ok, i have had watercooling for almost 2 years now, but it seems that no matter what i do or how many times i fix anything, my temps still suck. i dont think 47°C on water sounds normal for idle. im currently running a E6750 and 7950GT on the same loop, connected to a swiftech dual 120 rad, being cooled with 2 120cfm fans. something tells me the area of my comp is somewhat contributing to the problem. anyone think i should try switching back to aircooling? that ultra 120 extreme is looking pretty good...if i do switch over to aircooling i am also gonna move everything into a antec 1000AMG case. also i live in hawaii so ambient temps are around 75~90 all year round.

Quote: Originally Posted by CommanderZero ok, i have had watercooling for almost 2 years now, but it seems that no matter what i do or how many times i fix anything, my temps still suck. i dont think 47°F on water sounds normal for idle. im currently running a E6750 and 7950GT on the same loop, connected to a swiftech dual 120 rad, being cooled with 2 120cfm fans. something tells me the area of my comp is somewhat contributing to the problem. anyone think i should try switching back to aircooling? that ultra 120 extreme is looking pretty good...if i do switch over to aircooling i am also gonna move everything into a antec sx1030 case. also i live in hawaii so ambient temps are around 75~90 all year round.

47F?? That's only 8 degrees Celcius??
What are you using to measure the temps?

Also, what components are you using ?

Quote: Originally Posted by MasterP 47F?? That's only 8 degrees Celcius?? What are you using to measure the temps? Also, what components are you using ?

oops, lol 47C im using coretemp, but it comes out the same in the bios and everything else i use.

the cpu is on a custom waterblock, worked well with the previous owner, and the gpu is on a maze4.

and also forgot to mention that the fans for the rad are sucking in the air from outside.

Explain your loop. Radiator, res, CPU, GPU. What is the order?

Quote: Originally Posted by BigAkita Explain your loop. Radiator, res, CPU, GPU. What is the order?

pump-rad-cpu-gpu-res-pump

Quote: Originally Posted by CommanderZero pump-rad-cpu-gpu-res-pump

So what CPU are you using and how far is it OC'd? This'll help us get a feel for what temps are good
I was running a pentium D at 4GHz and it sat around 47-50 on idle - 57-60 under load

it says in my first post that im running a E6750 O_o its not overclocked right now. im running a 7950gt video card if you missed that one too

Quote: Originally Posted by MasterP So what CPU are you using and how far is it OC'd? This'll help us get a feel for what temps are good I was running a pentium D at 4GHz and it sat around 47-50 on idle - 57-60 under load

Dude, you have good gear and you have it set up correctly. The only things I can think of is 1: The CPU block to CPU bond may not be tight, or 2: The temp software is reading high. I would recommend trying a dedicated thermometer to get a more accurate reading of what kind of temps you are actually pulling. Also, you may want to pull the block and see what kind of read you get from the bottom. By read, I mean what kind of footprint you have. Make sure you are using only the thinnest coating of TIM, so thin that you can still read the writing on the top of the CPU.

OCCT, speedfan, coretemp and bios all reads the same idle temp - 47°C. i cant check with nvidia monitor, it keeps crashing every time i try to open it i also got one of the wired thermometers hooked up, it reads the same as well. i know the tim is contacting well, i can see the letters nice and clear. i think i have a picture of it around. but the thing is, when im on my aircooler (zalman 9500) that i use when cleaning out the water loop, i get the same temps...so i was thinking if im gonna be getting the same temps on air, then i think im spending more money and effort to maintain the loop than i could be...

Quote: Originally Posted by CommanderZero OCCT, speedfan, coretemp and bios all reads the same idle temp - 47°C. i cant check with nvidia monitor, it keeps crashing every time i try to open it i also got one of the wired thermometers hooked up, it reads the same as well. i know the tim is contacting well, i can see the letters nice and clear. i think i have a picture of it around. but the thing is, when im on my aircooler (zalman 9500) that i use when cleaning out the water loop, i get the same temps...so i was thinking if im gonna be getting the same temps on air, then i think im spending more money and effort to maintain the loop than i could be...

Idle is one thing - how are your load temps though?

ill check that now with occt

ok, load temps at 90% with OCCT is 58ºC

BTW i have this little tower fan that i have behind the desk, it helps vent the hot air from behind the table out.

with that the idle temps are 44ºC.

I am not saying that watercooling is not cool, but it isn't always necessary. If you are doing extreme overclocking or running some kind of insane multiple CPU/GPU rig it helps out, but if you are running a normal rig with some "normal" overclocking it may not be as effective. I started watercooling before watercooling was cool (no pun intended) and did so for quite a long time. I've used home made setups and also used some high end Danger Den gear but you know what? You will never get below ambient with straight watercooling. When heatpipes started to show up in air cooling setups I soon found out that it was just much easier to just use air instead of water. The temps are about the same.

I still love watercooling just for the coolness factor. I would like to help you get yours working better. In order to do so you need some sort of benchmark on air. Would it be possible for you to remove the block and slap some air cooling on it for a couple of days? That would really tell you if there is a problem.

gotta get the aircooler back from my friend then...

yeah i get what youre saying. definitely is cool to talk about how your pc is cooled with water lol.

thanks you guys for helping me out so far

never water-cooled myself, but it looks more like an air flow issue. rad has 2 or 3 120mm fans pulling out the top and another 120 out the rear near the res.so that leaves 1, maybe 2 120's for front intakes. gives the case a negative pressure overall..........how are the temps with the side opened and not sitting directly under the desk?