Is water cooling worth it?

[Random3000]

Hi there,

I asked not long ago about getting water cooling for my 2500k, but is it even worth it?

I've got a Hyper 212+, and my load temperatures with Prime95 are about 70-75 at 4.7GHz.

I want to overclock more but I don't want to raise the temperatures up much more, but looking around, there's not much that will get me higher that that with lower temperatures short of liquid nitrogen or something, and I'm not gonna go there.

Or maybe there's air cooling that will help keep it cool? Any ideas are appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Alex The PC Gamer]

Hi Random.

To answer your question: No, watercooling isn't worth it for what you're trying to accomplish.

That said, there are pros/cons in cooling your system with water...

Pros:
- Technically, you can really keep temperatures down with a really good water cooling system (Tri or Quad radiators).
- Your system will barely make a sound (as opposed to having a million fans rushing air at your system)
- Lifetime span of a water cooling system far exceeds those of watercooling (with minor upgrades here and there).
- Looks good/cool?


Cons:
- It's expensive, far more than any air cooled unit. A worthy water cooling system will cost you at least 400$ (more like 500$+ if you're cooling both CPU+GPU and 600$+ if you're cooling everything: CPU+GPU(s)+RAM+MB).
- On a lower scale, some air cooling systems are better (referring to single radiator setup or full WC kits).
- You need to do extensive research and take many many many precautions (to not blow up your system or worst, hurt yourself in the process).

So, if all you want to do is OC your CPU above your already good clock of 4.7Ghz then I'd say don't bother spending all them dimes because the final result might be a little disappointing (might be able to get to 5Ghz-5.5Ghz with a big dual or Tri fan radiator). But the difference in performance between 4.7Ghz and 5.5Ghz is a little less than 17% but will cost you about the same price as an equivalent CPU that you could OC for with even greater results. On the other hand, if you really like the low temperature properties of watercooling, the potential of having a soundless system...and you have the budget for it...then by all means, go for it.

Hope this helped.

 

[DarkOutlaw]

Anything above 4.5ghz is recommended to have a water cooling setup.

 

[rubix_1011]

2500k over 4ghz isn't going to do anything for you other than higher benchmark scores.

Watercooling is worth it if you do the research and understand what it entails and has the ability to do, but only if you feel the cost is worth it as well. It's hard to discuss this with someone that doesn't fully understand all the concepts of watercooling, so it might be something you'll have to research and decide for yourself.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

And Rubix' sticky is a good place to start
in his sig
Moto

 

[Random3000]

Thanks guys!

And Alex, I think you've made up my mind for me. I'll stick my my 4.7Ghz and leave the watercooling alone. It sounds like a lot of money, for not really much of an increase, like you said.

Thanks again everyone for the replies

 

[Random3000]

Best answer selected by Random3000.

 

[Alex The PC Gamer]

Thanks guys!

And Alex, I think you've made up my mind for me. I'll stick my my 4.7Ghz and leave the watercooling alone. It sounds like a lot of money, for not really much of an increase, like you said.

Thanks again everyone for the replies

You're welcome. And like Moto said, if you ever consider it, you can start with Rubix's sticky (and/or watch several youtube videos on it...i particularly liked LinusTechTips' video - water cooling guide.