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Categories:

Updated: Big, Bad, Cooling Systems

10:00 PM - March 14, 2009 by Tuan Nguyen, Kevin Parrish
Source: Tom's Hardware US – Keywords: liquid, heatsink, cooling
Categories: Overclocking Academy

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Computer cooling has certainly come a long way since days of simple aluminum block coolers with few fins. But the overall concept remains very much the same today, and of course, heatsinks and cooling systems are a vital part of any computer's stability. Inadequate cooling leads to crashes, and sometimes worse.

The above picture shows heatsinks that were extruded from aluminum rods, and rods from ingots. These are long bars that haven't yet been cut down to size, but if you click on the image, you'll be able to see all the fins in detail.

On the next several pages, we've gathered some of the coolest looking water cooling systems as well as several cool heatsinks that we've stumbled upon.
Comments
Curnel_D 03/15/2009 6:01 AM
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Lol, is the last picture an OEM coolermaster with the sticker ripped off? If I'm not mistaken, they came in alot of branded 754 machines at the time.

08nwsula 03/15/2009 6:05 AM
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don't bother going to the submerged computer link, all the video links are 404

rambo117 03/15/2009 6:22 AM
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woot, liked the borg cooling cube
should be green LEDs though;)

Asinger93 03/15/2009 7:19 AM
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08nwsula :
don't bother going to the submerged computer link, all the video links are 404


I didn't get that. I saw them fine.

dragonsprayer 03/15/2009 7:43 AM
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Asinger93 03/15/2009 7:47 AM
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dragonsprayer :
Very lame -- come on guys! This is THG - there are some sites that have some really good stuff. You could have done better!i am big supporter here but this lame!You want dual triple loop with phase? or hybird water tech?that is real exotic coolingcome on guys!thx! i love the site but.....


... it's water cooling. it's not supposed to be exciting. By the way, it's not THG. It's THW.

cangelini 03/15/2009 8:58 AM
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dragonsprayer :
Very lame -- come on guys! This is THG - there are some sites that have some really good stuff. You could have done better!i am big supporter here but this lame!You want dual triple loop with phase? or hybird water tech?that is real exotic coolingcome on guys!thx! i love the site but.....



Thanks for the feedback Dragon--I think Tuan's idea here was more about casual weekend reading. Don't worry, come Monday, we'll be back to the usual editorial stuff! Coming up: a walk down memory lane with 16 years of Intel motherboards =)

tuannguyen 03/15/2009 9:11 AM
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dragonsprayer :
Very lame -- come on guys! This is THG - there are some sites that have some really good stuff. You could have done better!i am big supporter here but this lame!You want dual triple loop with phase? or hybird water tech?that is real exotic coolingcome on guys!thx! i love the site but.....



Heya dragonsprayer -

Actually, I just wanted to show everyone some of the cool setups I bumped into while browsing the web, just to kick start some ideas for those who may be tempted to try out some exrteme cooling for themselves.

Gotta start somewhere right? No worries though. I'm going to do a follow up with some really insane stuff. :)

/ Tuan

terrornoize 03/15/2009 3:41 PM
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"May we suggest some cable management"

i suggest you to choose another photo when works is done... :)

Hi,
TerrorNoize

cheepstuff 03/15/2009 4:08 PM
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a better title for this would have been:
"a man and his case"

cheepstuff 03/15/2009 4:10 PM
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cangelini :
Thanks for the feedback Dragon--I think Tuan's idea here was more about casual weekend reading. Don't worry, come Monday, we'll be back to the usual editorial stuff! Coming up: a walk down memory lane with 16 years of Intel motherboards =)


that would be AWESOME. i'm reading that.

rambo117 03/15/2009 4:34 PM
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this was a nice read, i keep tellin myself to get a new case cause my transformer is so loud and big.. gets annoying haling it to lan partys when everyone there has their nice efficient antec 900s and whatnot

tuannguyen 03/15/2009 7:48 PM
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terrornoize :
"May we suggest some cable management"i suggest you to choose another photo when works is done... Hi,TerrorNoize



Woah! Heya TerrorNoize :)

dragonsprayer 03/15/2009 8:11 PM
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AS far AS THG: type THG and this is the second one - http://www.google.com/search?sourc [...] S309&q=THG

thx! guys!

there are some really cool hybird cooling systems, and multi loop systems - phase cooling and water cooling - with the phase cooling parts removed from a vapor chill and place in one of the few cases that fit them a lian li - tech and water hybrid cooling with seperate loop for gpu's.

THG rocks!

tuannguyen 03/15/2009 8:26 PM
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terrornoize :
"May we suggest some cable management"i suggest you to choose another photo when works is done... Hi,TerrorNoize



I updated the page talking about your build and linked to your Stage 5 gallery of your project on Flickr. I think you did an awesome job on it really. :)

/ Tuan

shadow703793 03/15/2009 8:46 PM
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I'm surprised you even put the Zalman Reserator 2 on there. Many in the water cooling community don't consider it a quality product due to pump failings, leaks,etc.

dragonsprayer 03/15/2009 9:17 PM
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Normally i just say something like ts junk(why mix words!), reserator is good if you strip all the bad parts off (which means you only use the heat sink) and use it - used ones - can be converted they make nice conversation pieces for HTPC!

still its not exotic

new i7 runs hot benfits more from water cooling, but there is little head room above the 150w spec - so water cooling may benfit the next generation.


as always gpu's really are the main benefactor of water cooling - cpu's with tec's in hybird cooling give only a small performance boost. vs water cooling or even good air cooling.
i7 can run 1.38-1.4v (dual fan set up on TRUE or XIG) with a good air cooling and 1.45v is really what i would consider safe for long term use so water cooling allows you to go over the 1.4v barrier - know if you want to play around with 1.5-1.65v on your $300 i7 you might have some fun with hybrid (tec and water) cooling.

seperate loop for the cpu, with heat blown off by the top radiator - then into the tec give some nice 40 f water - crank up your i7 to 1.5v - thats borderline safe might get you 4.4ghz stable

eddieroolz 03/16/2009 12:00 PM
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Cool article!

tuannguyen 03/16/2009 12:18 PM
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Glad you guys are liking the article! Thanks for the feedback.

More to insane hardware to come for sure. :)

/ Tuan

shadow703793 03/16/2009 12:59 PM
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Tuan,

Check this out:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/11 [...] evable-ex/
Project Monolith


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