Cooling for new (and first) build.

H

HardForumer

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 1, 2011
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173
I'll be overclocking to get the best of it.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of water cooling and how much does a good one cost compared to air cooling?
 
Advantages: Possibly lower noise, depending on setup, better cooling capabilities, possibly higher overclock, might look aesthetically appealing.

Disadvantages: High cost, much more maintenance, a lot more work for initial setup.

A good watercooling setup will cost at least twice as much as a good air cooling setup. Not to mention all the work you have to put into it,
 
are we looking at 300-400 bucks for a good water cooling solution?
If I were to go with water cooling, which ones are recommended?
 
There's lots of parts and designs available in the watercooling business. It is essentially endlessly customizable. It comes down to what your budget is and what you want to do.
 
Or you're trying to eliminate noise from your GPU.
 
How much extra would cost me to get good liquid cooling over some of the best air cooling available?
 
Sorry, I know but I can't do much with that, I need numbers.
I got it though, its a hard question to answer.

Lets start with prices for some really good air cooling. Where will I need cooling besides the CPU? I(I understand the GPU already has its own?)
And which units are recommended?
 
HardForumer said:
Lets start with prices for some really good air cooling. Where will I need cooling besides the CPU? I(I understand the GPU already has its own?)
Click to expand...
The GPU does have its own cooling but on many cards you can replace the cooling with a 3rd party HSF. IIRC, eVGA and XFX allows you to swap cooling on their video cards without voiding their warranties.
HardForumer said:
And which units are recommended?
Click to expand...

In terms of best bang for the buck value, I recommend this HSF:
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156

A really high-end CPU air HSF would be this (You would need to pick a fan for this):
$70 - Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B CPU Cooler

Though there are self-contained water cooling setups that perform lesser than some of the higher-end air cooling HSF but does have some of the advantages of a water cooling:
$60 - Antec Kuhler H2O 620 Liquid Cooling System
$74 - Corsair Hydro H60 Liquid Cooling System
 
Of course GPU's already have their own. And as was stated you can get aftermarket coolers, or buy GPU's with custom coolers on them.

One of the best air cooling would set you back ~$80-90. H100 (I consider this air cooling for all intents and purposes due to its sealed, no maintenance design) would set you back about $110-120, and it's pretty much the best you can do on air.

A RASA RS240 kit with performance similar to that of the H100 will set you back about $120, but expansion is very limited. A decent water cooling kit the RX360 will set you back $200, but once again expansion is very limited. Getting a customized setup with room for future expansion will cost at least $250, and most likely around $300, depending on where you can get your parts.
 
HardForumer said:
Lets start with prices for some really good air cooling. Where will I need cooling besides the CPU? I(I understand the GPU already has its own?)
Click to expand...
The GPU does have its own cooling but on many cards you can replace the cooling with a 3rd party HSF. IIRC, eVGA and XFX allows you to swap cooling on their video cards without voiding their warranties.
HardForumer said:
And which units are recommended?
Click to expand...

In terms of best bang for the buck value, I recommend this HSF:
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156

A really high-end CPU air HSF would be this (You would need to pick a fan for this):
$70 - Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B CPU Cooler

Though if you want to go really high-end:
$86 - Noctua NH-D14 12 & 140mm SSO CPU HSF

Though there are self-contained water cooling setups that perform lesser than some of the higher-end air cooling HSF but does have some of the advantages of a water cooling:
$60 - Antec Kuhler H2O 620 Liquid Cooling System
$74 - Corsair Hydro H60 Liquid Cooling System

EDIT: The Corsair H100 and Antec Kuhler 920 are also some higher-end self-contained air/water-cooling setups:
 
Thank you! really appreciate you 2 taking the time to answer my questions.
What is the best customized water cooling I could get for under $300? I could consider it if it would mean much better performance than the Noctua NH-D14 12 & 140mm SSO CPU HSF Danny Bui posted.
 
It will be similar in performance to a RX360, but allowing for expansion.

It will not give you much better performance than a NH-D14 or a H100.

Watercooling from a price/performance standpoint is simply not worth it. You're spending 2 to 3 times more money for maybe 25% improvement at best.
 
Custom water cooling setups aren't part of my area of expertise. Someone else will have to help you with that.
 
Tsumi said:
It will be similar in performance to a RX360, but allowing for expansion.

It will not give you much better performance than a NH-D14 or a H100.

Watercooling from a price/performance standpoint is simply not worth it. You're spending 2 to 3 times more money for maybe 25% improvement at best.
Click to expand...
What kind of expansion are you talking about? upgrades?
I think I'll just go with air cooling though.
 
Expansion meaning adding GPU's to your watercooling loop. Or additional radiators.
 
Thanks,
What about Thermalright Silver Arrow? I read a review saying that it outperforms the Noctua and is also quieter.
I've also read that both get better performance than the V10. V10 looks pretty cool but not my style, and is also really expensive.
Also the thermalright is cheaper than the Noctua, while performing better according to some reviews.
 
The V10 is an outdated cooler, built on an inefficient TEC platform. It requires an additional 75 watts of power to perform in its high-end mode.

Noctua NH-D14, CNPS11X, or Prolimatech Genesis if you want high end. Megahalem and the TRUE are also strong contenders.
 
Tsumi said:
The V10 is an outdated cooler, built on an inefficient TEC platform. It requires an additional 75 watts of power to perform in its high-end mode.

Noctua NH-D14, CNPS11X, or Prolimatech Genesis if you want high end. Megahalem and the TRUE are also strong contenders.
Click to expand...
Ok, can the fans on the NH-D14 changed? Dunno if I like that brown color.
If yes, which fans?
 
HardForumer said:
Ok, can the fans on the NH-D14 changed? Dunno if I like that brown color.
If yes, which fans?
Click to expand...

It can be changed with any standard 120mm fan I believe. Worse come to worse, just use zip ties around the fins. Not sure if a standard 140mm fan can be used in the center part, but a 140mm fan with 120mm mounting holes probably can be used there, since that's what is used there.
 
Highly depends on the fans you get. Higher speed fans definitely improve performance, but at the cost of increased noise levels. The included fans are already expensive fans, with a very good bearing type. At the same RPM, it would be fairly hard to find fans that are quieter for the same performance level.
 
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