What do you use to cool your computer?

[Inventus]

Consider "the argument" stopped (on my behalf at least).

(Dippyskoodlez: I'll see if I can find time to send a private message to you, with the "proof" you want, as well as my response to your latest load of misinformation and misunderstandings.)


ex_reven:

I have no specific experience with the water-kit you link to, however it will most likely be a quite reasonable solution to cool your CPU, unless you want to overclock to extreme degrees (as people in this forum apparantly assume automatically?).

If you, like me, prefer a nice and quiet PC, in preference to those extra Hz, I see no problem with using this (and it WILL be quieter than ANY fan-based solution, while stille keeping the CPU cooler than any but the most noisy fan/sink combo).

You will most likely also be able to add more blocks (such as one for your GPU/VRAM) later on. Since this kit doesn't appear to be of the "factory sealed" kind, it should be a simple matter of adding a bit of tubing and the extra block.

If the radiator/fan doesn't keep your system cool enough (be it before or after you add one or more extra blocks), you can always purchase an extra 120mm or 80mm radiator and a fan for it, adding this in the same manner.

 

[Alec§taar]

Its a well known fact copper > Aluminum. This is ELECTRICAL conductance.

Well, that's SORT of a "dual edged sword"!

I say this, because though Copper (being more dense than Aluminum) can DRAW HEAT AWAY from an object better/faster (almost like how POROSITY works drawing liquids up from spills)& thus, is superior in heat draw?

Copper is poorer than Aluminum @ shedding heat...

This is one subject I got thoroughly "indoctrinated" (burned, lol, in other words because I was convinced Copper had Aluminum "whooped" on ALL levels in) on years ago in another forums, & it stuck with me...

APK

 

[Beomagi]

ex_reven - on the ttake bigwater
Horrible system for the price.
The pump is weak, the block is sub-optimal.

lower cooling performance compared to high end air
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/16watercooling_18.html

I bought the TT res when I wan making one of my watercooling setups. The reservoir is probably the most constrictive wc component you can imagine. see, it's meant to be a 1/4 inch setup. but the inlet/outlet barbs are probably half that in internal diameter.

If you want a good water cooling kit, first, i'd recommend a 3/8 inch kit. It's easier to find parts for compared to 1/2 inch, and it's higher performace compared to 1/4.
Second, every component matters. Pump - you need high flow, but if the pump cant handle a high back pressure, flow will be slow. block - low pressure pump, low back pressure block (e.g. maze 4 gpu block). Strong pump, high performance block (e.g. swiftec storm - impingement).

for a kit, i'd recommend this.

It's a bit more expensive, but it's worth it.

using this, I run my Pentium D at 4.51GHz 24/7, and rarely see it break 55C.

As for the thread's purpose, A water cooler is as cost effective as long as it's mounting brackets last you - if you upgrade to am3, or kentsfield later perhaps another system or 2 farther ahead, you really stretch it's worth.

Mounting brackets really depend on the blocks - the swiftech apogee that comes with that kit should be well supported.

 

[trog100]

the problem with water cooling my setup would be the grfx card.. just water cooling the gpu would not be good enough.. the entire card needs cooling.. and even then i think some case fans would still be needed to cool the general mobo and other stuff like memory..

water cooling aint all that its made out to be.. or that easy to do if things are done properly..

the only real downside with air is all the crud it collects..

trog

 

[Dippyskoodlez]

Well, that's SORT of a "dual edged sword"!

I say this, because though Copper (being more dense than Aluminum) can DRAW HEAT AWAY from an object better/faster (almost like how POROSITY works drawing liquids up from spills)& thus, is superior in heat draw?

Copper is poorer than Aluminum @ shedding heat...

This is one subject I got thoroughly "indoctrinated" (burned, lol, in other words because I was convinced Copper had Aluminum "whooped" on ALL levels in) on years ago in another forums, & it stuck with me...

APK

iirc, copper beats aluminum in this application, comparing directly will definatly cause headaches, as fin placement, design, etc causes differences with different metals- and its rare to find identical heatsinks of opposite material...

I still stand that a copper heatsink is better than an aluminum Look at the SLK Vs ALX series. ALX was always a tag-along in performance, always losing to the SLK.

 

[pt]

iirc, copper beats aluminum in this application, comparing directly will definatly cause headaches, as fin placement, design, etc causes differences with different metals- and its rare to find identical heatsinks of opposite material...

I still stand that a copper heatsink is better than an aluminum Look at the SLK Vs ALX series. ALX was always a tag-along in performance, always losing to the SLK.

they should be used together, to make a better cooler

 

[Beomagi]

they should be used together, to make a better cooler

wont the cu/al boundary lower performance?

 

[pt]

wont the cu/al boundary lower performance?

nop, copper gets hot faster and aluminium spread it faster

 

[Beomagi]

/enlightened

 

[ex_reven]

Copper (being more dense than Aluminum) can DRAW HEAT AWAY from an object better/faster...

Copper is poorer than Aluminum @ shedding heat...

Is this why i see cpu coolers with a copper base with vanes leading up to large surface area aluminum fins???

I bought the TT res when I wan making one of my watercooling setups. The reservoir is probably the most constrictive wc component you can imagine. see, it's meant to be a 1/4 inch setup. but the inlet/outlet barbs are probably half that in internal diameter.

OMG i never thought such a simple process (cooling something down) could be such a pain in the ass lol...its gonna take me ages to decide on what i want, and even then i might not even be convinced enough to buy it *sigh*

EDIT: WOOOOT 50 posts lol

 

[Beomagi]

Kit i pointed out - the swiftech - is pretty easy to set up. The mcp 350 pump is decent should you want to put other components inline.

Asetec also has a kit at the same price level.

you CAN buy components seperately, though you'd have to research which components can work well together for your purposes. I suggest sticking to higher end kits. lower end kits like the gigabyte 3d1 do cool well, but their upgradability is limited, and construction shoddy. corsair nautilus isn't bad, either - should be really easy to add too.

 

[ex_reven]

corsair nautilus isn't bad, either - should be really easy to add too.

Manufacturer of the pump on the nautilus states that its about 24-26 decibels from 2 feet away. Isnt this a bit loud?

I can imagine the noise of a pump being somewhat more annoying than a fan.

 

[Beomagi]

Depends on how sensitive you are to noise.

Reviews do mention it, right before they recommend it. It's not perfect but it's lower priced water.

 

[Dippyskoodlez]

nop, copper gets hot faster and aluminium spread it faster

Hes talking about the insability to merge the two metals, creating an interface conflict... similar to the CPU->heastink scenario

 

[Inventus]

Watercooling hardware suggestions

The C-Systems CSP Magnum pump is VERY low-noise (at least if mounted in soft material and after having run for some hours) while providing a surprisingly high water-flow and -pressure. Also it connects to a standard (although high-wattage) fan-connector and provides a tacho-output (ie. you can monitor pump RPM through your usual fan-monitor software, possibly even regulate its speed!) It can be seen/purchased here:

http://www.sharkacomputers.com/ccspmagco12v.html


GPU water-blocks which also cover and cool the VRAM (possibly other relevant chips as well, though likely NOT the voltage-regulator), can be seen here (note however, that I've been told that Innovatek have "stolen" this design from some other company which should make better versions of this kind of multi-block, I forget their name though):

http://www.webshop-innovatek.de/assets/s2dmain.html?http://www.webshop-innovatek.de/
(Warning: German site. Their products should be available in other, english, web-shops though?)

Note that extra care should be taken when mounting a "mult-block" of this kind, since there may well be minor gaps between the block and some of the many chips it tries to cover. It may be wise to use increased amounts of thermal paste, or even better some kind of (thick) thermal tape/padding, to ensure proper contact and heat-conduction between the block and the chips (notably the GPU itself). Also note that this kind of GPU block is VERY specific, typically usable with only one specefik graphic card (or at most a few similar models from the same manufacturer).


About the copper vs. aluminium issue:

It is my clear impression that Copper is superior to aluminium with regard to all cooling-related properties. This is confirmed by a quick look at my technical litterature about thermodynamic properties of various metals, which states that copper has about twice the heat-transfer ability as aluminum, while it has a somewhat smaller (which, AFAIK, should be better) heat-capacity.

This leaves the question of some kind of difference in the surface micro-structure (ie. aluminum might have a microscopic structure that allows for better heat-transfer to/from air and/or water). Since most radiators are surface-treated (anodized or painted) I shouldn't think this a relevant (or at least not a major) factor though?

Anyway, I thought we were not supposed to discus thermodynamic theories in this thread?!? - Not that I don't like to do so personally

 

[Beomagi]

For the gpu watercooling I suggest using individual ram sinks, and a smaller core block. The all encompassing sinks do a poor job on memory - that sticky tape they use is far from optimal. e.g. swiftech MCW60 comes with smaller sinks for the memory. You can use thermal adhesive to affix the ram sinks, which cools better than the tape.

 

[Inventus]

Beomagi:

Are you really saying that passive sinks (air) will cool the VRAM better than a "combo-block" (water)?

Unfortunately, my gfx-card doesn't have any internal temp-monitoring, so I've never really known how well my combo-block works, just that I can overclock both the GPU and its RAM a decent bit (which may not have much to say about the water-block at all).

When you say "sticky-tape", do you mean "thermal tape" (usually very thin, sticky on one or two sides)?

I ask because I've seen at least one other kind of thermal "tape", which might not be sticky at all, but it had some thickness (a milimeter, perhaps even two or more) and looked more like a kind of "foam pad". This was what I thought would be a good idea to use to ensure proper contact, but of course only if it conducts heats reasonably well. However, since I've not (yet) tried to use this with my combo-block (the Innovatek kind), and I don't have any internal temp. probes anyway, I really wouldn't know how well it performs.

I just have a hard time believing that any kind of small, passive heatsink would get anywhere near a water-block, even if the contact wasn't too good?!?

If you (or anyone else) know of a good "all-water" solution for recent gfx cards, I'd love to hear about it. It will soon be time for me to upgrade my Radeon 9800 to something a bit more modern, and it is my understanding that such cards need a lot of cooling for their voltage-regulators, something wich isn't cooled by those combo-blocks, nor the passive swifttech heatsinks. I've seen volt-reg. only blocks, but then I would need at least three seperate blocks for a single gfx card (GPU + VRAM + volt-reg.) - Seems a bit over-complicated (not to mention flow-restricting) to me?!?

 

[infrared]

Swiftech Apogee waterblock
Swiftech 240x120mm radiator
Swiftech MCP655 pump
Swiftech Mini-reservior
1/2" tubing throughout.

*the IHS on my P4 is lapped

My P4 @ stock 3.2ghz 1.4v idle: 28c load: 36c
My P4 @ 4.7ghz 1.65v idle: 32c load: 42c

I wanna get a 200w peltier for when i get my Core 2 Duo E6400. I'm also trying to find a way of watercooling the northbridge on my P5W DH Deluxe, but the heatpipe system they use will make it difficult.

My 2 x850's are cooled with Arctic cooling Silencer 5 rev. 2's. and voltmodded to 1.6v vgpu.

 

[Beomagi]

Beomagi:

Are you really saying that passive sinks (air) will cool the VRAM better than a "combo-block" (water)?

These all-over blocks rarely cover the voltage reglators - that's not their target. Even when they do, they wont touch them. The tape or foam they use - least the one's I've seen, is really lame, and made no difference to memory. It's usually too thick to allow good conduction.

 

[Inventus]

These all-over blocks rarely cover the voltage reglators - that's not their target. Even when they do, they wont touch them. The tape or foam they use - least the one's I've seen, is really lame, and made no difference to memory. It's usually too thick to allow good conduction.

My multi-block didn't "come with" any such tape. Rather it has raised areas for each chip it covers, so as to take into account the difference in height of the GPU versus the RAM chips. I then used the usual thermal paste (Arctic-silver) on the raised areas, in an attempt at providing the best possible thermal contact when I mounted it on the gfx card.

Still, I guess it is likely that some of the chips aren't in very good contact with the raised areas on the block, which was why I wanted to know if anyone knew if those "thermal pads" you can buy (which have some thickness to them and which can be compressed to some extent, allowing them to "take up the slack") are any good at conducting heat? If you experience is indicative of all kinds and brands of such "thermal pads", I guess I would be better off using thermal paste or thermal glue to "fill in the gaps".

I realise (in fact I think I mentioned this earlier) that the voltage-regulator isn't covered by multi-blocks. If no such "cover-all" solution currently exists, I guess the only solution then is to use all of three (or four) seperate blocks (one for the GPU, one for the voltage-regulator and one or two for the RAM).

I wouldn't like to rely on passive heatsinks to cool my VRAM, especially not since I won't be upgrading my gfx-cooling unless I purchase a new, high-performance, card (or a SLI solution), in which case I assume the VRAM is likely to need active cooling more than ever. But certainly I will be looking into voltage-regulator blocks, since it is my clear impression that these tend to get VERY hot on most recent gfx cards.

It is just that I find it overly complex, having to mount so many seperate blocks on the gfx card(s)...

 

[ex_reven]

Watercooling = $250 Australian dollars
Bank = $2000
Me = :'(

 

[strick94u]

all air here with heat pipes on cpu/gpu working on a small a/c unit that just cools incoming air but if its too big I will go with water

 

[ex_reven]

im gonna custom make my own case

i cut some aluminium today
its gonna be 25cm tall, 35cm wide and 26cm deep
( smallest i could cram my Intel 775 Socket Mobo into with 15 cm headroom for neon lighting and airflow )

Its gonna have at least 6 120mm fans for nice near silent airflow,
i bought a new antec smartpower 480watt
and a Thermaltake blue orb II


and omg i found the most sexy metal mesh to put on the sides, its solid but it still allows you to see in