Water Cooling Worth It?

winter_snake · Jan 28, 2015

So, I'm planning to build a computer (it's not my first time to build one)

So, my specs are as follows:
Motherboard - MSI Z87-GD65
Power Supply - 1000w Kentek PSU
CPU - i7 4790k
RAM - 16gb of RAM
GPU - Dual GTX 980's in SLI

Should I stick with traditional air cooling? OR upgrade it to water cooling? I realize the risks of water cooling, and I do know how to install it. So should I spend the extra $400-$600 for water cooling? And if I do, what should I water cool?

PizzaTheHutt · Jan 28, 2015

If you are going with watercooling, cool the cpu and gpu's. I have this on my rig and it works wonders

. Sometimes, if your budget doesn't allow it, water cooling is a bad idea - just get a good air cooler and you should be OK as long as your case is well ventilated.

maddogfargo · Jan 28, 2015

PizzaTheHutt :

To backup what Pizza said above, it depends on what you need to get out of your system.

Pick any 2 of the following 3 priorities:

Cost
Performance
Noise

Most high end air coolers cost less than a closed loop water cooler, are much quieter, but will be 2-3c warmer under load.

Most closed loop coolers are still reasonably priced at just $20-$40 more than high-end air coolers, perform better, but are noticeably louder.

To get the best performance and low noise you need to build a custom loop, which costs substantially more.

getdamafiaonyou · Jan 28, 2015

To me it also depends on your planned upgrade cycle. I tend to buy the new gpus every year, so for me watercooling them just doesn't make sense, if you plan to keep the 980's for at least 3 years, then it'd make more sense.

winter_snake · Feb 1, 2015

Thank you all for the helpful insight.
@maddogfargo, my answer to that question would be performance and noice. I do realize a custom loop is the way to go, and that's what my plan was. I've been reading more on it and custom cooling loops are "much quieter, and enhance performance better." I'm not sure if that's completely true, but custom loop it is. Also, I realize building the loop is very complex, but my brother taught me how to do it.

@getdamafiaonyou This build is suppose to last me at least three, hopefully more, years of gaming. After I build this computer, I hope not to upgrade it anytime soon, considering the cost into this entire machine.

Again, thank you for all the helpful answers, and @PizzaTheHutt for the original answer (which is what I chose)
-Ryan Smith.

PizzaTheHutt · Feb 1, 2015

winter_snake :

Thank you all for the helpful insight.
@maddogfargo, my answer to that question would be performance and noice. I do realize a custom loop is the way to go, and that's what my plan was. I've been reading more on it and custom cooling loops are "much quieter, and enhance performance better." I'm not sure if that's completely true, but custom loop it is. Also, I realize building the loop is very complex, but my brother taught me how to do it.

@getdamafiaonyou This build is suppose to last me at least three, hopefully more, years of gaming. After I build this computer, I hope not to upgrade it anytime soon, considering the cost into this entire machine.

Again, thank you for all the helpful answers, and @PizzaTheHutt for the original answer (which is what I chose)
-Ryan Smith.

Glad to see that we could be of assistance. Have fun building your PC

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