First Water Kit Need Advice/Help!

[Capper]

Originally Posted by Tyreal

Interesting. Regardless, I still think that building it yourself will give you a sense of accomplishment and you will learn about it in the process.

Those kits are a great way for mainstream users to try watercooling but there will always be a market for do-it-yourself users.

Honestly Ty, thats not even the case anymore......cooling is not what it was a year ago.....With processors running much cooler theres really no need for those super extreme kits unless you are pushing your system to the very limit.......in that case, a custom kit from someone like Danger Den is great, as you have CPU, chipset, GPU, and even RAM cooling.....but to be perfectly honest, if your case has good air flow, its overkill.

I've run several different air cooled, water cooled, and even phase.......and I'll probably not even use water again. I'm currently running my E6600 at 440x8 24/7 Prime Stable with a Zalman 9700 (1.425V), its idling at 38C, load is 53C (according to TAT and Core Temp).

Really, my point is the whole extreme cooling issue, and recommending it to the every day user is a common misconception.....in the end, the money you spend trying to build an exotic cooling setup can be used better by buying a better processor, better mainboard, or memory.

[Dr. V]

more and more im considering canning the watercooling with all these nice air results compared to (obviously better) water results, but the extremes where the price lies. water is quite a bit more expensive than air, and some may not see it worth it...not just yet...

nonetheless water is coming soon for me whether its for me or someone else's build, so this thread is still good to go :D

btw capper thats a nice clock and nice temps!

[Tyreal]

I'm not going to argue with anybody but I'll put out these points.

Water cooling is, for the most part, universal. If you change sockets theres a good chance you can still use the same block. If not you can get a new mounting plate and your up and running. Alot of air coolers are compatible with tons of sockets as well.

W/C is quite a bit more expensive than air cooling and I was thinking about whether I should take the plunge or not. I was about to ditch the whole idea but decided to do it. I don't regret doing it because I had a good experience but I can see alot of people getting angry at w/c because things didn't work out the way they wanted.

Phase change is dead. Extreme cooling is useless. Watercooling is unnecessary. But so are sports cars and toupes.

[Dr. V]

lol i like that closing comment

u do present a fine point i must admit...

[Tyreal]

Haha. Thanks. I'm not going to discredit air nor water. I wouldn't recommend water to any casual user...

[simple_inhibition]

i think that the kit he chose would be good for a basic setup, however he's also looking to cool his GPU later down the road and i dont think that thermaltake kit will have the oompf to tackle both. the important thing with watercooling is to get a kit thats gonna meet your current needs and future plans. a big reason watercooling becomes expensive is when you start upgrading a kit because you didnt plan to add more blocks later down the road. if your going to build a kit, get the largest most efficient radiator you can afford. thats the number one factor in watercooling. without a sufficient radiator, even the best cpu blocks wont give you more than mediocre results.

[Capper]

actually that 760i TT kit was cooling the CPU, 2xGPU, and chipset if I recall correctly....and doing it very well.

The kit I'm looking forward to reviewing is the new Cooler Master AquaGate Viva, which cools the entire system....very nice kit.

I just hate to see people recommend a high end water cooling kit (which can run upwards of $300) to cool a E6300 or so......when they can invest that same amount of money into a processor upgrade and see better results with a good air cooler.

I'm not saying anyone is wrong, I'm just saying get past the WOW factor, and realistically look at your needs and goals before investing in something exotic....if you do that rationally, and look at different reviews, you might see that that extra money is better spent elsewhere.

BTW, phase is not dead, its never been a casual user setup, its for the extreme enthusiast who knows what they are doing, and who can afford it. I know plenty of people who still use it, and three companies who are still producing them.....I actually have one sitting here next to my desk I'm going to end up selling because I no longer worry about extreme overclocking

[Dr. V]

all really good points seeing as though its completely personal preference here. there is absolutely no right or wrong view, because its exactly that - a view - a personal opinion.

in terms of water cooling price, some may think its worth it, some may think it isn't. price for air cooling isnt really the issue, its whether or not people think its worth NOT spending the extra for water to risk as much precious degrees C on their beloved CPU!

at the end of the day, people that WC do it because they thought it was worth it. people who cool with air didnt think WC was worth it.

all in all i haven't decided that fully yet. seeing as though ZALMAN CNPS9700 was my original plan, im not yet ruling that out. however watercooling is still very much on the table.

[Capper]

For air, the Zalman 9700 and TT Big Typhoon are excellent choices. For water, Danger Den will always get my vote for a custom kit. I'm not a big Swiftech fan because their directions are horrendous.....but having used all the kits we've talked about, extensively, I'd say save the money on an extreme kit and look at a decent cheaper solution

[Dr. V]

I wasn't gonna go insane on my first WC anyway -- not worth it yet lol.

out of curiosity, the ZALMAN CNPS9700 - do they have any with green LEDs? i wanna go all green in my case (whatever it happens to be and after i mod it eventually, but even before) and the HSF matching would be real nice!

!!! shweeeett !!!
Zalman CNPS9700 NT