Cooling Hardware

[GeorgeStorm]

Hello, I am wondering,
If I am intending to do some extreme overclocking, with either a 8400, or the 9450, then what cooling hardware would you recommend? (4GHz+)
I am looking at water cooling at the moment, but I have heard about vapochill, or waterchill, or vapocill micro, and I was wondering if anyone had any expieriance,
Thanks

 

[phreejak]

Well, if you are going to be really aggressive with your o'clocking would that also include the GPU as well? and the memory? The reason that I ask is that if so, then it might be necessary to watercool the NB. Normally, I wouldn;t advocate that except for under the most extreme of circumstances. However, o'clocking the CPU, GPU and memory aggressively, is going to focus alot of heat and energy on the NB as most of those functions (memory, cpu cache, GPU, etc) all flow through the NB. If that is the case then phase change would not be practical as the best you could do is cool the CPU and an SLI/Crossfire setup by purchasing the Hydra. It does not allow for any other additions though so you would need to add a secondary watercooling loop as even a good hsf, in an aggressive case, might be a precarious proposition at best.

Now, you might consider TEC cooling because that involves a watercooling loop and it would allow you to add GPU and NB waterblocks to it. That is much more practical.

 

[jay2tall]

I don't mess with liquid. If you are looking at air. Thermalright is awesome. I have used several of their coolers in my build and other peoples. They are solid.

 

[Evilonigiri]

Water in not necessary. A good air-cooling is more than enough for the average enthusiast.

The TRUE is an excellent cooler, you might want to get that instead of WC.

 

[jaibot18]

i couldt't agree more to skip the water cooling and go to air. A good water cooling setup will run you about 300 dollars while a true is only 50. In my opinion 4c difference isn't worth it.

 

[jay2tall]

The and a highend air cooler is $50 an good one can be $15-$20. Depends on your overclock. I just dont like messing with water. The only time id to water is maybe if I had issues with SLI or tri sli to much heat going on there.

 

[Hatman]

i couldt't agree more to skip the water cooling and go to air. A good water cooling setup will run you about 300 dollars while a true is only 50. In my opinion 4c difference isn't worth it.

If you think its 4degrees you haven't been paying much attention have you, a good water cooling setup will knock the pants off any air cooling at any time.


If you want best performance + silence then go for water basically. It isn't even really dangerous as long as you take precautions.

 

[jay2tall]

If you want best performance + silence then go for water basically. It isn't even really dangerous as long as you take precautions.

I don't see it as dangerous, I see it has a hassle. But then again that is just my optinion. A good air cooler can do pretty darn well dude. And really good liquid set is $$$$$$$$$

 

[Evilonigiri]

If you think its 4degrees you haven't been paying much attention have you, a good water cooling setup will knock the pants off any air cooling at any time.

You'll have to spend $300 on a good water cooling kit in order to beat the best air-cooling by a fair amount.

 

[GeorgeStorm]

Hi, well, I am going to get at least water cooling, as it is very quite, will give great cooling performance, here is my cooling set up and case (proposed):
Case = Torture Rack - £94.99

CPU = D-Tek Fuzion - £37.99
GFX = EK-FC88GT - £56.69
Rad = HWLabs Black Ice GTS240 - £31.38
Pump = Liang DDC w/Petra's DDCT-o1s Top Combo (18w) - £57.99
Water = Feser Aqua Ultra Pure 1l - £4.99 (you may need 2)
Hose = Danger Den Clearlfex 60 - £1.16 (Case of that size, probably need 6 > 8 feet)
Hose Clamps = Zinc Plated Jubilee/Wormdrive Clip 12mm to 20mm - £0.43 (need one for every barb)
Res = EK Multi-option res 150mm - £23.99
And i havent yet decided whether im going to water cool the grahpics card to begin with.....
Also, im partly doing it as the case is clear acrylic, and so it would look quite cool.

Thanks

 

[TonyL222]

OP, rest assured. Water Cooling ain't hard. If you've built a system and replaced a HSF, you can water cool. Air has gotten pretty good. But the best air can't compete with a kick ass WC'ing setup. A cheap WC'ing kit will perform no better than air and is a waste - unless you just want to say you WC. Good WC WILL cost more than air. Whether its worth it or not is a personal choice. With a good WC setup, you should see no more than a 10C difference between idle and load. With a Kick Ass setup, no more than 5C

Your list looks great with one exception. For a CPU and GPU loop, I'd recommend a 3x120 rad. On the pump, instead of the DDCT-01 top, I'd recommend the XSPC top. Martin of Martin's Liquid labs has tested this pump with various tops, and the XSPC tops beat the DDCT-01:

http://www.overclock.net/water-cooling/299532-ddc-3-2-pump-top-shootout.html

The XSPC res top is even better, unless you just really want the res you listed.

I've never used Clearflex tubing so I can't comment on it. I would recommend getting 10-12 feet for your first build, though - just for the inevitable "do over." Nothing more frustrating than not being able to complete a build 'cause you ran out of tubing. You'll always find use for any extra. Go for 7/16" ID tubing for those 1/2" barbs and you'll get a snug fit.