[MrLister]

Other then noise what are the key water cooling advantages when compared to a properly air cooled system in a Thermaltake Armor (with the side 120cm fan) http://www.thermaltake.com/product/C.../va8003bws.asp

 

[H3||scr3am]

Water has a higher thermal capacedence then air so therefore it retains heat better and also draws the heat away from the devices faster, this allows for better temperatures leaving more overhead for overclocking. There is also the option to add a peltier to water cooling systems which in certain cases can obtain subtemperate readings...

 

[MrLister]

For a high heat system water cooling is defiantly more recommended right?

Such as qx6800 cpu, 2 x 8800 cards, 4 hard drives, etc..

 

[Apollo4g]

I have that case, and the fan is good yes, but what i hate alot is the dust!
It just pilles up everywhere with fans.
Plus that fan doesnt cover all the mobo and also does not push that much air through.

 

[MrLister]

right, would water cooling make a big difference then fans? (temperature wise, not worried about the dust, i vacuum often).

also is there water cooling for hard drives?

 

[MrBungle]

if you aren't overclocking, water cooling is just one more thing to break. just my opinion. i'm sure i'll get flamed for that.

 

[H3||scr3am]

hard drives do not need watercooling, and there are HD water coolers, I also have the armor with the 25cm side fan... your HDs will be fine being passively cooled. And water will give you temps around 15-20 degrees lower then high end air cooling... but thats ina good water cooling setup...

 

[TheFatBloke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrBungle if you aren't overclocking, water cooling is just one more thing to break. just my opinion. i'm sure i'll get flamed for that.

I agree... without overclocking it is rather pointless unless your parts are EXTREMELY hot for one reason or another. If you want a silent PC it is also good I guess..

 

[TheFatBloke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by H3||scr3am hard drives do not need watercooling, and there are HD water coolers, I also have the armor with the 25cm side fan... your HDs will be fine being passively cooled. And water will give you temps around 15-20 degrees lower then high end air cooling... but thats ina good water cooling setup...

By good, what amount of money are we talking here to be spent on it?

Edit: My apologies for the double post.

 

[Apollo4g]

not to mention watercooling gives you much less deltas (difference) in temps between your idles and loads, than air does.
With a good watercooling loop you can get deltas as low as 6-9C

 

[MrLister]

Ok I think i'll throw in water cooling mainly because i plan to do some overclocking to see what speeds i can get and then probably just over clock it slightly for everyday use.

Edit/Question: You guys mentioned hard drives don't need cooling. Ok please no flaming or questions until done (i'll post some pics and stats when it's all done) but i have 4 x raptor x 150GB drives in raid 10 and another 2 x hitachi 1TB drives in raid 1. (i'm big on fault tolerance but i defiantly want speed) do you still think i don't need water cooling or with that many drives i should get something?

 

[sladesurfer]

A good watercooling unit will cost you around $200-$250

 

[Apollo4g]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrLister Ok I think i'll throw in water cooling mainly because i plan to do some overclocking to see what speeds i can get and then probably just over clock it slightly for everyday use. Edit/Question: You guys mentioned hard drives don't need cooling. Ok please no flaming or questions until done (i'll post some pics and stats when it's all done) but i have 4 x raptor x 150GB drives in raid 10 and another 2 x hitachi 1TB drives in raid 1. (i'm big on fault tolerance but i defiantly want speed) do you still think i don't need water cooling or with that many drives i should get something?

i got a Raptor X 150 as well, they sure do run hot, but a good case airflow will do you well,
you can Watercool your Hdd's if you want to.
There are WC blocks out there for HDD's.

here is a good one that fits 2 hdd's.

Aqua-Drive Hard Drive Block

here is a whole list of some you can get to watercoool your HDD's:
http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l2/g30/...locks_HDD.html

 

[funkycasey]

But keep in mind that if you throw a Hard drive cooler into the Water cooling loop you are going to increase your temps unless you get a bigger Radiator...and the pressure is going to be lower because of having to run through more stuff...I'd say you would be fine with just passive cooling...I have seen the Armor case being used as a server case with 6 hard drives and they are passive cooled

 

[Apollo4g]

Quote:

Originally Posted by funkycasey But keep in mind that if you throw a Hard drive cooler into the Water cooling loop you are going to increase your temps unless you get a bigger Radiator...and the pressure is going to be lower because of having to run through more stuff...I'd say you would be fine with just passive cooling...I have seen the Armor case being used as a server case with 6 hard drives and they are passive cooled

yup he's right, if i were you i'd just make a whole seperate loop to cool all those HDD's you have, and maybe add the NB in the loop.

 

[funkycasey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apollo4g yup he's right, if i were you i'd just make a whole seperate loop to cool all those HDD's you have, and maybe add the NB in the loop.

Yup that'd be a good idea if he went ahead with the Hard drive cooling. But still I don't think It would be necessary to water cool them...have 3 in the front of your case with that intake fan blowing on them and have 3 in the top cage with the rear fan intaking like i have on mine and you will see lower hard drive temps....Check the hard drive temp with Speedfan's S.M.A.R.T. scanner and see what your hard drive temps are as well....

 

[H3||scr3am]

and that every cooler solution there would add about 100/2HDs = 300 additional $ even if you only cooled the raptors thats $200! just for the blocks....

 

[funkycasey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by H3||scr3am and that every cooler solution there would add about 100/2HDs = 300 additional $ even if you only cooled the raptors thats $200! just for the blocks....

Wow, yeah, that's not worth it LOL

 

[Apollo4g]

yup its for sure not worth it!

But to want...is to need

what case does MrLister have?

 

[ira-k]

Good WC'ing will get you quite a bit closer to room ambient then good air..With my plain water rig I idled at 4-5C and loaded at 7-9C over whatever room ambient was..Thats with a 3019mhz OC on my Opty at 1.55V-core....There is a little more set-up time with water,and more up-keep but there is a lot more to play with and tweak on with WC'ing which I love to do...To me its not extra work its just fun...

This is some good stuff for a new WC'er to read...Learn as much as you can before you start buying parts and you will end up with a better rig for your needs...

...Water Cooling - In English

...Assembling Your Custom WC'ing

...Bleeding my WC setup...

...D-Tek Fuzion install tip! -( Or why you should clean your new blocks)

...PC Water Coolant Chemistry - Part I

...Rad Shroud Testing With and With-Out

...How To: Build A Performance Shroud

...Cooling - An In-Depth Look