• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

cheapest decent WC setup. i7 920

Status
Not open for further replies.
E

Eppidemic

Weaksauce
Joined
Jan 7, 2009
Messages
73
Im kinda on a budget. but I wouldnt mind picking up a little WC setup for my cpu. I was thinking of going with a air setup w/TRUE. But even that is pushing it for OC temps. Can I get a nice little WC setup for under $150 for an i7? The lower the price the better. And obviously work better than a T.R.U.E.

Thank you.
 
No offence but you can afford an i7 but then skimp on the cooling :rolleyes:
you never skimp on the cooling!!! and if you buy cheap WC parts it will bite you on the ass sooner or later, and if it does bite you then you deserve it, seriously either go the true or do it properly!
the i7 isnt the best chip to cool under water, its a small chip which very few blocks can properly cool yet, if you want my advice I would go get a new EK-Supreme LT (Light) CPU water block, an XSPC RX360 Radiator and either a DDC 3.2 with EK X-top Rev.2 pump top or a D5 with EK X-Top Rev.2 for the pump, nothing less than that!
 
pretty sure MCR320 and XSPC Delta V3 will be sufficient, but the pump's gonna cost ya :D
 
Pretty sure a MCR320 would be ok, but the Delta I very much doubt if you plan to OC
 
I know this will probably be over your budget [ $200.00 to $300.00 USD ],but lot of online store sells water cooling kits. Pick the one you like, just make sure it works with a i7. You may be able to put one together your self and save a little money.
 
the only water cooling 'kits' that you should even consider are custom kits to begin with, DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT THERMALTAKE!!! Koolance is another no no atm, gigabyte no! Corsair NO! Zalman No! Silverstone NO! I can keep going if you like but you probably get the point ;)
Buntz what experience do you have with the i7? Believe me the smaller chip size makes it a real headache to watercool atm, there are very few blocks that do well on it, the might EK Supreme is left for dead even :(
If you want some help with water cooling your i7 PM, otherwise do your research on i7 water cooling, not just any old water cooling, specifically i7! if you dont like the price then take the TRUE up ;)
 
Gazmtk said:
Pretty sure a MCR320 would be ok, but the Delta I very much doubt if you plan to OC
Click to expand...

For the price, Delta works very well ;) After all, what matters is the rad and not the block, they vary not THAT much :D
 
You guys are so extreme with your WC reccomendations. My i920 is running fine at 3.8ghz/ 1.325v on just an old DD v4 pump (read: MCW 650), old 120x2 heater core rad and a new Apogee GTZ waterblock. Triple rads and extreme pumps? Its a frickin' 45nm cpu, they don't run THAT hot. [H] did their review on, what, a Koolance system?
 
whats fine to you xBabyJesus? post up a screen of your load temps?? and the D4 pump you have isnt all that far behind the D5, just louder.. the GTZ is a top of the line block specifically designed with the i7 coming in :rolleyes:
as for the [H]ard's overclocking test on the i7... that was a fail, 80degrees at 3.8?! a good setup will see you around 4.2ghz before seeing 80degrees if even then!
TehQuick your not on a i7 are you?.... I didn't think so... in the i7's case the block does play a big part in the cooling performance, and if you want to really try and argue that point, go try a Delta on an i7... the fact is an EK Supreme stomps the Delta Rev.3 in performance and thats not even keeping the i7 under control...
 
i7 OCed with HT on will need more than likely, a VERY good dual rad, TFC/TC, or a cheaper triple like a MCR320. Other triple rads you can go with are the new XSPC RX120s/TFC/TC.
 
Gazmtk said:
whats fine to you xBabyJesus? post up a screen of your load temps?? and the D4 pump you have isnt all that far behind the D5, just louder.. the GTZ is a top of the line block specifically designed with the i7 coming in :rolleyes:
as for the [H]ard's overclocking test on the i7... that was a fail, 80degrees at 3.8?! a good setup will see you around 4.2ghz before seeing 80degrees if even then!
TehQuick your not on a i7 are you?.... I didn't think so... in the i7's case the block does play a big part in the cooling performance, and if you want to really try and argue that point, go try a Delta on an i7... the fact is an EK Supreme stomps the Delta Rev.3 in performance and thats not even keeping the i7 under control...
Click to expand...

With or without the fans on "terminate them" decibels? ;) I can sit at <80C at full prime95 with the fans down whisper low, and it's 24x7 stable at that temp. My point is that a decent 120x2 and a regular V5 is just fine, not exactly "skimping."

on the i7's it seems the diff between 3.8 and 4.2 has much more to do with what voltages and BCLK the chip will post at, and not much to do with cooling, once you get past "decent" cooling.

Edit: Add pic of prime95 temp at low fan speed:
xBabyJesus
 
Wow. looks like WC is going to have to wait. So what kind of temps could I expect to run at 4ghz with the TRUE using prime95? can it even be done with air and stay safe. I ask cause my Vendetta 2 only performs a couple degrees worse than the TRUE on Frosty Tech, and beats it on another comparison. Its a 3 pipe direct contact cooler. Looks exactly like the sunbeam cooler that is in 1st place on Frosty.

Point is. at 4ghz under load I hit 90 and turned it off. probly would have gone higher. To hot for me. I was thinking of getting a better fan. then running a fan tube thing connected to the 120mm exhaust fan. might cool it down a few degrees....
 
Gazmtk said:
whats fine to you xBabyJesus? post up a screen of your load temps?? and the D4 pump you have isnt all that far behind the D5, just louder.. the GTZ is a top of the line block specifically designed with the i7 coming in :rolleyes:
as for the [H]ard's overclocking test on the i7... that was a fail, 80degrees at 3.8?! a good setup will see you around 4.2ghz before seeing 80degrees if even then!
TehQuick your not on a i7 are you?.... I didn't think so... in the i7's case the block does play a big part in the cooling performance, and if you want to really try and argue that point, go try a Delta on an i7... the fact is an EK Supreme stomps the Delta Rev.3 in performance and thats not even keeping the i7 under control...
Click to expand...

Oh jeez, these newbs, they think they know everything. If you want to argue about the block, post a link to a respectable review instead of trying to dicredit me personally and demonstrating own misgivings to the whole world. Well, I guess I should show the way, eh?

In general, waterblocks do not wary much, go read review of people like Martn
http://www.xtremesystems.org/Forums/showthread.php?t=206712
Do you see, uhm "the stomping" in that review? For me, the difference in couple of 2c does not qualify for that statement. So please, read, youngling, maybe you'll learn something useful and actually stop spreading FUD like you do here. And yes, it was test conducted not on i7s but it's the same blocks as today, so the performance delta will be the same until someone comes out with i7-specific block.

BTW, don't assume that you know everything about people if you just had the brains to read the sig. Sigs mean crap in this fast-changing world, noob. Nice job, btw, you
 
TehQuick go do your homework on the i7 before posting anymore ;)
when the difference between the top of the line water blocks and the mid-end (better than most kits mind you) end blocks is 5degrees then yes 2degrees is a big feat, but maybe you should speak to someone like Coolmiester about i7 and cooling, hes a noob?!
and watch who you call a noob, because you really dont know what you are talking about with the i7's... the fact is i7 cool better when the focus is on the middle of the chip as its a single die design and that where it makes a difference over existing chips, go have a look if you dont believe me!
As for martins review did you read the Q6600 up the top...
As for the original OP, I believe he will want the best cooling, so I am giving him honest feedback, not sugar coating it for him, its Pay To Play!

Auceny you will definately need more than a MCR320, though if you buy 2 and stack them that would do the trick ;)
 
ok, I'm watercooling and it has helped my setup--see sig. But, the payoff isn't as drastic as I'd hope. I'm able to hit 4ghz on air and WC but the temps regardless of cooling is over the top. With HT on, I could never call myself prime stable. There's just no way. I could however run my computer all day and my temps wouldn't go above 40-45 with moderate use to 60ish playing games. Prime? Lookout.

So, HT off lest me run 4ghz solid with prime on and no out of control temps. Also, with HT off my 3dmark scores increase by three to four thousand points...believe that? Still, there's benefits to HT that I just don't use at the moment to quantify keeping it on. When I do, it'll be on. In the mean time, I'm happy with my temps, my performance and OC, all with HT off.

My temps are currently idle @ 32-38 all the time (same as HT on with air or WC)--that's just the way it is. I can however play games and push things with watercooling without reaching 70 that I couldn't do with air. That's the benefit.

It's a give and take for sure and you just have to know what you do in order to make your chip work best for you. I've had mine since day one and have tried every combo there is. 200x20 works best @ 1.5v on core. Maybe less, it's been a while. Good luck!
 
What is your water cooling setup if I may ask Pkirk618? just to give the Original Poster some insight ;)
 
Gazmtk said:
TehQuick go do your homework on the i7 before posting anymore ;)
when the difference between the top of the line water blocks and the mid-end (better than most kits mind you) end blocks is 5degrees then yes 2degrees is a big feat, but maybe you should speak to someone like Coolmiester about i7 and cooling, hes a noob?!
and watch who you call a noob, because you really dont know what you are talking about with the i7's... the fact is i7 cool better when the focus is on the middle of the chip as its a single die design and that where it makes a difference over existing chips, go have a look if you dont believe me!
As for martins review did you read the Q6600 up the top...
As for the original OP, I believe he will want the best cooling, so I am giving him honest feedback, not sugar coating it for him, its Pay To Play!

Auceny you will definately need more than a MCR320, though if you buy 2 and stack them that would do the trick ;)
Click to expand...

are you plain dumb or just pretending? Re-read the original post, and ask yourself - is OP looking for top of the line or something else?
 
to the back of the line noob! if you do it cheap your no better off than the TRUE... so maybe you should STFU because you have no idea about WC'ing it seems.... wow you can read a review I am so impressed, now apply it to the real world... ohh wait your not capable of doing that.... back to school for you.

SO YOU DONT SCREW THIS UP TOO!!
"work better than a T.R.U.E." and "under $150" take note...
The TRUE will probably outperform a $150 WC setup if not done properly.. so unless more money is spent a TRUE is the better of the two.
AND.... take note again nooblet
THE XSPC DELTA Rev.3 was not designed for the i7, how about you come over the RRR.com and ask the guys over there, but wear your flame suit because you ignorance will get you shot on site.
one last point have you cooled a i7 with a Delta Rev.3?? because if you have, you would of noted that the Rev.3 doesnt really focus on the middle of the block, but the whole area, and the temps are worse than what they could be.
DISMISSED DOUCHE!
 
TehQuick,

Please just stop or learn reading comprehension. Gazmtk is making you look like an idiot.

What everything Gazmtk said is true. At at price tag of 150, you aren't going to beat a TRUE. You're going to need maybe 200-300 minimum for decent temps with no heavy OCIng unless you turn off HT, but that defeats the purpose no?

@OP, like others have said, you aren't going to get a WC system that can beat a TRUE @ the 150 price tag. Though depending on the price of the CoolerMaster v10, that might perform better than a TRUE and be the middle ground between a quality WC system.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top