2 Watercooling Questions

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1. Will installing watercooling, and thus lowering the temp. of my comp. also lower the amount of heat the computer puts out, thus allowing the room to be cooler?

2. If you use watercooling, is there any point to having a case loaded with fans? Will fans offer any further heat dissipation or are they utterly useless if you have watercooling?
 
I watercool and only have a fan to draw air across my hard drives. If you're cooling the CPU, northbridge and video card with water, then additional fans are more or less worthless. The CPU, NB and GPU are the most temperature sensitive parts, important to keep cool, but everything else in the machine should work even if they get pretty warm.
As to your first question, the amount of heat put out by the computer will be the same. Fans add heat to air, though, so by eliminating fans your overall heat output may be a bit lower, but it probably wouldn't be very noticeable.
 
1. Will installing watercooling, and thus lowering the temp. of my comp. also lower the amount of heat the computer puts out, thus allowing the room to be cooler?

2. If you use watercooling, is there any point to having a case loaded with fans? Will fans offer any further heat dissipation or are they utterly useless if you have watercooling?
Click to expand...

Answers

1. No, the room will not be cooler, heat does not disappear. The extra heat that the water removes from the cpu goes to the radiator which then releases it to the air via the fans on the radiator.

2. Yes you still need fans, one exhaust should be good enough (as long as the radiator is outside the case).
 
As THUMPer stated, there are still components that emit heat, but if you are watercooling, the parts that emit the most heat will be combated by waterblocks which will in turn reduce your overall system heat, reducing the necessity for many high speed fans in exchange for more quieter and fewer fans.
 
Waylander is right.

To expand a bit on the second part: all components on the MB are sensitive to heat to a greater or lesser extent. Some generate so little and/or are so insensitive that they don't need any air movement. Others generate so much and/or are so sensitive that they need active cooling. In addition, there are many "in the middle" that people often forget about after water cooling the big ones like CPU and GPU.
For example (especially if you're OCing), depending on the MB design, the PWM area (which supplies/regulates power to the CPU) has voltage regulators etc which put out more heat with higher CPU draw/clockspeed and get pretty hot. On Intel platforms at least, the MB is usually designed so that Intel OEM-style "flower" CPU coolers also blow air over the PWM areas to cool them. People who switch to non-flower-type coolers or water cooling often forget about the PWM area. Sometimes, just the case/PS fans are enough to cool these; sometimes, applying little heat sinks is enough; other times, a fan needs to be added to actively cool the area.
 
1. Will installing watercooling, and thus lowering the temp. of my comp. also lower the amount of heat the computer puts out, thus allowing the room to be cooler?

2. If you use watercooling, is there any point to having a case loaded with fans? Will fans offer any further heat dissipation or are they utterly useless if you have watercooling?
Click to expand...

One 120mm or 90/92mm or 80mm fan should be able to keep ambient temps under control. I'd go with the 120mm if you have the slot available as 120mm fans are quieter. The only way the room will be cooler is if you port the hot water via an insulated tube OUTSIDE the room to a radiator.

Water cooling doesn't lower the temp of your comp, just your CPU (and GPU/RAM/NB if you choose to) It doesn't lower the CPU's heat output, just how quickly it is cooled by whisking the heat away and then dispersing it into the air. To do that, it uses a radiator that increases the surface area of the water by channeling the water through flattened metal tubes. More air is able to come in contact with the heated water this way, and the water cools quickly, releasing the heat into the air. The water is then transported back to the CPU heatsink, where it again picks up heat. The point of water cooling is to lower the CONCENTRATION of heat that is produced by the CPU, not lower how much it actually produces. Water cooling is beneficial/necessary for the following reasons.

1) To overclock.
When you increase clock cycles in a component, you're essentially increasing how quickly it is using electricity, which requires you to up the voltage at certain points. Some of this electricity escapes (byproduct) as heat. When you're using more electricity, you're also creating more heat as a byproduct.

2) Noise. Fans often produce a lot, and watercooling is usually (although not always) quieter. Much of this has to do with the quality and size of pumps and rate at which they pump (much like air fans) and the size of tubing the liquid is being pumped through. Slower pumps using larger diameter tubing are generally the quietest.
 
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Water cooling doesn't lower the temp of your comp, just your CPU (and GPU/RAM/NB if you choose to) ....
Click to expand...
To clarify: if the heat carried away by the water cooling system is released *outside* the computer, then it *does* lower the temp inside the computer. If the heat carried away by the water cooling system is released *inside* the computer case, then it *won't* lower the temp inside the computer.
 
...
Water cooling doesn't lower the temp of your comp, just your CPU (and GPU/RAM/NB if you choose to) ....
Click to expand...
To clarify: if the heat carried away by the water cooling system is released *outside* the computer, then it *does* lower the temp inside the computer. If the heat carried away by the water cooling system is released *inside* the computer case, then it *won't* lower the temp inside the computer.

Should I choose to install WC, it'd be with an external radiator.

A hot room is a problem for me now (stock cooling, new set up), so I wondered about options for lessening that.
How about running watercooling through a bar fridge?
I saw mention of that on here.
 
1. No. Having watercooling will not cool your room. Still the exchange of heat and the ambient air would be the same but at different rate. So, it will lower the temps of the cpu by carrying out the heat to the radiator and then exchanging it with the air. I have a Big Typhoon and now a triple rad water cooling for my cpu. My room is about the same temps, well a bit warmer since I was able to overclocked my cpu and thus producing more heat.

2. You will not need a fan for the cpu in watercooling but eventhough the inside temp of the case is lowered it doesn't mean you can remove the fans that cools the other components. So, the hard drive and other components should still be using fan and so it will benefit the water cooling and lowers the temps.
 
Well, you can actually make the heat that the WC system is taking in "disapeer". Just get an external rad. Then place it in another room, that isn't of much importance. Granted, you'll need to get a slightly higher-end pump, but it will be worth it in you case.

BTW, as far as the voltage regulator heat issue goes, you can buy blocks for them.
 
I have a better idea... just cut a hole in an exterior wall, place the rad so that it exactly covers the hole area, put fans on both sides and remember to add a rain shield on the outside...
 
...
Water cooling doesn't lower the temp of your comp, just your CPU (and GPU/RAM/NB if you choose to) ....
Click to expand...
To clarify: if the heat carried away by the water cooling system is released *outside* the computer, then it *does* lower the temp inside the computer. If the heat carried away by the water cooling system is released *inside* the computer case, then it *won't* lower the temp inside the computer.

Oops. Good catch. Slip of words. I meant it doesn't reduce computer heat emissions. 😛
 
...
Water cooling doesn't lower the temp of your comp, just your CPU (and GPU/RAM/NB if you choose to) ....
Click to expand...
To clarify: if the heat carried away by the water cooling system is released *outside* the computer, then it *does* lower the temp inside the computer. If the heat carried away by the water cooling system is released *inside* the computer case, then it *won't* lower the temp inside the computer.

Should I choose to install WC, it'd be with an external radiator.

A hot room is a problem for me now (stock cooling, new set up), so I wondered about options for lessening that.
How about running watercooling through a bar fridge?
I saw mention of that on here.

If your room is hot, I would add a room fan. 🙂 There is one other option...and that is if you're near a window you could cut sticks and wedge them in the top of the window to lock it, while leaving just enough space at the bottom for a dryer vent hole. The vent itself would only cover a small portion, so you'd need a board to cover the rest of the open window slot. You can buy relatively cheap ductwork like you'd see on a dryer vent to vent to the outside. Just make sure that you don't get water from blowing rain coming back in, you wouldn't want your computer to get wet. You can fix this problem by raising the vent tubing slightly just before it goes out the window. Keep in mind though, that if your computer is not directly near the window or if the venting tube is not at least well insulated, much of the heat being piped out would still dissipitate out through the tube and into the room. The sooner the hot air is out of the room, the less heat will be able to find it's way through the tube walls and into the room. You know guys, all these elaborate heat-fighting setups just remind me that earth temps are on the rise...:-D Little rooms with big servers and mainframes have had to keep cool for years. It wouldn't be so bad if they'd just vent these systems to the outside, but to counter-act the heat they've been air-conditioning the rooms instead...which is CRAZY stupid, because it costs more to cool the rooms often times than what it does to run the systems. Not to mention that air conditioners actually produce heat in order to cool a room. Air conditioners don't actually "create" cool air, they just exchange cool for warm. All the while adding a double dose of heat to our environment.

One more thing, you can essentially "double up" 120mm fans pretty easily using the right screws. This will keep your noise low, and your airflow high, although sometimes doubling up can create more noise between the fans. I think some people have found that adding a spacer between fans can eliminate the noise caused by the blade air friction. Just eliminate or block your other fan holes, and provide good air intake from several angles on the front of your system if you don't have them already so that you don't get any hot corners in your case.
 
I have a better idea... just cut a hole in an exterior wall, place the rad so that it exactly covers the hole area, put fans on both sides and remember to add a rain shield on the outside...
Click to expand...
have you (or anyone else reading this) done that before?
 
interesting ideas.

Since I'm still living with my parents who wouldn't like me modifying the house any, using a lot of tubing and putting an external radiator up on a shelf in the closet next to me might work.

I live in Houston, it gets pretty hot here. The other day I had the ceiling fan and a ground fan going and it was still in the 80's(and quite annoying).
 
1. Will installing watercooling, and thus lowering the temp. of my comp. also lower the amount of heat the computer puts out, thus allowing the room to be cooler?
Click to expand...

No, your computer will produce the same amount of heat, the room will be no cooler or hotter after a few minutes of operation. (it make take a few minutes for an equilibrium, for each part to reach it's regular running temp). Well in theory there might be a trivial difference in the amount of heat a water pump produces versus heat produced from the fan(s) it would eliminate, but that's insignificant.

IF the ultimate goal is a cooler room, you need a method of removing heat from the room, somewhat similar to a strategy to remove heat from a computer case. As with water cooling to remove heat from a chassis by flow of heated liquid, you "could" just move that heated liquid right on out of the room to an external radiator, but frankly I don't like that option, too much customization and localization, and could be unsightly, quite time consuming, more costly, etc.

The other more obvious solutions to room cooling are active airflow from a fan(s) or air conditioner. Even in winter, computer rooms surrounded by other areas at hospitable temps may require an air conditioner, if a more elaborate, sometimes isolated ductwork to ventilate the room isn't possible.

More significant is whether your water cooling setup (including any fans you might continue using) removes enough heat, fast enough, from other areas of the system. For example, a motherboard needs active airflow unless deliberately designed for very severe environments (_NO_ PC motherboards are designed for this). This is not just an issue of stability but of wear on components like mosfets and especially capacitors.

2. If you use watercooling, is there any point to having a case loaded with fans? Will fans offer any further heat dissipation or are they utterly useless if you have watercooling?
Click to expand...

Fan(s) are manditory unless you can accept shorter system lifespan, and you will have to take it upon yourself to measure the temps of everything to determine how hot is "too" hot to achieve the lifespan you need. However, since the water cooling is removing a lot of heat, you can get by with lower airflow, sometimes substantially lower. Whether this means fewer fans or not could depend on where the fans are located, and how it effects noise levels among other things.

For example, if you needed 20 CFM still for best results, running one fan to get it would be significantly louder than 3 fans quite undervolted, but it could easily be that you had a more modern case with a big 120mm rear exhaust fan, and a single fan will still move enough air while remaining quiet.

Maybe you don't care about "best results" though, we can't decide for you how long the system needs to last, nor how much time or expense would be a reasonable tradeoff for you. It would be easy to write that you should design for max lifespan possible, but on the other hand I threw away a bunch of old systems that had sat in my basement for years, lifespan for them wasn't a problem and their stock fans were louder than necessary, but they had lower heat density too, aren't directly comparable.

In short there are many variables involved and we can't make generalizations that would be applicable to any one unique system other than "no", it is not automatic that you can just do away with fans without checking what the result is.

It should also be noted that many people get rid of some fans but not the one in the PSU. PSU can can be just as loud if not moreso if your other parts have good aftermarket heatsinks designed to be low-noise. A system that isn't water cooled can be just as quiet as one that is, given the right case and 'sink choices. Sometimes even quieter, some pumps aren't exactly quiet.
 
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