New to water cooling.

[Skinz]

Im looking to start water cooling and im new to it so i was wondering what would be a good deal for my hardware and what sites to order from. I have athlone 64 3800+, nvidia 7900gt, jetway sli-g mobo, 1gb corsair value ram. Im looking in the price range arround $100-150.

 

[waylander]

The best you could get for $150 is the thermaltake bigwater 745 which is available on newegg. Anything less than the 745 would give worse performance than good air cooling, which would cost less.

If you want specialty stuff I find that www.frozencpu.com is one of the best. www.xoxide.com is good also but doesn't quite have the same selection.

 

[Skinz]

ok thanks. Is it worth getting or should i just wait a bit untill i get more money? or do u have any recomended heatsinks?

 

[waylander]

There are a lot of good suggestions in this forum for cpu hsf. I would suggest that the 745 is the minimum that you want to get for water cooling but if you want to go extreme and DIY with better pumps reservoirs radiators and water blocks then a kit from Danger Den or Swiftech will be best. They will cost in the $250 range though.

Toms and other sites have done many reviews on heat sink/fans for cpu's. I'd suggest you do a search for them.

I do hear the names Zalman, Arctic Cooling and Scythe a lot though.

 

[chuckshissle]

I got to Frozencpu.com as well but if I can buy it from Newegg then I do so.

 

[Doughbuy]

Bigwater 745 is probably the best, you might also think about the Corsair Nautilus 500 if you want an external solution.

As far as the best goes, the Koolance Exos is the best water-cooler out there, and its external but retails for 300

Swiftech H20 Apex system is also one of the best , retails for around 250, but its mounted internally.

There are also some quiet solutions if your interested in that like the TT Rhythm. That runs around 200, cooling is mediocre, but very quiet

Or you can do a DIY, buy waterblocks and tubes and everything seperately, but if you're new to it, probably more trouble than its worth. Plus, you have to make sure the tubes fit and you have all the right parts, shrug...

Bigwater 745 should be enough for your needs, you might also want to look at www.Directron.com They're prices are usually cheaper than NewEgg, and I like them alot.

 

[waylander]

As far as the best goes, the Koolance Exos is the best water-cooler out there, and its external but retails for 300.

Sorry but I can't quite agree with that statement. It's one of the best prebuilt systems but not the best you can build.

The ability to expand and change parts in a DIY as well as the performance that can be gained is better. Plus if one of my components goes south it's easy to replace, prebuilt systems like the Exos require more work if something goes wrong. Besides, I like working with 1/2" ID hose more than 3/8".