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Fears & rant

O

Oldwolf

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
Messages
437
Is there anyone out there that can allay my fears about waterblock cooling my cpu?

The fears are:
Power outtages/spikes shorting the pump.
Water leaks/condensation
Clogged waterblocks from electrolytic reactions

If the power was to suddenly die in my system, how would the heat be wicked away? Even a heatsink has a passive effect versus a solid unmoving waterfilled block.

And what about those leaks? I know waterblocks have been around for ages, and so have leaks. Even my old Dodge needed the waterpump replaced occasionally.

And what if, somehow, I get a bad pump? What if it dies 1 day after the warranty expires? How outa luck would I be???

But then again... HSF units are approaching the stress limits of the CPU socket clips. Which max at around 700mg of weight applied. Which has me thinking that most of the newer/heavier HSF units are meant for the flat desktop cases and not towers.

And even though the heat is vented from your case, just how hot IS your bedroom??? I have a Volcano 7+ and I'm sweltering in winter!

Which is why after several years, I'm still looking at watercooling systems.

And still afraid of that dreaded drip, drip, drip in the night.

Something in the industry needs to change!

Why do cooling systems haveta be so %#$^%&#^ expensive??? Even a mediocre kit is gonna run around $200. While a good HSF costs around $50.

I guess simply having a good cool running system is a richman's game now.

If they were cheaper, I'd look a lot harder.
 
Oldwolf said:
Is there anyone out there that can allay my fears about waterblock cooling my cpu?

The fears are:
Power outtages/spikes shorting the pump.
Water leaks/condensation
Clogged waterblocks from electrolytic reactions
Click to expand...

Power outtages, shouldn't be a problem if you wired everything correctly

Water leaks: again if the instalation was done correctly, and you did a leak test prior to installing...then again you should not have any problems (the use of good clamps and good tubing will avoid this...less stress, no kinks, etc.)

condensation? shouldn't be a problem since you won't hit temps lower than ambient temps also it depends on where you are located as well (humidity etc.)

Clogging: as long as you use a good coolant solution there should not be any clogs (I use Hy-per coolant, distilled water, and alcohol)

Electrolytic: if you have this fear, then use only copper components, since aluminum and copper do not mix
 
Oldwolf said:
And even though the heat is vented from your case, just how hot IS your bedroom??? I have a Volcano 7+ and I'm sweltering in winter!
Click to expand...

Heh... you should check mine out... I've got a window cracked open in my PC room/media room/library becuase it's so friggin' hot. Imagine 3 PCs, 1 Laptop, 1 entertainment center, and a 75-gallon lizard terrarium crammed into a 10x16 room. I keep waiting for the police to come serve a search warrant thinking I'm running a growhouse based on my electrical consumption.
 
Your right on the edge...let's see which way this pushes you.

Water cooling is not for the timid. This is a form of extreme cooling that can go horribly wrong and can potentially cost you lots of money!!!

That being said, WC'ing can be a lot of fun. It's not about how low you can get your cpu temp so much as just the general act of wc'ing (for me anyways). I love trying to figure out the best parts and then making them all work together. Modding the case to make everything fit 'just' right. And then when you get everything just the way you like it, and it's performing well with no leaks, it's a very satisfying feeling of accomplishment. On top of that you get excellent temps. :D

I've been wc'ing for almost 2 years now and have gone from a outta the box kit to a DIY system and have loved every bit of it. It can be difficult at times and is an expensive hobby but well worth it.
 
Oldwolf said:
Is there anyone out there that can allay my fears about waterblock cooling my cpu?

The fears are:
Power outtages/spikes shorting the pump.
Water leaks/condensation
Clogged waterblocks from electrolytic reactions

If the power was to suddenly die in my system, how would the heat be wicked away? Even a heatsink has a passive effect versus a solid unmoving waterfilled block.
Click to expand...
I've ran with an unplugged pump for about a half-hour, doodling around in windows, and ran fine until I noticed my temps were 50 celcius+
It is easy to set up a automatic shutdown temp in BIOS, so it shouldn't be a problem. If you're having enough electrical problems to kill the pump, you system will probably tank as well. Residual heat after loosing power will easily be absorbed by the waterblock and transfered to the water; it's not like the cooling suddenly disappears once the power goes out.
Oldwolf said:
And what about those leaks? I know waterblocks have been around for ages, and so have leaks. Even my old Dodge needed the waterpump replaced occasionally.
Click to expand...
It's not *that* bad; I've leaked water all over my video card and mobo a few times each and had good luck with drying them out. Still kicking.
Oldwolf said:
And what if, somehow, I get a bad pump? What if it dies 1 day after the warranty expires? How outa luck would I be???
Click to expand...
What if you buy a CPU that dies one day after the warrently expires?
That's not a WC issue....
Oldwolf said:
But then again... HSF units are approaching the stress limits of the CPU socket clips. Which max at around 700mg of weight applied. Which has me thinking that most of the newer/heavier HSF units are meant for the flat desktop cases and not towers.

And even though the heat is vented from your case, just how hot IS your bedroom??? I have a Volcano 7+ and I'm sweltering in winter!

Which is why after several years, I'm still looking at watercooling systems.
Click to expand...
Regardless of what method you use to cool, the heat output will *always* be the same. You can't destroy heat; it has to go somewhere, in this case to heating up your room's air. All that power you are sucking from the wall ulitmately ends up as heat, and there is no getting around that.
Oldwolf said:
And still afraid of that dreaded drip, drip, drip in the night.

Something in the industry needs to change!

Why do cooling systems haveta be so %#$^%&#^ expensive??? Even a mediocre kit is gonna run around $200. While a good HSF costs around $50.

I guess simply having a good cool running system is a richman's game now.

If they were cheaper, I'd look a lot harder.
Click to expand...
Don't run your system unattended/unconcious then.
As for the ability of HSFs to cool, the newest stuff from Thermalright kicks ass, and can go toe to toe with low-end watercooling. I think you can do a steller setup for less than $200, btw, if you don't buy a premade kit:

$108 Danger Den TDX and D4 combo special deal right now
$30 standard 120mm heatercore
$10 6 feet of Clearflex tubing
$1.25 T for t-line
$5 anti-freeze and a gallon of distilled water
Plus shipping of course, but really, it doesn't cost *that* much
 
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