Air vs liquid question

[Orly]

Atm I'm considering an upgraded to Core 2 Duo E6700 but can't decide whether I should water this water kit:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=580131

or a Scythe Infinity air cooler:

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(15129)Scythe-Infinity-Quiet-CPU-Cooler-socket-478.aspx

Help :0

 

[Orly]

Are you planning to OC? Are you trying to silence your system? Are you having heating issues? If yes is the aswer to these questions then go water.

Water it is then! Thanks for a quick reply

 

[Rugger]

It's pretty expensive, really expensive, to make watercooling as quiet as a high-end aircooling HSF with quiet fans. How much do you plan on OCing? What will you be OCing? What are your average ambient temps where you will have the PC? Unless you have the money to burn and/or the enthusiasts desire to setup a WC rig, then you will most likely be better served with a good aircooling setup.

 

[brewster0101]

Love water cooling. I don't care much for over clocking but for a completely silent system sat next to me is bliss --- and its all thanks to water cooling... Rock on...

 

[chuckshissle]

How much is your budget?

 

[Orly]

Sorry was late getting back, was in town. My budget is + - £100 for cooling, be it air or water. The water route sounds more viable since I'll be overclocking it. Its mostly a gaming rig so looking for fairly high performance.

Edit: nice vid in your sig Chuckshissle. That machines a beast

 

[ZOldDude]

Atm I'm considering an upgraded to Core 2 Duo E6700 but can't decide whether I should water this water kit:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=580131

or a Scythe Infinity air cooler:

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(15129)Scythe-Infinity-Quiet-CPU-Cooler-socket-478.aspx

Help :0

Non-chilled water can only cool to room temps at best.
Then again you can do the basicly the exact same thing with a good case and a Thermalright air cooler for 100's of $$ less.

I run Optrons with 50% OC in Coolermaster cases and Thermalright air coolers using Silverstone fans and the CPU's only run 2C over room temps.
I always remove any exit fan guards for up to 70% better airflow.

Thermalright also makes GFX/RAM/MB chipset coolers that give watercooling a very close run....more so when thinking of the cost.

The money I save on these builds goes towards paying for the cost of PC Power & Cooling PSU's and the GFX cards.

 

[Houndsteeth]

BUT...water cooling is the only way to go if you like to:

1) Use thermoelectric cooling to achieve subambient temperatures

2) Go completely passive yet retain a equitable thermal sump without using any fans

3) Guarantee an almost completely noiseless system

4) Use a case that has limited airflow potential (some of your more extreme case mods, for instance)

5) Achieve a high level of overclock without having your system sound like a 747 ready to take off

Sure, you may save money with air cooling, but water cooling has its place also, and it does require an investment of money, research and time in order to do it properly. And it is just that much more rewarding when you've got your C2D E6600 up to 3.8 Ghz stable at 33° C after 4 hours running SuperPi.