Suggestions for watercooling..

[iha]

Someone I know recently built a very nice computer (cost around $4000). He doesn't know THAT much about computers.. and is trying to cool it w/ air cooling. Unfortunatly his computer is running way to hot, and he's thinking about getting rid of it. He said if he sits by it to long he gets to hot and he hates it. I suggested watercooling.. but I don't really know anything about watercooling (besides the little I've read on here).

Would it be to hard for him to add watercooling to his computer? If so, can you link me to some kits or something he could buy that would come w/ anything he might need?

thanks

 

[DaMiEn]

if he gets hot that just means that the computer is producing too much heat for the room. changing his computer cooling wont stop him from getting hot. getting some airflow in the room may help though

 

[Erasmus354]

as was said earlier, watercooling wont change how hot he gets, well at least not without some hassle. The fact is he probably just has poor circulation in the room. If he has a CRT those produce a good amount of heat as well. If you add watercooling it will more sufficiently cool the processor and any other components in the loop, however you are still dissipating the same amount of heat (actually more now because you are adding the heat of the pump) into the air of the room. Unless you run the radiator out the window or into another room you still have the same amount of heat going into the room, therefore watercooling would change nothing with the computer.

Basically the first thing he needs to look at is the circulation and ventilation in the room. Dont throw away a perfectly good computer for nothing. If that fails and he realizes he doesn't need that much computing power here are a few things to consider for his new PC.

1) Get an LCD monitor if he doesn't have one already, they produce less heat than a CRT and well... take up a lot less space and are very cool.

2) Get a notebook processor, they are often times excellent when used in a desktop and produce a lot less heat and consume a lot less power too!

3) Get a middle of the road video card, something like an X600, or even maybe up to an X800XL. Those cards produce a lot less heat than the top of the line models. (however the 6600 runs at such high core clocks that THAT middle of the road part isn't exactly cool).

4) Get an efficient PSU. The more efficient the PSU is the less energy is wasted in the form of heat. The no brainer way of finding an efficient PSU would be to get a fanless model or a good silent model. I say this because the fanless ones have to use high efficieny parts in order to remain fanless. However, if you fancy a bit of research head on over to the PSU forums and read up on what a good/efficient PSU would be.

 

[zer0signal667]

My first suggestion would be to post this in the watercooling sub-forum.

Next I would make suggestions similar to what Erasmus said, he's got the right idea.

 

[ewarz]

right along the lines of what was already said...

i just wanted to add that watercooling might be a bad idea for this particular situation. watercooling will keep the computer itself cooler, not the room. in fact, the room will get be warmer. when i went from air to water, my room has been consistantly warmer due to the fact that my computer is now more efficient at 'moving heat'. the computer will still produce the same amount of heat, watercooling will only move move it to a different location, ie. the room..

 

[Top Nurse]

Seems like the solution for this particular problem is a Koolance EXOS!!! Run the coolant lines up to the attic, the room above, or maybe another room that you want warmer. And before anyone says that it ain't possible I know someone who had their computer on the 2nd story of a home and put their 1046 pump and reservoir on the ground outside the house and it cooled just fine. Pump head don't mean crapola in a closed system.

 

[Erasmus354]

Pump head don't mean crapola in a closed system.

Unless you are using High Flow watercooling parts, and then your 50 feet of tubing will kill flow (which it already has) to the point that it will kill your temps as well.

 

[iha]

as was said earlier, watercooling wont change how hot he gets, well at least not without some hassle. The fact is he probably just has poor circulation in the room. If he has a CRT those produce a good amount of heat as well. If you add watercooling it will more sufficiently cool the processor and any other components in the loop, however you are still dissipating the same amount of heat (actually more now because you are adding the heat of the pump) into the air of the room. Unless you run the radiator out the window or into another room you still have the same amount of heat going into the room, therefore watercooling would change nothing with the computer.

Basically the first thing he needs to look at is the circulation and ventilation in the room. Dont throw away a perfectly good computer for nothing. If that fails and he realizes he doesn't need that much computing power here are a few things to consider for his new PC.

1) Get an LCD monitor if he doesn't have one already, they produce less heat than a CRT and well... take up a lot less space and are very cool.

2) Get a notebook processor, they are often times excellent when used in a desktop and produce a lot less heat and consume a lot less power too!

3) Get a middle of the road video card, something like an X600, or even maybe up to an X800XL. Those cards produce a lot less heat than the top of the line models. (however the 6600 runs at such high core clocks that THAT middle of the road part isn't exactly cool).

4) Get an efficient PSU. The more efficient the PSU is the less energy is wasted in the form of heat. The no brainer way of finding an efficient PSU would be to get a fanless model or a good silent model. I say this because the fanless ones have to use high efficieny parts in order to remain fanless. However, if you fancy a bit of research head on over to the PSU forums and read up on what a good/efficient PSU would be.

thanks for the indepth reply. that was very helpful.