Lots of Water Cooling Questions(im new to it)

karcar549 · Feb 5, 2014

OK i have read the water cooling sticky and know how to watercool and what do i need but i have some doubts that i want to be answered.

1.I dont need to watercool i dont oc but i consider watercooling as a hobby is anyone like that?

2.When building a computer which is watercooled what is advisable?building the system along with loop and then boot it for the first time and install win 8 and drivers or build the pc first with the stock coolers and all and boot it and install os and drivers and then install the water cooling loop.

3.Can i damage the cpu in anyway by cleaning the thermal compound even if its non conductive like mx 4

4.Is the thermal paste that comes with the stock i7 4770k cooler non conductive like mx 4

5.How can i damage my pc with water cooling except leaking it or corroding the metals with the crappy feser one.

6.Will it be fine that if i build the pc with stock coolers and 2-3 months later add a custom loop

Thank You

btw some of the questions might be stupid but im a newbie to watercooling but i have a lot of knowledge about computers and computer hardware

Lovolt · Feb 5, 2014

Like you, I'm a water cooling noob. As such, for my first try I went with an AIO water cooling kit - the Swiftech H220 when it was still available in the states. So I can only give answers to some of your questions.

2. If you're using an all in one water cooling kit, you can treat the kit pretty much like any other cpu cooler. In other words, you can install it with all your other components and boot up and install your OS. Most of those kits have been tested for leaks and as long as there's no liquid in the box when you opened it, it's pretty safe to believe it won't leak on boot up.

I have not built a custom water cooling system from scratch so I'll let others comment on that. However, you need to fill the loop with coolant and you need to have the motor running to do that. So you should know if you're loop is running correctly before you build your pc. As such, I would think it would be safe to install everything (loop included) and then boot up and install the OS

3. If you're not careful, you can damage a cpu while cleaning it. But from my experience (only 5-6 builds), as long you are careful, there shouldn't be any problems (i.e., avoiding the obvious - using incorrect cleaning solution, getting some grease on the pin side of the cpu, etc.)

4. I'm unsure.

5. The obvious answer is if the motor on the water loop craps out. However, most modern motherboards/cpus will throttle the cpu and allow you turn off the system without harming components. The less obvious answer is that you need good case airflow to cool your motherboard components. The cpu fan on many air coolers provide airflow over major heat producers. You may need to add an extra case fan or two to compensate.

6. Yes, you can always add water cooling later. However, you will probably need to do a little extra work to get a custom loop installed (pull out many of your components to access your case more easily, install water cooling kit, then re-install components).

karcar549 · Feb 5, 2014

lolovolt on 4. if you were in my position what would you have done?

toolmaker_03 · Feb 6, 2014

hello I to water cool for many reasons, but I would say that this is my hobby, I have been doing it for about 15 years now. I have never regretted going to water cooling but this can be a expensive hobby. like most hobbies the return on investment is in the eye of the one doing it, many of my friends think that I am a little crazy. the reason that I started water cooling in the first place was to extend the life of the components, that I have on the system, that means that when I first build the system, I do not clock it at all normally. as the years go on, I will clock the hardware further in order to keep up with new technologies, thus extending the life of the hardware. a good example of this was my last system, it was a AMD939 system with a FX60 and a 6800GT. I built that system in 2003 and it lasted until 2012, that was a great return on my investment. at the end of its life the CPU was clocked to 3Ghz, and the 6800GT video card was clocked to 700Mhz, as a result the system was able to run most games at that time with little issues. some games had to be turned down on the settings, with was a clear indication that the system needed to be upgraded.

today I am doing it again, I have a new system built and all the hardware is cooled, as for how long it will last, that depends on the market, and the new technologies that come out over the next few years.

here have a look at my new system, but keep in mind that I did not do all of this overnight, it has taken years to get to this point.
http://imageshack.com/a/img401/7564/0k5l.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img690/5771/j1sr.jpg

karcar549 · Feb 6, 2014

THANKS LOLOVOLT AND Toolmaker 03 for answers both really helped out now im building a 800$ custom loop for my gpu and cpu will start planning what to get tommorow.BTW if you are looking for watercooling case,consider the phanteks enthoo primo which will fit pretty much all watercooling rads and other hardware

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