me something (possibly case included if I had to upgrade) so I can start budgeting for the kit?

How are things like RAM, NB, SB, Drives, PSU and the general area of inside a PC cooled? Would I still need some fans? If so how many? How would they go on the case?

Finally, how are temps reduced as a whole?

I've currently got the following:

E4300 @ 3.2GHz
Asus P5N-E SLI
Crucial Ballistix 2GB DDR2 PC2-5300C3 @ 890 MHz 4-4-4-12
Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty
2 X 36GB Raptor RAID 0 - System + Apps drive
250 GB SATA WD Caviar - Storage drive
XFX 7900 GTX
DVD Burner/Writer
Floppy Drive
580W HiperPower HPU-4M580 (to be replaced by Enermax Infiniti 720W in a few days when my Etasis ET850 is replaced by supplier)

Thanks.

MumboJumbo · 16 Jul 2007 at 18:21

I don't know a lot about water cooling. But i would imagine that its best for you to wait. Not just because your pc is unlikely to really need anything as extreme as water cooling. But with all the new technology coming out. You may need different hubs to cool it and therefore you could end up spending twice. Also im hoping that with such hot hardware being made, prices may start to fall as new water cooling systems start coming out and competing with each other?

But i gues you could have some fun with that cpu if it was water cooled and over clock it to the max

.

Not so sure if you need a new case. But if you do (im sure someone else will tell you soon!) then that would be a great place to start buying i guess. Id leave buying the water cooling stuff till last as its pretty expensive stuff for a pc which im sure doesn't need it.

If you get the new case, such as the antec P182 then it is sound proofed and therefore will probly keep it quite enough for your needs anyway.

I did see a case which comes with built in water cooling though. Its got some good reviews on other sites. But it is 2ft tall and over 2 ft deep, check it out. Its probably perfect for someone that likes to play with new things as you can put a lot in it and always upgrade parts at a later date.

Here is a list of cases all coming with water cooling. Although many will probably shun it as its cheap, ive read some very good reviews on it, make sure you check them all out as they get more expensive!:

Thermaltake VD4000SWA LCS Aluminium Kandalf Full Tower - Silver

Thermaltake VB5001SNA Tai-Chi SuperMidi Tower - Aluminium

Thermaltake VD4000BWS LCS Kandalf Full Tower - Black

Thermaltake VE2000SWA Armour LCS Super Tower - Silver

Of course buying a custom kit will be better then these. But this is a good starter kit to build on with custom parts.

Sinny · 16 Jul 2007 at 18:28

dont assosciate Thermaltake with watercooling you will get a bad reputation, also prebuilt watercooling kits are for the weak, custom kits are by far the best looking and best performing, afterall who wants THEEERRMMAALLLTACKKKKKYY pasted everywhere.

go custom, be cool :cool:

MumboJumbo · 16 Jul 2007 at 18:29

I know custom is far superior. But is it worth spending that much money on a kit for that setup?

I went through some sites earlyer looking up about these as i had my doubts and some of the reviews said they were pritty good at keeping things cool. The case is meant to be pretty decent too so youve not lost too much if you deside to replace things.

Sinny · 16 Jul 2007 at 18:34

if you are going watercooling then yes, its ideal to get good components so you know you are getting the performance hit, if you dont have the money for top cooling kit then the Swiftech is probably your best bet, but if you have the extra cash custom is better.

my cpu block, tubing, 240 rad, pump, tubing, clips, paste, res, barbs, fans cost me about £230 inc del+vat.

so its not far of the preassembled kits. but dont ever go thermaltake, swiftech or custom is my advise.

ChrisD. · 16 Jul 2007 at 18:42

Setups change mate, I'm always buying new hardware. I got the E4300 as a stepping stone to the Conroe big brothers, but running at the speed I've got it at has made me re-think. I'll probably upgrade again when the new true quad cores are out.

Something like this might be coming depending on release dates:

True AMD/Intel Quad Core
4 GB RAM
9800GTX
PCI-E 2 motherboard.

But time will tell.

I like the idea of custom, but the problem is that I have no idea where to start, what parts to go for, if they work together and all the rest that goes with H2O, hence this thread. Is it really worth the extra for custom when I could buy something that's all in one? I suppose so as when new bits come out I can change small components at a time on the H2O setup and progress. Sort of like buying parts for a PC and upgrading it as you go along rather then popping along to well know pre-built system sites, spending XXX amount of money, then doing it all over again 12-18 months down the line.