Water or waste?

[Dice144]

My curent case is Coolermaster HAF 932
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119160

Most the guys at work run water. They all daily dig me for not going water. In little nerd fashion I had a dream I got the 6950 (reading late night reviews) and needed to water cool it after unlocking it.

My X6 I do not believe will see any benefits due to my crazy winter cooling test (had it outside in sub 30 F). Using a pretty good air cooler. Xigatek 1283. My 460 when it was OC higher then 830 core would run into a thermal wall.

The frugal guy in me thinks I would be better served just waiting and getting a new CPU/GPU/MB when SB B3 start showing up on the egg vs blowing money to cool a "older" system. Buying PC gear is my only expensive habbit so I like to upgrade yearly. Then again water might be a long term investment. What do you guys think?

As a side note before thinking of going water I planned my next build to be mATX to fit in my current Lian Li 351B case. Want to redesign my PC desk and be able to stack a system or 2 in a smaller area then my Coolmaster takes up.

 

[aigomorla]

your heart is not into water, nor does it sound like you have any enthuisim in holding the hobby.

Water takes maintenance, and a incredible amount of patience.
Both of which it seems like you are not into.

So my advance is get the new sandy + gpu.
Or even dual up on another GPU if you want gaming performance.

Watercooling is more for hobby, unless u go with the H50 and H70 style kits, which are more toys then hobby.

also the Frugal guy in you will scream and cry when he see's how much a decent water setup will cost.

 

[Dice144]

Well I was willing to spend up to $300 if it is really going to help cool my GPU so I can overclock it more. Yearly bonus will cover it I figure. I also hate noise and told water is alot less noise then a good air setup.

 

[aigomorla]

Well I was willing to spend up to $300 if it is really going to help cool my GPU so I can overclock it more. Yearly bonus will cover it I figure. I also hate noise and told water is alot less noise then a good air setup.

your not going to get a significant increase in gpu performance on a water block vs. air. (well if your going to stay with stock voltage.)

You will get a considerable amount of temperature reduction, You also get better VRM cooling, and better memory cooling,
which in turn could allow you to increase the voltage on the gpu, if that allows it in your tuner, which then could allow you to OC more.

The temperature reduction is usually Half your current load temps.
So if your gpu is loading at 70, its usually 35-45.
Your idle to load delta will be small, no more then 20, that means @ the most extreme, if your gpu is idling 18C, it wont load past 38C.

300 is very possible for a GPU loop.

Can you tell me if the Top of your case can support 120x2?

I see holes for it so you can put 2 120mm fans on, if thats the case, the recomended package will be easier for you.

However water cooling takes maintenance.
There is no set and forget LC system.

Tubing is naturally pours, so over time u loose coolant and need to top off.
Also it can take several hours for installation if your new, 6 hours to leak test, and a full 12 hours to bleed.

So if you dont have the patience to take it slow the first time around, or have a buddy who can help ya out in the first install, i would do a bit more research into it.

 

[wuliheron]

Check with an astrologer. Some people are air signs and others water and sometimes they just don't mix.

 

[Dice144]

Well my buddy that host another Tech site is actually gonna walk me thru the setup. I am just trying to justify the cost vs just buying faster hardware. But then again he claims it is a long term investment. SB B3 not out yet and got money burning a hole in my pocket! I do not drink etc so I enjoy to spend money on my PC.

This winter I took a day off of work when it was extremly cold so I could OC my PC outside. So the time investment and checking for filling does not scare me. I actually like tinkering with hardware more then playing games at times...

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

watercooling you need a big radiated area and at least 500usd to waste otherwise you might as well get a aircooler

 

[aigomorla]

This winter I took a day off of work when it was extremly cold so I could OC my PC outside. So the time investment and checking for filling does not scare me. I actually like tinkering with hardware more then playing games at times...

MCR220 so you can mount it using the top holes in your existing case.

A bay Res with a DDC option, or you can go straight DDC with tline... I really recomend you use a res.

a Koolance GPU block. Especially if its for ATI since it has swapable VRM plates incase of GPU revisions.

with silver plated barbs and cheap tubing.

You should be @ 300 with those parts.


I may sound a little arrogant when it comes to water... and i appologize.
But i assure you, i got over 10yrs in this hobby, as well as being one of the first pioneers who developed full board blocks which a lot of vendors use now.

My level of water building skills is this:

And im at a point where if a vendor doesnt have something i need, i go out to my friends and get stuff done like this:

Dice im gonna warn ya up front.
If you like building computers, and tuning them, like cars, for example.. when i was in high school, i had the king of micky mouse going inside my car... then you will get addicted to water.

Water gets you greedy, you want more if your system is a solid system, and it has a 5% quit rate.
Meaning only 5% of the people ive talked to have gone back to air after having a good water setup.

You get spoiled, and it makes things very difficult for you to go back to air.

But as for GPU.

Your results will vary... but on my system when testing this 580GTX block from koolance... this was the load temps on AIR:

You can see how much water pwned that:

 

[Lightflash]

The HAF 932 can have a 120x3 rad at the top Aigo.

As to the OP, I would wait to get B3 SB and then if you have the money and the drive, go with water. The SB will show a bigger improvement over your X6 and I think would be a better investment if you can only get one or the other. If you can get both, read up on everything watercooling (start with Aigo's sticky as there are great tips there) and buy the right parts that will fit into the budget. CPU blocks can usually last at least 2 generations if not more depending on the vendor and adapter support, GPU blocks can be sold to buy newer blocks, etc.

 

[Dice144]

Thanks for the input. I will most likly buy a new CPU/MB/GPU and go water the same paycheck. Just killing off a few unwanted bills first. By then B3 or BD (if it does not suck) will be out.

 

[Trix teh Pony]

Get a Corsair H70 and be done with it. Reviews on it show that it's very effective. Water cooling without all the BS, IMO.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Get a Corsair H70 and be done with it. Reviews on it show that it's very effective. Water cooling without all the BS, IMO.

Reviews show it being roughly on par with top-tier air, winning some and losing some. However, it's also more expensive than a very good air cooler, so you're really spending an extra $30 or so for maybe a 1-2C difference. True water cooling, on the other hand, may cost several hundreds more but also yields 10-15C or better temperature drops compared to air cooling.

The H50 and H70 are decent for what they do, but they are NOT cost effective unless there's a very good sale. The only thing they really excel at is keeping weight directly off the motherboard, and looking more exotic than an air cooler.

 

[Jovec]

The only thing they really excel at is keeping weight directly off the motherboard, and looking more exotic than an air cooler.

Nice for clearing tall RAM sinks too which seems to be an issue with some board/HSF/RAM combos.

 

[aigomorla]

Get a Corsair H70 and be done with it. Reviews on it show that it's very effective. Water cooling without all the BS, IMO.

he wanted to watercool his gpu more then his CPU.

So how does this help with this gpu's?

Well I was willing to spend up to $300 if it is really going to help cool my GPU so I can overclock it more. Yearly bonus will cover it I figure. I also hate noise and told water is alot less noise then a good air setup.

 

[bleucharm28]

I think you just need try it. You'll never know if don't try. I like my watercooling setup

 

[faxon]

once you go water you never go back, aigo's right. isnt that hard to maintain even, just make sure your radiators are dusted and if you do cpu and gpu get a res so you can ensure you dont have to much evaporation over time if you dont get a chance to drain it. right now im running cpu only and its a nice drop in temps, but aigo is right, GPU definitely stands to gain the most from it, though it can get pricey if you go multigpu or you upgrade GPUs frequently. i didnt bother the first time around because i got a lot of the parts for my CPU loop on sale, actually was able to build 2 loops for the price of one in the end and have enough left for a nice custom Frozen Q res as well

 

[bmaverick]

If you have the room for a top ended air solution that will good greatly, then stick with it. WCing is not just to keep temps down, it's more of a hobby turned enthusiasts to rub shoulders with the next WCing person or clan.

If you are into strong OCing, Folding@Home, heavy gaming often, then WCing is more your answer.

If you are into surfing the web, emails, some gaming, streamed video, then higher ended air-cooling is your deal.

WCing requires more involvement and usually is a custom setup with no one real turn-key solution to fit everyone's taste. ALSO, if any component in the WCing loop goes south, your system is down until you replace that component, re-bleed the system, leak test and finally back to running. With an air cooled system, it's just a quick air cooler replacement.

PLUS, the air cooling solutions use less electrical energy to operate.

Weigh in all the facts first before needing to take the WCing plunge.