Water Cooling Options

[ironique]

Looking to try water cooling for my rig, haven't done it before. Need recommendations on which to buy. Looking for something in the mid-range, not too expensive but efficient.

Suggestions (and links) please?

 

[HardWarrior]

What do you want to water-cool among your components?

 

[HeaterCore]

Ditto -- we'll need a little more info before we can actually help. All I can say now is to steer clear of consumer-level units like the TT Bigwater or CoolerMaster Aquagate unless you want to try watercooling on the cheap and have no intention to carry the system over into your next rig. While a custom setup from Danger Den, Asetek, Swiftech, et al might cost a bit more right now, they're upgradable and customizable, making them cheaper in the long run, on top of being much better performers.

-HC-

 

[SkyBum]

The Koolance Exos is a bit more expensive than many options but I chose it for ease of setup and not having to research and buy all components seperately. Setup was a snap. My temps are averaging: CPU 30-39c (idle/load), mobo: 27-34c, GPU core 50c idle.

The new EXOS 2 (up to 700w cooling cap.) just hit the shelves ($349 Retail is WAY overpriced), which should drop the price of the previous EXOS (up to 500w cooling cap.) They have taken the original EXOS off their site though, so those models should be dissapearing from the market shortly. I think I got my EXOS for $169 at PCToyland, but keep in mind that you need to purchace your waterblocks seperately so that you get the right ones for your particular system.

Here are a few pics of mine in action:

http://www.imagehosting.us.com/showimage.php?id=5828&h=103087]
http://www.imagehosting.us.com/showimage.php?id=5813&h=354540]
http://www.imagehosting.us.com/showimage.php?id=5818&h=826322]
http://www.imagehosting.us.com/showimage.php?id=5815&h=722785]

 

[ribbon13]

AseTek HDD waterblocks kick ass!

 

[ironique]

Looking to cool my CPU, GPU and Northbridge. Some form of cooling for my HDDs would be welcome but that's not a priority. I want something that'll get me some cool low temps. Maybe 20-30C on load? I've OC'd (see sig) so keep that in mind. Havin a look at the suggestions already made.

 

[HardWarrior]

Just water-cooling won't get you temps like that. The best you can expect is a few degrees over ambient. However, when you consider the operating temps of a CPU that's actually pretty good.

 

[hondAS2ooo170]

wat do u consider mid range

 

[ironique]

Mid range would be not cheap and not overpriced, between $200 - $300? Or would that be some kinda oxymoron?

 

[HeaterCore]

You could configure an absolutely badass watercooling rig for that amount. Try playing around with the kit configurator at DangerDen.com, and keep in mind that the $35 heater core performs as well as the $100 Black Ice Extreme II.

Asetek and Swiftech are also worth looking into. Really, for about $250-75 you're not that limited.

-HC-

 

[Cheesetogo]

Originally posted by: SkyBum
The Koolance Exos is a bit more expensive than many options but I chose it for ease of setup and not having to research and buy all components seperately. Setup was a snap. My temps are averaging: CPU 30-39c (idle/load), mobo: 27-34c, GPU core 50c idle.

The new EXOS 2 (up to 700w cooling cap.) just hit the shelves ($349 Retail is WAY overpriced), which should drop the price of the previous EXOS (up to 500w cooling cap.) They have taken the original EXOS off their site though, so those models should be dissapearing from the market shortly. I think I got my EXOS for $169 at PCToyland, but keep in mind that you need to purchace your waterblocks seperately so that you get the right ones for your particular system.

Here are a few pics of mine in action:

http://www.imagehosting.us.com/showimage.php?id=5828&h=103087]
http://www.imagehosting.us.com/showimage.php?id=5813&h=354540]
http://www.imagehosting.us.com/showimage.php?id=5818&h=826322]
http://www.imagehosting.us.com/showimage.php?id=5815&h=722785]

Do have your system overclocked, and if you do, what is it overclocked to?

 

[SkyBum]

Currently the video card is at 554/554 but I had it up to 576/575 for a couple days. Decided to back it down a bit though as I dont want to push my luck.

ATI tool reports my GPU temp at 51 and GPU enviornment at 32. What the heck is "GPU enviornment?

I am still trying to get my head around the concept of overclocking the CPU and memory though. I think my head must be really hard cause no mater how much I read, only a very little bit of information soaks in

I'm hoping to OC the rest though, I just dont feel like I have a clue yet....

 

[cyto]

GPU environment would probably be referring to the ambient temp, the temperature of the air around the gpu.

 

[cirthix]

DIY, or just stick with good air

 

[HardWarrior]

Originally posted by: cirthix
DIY, or just stick with good air

There are viable kits available. Not everyone who wants water wants the hassle of DIY.

 

[cirthix]

but nearly ALL of those kits arent even as good as an xp120 or the like, have MUCH more hassle than an air cooling setup, and cost a hell of a lot more. imo, watercooling is either a diy thing or something for appearances, as spending 200 bucks on a wc system marginally better than air doesnt strike me as a great idea. you can get GREAT performance with a good pump, some heatercores/evaporators/oil coolers from a junkyard or the like, some brazing/epoxying/sealing up of an old heatsink, and some cheap tubing. o ya, and a cup for the radiator

 

[wylecoyote]

I was going to say, that with my xp-120 I'm idling at 26c and maxing out under Prime 95 at 33c. I have a relatively low cfm fan too... keeps things quiet.

Is watercooling really that much better?

 

[HardWarrior]

Originally posted by: wylecoyote
I was going to say, that with my xp-120 I'm idling at 26c and maxing out under Prime 95 at 33c. I have a relatively low cfm fan too... keeps things quiet.

Is watercooling really that much better?

Winchester CPU's aren't known for being all that hot anyway, and your temps depend on ambient no matter what you use. Overclock and let the temp in your computer room rise to 100 degrees and see what happens. Again, water-cooling doesn't have to be THE best choice for everyone. A person can decide to use it for no other reason than the bling factor and be perfectly justified in doing so.

but nearly ALL of those kits arent even as good as an xp120 or the like, have MUCH more hassle than an air cooling setup,

The operable in this case is NEARLY, cirthix. Water-cooling for the masses, and in general, is still a work in progress, just like air. This time a year ago all you could find were meatball kits. Also you need to realize that what qualifies as "hassle" is in the eye of the beholder, just like cost. I've done 4 complete refits to date, on DIY water-coolers. For me it's been a blast every single time, even though the process cost a lot more than air.

imo, watercooling is either a diy thing or something for appearances, as spending 200 bucks on a wc system marginally better than air doesnt strike me as a great idea.

Your reasons for not water-cooling are your own and not binding on anyone else. This is a hobby. Do you see what I'm getting at?

you can get GREAT performance with a good pump, some heatercores/evaporators/oil coolers from a junkyard or the like, some brazing/epoxying/sealing up of an old heatsink, and some cheap tubing. o ya, and a cup for the radiator

I get great performance and I've never set foot in a junkyard or an auto-parts store. I've spent good money for every water-cooling FRU in my box, and it LOOKS like it too. Remember what I said about this being a hobby? That means we can ALL do it in a way that we, as individuals, find most rewarding. There is no inherently "right" way, and as such there's no rational basis for pretending that there is. If you're happy with air then be happy, and without feeling that you need to justify your choices, or denegrate the choices of others.

 

[NINaudio]

I went through pretty much the same questions as you did here. I spent much time playing around with the configurator on dangerden's site before I finally bought it all. I couldn't be happier with it. My temps are: (idle/load) cpu: 34/42, gpu: 42/49. I won't say that it's quieter than my last setup, but it is definitely a less annoying noise than it was before. Dangerden and Swiftech both make some great blocks, you really couldn't go wrong with either of them.

 

[Paintballfreak66]

Ok, I'm new to the whole liquid cooling idea but I am looking into it. I have one quick question that I want to clear up. I want to have a cpu cooler, a chipset cooler, and a vga cooler. I've looked at a lot of liquid cooled systems online and its hard to tell but does the liquid that has already cycled through each component join together at some sort of splitter, or, in my case, depending on the kind that are available, an arrangement of splitters before returning to the radiator to be recooled? I would assume this is how it works because I don't see how it could be effective if the warm liquid returning from the cpu was to next travel to say the chipset block when it was already warm. That wouldn't make much sense. So what I'm asking is does the liquid cooling process function like for example parralel circuits do with electricity? Sorry if this is a stupid question but it was hard to tell from pictures and I want to make sure I understand completely. Thanks.

 

[Maluno]

How much maintanance does a setup, (like yours, nlnaudio), require? Is it really worth it to cool the gpu as well as the cpu, if my only concerns are more overclockability on the gfx card?
Edit: Skybum, I cant see the pics in your links.

 

[HardWarrior]

Originally posted by: Paintballfreak66
Sorry if this is a stupid question but it was hard to tell from pictures and I want to make sure I understand completely. Thanks.

There?s no such thing as a stupid question if you're asking something that's important to you. In general, you should stay away from parallel plumbing in water-cooling. Splitting the flow between blocks, for whatever reason, usually causes more flow to move in the direction of least resistance, which will starve the more restrictive block. One exception would be if you had two identical radiators that you wanted to split flow to in order to increase dissipation.

 

[NINaudio]

Well my setup is fairly new, so I haven't really had to do much in the way of maintenance yet, but I have been moving things around and reorganizing the tubing and all that kind of fun stuff.... But I would imagine that every year or two it would be a good idea to drain, flush, and refill the system.

 

[Paintballfreak66]

Originally posted by: HardWarrior
In general, you should stay away from parallel plumbing in water-cooling. Splitting the flow between blocks, for whatever reason, usually causes more flow to move in the direction of least resistance, which will starve the more restrictive block. One exception would be if you had two identical radiators that you wanted to split flow to in order to increase dissipation.

Yeah that makes sense, an electric current works the same way. So I would most likely line it up, cpu first, then chipset, then vga, in order of most importance to me? Its just hard to believe that it will work efficiently if the liquid takes heat from the cpu and then goes to the chipset etc. I guess I'll go ahead and get a second radiator for my SLI cards when I get it set up. That wouldn't create less resistance from the pump if it were to go both from the pump to cpu straight to one radiator and from the pump to the chipset to the vga would it? Lol, this is getting confusing. Even there it would seem that there is less resistance and the chipset/vga line would receive less water flow than the cpu which would be shorter. Ugh lol. Thanks for the help.

EDIT: one more question, I'm getting the danger den system and is the silver cpu block worth the extra 60 bucks on my amd 64 3500+ clawhammer if I'll be doing only minimal overclocking, or is the copper one sufficient? thanks.

 

[NINaudio]

From my understanding, the order doesn't make much difference really. I might turn out to be 1-2°C difference. You figure that the water is constantly moving and being cooled, never staying in place very long....