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so thinking about going the liquid cooling route as im getting tired of the noise of my heatsink fans.
any recommendations on a water block? (am3)
and is there any real advantage to go custom loop, with the all in one kits being all the rage and so cheap now is there much of a point?
what's your budget?
just water cooling your cpu?
if it's just your cpu and you don't want to spend alot then it should be a good option, but if you want to cool more custom is the way to go.
honesty i dont really have a budget thought out.
i primarily want for cpu cooling. I have space in my case for a dual rad. cooling a GPU would be nice, but honestly my 6850 runs plenty cool as i dont OC it. although when i upgrade that it might be better if i have the option on expansion.
if i was running the same size rad on an all in one vs custom would there be a noticeable difference in temperatures?
res or rad?
either way, no there wouldn't be a difference. if you want to start with a AIO and then upgrade it, swiftech just released their H220X which has their flagship cpu block for custom builds. the pump they use looks like the mcp350/355/35x which is probably the most common pump used in builds. and their rads are great for an even better price.
wait for the reviews on it to come out to confirm the pump, but it sure looks like the pump i said above.
EDIT: here is a good video of it.
sorry long day at work, radiator.
edit: yeah the h220x looks like a nice solution.
even if the price is a bit cheaper then the cost of custom build (with the same parts or similar), it should still be worth it as long as your wanting to upgrade it down the road.
http://www.swiftech.com/h220-x.aspx $$139 isnt too bad
You might want to price out a decent fan/heatsink/etc cooling system as a guideline when determining liquid cooling budget.
You probably already know that fans require replacement every 6-12 months or so, depending largely on the quality of their bearing components and duty-cycle. Even passive heatpipe/radiator systems only last a handful of years before losing efficiency, many people say. (I can't really see why, to be honest, unless the capillaries degrade, coolant bleeds out, or some sort of chemical/metallurgical process just corrodes the inner passages - none of which seems particularly likely in a properly sealed system. I would be more inclined to think the comparatively inexpensive thermal interface compound on the CPU/etc has degraded instead.)
Beware that liquid cooling has mid- and long-term drawbacks, as well. Leakage is always a worry, although methinks it's a bit overrated because people tend to do competent and careful installations - it can be a big concern if you move your rig around a lot, like hauling it around LAN events, especially if you use rigid tubing. I'd say forget worrying overmuch about leakage and think about cleaning and maintenance ... lack of timely attention to such chores means you'll eventually get bad coolant, gunk, and algea growth inside your loops. It can be a nasty, wet, and messy job, far worse than blowing dustcakes out of fanblades.
As a denizen of Canada, where we sometimes get cold winters, lol, I find watercooling can be problematic when the ambient temp is too low. Coolant viscosity goes to hell (that is, it gets thick and sludgy) and forces the pumps to work hard - end result is ultimately a choice of spending much money on highest quality manly pumps (which are sometimes not much quieter than fans would be) or spend less money on cheapy pumps (which are definitely not much quieter than fans would be). You don't have the option of disengaging the loop without a major system rebuild in these (cold) conditions where low-powered (quiet) fan/heatsink combos would perform much better.
my $3.50 high speed yate loons have been running at 5v for well over 5 years. i haven't noticed any performance issue, although my raddage is way overkill so it's not likely i would.Quote:
Originally Posted by Konrad
it's been 2.5-3 years since i've done anything with my loop accept top up the water level. although i never move my system or do anything with it so that plays a big part in it.
if your coolant is getting sluggy from the cold, you need to close the window, bring it back inside or get some proper insulation for your house.
For my particular requirements and usage, passive fan/heatsink/heatpipe stuff works well enough. That said, liquid cooling is certainly far more efficient at thermal transfer and - these days - not really that costly at all when compared to alternatives.
I was just offering my personal experience/observations. I suppose that loops and accessories and even the coolant liquid itself have improved in the last half decade - perhaps the liquid-cooling issues I've had in the past (namely algea growth) are indeed a thing of the past which shouldn't really concern you. I, too, have had many fans last many years without issue - although some of the ball-bearing sorts eventually get slightly worn or unbalanced over time and begin to generate a few dBs at annoying frequencies. Then again, I've had two fans (one cheap one, one good one) fail me over the years, and both times the shutdown was quick but not quite quick enough, the CPUs were somehow a bit damaged from the experience and continued to perform reliably but couldn't be pushed to their previous OC values. YMMV, as always, but methinks anyone here who's fried a nice CPU or GPU has found new religion in overkill cooling.
The latest issue of CPU magazine (available for free at NCIX outlets) has a decent article about liquid cooling for beginners. It's written in a way which emphasizes certain products from a specific brand, but any equivalent components would do just as well. There's also lots of good info to be found on google, especially in forums at places like TBCS and Overclock.net.
You can't go far wrong just checking out the latest/greatest deals at newegg or NCIX, then following up on product reviews.