Better performance, Which to cool...

[Duffman247]

I have just finished gathering the parts for my latest system.

I have a Q9650, 750i motherboard, a GTX260, and 2 2GB 1066 sticks of Ram.

My question is, I have only a 2 x 120 Rad, with some medium speed fans.

I still need a block, but will I'm not sure to get it for the GPU or CPU.

Which is better to water cool, and which is better to get an aftermarket fan cooler for.

And some suggestions on which block would be good too, thanks!

 

[nsx241]

The cpu (assuming overclock is in your future) as it affects your entire system. You could probably add in the northbridge for the motherboard as well.

Good blocks are swiftech apogees (gt, gtx, gtz) or d-tek fuzions.

 

[Duffman247]

But wouldn't i see some more improvement in gaming by OCing the GFX instead of the CPU.

Someone told me since the CPU is 45nm, a good air cooler would be just as good as a water block.

 

[SolidBladez]

To me, it's all about noise. The processor was my main concern since the fan is constantly having to cool it more than the GPU. That's why I'm currently H²Oing my E8400. Hopefully in due time I will transition over to my video card but a CPU waterblock costs a little cheaper than a full coverage video card block.

 

[Duffman247]

If i got a second 2 x 120 rad would i beable to go Northbridge, CPU and my GTX 260?

The fans are not super powerful, they can't be heard over my fish tank in my living room.

 

[MrE]

Depends on what the 120x2 radiator(s) are, what blocks you end up running with (restrictive), and what pump. If you picked just the CPU to start cooling with, what are your main components?

 

[TI66ER]

i water cooled my cpu using a apogee gt cpu block/ddc3.2 ultra(18w) with xspc top/240mm rad/ 3/8" feser tubing.And it meant i could go from 3.6ghz on air with my chip to 3.8ghz which made a differance of 500 points in 3dmark06(14239 to 14811).I will be adding a gpu block soon anyway.

But i would say go for it on the cpu