Do You Need To Water Cool Your PC?

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Do you need to water cool your PC? Probably not. Should you water cool your PC? Definitely. :cool:

The question on the table can be divided into two parts. First does your computer need cooled? And how cool should it be?? Answering the first question is easy. Yes, your computer needs to be cooled. Processors have gotten very efficient at converting electricity into work but still generate heat as a byproduct. Something about equalizing an equation that contains an efficiency coefficient. Lots of math and the bottom line is the chips need to run at a certain temperature to maintain that efficiency.
 
I've always wanted to take the plunge, but cost was definitely a barrier. I personally didn't see the extra $100+ investment in say, just the GPU water block to provide enough of a return.

I'm curious though, percentage wise - how much of that investment do you guys get to carry over from system to system?
 
Seriously though, yes, there can be a substantial up front investment if you do water cooling right. By this I mean appropriately sized/rated radiators to cover all the components you are cooling, quality fans/tubing, a good pump, and quality blocks. Pre-built, staged/self-sealed kits are OK for entry level water cooling of a single component, but to me they are like buying a moped when what you really wanted was a motorcycle.

One can easily cut corners and end up with a very marginal system that is prone to poor performance and operating/maintenance issues, but done right, a good water loop can cool your entire PC and do so extremely well - prolonging component life by running at MUCH lower temps, lower noise and extending your PC's CPU/GPU overclocking ability. Another factor many don't consider is that a well designed water cooling setup can carry forward in your PC hardware upgrades. So like a quality power supply or monitor, there is no need to replace your gear when you decide to jump to a new motherboard/CPU/GPU setup. (Well, except for waterblock compatibility, but that typically isn't too bad compared to everything else.)

Also, while it may look cool to use colors and dyed fluid and specialty "bling" parts, they can also seriously jack up the costs involved. I prefer form/function over looks. I don't need fancy black chrome quick disconnect connectors at $20 a pop when a $2 barb and a 75 cent hose clamp works just as well. Don't dye your water - its messy and will gunk up you tubes/waterblocks/motor over time. Buy colored tubing instead. Use just distilled water and a silver kill coil... I also add a few drops of iodine to mine. Never have had any issues.
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"Need" is such a silly word when your machine has three or four video cards in it.

I'd love some single slot video cards some time in the future.
 
sboucher said:
I've always wanted to take the plunge, but cost was definitely a barrier. I personally didn't see the extra $100+ investment in say, just the GPU water block to provide enough of a return.

I'm curious though, percentage wise - how much of that investment do you guys get to carry over from system to system?
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Spent a crapload on my first WC build. Full gpu block, motherboard block, and cpu block with a dual loop setup. Was sweet, but yea, not doing it again.

Since then I've just put the cpu under water, and haven't spent any additional money as the block has mounted to 3 gens of intel cpu's. I find the GTX 970s to be nearly inaudible over my case/rad fans anyway limited to 80% fan, and they still OC like hell. Most cards from the past sounded like jet engines on air coolers.
 
Need? No, but I don't know if I would build a PC anymore without water-cooling, just been doing it so long.

My biggest gripe is all the left over blocks you can stockpile. I have a box of copper WC blocks with a Danger Den Maze 3 in sitting around somewhere.
 
My first WC system was a water block made out of a 1/2" brass plumbing coupler and 2 hode bibs, a sump pump, some tygon, and a rubbermaid container.

I can't say that I recommend that, but the most expensive item in that system was probably the brass coupler or the tygon. It worked great for almost a year on an old Athlon Duron system.

My next build used a heater core from a Ford Taurus as a radiator and a 12" desk fan.

I eventually graduated to made-for-PC components over the years. In my last build I just used a AIO for convenience.

I've never ~needed~ to use WC, but it's probably more fun to play and tinker with than actually using the computer is.
 
I remember back in the day, 10+ years ago when water cooling was all the rage. IMHO, back then it had a point. Processors were grossly inefficient, overclocking(at least decently) on air at one point, was impossible. Water was the only option(an peltiers, who remembers those). Today? IMHO, unless you are chasing an award for a benchmark I feel water cooling is not necessary, perhaps even wasteful in many cases. It's hugely more affordable today, that's for sure.
 
do you need to water cool? well that depends on how far you want to overclock it :p

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thats actually my old rig....kept all the WC parts and the case though. i love how versatile it all is. i remember on air always wondering if i needed a new cooler to support my new parts. the answer was probably. water? just throw it in, it'll be fine.
 
sboucher said:
I've always wanted to take the plunge, but cost was definitely a barrier. I personally didn't see the extra $100+ investment in say, just the GPU water block to provide enough of a return.

I'm curious though, percentage wise - how much of that investment do you guys get to carry over from system to system?
Click to expand...

Except for gpu blocks, every water cooling part I've bought has been used on multiple systems. At worst, when I upgrade, the old part moves to the next down system (htpc, wife's pc) or one of the many systems I build for friends. Unless I broke it, every block, res, rad, or pump I've bought over the last decade are still in working computers.
 
I just got a new system and I have the localized self contained water cooling installed (Corsair H100 CPU cooler, and 980 Ti Hybrid card) ... I do like having the operational and stress temperatures 20 degrees lower than their air cooled counterparts ... since I kept my last system 8 years (until it was on death's doorway) and hope to keep this system for a good 6-8 years I think that the water cooling option is more of a need than a want to insure the best performance of my system for the longest life
 
I downgraded from a nice custom setup to a Corsair H100. I miss my old system, but this one is much less maintenance, quieter, and still does the job. Not as fun, but it's easy.

And, yes - I do need to watercool my system. My kids want a watercooled system next build, too....
 
The Lurker said:
I remember back in the day, 10+ years ago when water cooling was all the rage. IMHO, back then it had a point. Processors were grossly inefficient, overclocking(at least decently) on air at one point, was impossible. Water was the only option(an peltiers, who remembers those). Today? IMHO, unless you are chasing an award for a benchmark I feel water cooling is not necessary, perhaps even wasteful in many cases. It's hugely more affordable today, that's for sure.
Click to expand...

Yes, and yes yes! I was too poor for peltier plates and conformal coatings.. So I opted for the most massive Alpha heatsink I could slap on my slot1 Celeron 333. I REALLY miss the slot1 days.. Really enjoyed that era.
 
My CPU has been externally custom water cooled since my Q9700, with the same kit.
Removing the CPU cooler from the case leaves just the graphics card to rule.
I no longer need to use higher speed case fans and the gfx card runs cooler.
 
I built dozens of systems with water cooling, and now I don't use any water cooling anymore at all. I don't miss it at all. It was fun and cool looking,,, but it was not needed as time went on and components got better and air cooling got better and cases got better designs. I use FT02 cases now.
 
My first water cooler setup was made out of MDF and some flexi straws from What-a-Burger. I was not very satisfied with the results despite the low initial cost. At that point I went All In One and have been more pleased.
 
Closest I've ever been is the H100 AIO. Now, I'm thinking about going back to air. For the "overclocking" I do, it's just not worth it. Having said that, I can see where a hot X99 or Xeon build might be worth the expense and attention. I'm planning on skipping X99 and building the next HEDT. Have a Z87 today. I just can't see water cooling Z97 or Z170. I think the 6700k is 91W. Naw, in P4 Extreme days probably. Socket 2011 maybe. But it's all about efficiency now. These procs are still powerful but so less hot now. I think X58 might have been perhaps the last water cooling "need." And even with the AIO I have now, I kind of wonder if there will ever be a leak in the future. I just don't think there's a justification anymore in my opinion. But, all you water coolers out there, have at it, I still love looking at the awesomeness of the build and attention. :)
 
Custom water is the only way to do true high performance at near silent noise levels.

Been watercooling since pentium4 heat and noise are never an issue in this house.
 
I doubt that I will ever water cool my PC as I have sensitive hearing. Big (really big) air with big slow fans FTW (mine is 125 cubic inches in volume and 1.9 lbs without fans). I can't even hear my CPU fan when gaming. Plus I am not after ridiculous OCs on my 6700k. 4.4GHz is enough for me as I am still GPU bound and no cash to upgrade :(. I also don't want to (nor have the cash to) spend the $400-500 it would cost to water cool everything.
 
If you do Ebay custom water cooling loop like I do and cool the CPU and GPU then yes. Otherwise it's a lot of money and probably not worth it. Personally think laptops should be getting water cooling cause they need it more than desktops. Desktops can just get huge air towers and cool things just fine. Laptops can't.
 
I was a big fan of full water cooling rigs until my 2nd pump died. Now I just stick to closed loop CPU coolers, also saves me money, LOTS of money.
 
I wanted to do my own loop back in the day, probably around 2004-2006. Never did. Opted for 10K RPM drives and a quick jump from A64 X2 to E6600 (then Q6600). Then, the AIO stuff started to appear and was so much cheaper. I've done that for a while now and see no reason to change that. I figure by the time I finally upgrade from my 2600K that chips will be all that more efficient and that while I'd still likely ditch the stock cooler, I might just switch back to a high-end air setup as that would be plenty quiet and effective. I think custom water cooling is a lot like compiling one's own Linux distro. For those that do, they swear by it and tend to thoroughly enjoy doing it and getting precisely what they want. For the rest of us? Simply tinkering in any distro and getting less in-depth experience is fine. I simply am not a tinkerer to that level, nor can I justify the cost over a simple AIO or high-end air.
 
I wanted to do water cooling around 2002-2003, I even purchased the tubing, pump, and radiator, and a water block, but never got around to putting it all together. I would've needed to weld new fittings to the block and the radiator, and just ended up saying fuck it. So I remained on air until 2004 when I got an AIO water cooler. I know the WC snobs say that AIO coolers are worthless, but who cares? It was definitely an upgrade over the Noctua NH-D14
 
M76 said:
I wanted to do water cooling around 2002-2003, I even purchased the tubing, pump, and radiator, and a water block, but never got around to putting it all together. I would've needed to weld new fittings to the block and the radiator, and just ended up saying fuck it. So I remained on air until 2004 when I got an AIO water cooler. I know the WC snobs say that AIO coolers are worthless, but who cares? It was definitely an upgrade over the Noctua NH-D14
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I meant until 2014 OFC, but no edit.
 
I don't think it is ever needed, but it sure is a hell of a lot of fun!

I for one, really enjoy pulling apart and putting back together my computer. Yes it can be expensive, but it doesnt have to be. A single card system has some upfront cost, but after that it is only the cost to change the water block.
 
My first watercooling system was some POS I won from a vendor at MillionManLAN2. It was pre-assembled, quiet, and did the job. It had a rezpump and a small radiator. It kept my Barton very cool :)
Next setup I went all out on. Athlon 64 3200+, 9800 Pro, and full Danger Den.
I want to go all out again. It's difficult to justify for anything more than because I just wanna do it.
 
Whether its necessary or not, custom watercooling sounds like such a great project. The amount of skill necessary has kept me away though; users have mentioned welding here and I imagine you'd have to be handy with a dremel...

Man though, they look so great and they must be fun as hell to maintain too. The closed loop kits are awesome, but they're basically plug and play; I really want to play around with assembling all the components myself.
 
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