custom water cooling or XSPC

Originally Posted by Evilsplashy 

Get the XSPC kit. It's a good starter kit. With your extremely low budget and nearly no experience with watercooling, I would get it. It's a good kit to start with and there are always opportunities to upgrade. The CPU block you get with it is actually one of the best out there.
If you really wanted a GOOD water cooling setup/custom loop, it'll run you more than 150 dollars. Close to 300-400 if you get good parts.

Originally Posted by Starbomba 

For your budget, the XSPC kit is your best bet. Plus you save the (little) headache of looking the components to fit your budget (but it is fun )
I got both my rigs under water, with used gear from the OCN Marketplace, for $400 (fans aside, they were $70 extra). But it was almost all used (only new part are my pumps), and i hit gold with some sellers that provided free gear (like tubing, which can be a bit expensive) or even amazing discounts (like both my 470's, which were $270 both of them, including waterblocks, so the blocks came almost free considering a 470 aircooled and used runs for $120-$140) so it is subjetive. Plus i took 2-3 months assembling it all and waiting for some stuff to appear (like one of my rads).
Assembling a full custom loop for CPU only can cost you more than $200. Add to that the cost of another radiator and GPU block when you upgrade to CPU+GPU cooling, and you can see at numbers around $350-$400. If you do not mind waiting, i do recommend buying used gear at the marketplace. Just be sure to look for stuff that has not been running with dyes/chemicals, as they tend to clog stuff like blocks and rads. Plus, don't be afraid to ask if the sellers have extra stuff you can have. Half of my HTPC loop was assembled by asking for unlisted stuff which had some small cosmetic scuffing or damage, but is fully functional otherwise.
Well, for the sake of comparison, my i3 temps were totally the same as with my H70, but considered i connected both my 470's to a rad which went to my CPU, so the water was pretty hot.
You might see a 3-4c decrease in temps from the standard kit vs. the raystorm kit, but the biggest drop would be comparing the H100 vs any custom kit. I would still get the Raystorm kit rather than the standard. It's one of the best blocks at the moment, so you would be getting a bit more of future proffing. Only thing i would consider changing in the future is the tubing and pump. Otherwise it is a nice kit.

Originally Posted by Starbomba 

I'm not sure on how low will the temps go (i do not own an i5) but he OC and the volts seem to be a bit high. Maybe you could try lowering to 4.8 GHz and lowering the volts accordingly? That may cut temps somewhat.
Also, Prime and IBT are meant to generate more heat than any real-world app (especially IBT). Try to see your temps with the apps and games you really want to use to see your real temps. My own i3 gets to 85c on IBT and 80c on Prime when alone, but it will never go over 75c on BOINC (and that gets both my CPU and both my GPU's to 100% so the water runs hotter) and running games it never goes over 70c.