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Is water cooling worth it?

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Overclocking Expert

Anything from TT is absolute crap.

I wouldn't think of going water unless you have close to $200, $300 if you plan to cool your GPU too.

Here are a few links. Th first one will set you straight about TT right away.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=20...

I'll steer you to some more technical links, please spend a few days (DAYS) reading posts, searching, learning. Don't forget to look for your case with WC. Google your case and the word watercool or some combination of that. WC stuff is larger than you think, I know from experience. WC setups done right are awesome and almost silent.

Great place, not wayyy over the top with uber WC guys.
http://www.ocforums.com/index.php
Uber place, owned by one of the worlds winning OC guys in the world. Not a place to post or ask questions by noobs, but an awesome place to learn.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/
Another good place to learn
http://www.overclock.net/water-cooling/
http://www.martinsliquidlab.com/ PLEASE READ A LOT HERE, will be closed in 30 days or so.

Great places to buy WC stuff
http://www.dangerden.com/index.php [...] e&Itemid=1
http://www.petrastechshop.com/
http://www.jab-tech.com/


Overclocking Expert

First means days. It took me 3 months to learn and decide what to buy. Please don't rush, you need to learn about different rad charecteristics, fan properties, flow rates, pump head preaasure, proper liquid use, leak testing, maintenance etc etc.

And your case is your case, that's up to you. I don't bother helping with cases, each one is different, some have more modding skills than others.
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ive mentioned case coz it only has 3 case fans and there is no more room for extra fans.so i was considering geting full watercooling kit like thermaltake big water760.but after reading all the post about it ,ive changed my mind. would zalman rezerator v1 help to cool my cpu and gpu?

Zalman is a passive radiator with a thermal rating of around 130W so it will struggle to cope with a powerful setup - what are ur GPU and CPU and do you plan to overclock?

In my experience, although quiet the rezerator is no better than a good fan cooler like the Artic 7 freezer

Zalman is a passive radiator with a thermal rating of around 130W so it will struggle to cope with a powerful setup - what are ur GPU and CPU and do you plan to overclock?

In my experience, although quiet the rezerator is no better than a good fan cooler like the Artic 7 freezer or your current CPU cooler

It will be much of a muchness - for real improved performance I would suggest watercooling, but it is an expensive solution. Some people post reasonable results with kits, but it is much better to do some research and buy exactly what you need and install it yourself. (as most kits will do no more than a good air cooler)

If you are determined to get a kit go for something along the lines of the Swiftech H20-220
Overclocking Expert

soul23. If you take the time and use all the places I gave you info, read the build logs, learn to use search fuctions etc you'll find plenty of examples on how to mount the WC gear.

You can't do it in a week if you know nothing about WC. Take your time. Learn.

thanks for advice Conumdrum.but ive been looking at upgrading my rig to WC for quit time now.and ive been reading all sorts of reviews and stuff like that.its just now ive started properly looking in to it.like you said ,ill be patient and learn how to do it proper and what is best WC setup for my rigs components.
Overclocking Expert

Good CPU block, one of the best. Weak pump. Okay rad.

MCP 355 with xspc res top is #1, MCP 655 is a great one too. You need to read reviews on it. More research!!! Kinda funny there are no solid user reviews on the one you selected... gives you a clue eh???

Rad, your lucky your UK. Thermochill makes the best, efficeint, quiet rads in the world. Very expensive in the US. Thermochill PA series.

Edit, not on your website you showed me. But they have the TFC Feser series, equal to PA, I have one on my closet ready for a new build.
Overclocking Expert

The MPC 355 is the manufactures name, made by Laing. They are rebadged by many companies.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/EK-EK-V2DDCTOP18W-Laing-...(18w)-Inc-Plexy-V2-X-Top

At your site. Very good flow rate and pressures.

Making it fit is secondary to quality parts. the most popular small res is the Swiftech Micro res V2, or EK makes some very nice ones.

You can find at least a few build logs on sites I gave ya with your case I'm sure. Won't be easy but you can.

Hi Soul - GTZ great CPU cooler (I have one), would get Laing Pump as above but with an OC labs or EK reservoir fitted and if you are just coolng GPU and CPU a PA120.2 would be perfect. EK also do good full card blocks for the GPU.

Tubing wise if you go for 3/8 Inner Diameter (ID) go with Tygon like this

http://www.chilledpc.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?produc...

It's very good quality and doesn't kink on tight turns.

Barbs or compression fittings? Compression looks neater but is 'clunkier' and is also significantly more expensive.

NB for the PA120.2 rad you will need reducers G3/8 to G1/4 (thread size of fittings) as most threads now are G1/4

The posted kit is good, but fitting your own will be more satisfying and the components will be better and you should be able to achieve better OCing results

nice one Bert Ho.considering what you guys said im going to stick with my own WC setup.ill take my time thou,will do some more researching.if everything ok at work, im going to get all parts about february 2009.
Overclocking Expert

soul23 said:
ok .what you think about this kit?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC...(Socket%20462/478/LGA775/754/939/940)


Good basic beginning kit, bit outdated. That said, the pump is okay, the CPU block is an older one and won't work very well on a highly overclocked Quad. The rad is enough for a CPU, but no more, and probably not for an i7 CPU.

It's quality stuff, and a great foray into basic watercooling.
Overclocking Expert

That Q6600 and any GPU card except the 4870x2, and then still would be okay, CPU temps would suffer a bit, but not much. I run an E6600, NB, and GTX 280 on my PA 120.3, temps are very fine, even in summer.

1/2" ID 3/4 OD R3603 hose by Tygon is the standard. Kinks less. The XSPC tubing is pretty nice too, not been out a long time. Buy standard worm/screw/hoseclip clamps instead of those plastic ones, they are kinda cheap and not as good as worm clamps. Lined ones are neat, a bit more but okay.

Check to see all the barbs in that kit are metal. TC rads ship with crappy plastic ones, you would want G3/8 thread, 1/2 OD fittings. Only TC rads use G3/8, all the rest of the stuff is G1/4 threads.
http://www.chilledpc.co.uk/shop/index.php?cPath=64_73

Liquid, best is distilled water, if your UK you can ask on a UK WC forums where to get it. In the US Walgreens has it on the shelf at $1 a gallon. Petras PT or PN Nuke, it's on that site. Cheap, effective, the small bottle will last through tons of redos etc, only need 1-2 drops each fill of the loop.

Look for Ian's silver killcoils too, it's a EU product, should find it somewhere. It's a piece of raw silver you put in the loop, the silver ions kill growth, like the copper ions in Petras stuff. But you only need PT Nuke OR the coils, not both.

You need no more than distilled water and a biocide. All the rest of the stuff is for poorly made loops and retail marketing hype. And stay away from dyes/additives etc. UV or colored tubing if you want color/UV glow.

Good thread: Awesome forums, wayy hardcore, great info here.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=21...

ok.last couple of gays all ive been doing was searching for answers to my WC setup.after reading loads of reviews ive decided that is time for me to buy all parts and get it fitted.thats what ive ordered:

6 x Feser 1/4" BSPP High Flow 1/2" ID - 3/4" OD Compression Fitting £21.66
1 x Swiftech Apogee GTZ Extreme Performance CPU Waterblock (LGA775) £44.99
1 x Swiftech MCRES-Micro
- Tap Holes: None £11.25
1 x Petra'sTech "PT_Nuke" Concentrated Biocide (10ml) £3.91
10 x XSPC 1/2" Clear/UV Blue tubing £9.70
1 x Swiftech RadBox MCB-120 Revision 2 - Black £14.99
3 x Scythe S-FLEX 120mm Fan (800 RPM, SFF21D) £32.25
1xEK EK-V2DDCTOP18W Laing DDC-Pump 12V Ultra(18w) Inc Plexy V2 X-Top £66.69
1xTFC-X360 - TFC Xchanger Triple Radiator 360 using G1/4" Threads £72.44

i hope ive got all parts wright.cant wait till parts arives now.
Overclocking Expert

Ohh can't move em. It's stuck here on Toms. No worries, we are pretty much done here. Toms is a great general place, but there are better more 'focused' forums. Instead of two or three water users here, you'll find 20-30 on OC forums, and 100+ on XS forums. And people who have been doing it and much more than me by a long shot.
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