Watercooling as an investment

Hi everyone,

I've been thinking of making the switch to water, yet I'm having difficulties justifying it for my current sig system. Lowering temps won't allow me to OC any further, and although the noise reduction would be well-welcomed it does not bother me too much at this point in time.

So I'm thinking about going water soon as an investment for future systems (i7/i9) and also for the fun/excitement of trying something new. I'm tempted to go i7 now, but I'm waiting for x58 boards with lucid hydra and sata III. Being a bit of a noob when it comes to wc'ing, I was hoping someone could answer my questions!

- how long does a well-maintained water setup tend to last?
- how comon is it for popular cpu blocks of an older chipset generation to recieve backplate upgrades for a new chipset? (i.e. from P45 to X58)
- are there likely to be any complications between newer water blocks and older wc setups? i.e. components clashing, or being inappropriate for each other (flow rate, pump, tubing) in case I wish to ugprade in future?
- do maintained water loops degrade over time, and if so, how significant would it be?

In other words, if I were to buy a single loop setup to cool my current CPU (phenom II) with the intention to cool a future upgrade, even if it were a few years from now, would this be viable? If it helps, the idea I'm currently running with is:

- Corsair obsidian (my friend just bought it, and I fell in love with it)
- EK supreme HF/Swiftech Apogee XT (HK's are too hard to obtain here)
- XSPC RX360/PA 140.3
- XSPC Laing DDC BayRes One
- Swiftech MCP655 12V Pump
- Tygon Tubing
- No clue on biocide or fittings yet

Any advice/insight is appreciated!

That's partially the reason why I'm deciding to go with water, in the hopes that I won't have too worry much about cooling in the future. Could you elaborate on the pump choice though? Once again I'm new to wc'ing, thanks!

Makes sense, I thought it'd be something like this. Thanks!

Wow, great response Really appreciated! I had heard about the 32nm change, and how potentially air will be all that is required for maximum oc's. I believe I even commented on a similar article posted here in the news section. As silly as it sounds, that's also partially why I wish to go for wc'ing however - if the day comes (unlikely) where wc'ing isn't needed anymore, I'd hate to have say I never got to experience it.

The i7 930 is new to me though

Very useful links, and some good food for thought. I know I should wait, but I just can't bring myself to buy a new mobo when I know that hydra is coming soon, with sata III as well :/

So the consensus is that water is not worth it as an investment? I guess I would benefit from the reduction in noise on my current system, but it only annoys me while sleeping (in which case I usually turn it off).

+rep to all!