ABIT AW8D watercool or not?

[Skriger]

Hey guys. I just received my new ABIT AW8D motherboard in which I soon should be replacing my Intel 925XCV mobo.

I was looking into replacing my coolers (CPU and GPU) with this setup:

CPU: AeroCool X-fire on LGA 775 3.2 dual core hyperthread
GPU's: ZALMAN FC - ZV9 on ATI X1800GTO

Plus i have an assortment of 80MM across the case for venting.
overall it would cost me about $120 US to get this setup.
My question is should I run watercooling instead...? will it save me in the long run? How cheap but effective setup can I do since I have not put together watercooling at all and don't know what is good or bad products.
I also have a midtower case if that is an issue with amount of space:
X'ed till Death case (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6895)


Ideas, thoughts, comments are all welcome!

[Zephik]

If you want a good overclock or just a more silent setup for your PC, thats what watercooling will give you. Is that what you are interested in?

Otherwise, I would say just stick with air cooling. It's hassle free, maintenance free and alot cheaper. Watercooling is really just a pc enthusiast thing imo.

Btw, a good watercooling setup will run around $220-$320 dollars. Anything less than that is similar to a good fan setup, like those nice zalmans. cooling wise that is. If you just want a more silent pc, you can probably get away with $120-$220. But I wouldn't spend less than that. Those 3.2's run pretty hot don't they? Its probably best to fork up the dough for a good kit. Save you plenty-o-headaches in the future.

[.Maleficus.]

I agree with almost everything Snowfire said. One thing I don't:

Air cooling is NOT hassle free. My fans give me more headaches then the dumb teachers I have. I am constantly cleaning dust out of my computer, and they're loud. But that's my fault really. If you buy silent fans and dust filters, and OC'ing isn't a huge necessity, then go air. I'm OC'd 700Mhz on air cooling, and if I was bored I could go higher.

[Zephik]

Oh yea, good point Mal. Thanks for catching that. Definitely get dust filters if you go with air cooling. lol you should see my dads pc, it is just COVERED in dust. If you didn't know what you were looking at, you would think that it was just its natural color. lol

...I should take a picture of that when I get home if I can. Make a good example of why you should buy filters.

[.Maleficus.]

Best example I can think of: I went to my friends for a LAN. His computer sucks, so I gave him my old 6600GT to use for the night. We put it in, and I was playing with the old graphics card. He was saying how it always overheats and he couldn't play even the oldest of games (CS 1.6). I "spun" the fan, and it moved 1/32 of an inch and went back. It was so gunked up with dust it couldn't spin. I took that fan out, scraped off the dust, put it back, and it was 500x better.

[Skriger]

Thanks for the input everyone!

The 3.2 does heat up alot and keeps the fan on it working a bunch. I do run filters on all the fans on my case to cut on dust because that can be a problem down the road from previous computers I've had.

I was thinking going water cooling mainly because I have been trying to OC my GPU's and was looking into doing the same once I learned more with my memory and CPU.

Then my next question would have to be anyone have links to some good info on parts and tutorials for watercooling? Perhaps personal experiance with a certain brand that would be better than others?
Ooh I also have an Hiper 580 watt power supply. would that be sufficient for watercooling?

Thanks again guys for the input :)

[Zephik]

A Beginner's Guide for WaterCooling your PC (http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/03/28/a-beginners-guide-for-watercooling-your-pc/) - TomsHardware

There ya go! :)

If you have any other questions, just let me know! I know my way around WC pretty well. Theres a few other people that probably know more than I do though, but I'll still help where I can. ^_^

Oh and about your PS. Hmmm, well it depends on what all you are running under the hood. Whatchya got?

Certain brand? I would have to say head on over to DangerDen.com! Great website for watercooling! Possibly the best? You can also try Arcticmod.com. I would say they are more enthusiastic about WC'ing than anyone else that I know of. What I mean is, they have some really nice and unique items. Such as their HyperWeb tubing, very cool looking and functional as well.

[.Maleficus.]

I have my graphics card OC'd (from a stock OC) on air... No fancy heatsinks, nothing. All stock. It's running 600/1420. Unless you need EXTREME performance, then air should still be fine. But like Snow said, DangerDen is the best. Don't cheap out and buy a $100 all-in-one kit thing. It will be no better than high end air cooling.

[Skriger]

Oh and about your PS. Hmmm, well it depends on what all you are running under the hood. Whatchya got?

Well i'm only running 2 HDD; 1 dvd/cdw; 2 X1800 vid cards.
and 5 case fans at the moment

i've been running one gpu at 550/1000 with no problems.. more than that it starts to freak out.

Now would it be cheaper to just setup a GPU watercooling for now and perhaps in the future use it to watercool my CPU?

[Zephik]

I would get a jar and start saving your money. Then once you have a good chunk of cash, build your kit. For now, just read up on watercooling. By the time you have saved up enough money you will know enough about watercooling to not make any mistakes.

Two video cards would be two water blocks. Thats at least a hundred bucks right there. Then you have to get a pump, add another 70 bucks. Don't forget your reservoir, tubes, clamps, blah blah blah... add another 50 bucks at least. Oh yea, lol I almost forgot about the radiator to dissipate the heat. Hmmm... add another 50 bucks. So thats what? 250+ dollars?

Then if you want to add your cpu in sometime down the road, I would say make your kit a dual kit. Meaning, two feeds off the same reservoir. Another block, another rad, and some more tubing and accessories. Actually, you might want to look into dual rads if you have two video cards. The X1800's get pretty hot don't they? You could probably get away with one, but I always like to be as much on the safe side as possible. So for a really good three block kit (2 gpu, 1 cpu) your looking at 300+ at least.

I wonder if you were to just WC the cpu, if that would help lower the temps for your gpu's? or if you stick with air, get a duct for the cpu, I bet that would help lower it a few degrees.