Water Cooler Suggestion for my Q9550

anonymous2038

Distinguished
May 14, 2009
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18,510
Hey guys,

I wanna ask the experts here about water cooling because I have very limited knowledge about it.

I've been using Zalman 9700 for past 6 month and I always leave it at max speed to cool my Q9550 @ 3400. It has extremely loud noise. I have 8 other case fans on my antec 1200 case but my cpu fan is most annoying. It's very high pitched and loud. I can always lower all the fans I have. But I just want my cpu cooled to the max all the time. if temp drops a lot maybe I'll go over 4.0 ghz for cpu.

Do you guys have any suggestions? I've read for a couple of hours and it seems like thermaltake kits are unpopular..

Should i get a all in one kit or buy each parts separately?

I just want to water cool my cpu for now. and maybe my chipset later.

I don't want to spend a lot of money. around $100 to $200 will be ideal for me..

Thanks!

I'm going home from work now! bye~
 

Conumdrum

Distinguished
Nov 20, 2007
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I really hate to say this, but $200 is cutting it close. I'll give you my standard doc and paste it. It lists general info, links with busy watercooling forums, USA shops to buy stuff, a FAQ or two.

Please ohh please take your time.

And yes TT is considered the bottom end of watercooling. Cheap, weak, breaks, replaced once you learn.

Read lots of stickies, read lots of posts, not just the last one. On my main forum we have helped more than a few peeps from beginning noobish to a built loop. But you have to learn the basics, we can't spoon feed you remotely ya know?
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Us guys have done the WC thing, there are basics you gotta know. Take a look, don't take it as a diss on you or a rebuttal, look at as a friend saying "Dude, you gotta know what to say and how to communicate".
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CPU HS $65
GPU HS and air HS for vram and mosfets $95, full cover block, $100-$200
Radiator $60 min, up to $130
Pump $50 +
Resiviour $25
Hose, some barbs and clamps etc (min $25, more like $35)
Fans $15-30

I went top notch and spent close to $600 to cool my CPU and GPU.
First you gotta learn about WC. It's not like walking into Best Buy.
Spend a while (weeks is best for your sanity) at these links.
Look at the hundreds of loops close to your case and components in the stickies, read a couple 50 or so threads over the next week or so, you'll be on the ball to make the right choices and by then know how to put it together.
Not 'Roket Sience', but basic knowledge is required.
And you should spend a few hours on the listed sites reading threads. It's how we learn. Once the goodies show up on your doorstep your on your own.
For your benefit please spend a few days reading a LOT. At the busiest places for WC masters. Guys who have done it for YEARS at OC Forums and xtreme forums. It took me a while (I was OCing on air, aftermarket stuff, bios settings, best chipsets etc etc) to learn the language and the tricks to a easy install.

Don't expect miracles or SUPER DOOPER over clocks. What you will get is a quiet system that can handle OC to the max of your hardware IF you buy quality and buy smart. And minor maintenance too, a bonus for the water cooler.

Also while there please read on case mods etc. The radiators are not for small cases, pumps and hose routing, wire management and other things are important. Google your planned case and the word water-cooled in one line. You might get lucky.
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Edit: The next paragraph was from 2008. With the advent of the HOT i7 and bigger GPU's, it has changed. A 220 size MIN rad for an i7, you want big overclocks, better go 320 sized rad.
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IF you just cool your CPU and your NB if you want, you can get by with a 120.2 sized radiator (RAD). And MAYBE fit in inside depending on your mod skillz. You want to cool your GPU too, you'll need a 120.3 sized rad, and it probably won't fit inside. The rear external rad really works great. No matter what your adding 10lbs to your PC.

Once you got an idea of what is good/bad then start getting your system for WC put together and we'll be glad to help.
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Grieg, here is the poop on solid info on air/water temps. The link is to an MCR320.
http://martin.skinneelabs.com/Swifte...20-Review.html
Scroll half way down and you can see the in/out air diff on the chart. It depends, like I said on fannage what the out air temp vs the in temp is.

You can also see the water in/out is very close in temps. No more than 1.5 C. Amazing eh? I thought so too once I deciphered the charts.

So if you put a second rad with good airflow, you still get good results. Fannage needs to be higher to compensate for the increased air restriction. Meaning double fans on the rad setup, but it's a viable solution.

Equilibrium (tough word) means with a set heat load (idle/load) after an amount of time temps in a WC loop wil stabilize. The heatload is the same, ambient air is the same, fannage is the same, pumps are the same, size of rads are the same, temps will stabilize for those conditions. Any of these parameters change, it has to stabilize. Thats Eqspelling hard word.
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Wash hands very well, getting rid of hand oils.
For pumps and blocks, fittings, clamps, acrylic res/block parts.... not hose, tear it to smallest pieces, put in a bowl, heat water up not to boiling add 10% vinegar, when hot, pour over parts. Rinse in 10 min or so. Put aside.
The bocks will probably have some black oxidation. Dry well, pour ketchup on them, set aside. Just the copper parts.
Rad cleaning: I'll say clear on this for now.
All the pump bits, block bits, fittings, clamps, inspect, get in the tiniest corners with a tooth brush. Kinda medatative, time consuming, you learn a lot about oring size, how it all feels.
Rinse all the bits with distilled, dry then really dry with an air compressor (nice extra step to get rid of water spots)
Now on to the copper parts. A toothbrush and ketchup should of cleaned up much of the oxidation. It prolly wont be like new, but pretty darn good.
Sink rinse, distilled rinse, dry, then air compressor.
For hose, dish soap, a small cloth and a clothes hanger. Sure you can figure that out.
Thats it.
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http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/index.php? Not a noob site, but great stickies
http://www.ocforums.com/ My fav, good peeps, know their stuff, less hardcore
http://www.skinneelabs.com/MartinsLiquidLab/
http://www.over-clock.com/ivb/inde [...] opic=20277 A GREAT Europe site
http://www.overclock.net/water-cooling/
http://translate.google.com/transl [...] n&ie=UTF-8 Info on rad testing
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=220593 More rad testing
http://skinneelabs.com/
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=282232

Stores
http://www.dangerden.com/index.php [...] e&Itemid=1
http://www.petrastechshop.com/
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/
http://www.jab-tech.com/
http://www.performance-pcs.com

 

rubix_1011

Contributing Writer
Moderator
Correct; $200 is going to cut it close, but you might be able to get close or a little over for cooling a CPU only. With that being said, you won't have a lot of room if you decide to toss in your GPU later on (which I bet you will) since that will add another $40-$140 for the block alone and the additional radiator and tubing. I wouldn't worry about your chipset...I cooled my NB for a few years but I don't think it's really worth it. I recently cut it out and went WC on an SLI setup.

Please oh please don't buy a TT bigwater or zalman reserator kit or something like that...you will regret it.