Pre-fab watercoolers.. ie, antec/corsair.

[memnoch998]

I was wondering how reliable these coolers from antec/coolermaster/corsair are. A big question i have is how resistant is the tubing compared to heat generated in the case. What i'm looking at cooling is a 965 be(c3), which is ready for an oc (3.8 currently, but heat is killing me.), but i'd like to step up in the future. What kind of longevity am i looking at if i head towards an 8320 or a future am3+ processor, stepping up to a self contained system without building a full-on loop?

 

[Spazturtle]

Closed loop water coolers like the H60 are no better then top of the range heat-sinks. And they are less safe then open loop watercooling as the liquid inside them will destroy electronic compared to the distilled water in open loops.

 

[Tsumi]

If you have a large enough case and are using RAM without the tall heatsinks, go air, like the NH-D14. IMO the only reason to get self contained systems is if you have case size restrictions or are using tall RAM.

 

[Unknown-One]

Closed loop water coolers like the H60 are no better then top of the range heat-sinks. And they are less safe then open loop watercooling as the liquid inside them will destroy electronic compared to the distilled water in open loops.

Er... you should never use distilled water in a water cooling loop. It absorbs anything it can get its hands on.

Distilled water will suck ions out of your blocks and tubing. It will cloud clear tubing, tarnish blocks, and erode seals. Distilled water also becomes increasingly acidic as it absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere, amplifying said effects.

Not only that, but after a short period of time it will have absorbed enough material from your water cooling components to become electrically conductive, meaning using it as a protection scheme is worse than useless.

 

[_r2h]

Er... you should never use distilled water in a water cooling loop. It absorbs anything it can get its hands on.

Distilled water will suck ions out of your blocks and tubing. It will cloud clear tubing, tarnish blocks, and erode seals. Distilled water also becomes increasingly acidic as it absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere, amplifying said effects.

Not only that, but after a short period of time it will have absorbed enough material from your water cooling components to become electrically conductive, meaning using it as a protection scheme is worse than useless.

Nothing wrong with distilled water in a practical sense.

The dissolved oxygen in the water reacts with surface copper to for an oxide, which is under the conditions in your cooling loop, is stable. The problem is with the dissolved carbon dioxide in the water results in the formation of carbonic acid which then dissociates HCO3 and hydrogen ions. The hydrogen ions are then left to steal the oxygen from the surface oxides leaving the copper in it's ion form which dissolves into the water.

While technically you are correct, the corrosion rates you speak of are so negligible in a practical sense they are basically none existent. Those rates are measured in micrograms per year per square meter(mass loss) or milli inches per year(depth loss). You'll junk your computer before water/copper corrosion is an issue.

 

[mav2000]

Er... you should never use distilled water in a water cooling loop. It absorbs anything it can get its hands on.

Distilled water will suck ions out of your blocks and tubing. It will cloud clear tubing, tarnish blocks, and erode seals. Distilled water also becomes increasingly acidic as it absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere, amplifying said effects.

Not only that, but after a short period of time it will have absorbed enough material from your water cooling components to become electrically conductive, meaning using it as a protection scheme is worse than useless.

Actually distilled becomes conductive in a few short minutes of you pouring it into the loop as there is bound to be some impurities already present. In the same way, I think every liquid that are available to water coolers will be contaminated in double quick time anyway.

But, distilled water is still by far the best option for a coolant. It does not gunk up your system and if biocide is used with it, will keep it running smoothly for atleast 6 months, post which the loop can be drained and refilled.

Coming back to closed loop coolers, the CM 240 Seidon is by far one of the best CLU's I have used so far. The alternative to this is th Swiftech kit, but I guess thats not for sale in the US anymore. If you are in the EU you could look at the Eisberg as well.

These units have their advantages over huge air coolers like the noctua, as they are easy to install and remove and also leave a lot of open space around the socket area. But yes, the performance of a dual rad system is at best maybe 2-3 degrees better than these huge air coolers but quite a bit better than the stock cooler. Hope this helps.

 

[Tsumi]

Er... you should never use distilled water in a water cooling loop. It absorbs anything it can get its hands on.

Distilled water will suck ions out of your blocks and tubing. It will cloud clear tubing, tarnish blocks, and erode seals. Distilled water also becomes increasingly acidic as it absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere, amplifying said effects.

Not only that, but after a short period of time it will have absorbed enough material from your water cooling components to become electrically conductive, meaning using it as a protection scheme is worse than useless.

You're thinking of deionized water. Deionized water leaches ions like crazy. Distilled water, since its in its natural ion state, does not do that. Sure, it will take some, but not enough to matter.

Since all coolants are water-based, they will all have the same problems you describe. Distilled water, however, has been time tested and proven to have the least effects and dangers.

 

[ob1]

Like others have stated, the AiO water coolers are on par with the top end of the air coolers really. So if you are thinking the AiO will get you better temps than air, it probably won't. I like the AiO coolers though because the way I have mine setup, the hot air is directly vented out of the case, and the ones I have purchased have all been dead silent (lucky I guess).

 

[memnoch998]

Like others have stated, the AiO water coolers are on par with the top end of the air coolers really. So if you are thinking the AiO will get you better temps than air, it probably won't. I like the AiO coolers though because the way I have mine setup, the hot air is directly vented out of the case, and the ones I have purchased have all been dead silent (lucky I guess).

This is exactly what i wanted to know. Thanks.