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I've decided it's finally time to ditch air-cooling and go with liquid. I've done enough preliminary research to know that there is no absolute best water cooling system and that it all depends on the comp and what you want, so here's what I have and want:


I have a 3.06 GhZ Pentium 4 and a GeForce Ti4800 SE

I'd like to have a kit that cools both CPU and GPU.

Now, at the moment I have a Zalman air cooler that usually runs relatively quiet, but sometimes it gets loud (maybe I have to straighten something). At idle, with ambient temp of about 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit (21 to 24 degrees celsius), the cpu temperature is 55 to 58 degrees C. When I play Dawn of War, it's at 73-ish degrees C. When I run some truly intensive programs, my PC shuts down period. I'm surprised the CPU hasn't fried itself yet.

I'm pretty sure that there's something wrong with the thermal paste or the air cooler that hasn't been bolted down right. I could redo all that, but I personally feel it would still be a merely hashed solution. Also, I look forward to upgrading my comp in the future, so I think going water cooling now would be a better idea.

That said, I'm not going to be overclocking so I don't need those super-performance water coolers that have radiator fans that are even louder than default air cooling fans. Thus, quiet is good.

However, I also want something that actually cools well too. The temperatures I listed above are rather high, and I want to put those down by a fairly significant degree. So yes, quiet is good, but a little noise is okay with me, if it helps cool my CPU down even further.

As I mentioned already, I want a water cooling kit that cools the GPU as well. I don't have a particularly hot GPU now, but I want to plan for the future when I upgrade my comp.

And lastly, I'd like a system that uses an external main unit (reservoir, radiator, etc), with the only things inside the PC case being the waterblocks and tubes. My system case is nowhere near spacey enough to afford an internal system. My PC is stationary, and if there's a leak, better that the main system with most of the water be outside than inside the computer.

As of now, I'm not going to set a price range. I want to see everyone's recommendations first.

Buying a new PC would be both quieter and probebly cheaper.

Look at several things, such as multi socket support(if you want to move the kit to a later PC), and stuff that won't force you to rip out the case.

water cooling that GPU will probably waste more money in electricity/water than the card is actually worth.

Anyway, I'd go for the upgrade now and if you still want to go water cooled iwth your new set-up (Core 2 Duo CPU's stock cooling set-up is obscenely quiet and I've heard that even top line water-cooling kits will still end up raising your core temp with those things)
But it looks like you want something like the Zalman Reservator kit which I've heard nothing but good things about:
Linky

ThatGuyFromThatPlace wrote:water cooling that GPU will probably waste more money in electricity/water than the card is actually worth.

What the hell kind of shithole do you live in where water is that precious?

Uraniun235 wrote:

ThatGuyFromThatPlace wrote:water cooling that GPU will probably waste more money in electricity/water than the card is actually worth.

What the hell kind of shithole do you live in where water is that precious?

Israel? [insert the teacher smiley]

Better idea than water cooling: get an OMGXBOXHUEG heatsink and a better case and PSU. I'd recommend the Scythe Ninja or the Scythe Infinity (Phong has former, I have the latter). I also have a Antec Solo case. I've heard the Antec P180 is also good (from Phong)

I'd still wait a little while on upgrades, given that a new videocard is going to be coming out RSN. I will heartily recommend the Core 2 Duo. It's a beast.

I'll second the Scythe recommendation. I have a Ninja on C2D E6600, and my CPU doesn't go over 38c on full load on both cores (using SP2004), and that's with the A/C off and windows open on a warm day.

Also, Shinova, in all likelyhood, your heatsink or thermal pasted wasn't installed properly. A proper reinstall will most likely drop your temps 10 to 20c.

And you want to water cool THAT graphics card? Talk about pissing away money.

Watercooling isn't for you; its for the truly high-end performance guys or those that are hyperanal about having a quiet computer. A new heatsink and some better case fans, and perhaps a new case (I'd recommend Silverstone or Li-Lian, with higher CFM fans than what comes stock), will solve your problem.

Run the computer with the case open for a while. Better case ventilation could be all you need, in which case a large hole and a 120mm fan could be your best friend.

Water cooling is excessive.

Ace Pace wrote:

Uraniun235 wrote:

ThatGuyFromThatPlace wrote:water cooling that GPU will probably waste more money in electricity/water than the card is actually worth.

What the hell kind of shithole do you live in where water is that precious?

Israel? [insert the teacher smiley]

LaserRifleofDoom wrote:http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/01/09/ ... _the_fans/

Well upgrading that thing's going to be fun. How much would something like that weigh?

Eight gallons of motor oil? More than you probably want to move around.

Just do what I did: take off the CPU shell and sit a fan right next to it. Not very chique but its very functional.

Fire Fly wrote:Just do what I did: take off the CPU shell and sit a fan right next to it. Not very chique but its very functional.

I hope you mean the side of your computer case and not the processor's heat spreader/core shield.

Arrow wrote:

Fire Fly wrote:Just do what I did: take off the CPU shell and sit a fan right next to it. Not very chique but its very functional.

I hope you mean the side of your computer case and not the processor's heat spreader/core shield.

Yes, that oblong polymer casing thing. My computer terminology is a bit underdeveloped.

Fire Fly wrote:Yes, that oblong polymer casing thing. My computer terminology is a bit underdeveloped.

Heh, for a second there I was thinking you where a hardcore overclocker!

Monsoon II active TEC cooler

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=273

And just a tad late given the last date.

Lock.