Lets talk about liquid cooling PC's

http://www.notebookforums.com/member.php?u=4669

He is all you need to know.

I've had 2 liquid cooled rigs. One was a socket A rig with a cpu/gpu loop, and the other one was an sli gpu/chipset/memory loop. Always build your system from scratch, as you will see much better results as apposed to prebuilt kits. Prebuilt kits usually use tiny tubing and low quality pumps. You should look into dangerden for highend copper waterblocks, and I reccomend 3/4" tubing, hower 1/2" tubing will work well too. Maitenance isn't too bad, as long as you keep your coolant properly treated (ie if use use tap water [which is bad], or distilled water, you will want some form of anti algae mix, so you dont get crap growing in your loop. As for tubing, I'd go for Tygon if you can, however most aquarium pump tubing will work fine.
You are going to want to have a good deal of space in your rig, and your wires should be well organized. You dont want to cram in tubing, as this creats tiwsts and bends that hurt/stop the flow. Make sure you use a solid thermal grease from a good company like arctic silver. etc. etc.

After you pick up all the waterblocks you need, and you have your tubing, you need to pickout a reservoir, a pump, and a radiator. The radiator is critical, as it is what exchanges the heat from the liquid, and cools the loop back down. Radiators come as small as 120x120, however, I reccomend a triple 120mm setup. You probably wont have room in your case unless you have a good full tower/server case. In that case, just mount your radiator on top. For pumps, Dangerden has a few solid ones to use. I'd get a large reservoir, as it allows you to add more coolant without adding air bubbles (your worst enemy) into the loop. You will have to check your fluid levels/flow monthly, and I reccomend bleeding the system and refilling it every 6-12 months. If you have alot of money and some solid equipment, you should also consider phase-change cooling. Vapochills and Prometias are the most common units, but I've only used Vapochills. (vapo's also go better with lianli cases--some vap models can be bought with a special case that mounts underneath your lianli [should you own one])

Just remember to test your loop in the case before putting all the parts in. With regular testing and maitenance, liquid cooling systems are great.

aren't phase-change cooling systems expensive?haha.

c'mon it's only about $1000 for a phase change system They're spendy and alot of folks might not deem them worth the expense. However, considering the fact they can cool your CPU to near freezing temperatures (requiring you to take measures to prevent condensation and frost). They can give you some wicked mad megahertz.

let me know if I can help answer any questions, there have been a # of members here who have ventured into watercooling =D

Yang,

I'm building my rig soon (already bought an Antec P182 and an Antec 650 Trio). I'm not planning on any crazy Dual Geforce 8800 GTX's on that PS but I am planning on getting one GTX + Quad Core (q6600)

To cut to the chase I'm thinking of water cooling. What do you think of the Thermaltake BigWater? http://www.thermaltake.com/product/L...1/cl-w0121.asp

I don't want to take any chances because it is my first build (i've been with laptops my entire life) and I just fuxxored my xbox 360 by opening it and trying to fix it. That 360 is now in a garbage bag in my kitchen now (literally)

wow bummer to hear about your 360!

the thermaltake is a great "starter/beginner's watercooling solution" but for the price, you can get something that performs better and cheaper (but more installation (ie. cutting maybe/seldoming required, you may need to mix your own solution)

ie. their vga water solution...still has a fan on it? um that kinda defeats the whole purpose

-since you are running a quad core, I really don't know if you will be able to squeeze much more out of it w/ watercooling vs aircooling...the last I've read on the quad cores, they don't overclock as well as their C2D counterparts

-typically the q6600 runs pretty cool, so I think for the best bang/over clock performance for your buck would be to cool your nice GTX and the thermaltake may not be the best bet...

I've always recommended swiftech products, but you can find an enormous amount of info on the links from my cooling review in my sig.

Just like building a new rig, always recheck and dbl check everything...especially when it comes to watercooling...and as always, take your time

You can get them for around $600~800, which isnt that much more expensive when compared to a solid liquid cooling system. OCZ has been planning on launching their own phasechange setup in the $200-400 range.

how far do you want to go on overclocking, you maybe able to hit it with air and be just fine with it

put in some cheap sound deading material and youre golden

watercooling is really for looks unless you have a lot of cash to blow on a great cooling system......fans work just as well, and now that we dont need oven mits for prescotts, fans dont even need to run their full jucie

if you go to www.hardforums.com look under overclocking or intel proc's or amd procs, there is usually a list of what people get with certin proc's and they will say if they are air cooled or water cooled

be forwarned, if done wrong youre facing a lot of money in repairs, in-valided warranty for most parts

but aside from that, if you get it working right, tight and where it needs to be, it is nice and pretty

soulsaver

Chode I phasechange brings in a whole list of other problems.

If you do it right and know how to eliminate condensation, you will get extremely great results.

The DC are better at OC'ing than the QC's. I am running my E6700 2.66@ 3.85 on air right now. I am reluctant to drop a water cooling kit in my system lol.. I figure I can hit 4 on air with my cooler as I'm running at 1.45v/54c under ORTHOS.

*Wonders if I can liquid cool the PS3*

My first computer build included a Koolance exos al water cooling kit. That was like 3-4 years ago. I still have that computer and the cooler is still working fine to this day...

Never once had a problem with it, I do think I need to change the coolant out, but I'm lazy. The performance then was top notch.

Kits can be a good choice in a first timer water cooling build, just go in and get your feet wet. Its pretty scary when you first start up your rig and hear the water for the first time..

Now I've moved on to tec cooling.

p.s. hi

or Hunt3r IMO its a waste of time unless you are a) a Overlocking FREAK like Hunt3r or b) just want it to look cool. the Koolance Review in my sig is my play with water cooling and it was fun for a while.. but not unnecessary, esp with todays Intel Core 2 Duo chips OCed on air.

Duke I thought one of your rigs was water cooled?

I've reached stable 3.85GHz on my rig using air, that's more than enough for me. I used TEC coolers on my Athlon Thunderbird rigs ages ago...Those things ran hot enough to give the Sun a run for it's money

main reason i feel most liquid cool for looks only, there isnt much of a diffrence unless youre using somthing beyond a radiator to cool the liquid


soulsaver