To Water-cool Or Not To Water-cool

WooDWoRkeR420 · 22-January-06, 11:39 AM

I have been looking to upgrade my current cooling situation. In addition to purchasing a new case, case fans, and a cpu cooler, I have started to ask the question is it a better idea to go with a water-cooling rig as opposed to an air cooled case.
I know that there is a significant price difference in the 2 type of cooling, but being new to the concept of water cooling i dont even know where to begin. Perhaps there are links or reviews that you might know of that i would find helpfull to read up on some more info about watercooling.

The air cooler that i had pondered was the Thermaltake Big Typhoon.

Does anyone have any suggestions on which is the smarter route to go. My budget for the cooling system would have to be around $150 CDN. Thats about $175-180 USD!

The new system specs will be:

Thermaltake Tsunami Case,ASUS A8N-E nf4 ultra, Athlon 64 3700+, 2 gigs OCZ pc3200 EL Platinum Rev 2.,Sapphire Radeon X800XL, (2) Quad blue LED 120mm case fans, (2) Quad blue LED 92mm case fans, Thermaltake Big Typhoon (or watercooling setup)

ANY IDEAS OR LINKS WOULD BE HELPFULL!

musclecars&computers · 22-January-06, 11:43 AM

Are going to overclock this rig?

RBIEZE · 22-January-06, 11:49 AM

You will find that TOP of the line aircooling works quite well ,as good or better than cheaper liquid cooling systems.
That said ,you need to define exacty what you want to do with your system before any recomendations can be made.
you should probably start out with air until you understand all the ins and outs of water cooling .
then you could design your own custom system .

Search is your friend.
look in extreme cooling section http://forums.pcapex.com/forumdisplay.php?f=9

WooDWoRkeR420 · 22-January-06, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RBIEZE


	You will find that TOP of the line aircooling works quite well ,as good or better than cheaper liquid cooling systems. That said ,you need to define exacty what you want to do with your system before any recomendations can be made. please list your system specs.

The new rig will be doing some overclocking, and is primarily a gaming rig. Nothing over the top, but a good alround performer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WooDWoRkeR420


	The new system specs will be: Thermaltake Tsunami Case,ASUS A8N-E nf4 ultra, Athlon 64 3700+, 2 gigs OCZ pc3200 EL Platinum Rev 2.,Sapphire Radeon X800XL, (2) Quad blue LED 120mm case fans, (2) Quad blue LED 92mm case fans, Thermaltake Big Typhoon (or watercooling setup)!

Additional Spec's---> WD Diamond Max 200gb 16mb HDD,OS - XP Pro sp2,Sony DW-Q30A, Sony CRX215A1 CD+RW

jofultner · 22-January-06, 12:06 PM

Fool around with building and modding first.Then if you decide to set O/C marks(like drag racing computers)then work on extreme cooling systems...Jo

The Dragon Reborn · 22-January-06, 12:15 PM

I'd go for "advanced aircooling" as a primer as well...

By "advanced" I mean adding true blow/suck-holes in your 'rig by means of Dremel, Holesaw or otherwise,
decoupled fan attchments, wire or custom grilles (and I like fan filters)... 3rd party coolers on the GPU
(or buy a card with a non "reference" cooler), big heatpipe coolers on the CPU, a quality PSU with a nice
120mm fan.... & maybe some rheobus or other controller to make a difference in office/internet work
and serious 'fraggin!!!

You can cool things pretty well, going about it this way, imho...

TDR

lAnonymousl · 22-January-06, 02:10 PM

Um $150 CDN is about $130 USD....

In that case I would recommend air cooling as you won't get anything decent in that price range.

silvafish · 29-January-06, 02:43 PM

also, i've come to grasp with the concept that if the water cooling begins to leak...you're kind of screwed...i always prefer to go with air cooling.

abec · 03-February-06, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silvafish


	also, i've come to grasp with the concept that if the water cooling begins to leak...you're kind of screwed...i always prefer to go with air cooling.

There is non-conductive fluid you can buy so if there is a leak you are safe from it frying your board. I wouldnt say dont worry about leaks, but its a great way to protect yourself if you are running water cooling.

I would hold off on water cooling untill you have over $200 (US) to spend, and are willing to take the chance that you might lose your computer if something should go wrong.

22-January-06, 11:39 AM		#1 (permalink)
WooDWoRkeR420 Apex Techie Lite	To Water-cool Or Not To Water-cool I have been looking to upgrade my current cooling situation. In addition to purchasing a new case, case fans, and a cpu cooler, I have started to ask the question is it a better idea to go with a water-cooling rig as opposed to an air cooled case. I know that there is a significant price difference in the 2 type of cooling, but being new to the concept of water cooling i dont even know where to begin. Perhaps there are links or reviews that you might know of that i would find helpfull to read up on some more info about watercooling. The air cooler that i had pondered was the Thermaltake Big Typhoon. Does anyone have any suggestions on which is the smarter route to go. My budget for the cooling system would have to be around $150 CDN. Thats about $175-180 USD! The new system specs will be: Thermaltake Tsunami Case,ASUS A8N-E nf4 ultra, Athlon 64 3700+, 2 gigs OCZ pc3200 EL Platinum Rev 2.,Sapphire Radeon X800XL, (2) Quad blue LED 120mm case fans, (2) Quad blue LED 92mm case fans, Thermaltake Big Typhoon (or watercooling setup) ANY IDEAS OR LINKS WOULD BE HELPFULL!

22-January-06, 11:49 AM		#3 (permalink)
RBIEZE Apex Tech Demi-God	You will find that TOP of the line aircooling works quite well ,as good or better than cheaper liquid cooling systems. That said ,you need to define exacty what you want to do with your system before any recomendations can be made. you should probably start out with air until you understand all the ins and outs of water cooling . then you could design your own custom system . Search is your friend. look in extreme cooling section http://forums.pcapex.com/forumdisplay.php?f=9 Last edited by RBIEZE; 22-January-06 at 11:58 AM..

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22-January-06, 11:43 AM		#2 (permalink)
musclecars&computers Apex Tech Demi-God	Are going to overclock this rig?

22-January-06, 12:06 PM		#5 (permalink)
jofultner Apex Elite Tech	Fool around with building and modding first.Then if you decide to set O/C marks(like drag racing computers)then work on extreme cooling systems...Jo

22-January-06, 12:15 PM		#6 (permalink)
The Dragon Reborn Apex Elite Expert Tech	I'd go for "advanced aircooling" as a primer as well... By "advanced" I mean adding true blow/suck-holes in your 'rig by means of Dremel, Holesaw or otherwise, decoupled fan attchments, wire or custom grilles (and I like fan filters)... 3rd party coolers on the GPU (or buy a card with a non "reference" cooler), big heatpipe coolers on the CPU, a quality PSU with a nice 120mm fan.... & maybe some rheobus or other controller to make a difference in office/internet work and serious 'fraggin!!! You can cool things pretty well, going about it this way, imho... TDR

22-January-06, 02:10 PM		#7 (permalink)
lAnonymousl The Who? Hoe	Um $150 CDN is about $130 USD.... In that case I would recommend air cooling as you won't get anything decent in that price range.

29-January-06, 02:43 PM		#8 (permalink)
silvafish Apex Tech Fanatic	also, i've come to grasp with the concept that if the water cooling begins to leak...you're kind of screwed...i always prefer to go with air cooling.