is watercooling worth it

[its4thecolony]

ok guys so ive been wondering is watercooling worth it. i dont mind a noisy pc, i just got an i7 and i want to overclock to 4ghz would watercooling have any advantages over air besides noise.

 

[Crispy002]

Being that I recently went to watercooling, I have buyer's remorse.

The cooling is significantly better, my computer is slightly quieter, and I have the comfort of knowing I can handle just about any overclock.

It cost quite a bit, my case is quite a bit heavier, it was a lot of work to install and mod the system to fit the case, draining is a pain, it takes 4 times as long to disassemble the computer, and I have the fear of knowing my pump could cease or a leak could sprout.

Sadly enough I don't have the stones to buy some higher clocked ram so I can overclock the cpu higher than 4ghz, and if you aren't planning on going past 4ghz, I'd really just stick with air. Not a whole lot of real-world benefit to going past 3.6 or so anyways.

 

[Deimos]

Yeah you can get mre headroom (for overclocking) and temps are way more consistant.

also, its more like a one time investment type deal, once you have all the major bits you don't need to replace much when upgrading your PC components, I have had my WC setup coming up to 3 years and apart from changing the tubing (moving from 3/8 to 1/2 ID tubing really makes a big difference BTW) I have only just now had to upgrade a waterblock.

Also, the coolest thing is, if you have the space you can just add more stuff to increase your cooling performance, I just added another 2 x 120mm rad to my loop to impoove the cooling for my 5870, its stackable (so it can go on top of my existing one) and later I will probably add another 3 x 120mm rad to make it a triple rad loop when I setup my first SLI rig.

The only thing is, it is not low maintenance, sometimes you need to top up the liquid (like every 3 months) and you are supposed to flush it at least once a year (depends on the coolant you use though). If you find that sort of thing fun (I do) then go for it.

 

[Deimos]

I have the fear of knowing my pump could cease or a leak could sprout.

Theres 2 sides to that coin, you can get coolant that doesn't conduct, however if you are carefull, and run the loop for a day before starting your PC, leaks are generally not an issue, I havn't had any leaks yet and I have done a few rebuilds, I'm getting ready for one now actually, and probably again in a few months when I add the third RAD and put it in a new case...

 

[ghost6303]

use some nice flexible, thick-walled tubing like Tygon and you will never have a leak problem. the only times ive ever had a leak in 10 years was when i was cheap and didnt want to wait for the tubing to ship so i went and bought some home depot garbage tubing. big mistake. that type of tubing is hard to get a worm drive clamp to seal around 100% of the circumference because it is so thin and rigid. i bought a 50 foot roll of Tygon R3400 about 8 years ago and havnt had a leak since ( and still have 20 feet left over).

 

[BillParrish]

My take on it given things now a days.

No, the investment is not worth the return if you want to look at it from a money point of view.

However water cooling has intrinsic advantages as well as some marginal technical advantage that others have mentioned.

My advice is that you should water cool only if you want to water cool. Otherwise there is little justification.

Now if you want to water cool it is an excellent hobby that like most can be as inexpensive or as expensive as you want to make it. You will not be able to spend $80 for a top of the line air cooler and fans and be happy you have the best there and be done with it. However Watercooling can be done fairly inexpensively for the parts if you don't get too caught up in the "I must have the "best" syndrome". Expect to spend $150 to $200 for an effective system for just the CPU . It does take quite a bit of modding skill to do a nice job unless you pay out the nose for a case that already accommodates a radiator etc. If you are in a hurry to put the machine together, forgetabout it, especially if you are concerned about looks.

I love it and don't even consider not doing it on my personal machines, but I am "not quite right" in the head.

If you absolutely must have the best and like doing things yourself, have the cash to burn and are not in a big hurry to get the machine running, consider it .

 

[termite]

I have to agree with Bill.

I have been watercooling for about 7ish years and do not even consider going back to air. That being said, it is not for everyone, and it will not fit everybody's style, wallet or needs.

Like air cooling, you do have maintenance the rads need dust cleaned out every so often, which is dependant on your environment, you should flush the system every year or so and depending on your set up you may need to top off a few ounces here and there.

Pump failure is a possibility, but so is fan failure in either type of setup. I have yet to have a pump fail and my gaming PC is on just about 24/7. Matter of fact I still have my original Ehime pump and a first gen D4 pump that is still in use (different application). So yes a component can always fail, but your odds are just as good as your CPU, RAM or Mobo going tits up.

Watercooling does take some additional planning when building and budgeting a system. Dig around the watercooling forums, read the guide etc. Watercooling is mainstream enough these days that there is a shocking amount of information out their to steer you in the right direction.

Good luck.

 

[Little_4nic8er]

I was planning to water cool, but have decided against it for the reasons listed here.

Though I am a bit concerned about F@H over the summer in the attic oven I call my room. If it gets really hot, I'd reconsider but at this stage I think I am good. (May just need a manual bump to the fans.)

 

[CrazyCuz2k]

ok guys so ive been wondering is watercooling worth it. i dont mind a noisy pc, i just got an i7 and i want to overclock to 4ghz would watercooling have any advantages over air besides noise.

Really it depends on you're rationale. If you're strictly talking about overclocking, you can get a top of the line air cooler that comes close to the performance of some smaller watercooled setups.

I built my first watercooled rig two years ago. Listened to the pros and cons and decided to go with water because I "wanted" to and had the funds to do it. After initially OCing my CPU I went back to to stock speeds because there were no real gains from it. I don't regret it and am not finishing my next build with a watercooled HTPC.

The point is for me... this is a hobby that I enjoy. Worth is within and it's something you have to determine yourself. I say read up on all the forums... look at all the rigs. Look at what you have, what you'll need and how much you have in your bank account. You can start small and add to your loop over time. The swiftech kits are probably the easiest way to to start a true loop vs something like the corsair H50 which I don't think is even worth it.

Listen to all the guys.. they give good advice. It's not all positive... it can be a pain in the proverbial arse but I like taking my comp apart and putting it back together but I don't care about downtime as I don't "need" my comp. I bought my trusty old powerbook G4 and that's where I store everything I have to have. Oh and my server too

 

[topslop1]

In a word: no. If you look at aircooling vs. watercooling, yes you're going to get a small benefit of going water vs. air but the price that you're going to put towards the investment is going to negate any kind of benefit I feel when you take into consideration how else you could have spent that $200-$300.. SSD, perhaps a beefier videocard.. or even another videocard.

Now I don't know how well the water cooling systems translate from one rig to another, but I think that you're going to need new mounts for each system and add X amount etc etc. So it'll turn out to be relatively expensive for the added benefit (especially when you're considering where else you could spend the money for your system) and in translating it to future-proof-ness.

If you've got everything you can get, and want a side project just to have fun with something "different' then i think you're going to have a great time with watercooling and see it as an experiment rather than a "I can add +10% overclock" you're going to be happier with it.

Personally I've always wanted to give it a shot because of the 'coolness' factor of it, and the fun factor of it, but I've never really looked at it as a really viable option for adding horsepower to the computer - if you want to go that route you should look into some kind of phase change cooling or pelters and go all the way.

 

[ChucklesC6]

Ditto everyone else. I actually have a thread going where my top line parts are having trouble cooling my Q6700@3.6 any better than a great aircooling setup.

I spent a lot of money on my watercooling parts, but I have the time and the money. I could've built an I7 rig, but that's not the point. Besides, my parts will transfer over easily if/when I do.
I also decided to run dual pumps for redundancy, not extra pressure/power. If one were to fail, my system wouldn't fry.
I did it really for the technical and planning challenges as a hobby.

 

[Wolvie56X]

ive been using the same watercooling setup for almost 4 years now, i bought a Thermaltake Big Water 720? kit and have been using that ever since, never had an issue or a leak or anything

correction, the ONE issue i did have was the fan thats attached to the radiator, i sort of neglected it and it got clogged with dust and i had to take it all apart and clean it out, but about 3 months after that, the fan completely died, my temps were creeping towards 40c in December, so i figured there was an issue going on

the fan literally blew apart, pieces went flying all over the place, was pretty weird there, it started making a noise and then the blades on the fan just flew off

luckily i had my brothers old water cooling setup in the basement, we used the same kits at the same time, then he moved on, so i just took that fan off the radiator and used his old one

so the one gripe i had with that system, was the fan was spliced with the radiator, so when the fan dies, you need the same exact fan to be able to run the radiator

 

[Dan_D]

I did it so I could get a better overclock on my CPU. It worked for that. Now I'm glad I have it because it will make water cooling my video cards much easier. I'm seriously thinking about water cooling my Radeon HD 5970 to 5870 speeds. Water will be the only way to accomplish this quietly.

 

[Archmage]

With MEGA-sinks like the Noctua NH-D14, Cogage Arrow, Venomous-X and Prolimatech Armageddon(? on performance), watercooling the CPU will only net us an extra 100-300mhz at the same noise level.

Watercooling the GPU (full-cover blocks are the way to go now with high VRM-temps limiting our overclock) must be compared against aftermarket GPU heatsinks (which invariably occupy multiple slots).

If you're running multiple video cards, and you're willing to run higher voltages, then GPU-watercooling has a larger benefit than CPU-WC IMO, in that it is single-slot and overclocks better: (1000-1100mhz max on an aircooled 5870, vs 1100-1250mhz watercooled).

Still... in the grand scheme... that's not much more performance unless you're using multiple video cards, and it's a lot more hassle if you tend to do a lot of tinkering.

Air-Cooling is a better deal in general. It's worthwhile to invest in good fans (which can carry over to the next build) and better-than-average heatsinks ($30+). The stock GPU heatsink is a good deal w/o concern for noise - it'll still take the average 5870 past 925mhz on the GPU. With fresh case airflow (preferably ducted in some way), and perhaps reapplication of TIM, the stock GPU heatsink tends to surpass my expectations.

 

[iceredwing]

ok guys so ive been wondering is watercooling worth it. i dont mind a noisy pc, i just got an i7 and i want to overclock to 4ghz would watercooling have any advantages over air besides noise.

the initial investment on watercooling is also quite high. Particularly if you want a really high end loop. The radiator(s), barbs, resevoir, and pump will set you back quite a bit. The good news is all 4 mentioned can always be used for your next build.

It is quite difficult to assemble in comparison to air, and as mentioned, it will make switching parts around very difficult. You won't have the luxury of popping out video cards like before.

But like others have said, once you do it (and do it properly) most people have a hard time ever going back to air. Watercooling is an enthusiast action for us computer people. It is like when people who commonly use middle end video cards ask if a 5870|5970|GTX470|GTX480 is worth the jump. It really depends on how you go about gaming and what your goal is. In the end is investing 400-600 dollars on a video card sensible to most? probably not. But those who do buy high end video cards are rarely willing to go back to using middle end cards. The reason you even considered it in the first place is because you want to fine tune your machine as much as you are capable of doing. Viewing & approaching watercooling is a similar concept.

 

[TeeJay]

Only if you bought your CPU to run it for a white before it dies. People who use watercooling are rather killing the CPU with high voltages and temps. Which lowers the CPU's lifetime.

Point is, unless you're not crazily overclocking, theres no need for watercooling.

 

[4x4not]

For me, it really comes down to one word: Enthusiast

You watercool because it is a hobby, not because it is cost effective. Same with fast cars, etc...

 

[ghost6303]

Only if you bought your CPU to run it for a white before it dies. People who use watercooling are rather killing the CPU with high voltages and temps. Which lowers the CPU's lifetime.

Point is, unless you're not crazily overclocking, theres no need for watercooling.

that all depends on how long you plan on keeping your hardware before buying the next "new thing". if you like to tinker and spend $250 every other year on a new CPU, then overvolting it considerably isnt a problem because it most likely wont burn out until you are ready to get a new one anyways

if you expect it to last 2-4 years, then a modest overclock with water will get you there. -ive been running this E6600 since it first came out almost 24/7 at 135% of its rated speed and its still going strong. if you buy a computer for a business application for instance, and its going to be a web server sitting in a closet for 10 years before you look at it again- then dont overclock it at all.

 

[adi]

I watercool, but I also don't overclock. I did it for noise control, and low load temperatures on video card and processor. i7 920 stock speed with all 8 cores maxed is sitting at 38c, and my video card (4870) is never above 40c, with a dual 120mm radiator single loop.

 

[Mif]

My roommate recently got the i7-920 and put a corsair H50 on it. He has hit 3.6GHz no problem with VERY good temps.

Its $80, you can get a stable OC, and its a closed system. Easiest way IMHO. Water cooling in a true system can be maintenance intensive.

 

[Dan_D]

I watercool, but I also don't overclock. I did it for noise control, and low load temperatures on video card and processor. i7 920 stock speed with all 4 physical and 4 logical processors maxed is sitting at 38c, and my video card (4870) is never above 40c, with a dual 120mm radiator single loop.

Fixt.

 

[Deimos]

My take on it given things now a days.

No, the investment is not worth the return if you want to look at it from a money point of view.

I don't completely agree, if you look at it from a return from investment point of view, nothing in computers gives you a good return from investment, however I don't think you are factoring upgrades in to the equation.

when I was using air, I would spend on average $100 on a heatsink, maybe $20 on a fan every time I upgraded to a new platform (NZD so don't freak out), I spend around $650 on my Swiftech APEX ultra + kit (you can still buy them now albeit with revised bits) and since then I have only changed a handfull of things such as tubing and a new VGA waterblock in about 6 years, if this continues watercooling will end up costing me about the same over a 6-7 year time period.

I just bought a mounting kit that will allow me to use my current CPU block on an i7 rig, the mounting kit only cost me $15.

Also, if you want to improve cooling performance down the track you can add additional radiators for quite cheap (swiftech rads are cheap and perform well).

If you spend enough, performance is simply amazing, but as other people mentioned, you should only do it if you want to.

 

[Ebisan]

I like the performance and silence my watercooled rig provides. I don't like the added cost if I upgrade a component. I've upgraded my video card from an 8800GTX with a DD full coverage with a 4870 and had to buy another full coverage waterblock. I'm currently upgrading to a 5870 or 5970 and instead of buying a full coverage wb, I went with the Swiftech GPU MCW60R2. At least I can now reuse the GPU block and then buy full coverage heatshink. Slightly cheaper this way. With my i7 build, I decided I decided to go air cooled. That thing is much louder than my watercooled PC. I may switch to WC for that one but don't feel like spending the money to cool the CPU and SLI GTX 285s.

 

[harmattan]

I've been watercooling for a couple years now and I go back and forth to be honest.

On one hand, you get lower, much more stable temps and less noise (a big win for me). It's also fun to build out a loop (at least I think so).

On the other hand, it's more expensive (always more so than you initially think), weighs down your PC, requires at least semi-regular maintenance. Worst of all, it makes changing out/replacing parts a SOB. I lay down a littany of f-bombs and GD-its everytime I need to replace anything -- God forbid I need to replace my mobo. Also, in my experience, the lower temps really don't help much with overclocking: if a card or CPU will OC, it will OC to about the same place on air or water. There's also the added risk of frying your parts -- regardless of how careful you are, you're still putting electronics right next to moving water (and you're always sitting there worried about something leaking).

 

[ohvrolla]

Two waterblocks (MCW6000 and Dtek Fuzion) for five different computers. One gpu block (maze 4) for five different graphics card. Just added a second gpu block for crossfire though. Not bad lifespan if you ask me. Have been watercooling long enough for a Laing D5 to bite the dust. Some of the voltages I've run a CPU probably wouldn't have been comfortably possible with air cooling. Now I will say that if I wasn't watercooling already today that I might not start just because of how good air cooling is now.