Liquid cooling?

[Coherence]

I've been looking at a few different liquid cooling solutions. Some are attached to your existing case or are part of a new case (Koolance), and others are external solutions (Corsair Hydrocool200). What I find most odd about the way they are sold is that you are generally only paying for the pump and coolant, and a few tubes. The actual mounts for the CPU, GPU, and chipset are sold separately. None of the sites I've found even have "packages" that let you simply name the components you have and they send you what you need.

Any good sites or manufacturers you might recommend?

 

[Viper96720]

Check out www.crazypc.com

 

[klah]

Danger Den sells entire kits.

 

[Boyne7]

i concur with klah, danger den has whole customizable kits.
i like to pick my own parts from different places to completely customize,
ive got innovatech, D-tec, and an enheim pump it works nicely.

 

[smahoney]

The Corsair Hydrocool 200 includes everything in the kit for around ~$205 - includes mountings for AMD and Intel. I installed mine in less than an hour without problems. The latest version has a lapped block that has the tubes pre-mounted to the block.

 

[Coherence]

The Corsair looks simple enough, but it doesn't seem to offer chipset and GPU support, at least not that I've found on the website.

 

[smahoney]

The Hydrocool doesn't support GPU or chipset cooling as is - you could modify it but it wouldn't be a package deal. I run a Zalman passive on my 9700PRO and my IC7-G has a fan/heatsink combo on the northbridge chip - very quiet one.

 

[Mav3N]

the absolute best in watercooling invotek...ull pay more but the connectors are top notch and they even have pumps that run off the 12vdc that ur ps puts out with the proper connector

 

[smahoney]

Just make sure you have enough room in your case for an internal solution.

 

[Coherence]

Originally posted by: smahoney
The Hydrocool doesn't support GPU or chipset cooling as is - you could modify it but it wouldn't be a package deal. I run a Zalman passive on my 9700PRO and my IC7-G has a fan/heatsink combo on the northbridge chip - very quiet one.

That's part of the reason I'm looking into a new cooling solution. I have the same mobo (Abit IC7-G) and the chipset fan makes horrendous noise when I power up. I discovered it was the chipset fan because when shining a flashlight on it, I could see changes in the fan's speed that coincided with change in pitch of the noise as it the system boots up. Once the system has had time to run for a while, the noises go away, which is why I've been keeping it running 24/7, lately. (There may even be another component making noise at the same time, oddly enough, possibly my 9800 Pro's fan. I'm wondering what could cause multiple fans to do that all at once.)

I'd rather not do a mod with the Hydrocool, since it's probably not rated to properly cool multiple components. I'm still rather confused with the offerings at Koolance and Danger Den, though.

Watching The Screen Savers on TechTV last night, there is a new water cooling system that is coming out in about a year that has no moving parts (using a "caterpillar" kind of method, apparently, though they didn't use that term). Maybe I'll wait for that to become available.

 

[StageLeft]

CoherenceMy chipset fan on the mobo does the same thing and it's a brand new mobo. First time I turned it on no problem, but two weeks later I had it disconnected enough to cool down fully and it made an awful sound upon boot up. I shoved my finger into the blades to force it to stop, and when I pulled out the sound was no longer there. The Celeron 1000 I'd been using for two years and left on 24/7 - it's fan would do the same thing if turned off for a period of time, and dito on the fan on a powersource I had some years ago. These things just don't like to be turned off

 

[Coherence]

That's interesting, Skoorb. I guess I'll just leave it on all the time from now on.

The only other thing that concerns me a bit is that pictures of the board I've seen lately don't match what I have! Different color, different chipset fan... I suppose they updated it after the initial release, unless I don't have what I think I have (despite what the box says).

 

[smahoney]

I have the second version of the IC7-G chipset fan which is apparently a lot quieter than the original. The fan from the stock ATI 970 PRO cooler was the noise maker for me till I replaced it with the Zalman heat pipe kit. I got the re-labeled PCToys version from a CompUSA so it is blue anodized instead of yellow to fit with the aluminum/blue lighting scheme in my case.

I looked at the Koolance and just didn't feel I would get enough from the extra cost and I didn't need a GPU or chipset cooler.