"Hassle-free" liquid cooling?

[warhammer3025]

The last time I looked into liquid cooling was almost a decade ago. Pumps, reservoirs, what kind of liquid to use, the possibility of ruining thousands of dollars of hardware with a bad gasket or seal... all combined to make the prospect more than a little intimidating.

Has liquid cooling come closer to user-friendliness?

 

[toolmaker_03]

Well I have been water cooling my pc's for 15 years and have never lost a system to a leak, but are they hassle free, no. but I still enjoy doing it and will most likely always water cool my systems it can be done in such a way that yearly maintenance can be keep to a minimum. hoes replacement and system cleaning about every 5 years, with real good hosing 10 years. does that answer any of your questions?

 

[warhammer3025]

I live in Southern California, which is basically just desert grassland with buildings on it. Ambient temperatures average around 80f (~27C) most of the year. This is why I am constantly concerned about cooling my PC properly (hot air blowing across hot parts = less cooling than normal).

Normal maintenance doesn't concern me much, especially on the timescales you say; most gaming PCs don't last much longer than 3-4 years anyway, and new hoses or whatever shouldn't be much problem to incorporate in the normal upgrade cycles or whatever.

I've heard some buzz about "closed" liquid coolers, that work out-of-the-box better than normal air coolers (and certainly better than stock coolers, which is what I've used up to now). Are these good tech, or is it just marketing hype?

 

[toolmaker_03]

marketing hype!!!!

Yea a all in one unit will not work much better than a good air cooler.
With that stated a custom loop will provide great temperature control. I live in the south west as well so I know what you mean by being in a desert. HOT Very HOT !!
What are you looking to cool a CPU and Video card maybe two?

 

[warhammer3025]

I've got a Core i5 2500 (normal, not the overclock-able "K" version), which is my primary concern. Idle temperatures are around 55C, according to Piriform's "Speccy" tool and the MSI ClickBIOS utility that came with my motherboard, with load temperatures (playing CPU-heavy games like Planetside 2) reaching ~75-80C.

I've got one video card, and only ever plan to have one in my system at any time (SLI/Crossfire is for suckers or people with money falling out of their pockets). The current card (hopefully to be replaced in a year or two) is a MSI Hawk R6870. I bought it because it has a big, fancy air-cooling system right out of the box. It runs cooler than the CPU, about 50C idle, and 70C at load. Sucker is real big, and real heavy though. http://us.msi.com/product/vga/R6870-Hawk.html

 

[toolmaker_03]

Ok I have built lots of system like this the current system that I am building for my dad is the same configuration that you plan to have.
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/wahegp68.html
If that is a reference Design card than a block for it can still be found. When water cooling it is not always the best idea to get the latest and greatest, because if something better comes along and lasts longer than it did than blocks may never be made for it. So I always wait to see what blocks are available before I buy a card.
CPU block get what type you like.
http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l3/g30/c85/s139/list/p1/Liquid_Cooling-Water_Blocks_CPU-CPU_Water_Blocks_-Page1.html
this is not cheep but it can last for a long time.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/284615-29-build
I just finished this build and I am starting on the second one now. For your build I would get a thick 80mm X 360mm radiator with a D5 or 655 pump and a small reservoir, I like the tube style but get what you like.
For tubing the thick wall will last longer, so 3/8ID X 5/8OD Norprene Tubing with fittings to match.
Fans, there are a lot of choices, But I like the Corsair Series both the SP and AF.
I hope this helps, if you have any other questions.

 

[warhammer3025]

How expensive would such a setup be, overall?

Is there a "Dummy's Guide To Watercooling" somewhere I could read for step-by-step setup guides?

EDIT: Unfortunately, my current video card does not appear to be a Reference Design card (it lacks the AMD logo near the PCI-e pins), so any plan to include the GPU in the cooling setup would have to wait until I get a new card sometime next year).

 

[toolmaker_03]

for your build I would set aside $500, but if you search around you could build it for around $400.
I built a CPU loop for $280 a year ago, add a GPU block with fittings and tubing around $150 so $430 total.

 

[warhammer3025]

That's... wow.

That's half the price of a whole new computer just in the cooling alone.

 

[toolmaker_03]

well in my case, the cooling system cost, equals the system cost! :lol:
have you had a chance to look at my current build?

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/274855-29-experimental-radiator-build/page-14

 

[manofchalk]

For a good CPU loop thats expandable to include a GPU, about $300 is what I would peg it at.
Water can get fairly expensive, but it becomes an addiction after a while and consumes our wallets .

 

[rubix_1011]

Watercooling is far more a hobby than a necessity...and why it's often shunned on value and need. Good airflow helps tremendously in what is typically assessed as a hot, air cooled system. Poor airflow can also hinder good watercooling, depending on where you have radiators mounted. You also still need good airflow in addition to watercooling for the remainder of your hardware.

Simply replacing a boxed CPU cooler with a decent air cooler and good thermal paste can make a difference if your case airflow is good. Also, removing the GPU cooler and replacing the 'thermal gunk' with some good paste can also lower GPU load temps (also considering good case airflow).

Remember, ambient temps directly impact air cooling as well as watercooling- you can't cool lower than ambient in either consideration. Your idle CPU/GPU temps can never be cooler than what your room temp....much less your load temps.

 

[warhammer3025]

You've given me a lot to consider. Perhaps a good new case and better air-cooler would better fit my budget.

 

[toolmaker_03]

Some food for thought years ago before I went to water cooling I tried every thing to lower the temps on my hardware with air cooling products, like a better case, good case fans 4 of them, a fan controller, PCI fan, 5 1/2" bay fans, after market air cooler for the GPU, after market CPU cooler. To be honest by the time I was done it had cost me $700 dollars to lower my load temps by 5C I was _____________!!!!! Yea, you can guess, so before you start buying those air cooling products to cool your hardware add up the total for what you think you might need so that you can see what it might cost.