Some noob questions :P

[berrykerry789]

I have decided to water cool my next pc build. After looking at some guides I have some questions:
What are the noise differences between water cooling and air cooling?
Is a VGA water cooler really worth $100+? I'm on a budget and am not sure if there will be any large noise/performance/temperature differences.
Do I need a full tower case to fit everything in or is a mid-tower fine?
How often is maintenance?

 

[Motopsychojdn]

If you have to ask these questions,
you have not researched the subject anywhere near enough to contemplate using water in a system,
google it, read the guides on here, amongst other sites
vga cooling on water isnt essential but the blocks will cost you a hefty sum, the word budget isnt usually a consideration in W/c circles, although cost effective kits can be had from companies like xspc
Moto

 

[berrykerry789]

I tried searching for them, just couldn't find anything

 

[orangejuice789]

Noise difference can be up to you... You could mount a whole bunch of fans to a radiator and make it much louder or you could run a passive radiator that is silent.

Full tower cases may be easier to work with but are usually more expensive. If you are willing to mount a radiator externally then there are many mid tower cases that will work... However this is also a question that you can answer by deciding on what components you want and how you want them to fit in/on your case.

Maintenance is not frequent... some people drain their loop every six months and take apart blocks and such, clean them out, leak test again, refill their loop... Some people let it go for years.

VGA watercooling is common in cases in which a person wants to overclock a bit, or temps are too high with stock cooler, or they want lower temps for kicks, or for any reason really... its up to the individual.

 

[rubix_1011]

You might want to give the watercooling sticky a good read through:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/265776-29-watercooling-info-faqs-links-stickies

There is a lot of information and links to other resources that help address most questions for newcomers and people looking for some answers that are quite often asked and answered. Give yourself plenty of time to read, browse and link to the different resources and then consider what questions you have that might remain as well as begin to address planning and budget concepts.

 

[berrykerry789]

Best answer selected by berrykerry789.