Shall i got water?

[jonneymendoza]

Hi. i have been building pc's since the old Viglan machines running windows 3.1 and up until this day i still have not took the courage to try out water cooling.

is it safe to do nowadays? are water cooling kits still prone to leakes? i heard there is a special liquid to use called non conductive? does that mean if it leakes it wont damage your components?

How much does it cost to water cool a GPU and a cpu using a decent kit?

This is the case i have http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/LianLi/PC-A7010/4.html

It has a i7 920 inside along with a 480gtx which is blooming loud and hot

 

[Tsumi]

Distilled water is non-conductive. As dust and other particles accumulate though, it will become conductive over time. Any non-conductive liquid initially will not damage your components, but will do so in a short period of time as it gathers dust and particles and becomes conductive.

Watercooling has never really been prone to leaks as long as you properly connect everything, and the seals on the waterblocks are correctly put in place.. That's also why you do leak testing.

I would recommend at least an XSPC Rasa RX360 kit (~200) and a GTX 480/570/580 full cover waterblock (~100). You can use an MCW80 with their VRM/RAM heatsink, that would cost maybe ~$60-70. The MCW80 would be able to be used on other cards should you decide to upgrade. If you're not planning on overclocking the 480, you can get away with just an MCW80 (~$50).

You would need some serious case modding in order to have a quiet setup (large radiators required, at least 3x120). Or it would need to be mounted externally. For modding, I would say that would require removing the top rear hard drive bay, and cutting holes in the top to mount the radiator.

 

[ltcharles]

Look yeah rasa kit seems to be a good kit for those who want a kit and not have fun shopping around for better blocks. Yeah leaks only come if something is defective or not properly connected.

As far as cost it depends all on you there are entry level kits around $150-$200. Dont pay more than $200 for a kit, at that price you can geet better components.

If cost is a factor and want high end stuff second hand stuff always fits the bill. Saves you green for to notch stuff.

As far as having a huge radiator is concerned its not really necessary if your not looking to get the lowest temps or performance gains. If you want everything stock or slight overclock a dual rad would be perfect. Now if you are just doing it for noise control and keep your system cool. You can even get away with a singel 120mm rad.

For example I have a 4890 full cover water block and a cpu water block all being cooled by 1 120mm rad with a 120mm fan running at 1600 rpms keeps everything cool at 34c idle and 58c at load. Very nice compared to the air cooling tems i had before which were cpu on air 38c idle and 68c load. My gpu with its stock air cooler was at 44c idle and would hit 72c at load with fan @ 50% which was way to loud.

So you see you can get away with a 120mm fan, OH quick note my rad is external so that could be why I am getting away with 120mm but in either case I water cooled for the noise and the coolness factor.


Please note that the stuff here is higher end water block than the entry level
Now to give you a recap of my cost:
New Heatkiller v3.0 $80
New Heatkiller full gpu $90
Used water pump $20
New tygon tubbing $20 = 15ft
Used 120mm Rad $10
rough total cost is $220
and thats just the main stuff I have pump top, fans, sleeving and so on that really I didnt want to list could that just for looks not usefulness.

As before I bought a Koolance water cooling kit and was very disappointed in the temps it gave if any LOL

Hope this gives you an idea of what you might be looking into.

My advice always shop around for deals, used stuff and very important if you upgrade like crazy make sure your cpu water block can be taken apart and fitted with other cpu socket hold down kits. Some water block are not able to be used on other sockets since the manufacture does not make hold down kits for other sockets they make you buy a new water block.

Danger Den was known for this they now offer different socket tops. Though stay away from danger den cpu blocks! I loved their blocks for the following reasons; afforable, acrylic top allows you to see the water move int he block and good service. Now the reason i say stay away they mounting kits blow chunks. they are ugly all it is its screw with nuts and washers that dont stay in place after a while and easy to untighten when removing the block for cleaning or changing components.

So for someone who like to change cpu often that was a bummer hated taking of the motherboard to re tighten the mounting screws.

but if you dont mind then danger den seems to be the right rice for the right stuff minus their mounting kits LOL.

Oh and Danger Dens gpu full blocks are not as pretty as other brands thats something to consider if you like looks.