Watercooling or Air Cooling?

The Sony VAIO I purchased (VGC-RC110G) came with liquid cooling in it, however I was wondering if there was an alternative; i.e. something more powerful that always keeps my PC cool (especially when OCing my VGA etc.)? My temps usually vary with my CPU being at 45-55C when active. Are these average temps?

As far as upgrading, what would any of you suggest?

Well, cooler than water your looking at TEC or phase change. Personally, I think all of the above is a waste. A good air cooler can keep up with many TECs and probably water coolers too. The only thing is that water is needed for cooling both the CPU and GPU. If the performance of your current cooling is insufficient look into upgrading the radiator and pump, but with a proprietary setup like what your VIAO likely has you might need to scrap the whole thing and get a new one. Look at some review sites for the best of the new water coolers if you have your heart set on water. I saw one that was a TEC cooled water setup somewhere, but I'm not sure if you can buy it...

FrozenCPU is the definitive place to get all your watercooling and TEC or phasechange setups. That and Crazy CPU. I bought all my stuff from both places. The only drawback with watercooling or using a TEC is cost. But for me, I want to get every inch out of my current hardware, so cost isn't a real problem. I've spent about $800 on my watercooling setup. My QX6700 runs at 3.84GHZ with an idle temp of 40C. I'm still tweaking it to get a stable freq., but as you can see, if you invest enough time and money, you will reap the rewards. Oh, and done right, with the right hardware, aircooling cannot touch a watercooled system.

We all know the phrase... "dood u bought a dell"
Can we add to that "son u bought a sony"

All these premade PC's are of the gay.

Prob something like a scythe ninja will woop sonys 'water' system

Son... u bought a Sony

Here are images of my Sony VAIO: (I now understand it that the so called "liquid cooling" is just a radiator and block over my CPU to manage the heat)

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444 [...] 423nr7.jpg
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444 [...] 435zl1.jpg
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444 [...] 433ss3.jpg
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444 [...] 429cy9.jpg
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/903/560a0428gk4.jpg
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444 [...] 427qo5.jpg
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444 [...] 424ly9.jpg

I've heard upgrading my GPU would be the right step for cooling down my CPU.

Also, my MoBo is an Intel D945PPR D945GPR.

Now that you've seen some pictures, would replacing the radiator and block with a Zalman (which I hear are percise and quiet) be worth it? Or anything else along these lines?

Thanks again

Leave the cooler you have on the CPU. It will work good enough. You should take a look at replacing your GPU for the biggest bang for the buck.