>Watercooling >2012

[SleepyHe4d]

What do you guys think of it these days? Helpful on any setups or only overclocked? Does anyone have a watecooled pc or has tried it or know anyone who has?

I remember hearing about it all the time years ago, but it seems the fad has died out and I haven't heard about it in forever. Are many people still even doing it anymore?

I've been thinking of using it for the next PC I build, not for overclocking or anything, but just for silence. Would it help any in keeping the PC quieter or be worth it?

 

[Sir_Brizz]

It really depends on how you set it up. You can make it significantly quieter overall simply because the CPU fan is often the most high pitched fan in your case. You still need to be able to vent heat, though. So you can't really get rid of all fans.

I've done water cooling on all of my rigs up to the one I'm currently using. The only reason I haven't done this one is because I need to replace my water block and haven't wanted to spend the money (even though it's not terribly expensive).

I buy most of my supplies from these guys:
http://www.dangerden.com/

Been quite happy with them, although Swiftech and a few others make decent and inexpensive hardware to do it as well.

 

[Bi()ha2arD]

High performance air cooling with big, low rpm fans on fan controllers is pretty much as efficient and silent as watercooling as far as CPUs go. Air cooling is also far cheaper, so there you have it. My only really audible fan is the GPU but that only spins up to loud during games and then I wear headphones anyways.

 

[Sir_Brizz]

Big, low RPM fans aren't that cheap. Nice coolers/heatsinks for the CPU aren't cheap.

You can build out a water cooling system for around $100. For a comparable air based system you are probably looking at $150.

 

[Capt.Toilet]

Water cooling is just too damn risky IMO.

Stick with a good quality fan/heatsink for the cpu, and get a few fans that will suck the air out of the case. In the end it depends on how much you overclock.

 

[Sir_Brizz]

Watercooling is not that dangerous but yeah.

 

[SleepyHe4d]

Hmm, to me it seems watercooling isn't too big of a deal with risks or costs, even for just a slight advantage of cooling or silence. I'll definitely try it next time I build. I like the idea of its efficiency and also less moving parts.

...and get a few fans that will suck the air out of the case. In the end it depends on how much you overclock.

Well using a negative air pressure setup causes air and dust to be sucked though the cracks in a case. It's just preference though. I prefer slightly higher case pressure than outside the case or equal.

As for the watercooling, I was wondering Brizz if you knew a way to have no airmovement at all inside the case and have the radiator/heat exchanger outside of the case? Would that work? The idea of having a completely sterile, sealed off case from dust or whatever, with no movement inside, is awesome to me.

I don't think I'll overclock though, especially with all games having graphics to fit the consoles too these days.

 

[Bi()ha2arD]

Big, low RPM fans aren't that cheap. Nice coolers/heatsinks for the CPU aren't cheap.

You can build out a water cooling system for around $100. For a comparable air based system you are probably looking at $150.

Well my heatsink was maybe 40€, 2 fans a 10€, and a 10€ fan controller to make them nice and quiet. That's 70€ total. For watercooling you need a heatspreader, a pump, radiator with fans, reservoire, tubings connectors etc.

 

[Jacks:Revenge]

water cooling just seems unnecessary.

unless you're running a super high-end setup with multiple GPU's or something, why bother?
good ventilation and a variety of fans/heatsinks are all you need to keep things nice and cool.

 

[Sir_Brizz]

As for the watercooling, I was wondering Brizz if you knew a way to have no airmovement at all inside the case and have the radiator/heat exchanger outside of the case? Would that work? The idea of having a completely sterile, sealed off case from dust or whatever, with no movement inside, is awesome to me.

You certainly can, although you'll have to either find a case with ports for the water to come through welded into it or weld a radiator/heat exchanger to it. There are several people that spend the time/money to do that.

 

[KaL976]

Tried reading in the watercooling forum on Hardocp?

 

[gopostal]

Just take the side of the case off. Bam, fixed.

 

[toniglandyl]

I'll probably upgrade my GPU and go watercooling around august/september.
As I have a CM 690 II advanced, I won't have to mod it at all !

(however, doing a case mod would be fun if I had the space and tools...)