Watercooling Core i7 in Antec 1200 questions

[zethex]

Hey guys,

I just bought a core i7 920, with a p6t deluxe mother board 😀 to join my 4870X2!

Anyway, I have been debating between a TRUE heat sink or water cooling, as I want a decent overclock and to kill half the heat from my computer (being in Australia sucks for ambient 🙁).

Now I have an Antec 1200 case, and I know its not the absolute best for water cooling as I have found out after research as it can only really fit a 240mm fan radiator on the external back without modding the inside of the case.

This rules out even thinking about water cooling my graphics card. Will a 240mm be enough for the cpu (be overclocking my 920 to about 4.1 gigahertzish) and maybe northbridge? If so, is there any extra parts or worries about having the radiator outside of the case (noise not an issue 😛, half the time got music pumping).

And question 2, is there any good ways to lower the 4870X2 heat at all, apart from fan profile? Is it worth taking off the cover and reapplying thermal paste or putting on a new heatsink?

Thank you

 

[richardscott]

well as intel will limit the max tdp of ure processor to 130w then any air cooler will perform nearly aswell aslong as it can cope with 130w. although water with a tec should provide better results because the lower temps reduce the power used by the cpu allowing for greater OCing

 

[sudec]

I'm also looking for a water cooling system, so if you find something, could you please post it here so I can get any idea.
Thanks.

 

[rubix_1011]

You will be fine with a 2x120 rad for a CPU only. Typically, the preferred ratio is 1.5 x a 1x120 rad...so half of a 3x120 rad per CPU, GPU, etc. If you run CPU + northbridge, you can get away with a 2x120. As soon as you add a GPU in the mix, you need at least a 3x120...if you want to go for the best, dedicate 2x120 rad area to each major component; CPU, GPU.

You can get something like the Radbox to help make the adaptation easier for rads on the outside of cases.