To water cool or not to water cool?

[logan1310]

I am currently building a pc with a AMD Phenom II X4 965, my question to the community is whether to use the stock cooler or I have a Thermaltake Bigwater 760is in hand. Is it worth the trouble to water cool or not? I no the 760is is made for a AM2 socket but the AM3 socket is the same size so does that matter. One last question does the 965 overclock easily and is it worth overclocking? Thanks for all your help, I'm a little new to this water cooling thing.

 

[saaiello]

I would not reccomend water cooling unles you are planning on OCing to some rediculous number. You should be able to get to 4ghz on air no problem with a decent heatsink. Water can be a big hassle and if you dont have the cash to replace burnt out hardware when it fails i wouldnt suggest useing it. Take my word for it with the newer hardware that runs alot cooler it is not necessary for liquid cooling. As long as that 965 is the black edtion it will overclock with no trouble.

 

[logan1310]

Thanks for the help and yes it is the black edition. Would overclocking with stock cooling be safe or should I use a aftermarket cooler.

 

[saaiello]

AMDs stock coolers are pretty good a moderate overclock will be fine but you start getting over 4 ghz it will not be able to handle all that heat.

 

[logan1310]

Ok to save money I'll probably stick to the stock cooler for now I'm not looking to excessively overclock but maybe to 3.8ghz or something.

 

[saaiello]

3.8 is nothing for that chip you can do that on stock voltage and stock cooler no problem.

 

[logan1310]

Ok Thanks you've been a lot of help.

 

[logan1310]

Best answer selected by logan1310.