Is water cooling worth it for my build?

sciamwow · Mar 18, 2015

Hey guys,
So I know Christmas is about nine months away, but... I just built my first PC in mid-January (Woop woop!) and I was wondering what I could get for Christmas for the PC. Can't hurt to think ahead I suppose. So I was thinking of a couple of things (Possibly upgrade from a 900p monitor to 1080p monitor, but I could probably get a good deal on one around Black Friday time) and liquid cooling crossed my mind. I have an FX-6300 OC'd to 4.5gHz with a Hyper 212 Plus cooling it. The CPU will get a little toasty at times, but nothing too bad (Creeping up close to 70C, but staying around 68C when running Prime95 for a good while). I've heard that with something like the H100i AIO liquid cooler people can get up to 5.0gHz with their 6300. Would the .5gHz jump warrant getting the liquid cooler for Christmas? Or could I put the money towards something better? I play games like Arma 3, Battlefield, KSP, etc. My build should be in my signature if you're curious to see it.

Also a little side note, I have $28 in rebate debit cards and need to use them on something. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

xbizzaroz · Mar 18, 2015

If you are over clocking your CPU to those speeds it would be wise to get water cooling. It is good however that you have that aftermarket cooler right now, which will suffice for some time.

sciamwow · Mar 18, 2015

xbizzaroz :

Would the performance increase be worth it, though?

geofelt · Mar 19, 2015

Worth is something only YOU can determine.
My canned rant on liquid cooling:
------------------------start of rant-------------------
You buy a liquid cooler to be able to extract an extra multiplier or two out of your OC.
How much do you really need?
I do not much like all in one liquid coolers when a good air cooler like a Noctua NH-D15 or phanteks can do the job just as well.
A liquid cooler will be expensive, noisy, less reliable, and will not cool any better
in a well ventilated case.
Liquid cooling is really air cooling, it just puts the heat exchange in a different place.
The orientation of the radiator will cause a problem.
If you orient it to take in cool air from the outside, you will cool the cpu better, but the hot air then circulates inside the case heating up the graphics card and motherboard.
If you orient it to exhaust(which I think is better) , then your cpu cooling will be less effective because it uses pre heated case air.
And... I have read too many tales of woe when a liquid cooler leaks.
google "H100 leak"
-----------------------end of rant--------------------------

I like a good monitor option better. Keep the old also, it is nice to have email or performance monitors open while gaming.

sciamwow · Mar 19, 2015

geofelt :

Worth is something only YOU can determine.
My canned rant on liquid cooling:
------------------------start of rant-------------------
You buy a liquid cooler to be able to extract an extra multiplier or two out of your OC.
How much do you really need?
I do not much like all in one liquid coolers when a good air cooler like a Noctua NH-D15 or phanteks can do the job just as well.
A liquid cooler will be expensive, noisy, less reliable, and will not cool any better
in a well ventilated case.
Liquid cooling is really air cooling, it just puts the heat exchange in a different place.
The orientation of the radiator will cause a problem.
If you orient it to take in cool air from the outside, you will cool the cpu better, but the hot air then circulates inside the case heating up the graphics card and motherboard.
If you orient it to exhaust(which I think is better) , then your cpu cooling will be less effective because it uses pre heated case air.
And... I have read too many tales of woe when a liquid cooler leaks.
google "H100 leak"
-----------------------end of rant--------------------------

I like a good monitor option better. Keep the old also, it is nice to have email or performance monitors open while gaming.

Thanks bud

rubix_1011 · Mar 19, 2015

Not to be one to argue semantics, but most people who watercool (including myself) like to add that full watercooling loops perform better than boxed liquid coolers. You also don't typically have the issues with pump failures and leaks around the pump when you DIY...components are better built, but that does not make you exempt from leaks. However, you're now looking at a larger investment than that $100 for the Corsair H100i...starting in the $150 range.

sciamwow · Mar 19, 2015

rubix_1011 :

Alright gotcha. Thanks

DasHotShot · Mar 19, 2015

You play on 900p...what is the point of watercooling a system to get performance out of it you can't even display lol

sciamwow · Mar 19, 2015

DasHotShot :

900p really isn't that bad. I just was curious about the performance boost from .5gHz

DasHotShot · Mar 19, 2015

sciamwow :

You have a pc that is utterly underutilized as it stands already. It's perhaps the most common mistake people on these forums make.

On your res you can tell the difference between 100 and 200 fps? How?

Your monitor shows you 60...all the time. Whether you like it or not.

So you want to watercool the system and push even more frames into oblivion?

Get a real monitor, experience proper visuals first and then talk about taking it to the limit.

You're trying to modify an average Sedan to racing specification, only to run it on some loop of 8 in a parking lot. Get onto a full racing track, then tune the car to perform better on track.

sciamwow · Mar 19, 2015

DasHotShot :

sciamwow :

You have a pc that is utterly underutilized as it stands already. It's perhaps the most common mistake people on these forums make.

On your res you can tell the difference between 100 and 200 fps? How?

Your monitor shows you 60...all the time. Whether you like it or not.

So you want to watercool the system and push even more frames into oblivion?

Get a real monitor, experience proper visuals first and then talk about taking it to the limit.

You're trying to modify an average Sedan to racing specification, only to run it on some loop of 8 in a parking lot. Get onto a full racing track, then tune the car to perform better on track.

What monitor would you suggest? I'm guessing you're talking about a 144hz one. Preferably not any more than $250, obviously I want to get the best bang-for-the-buck

DasHotShot · Mar 19, 2015

sciamwow :

Not necessarily...144Hz is a gimmick for FPS gamers imo. It looks nice, that is true.

I am talking about getting at least a 1080p monitor with at least 120Hz refresh.

If you are looking at watercooling, are you considering a more powerful card? A second card? If so...go 1440p perhaps.

Here is a decent guide to help you in whatever category:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/top-best-computer-monitors,review-33059.html

p_nut_uk · Mar 19, 2015

Definitely get at least a 1080p monitor

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