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Your cooling setup and why did you choose/go that route?

Well my system is all Water cooled (sort of). The 5950X is being cooled by a Inwin SR36 AIO with 2 pumps. The GPU is cooled by an EK block with Alphacool Quick connect tubing (painless) with a Alphacool pump/res and a 420MM rad. The Case is the Phanteks Enthoo Pro2. The GPU rad is installed in the roof to exhaust the hot GPU temps. The CPU is in the side panel with the fans on the outside pulling air out of the rad. That allows for me to have 3 front fans for intake and 3 bottom fans for intake. I am not a fan of having any rad at the front for intake.

I have always been a fan of Full tower cases though. My last 3 Cases have been the Raven V02 from Silverstone, Thermaltake Level 20 (My largest and most flexible case ever) and the previously mentioned Enthoo Pro2. The fans from the AIO are on the bottom and I use some sickle flow Cooler Master 120s on the AIO rad to have nice quiet cooling. All of the other fans are Phanteks ARGB SK140mm that have a beautiful lighting effect and move nice air. My system is so quiet that I totally enjoy it. I love the Alphacool Quick connect because it allows for me to change parts without draining the whole loop. That means I can get a GPU, buy a block and just get 2 Quick connect tubes to do a 15 minute add on.
 
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I agree, it might take years, even when accelerated by higher temperatures.

Didn't mean to get off-topic
 
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I've been running custom water on my main PC since 4.1GHz socket 478 Prescott days. Had a small leak on a fitting when the loop was connected to my 4.65GHz FX 8320 rig, but didn't suffer any damage from it. I'm still using the same pump & reservoir on my current AMD R7 rig that I was using on that old Prescott. Good water components can be an investment that can last you many years through many builds.
 
cpu/gpu custom loops on both my riggs, just because i can really i think air cooled riggs look as good as custom loops but ive lots of jobs for folks with water so have bits left over and its a shame to not use them.
 
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Heh, been running my NH-D14 for years and years. Got it for my 950, then it went on my x5950 xeon, then I got the 2011 adapter, and ran it on my 1650, 1680 and 2697.... still keeps my cpus really cool, have no use for water cooling.
 
AIO for me. Every time.

I'm a silence freak, but also a small form factor freak. Big tower coolers usually don't fit in the cases that I choose, but I can use the fan mounts for the radiator. Also, the pump doesn't weigh so heavily on the motherboard, and the exhausted heat doesn't add to the overall case temperature. It looks better than a chunk of metal, as well. A custom setup would perform even better, but I don't want the hassle.
 
This is a great thread. I've been thinking about going custom loop for my next build. My current rig is on air for simplicity mainly and air is all I know really. Bit concerned as to the size of case required for a solid custom loop.
 
I like 95watt (or less) CPU's and have always went with the midsize tower air coolers. I still use a Zalman copper cooler in one PC
that is 12 years old. I keep it simple and play older games anyway. I can OC from 3GB to 3.5GB with no real temp increase. The AIO's look
great but I still don't like water. :)
 
mama said:
This is a great thread. I've been thinking about going custom loop for my next build. My current rig is on air for simplicity mainly and air is all I know really. Bit concerned as to the size of case required for a solid custom loop.
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The biggest issue is the res. Alphacool Aurora has the res on the CPU block. When you think about that is a serious amount of fluid to soak into.

AusWolf said:
AIO for me. Every time.

I'm a silence freak, but also a small form factor freak. Big tower coolers usually don't fit in the cases that I choose, but I can use the fan mounts for the radiator. Also, the pump doesn't weigh so heavily on the motherboard, and the exhausted heat doesn't add to the overall case temperature. It looks better than a chunk of metal, as well. A custom setup would perform even better, but I don't want the hassle.
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AIOs are a no brainer for noise. Noctua coolers are no slouches in that department though. Generally speaking an AIO is much easier to install as well.
 
Shrek said:
I agree, it might take years, even when accelerated by higher temperatures.

Didn't mean to get off-topic
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don't worry.
its actually recommended to use ketchup or distilled white vinegar to clean your blocks/rads if you want to avoid harsh chemicals. not sure about some homebrew coolant but i've seen enough millwrights put together custom cooling that will have everyone (esp boutique builders!) pull their hair out. to them, compare to their day job, it's a toy.

i'm sorta thinking this is still all "what cooling and why" framework, no?
 
kapone32 said:
AIOs are a no brainer for noise.
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Really? You still have a couple of fans, and a pump.. How loud your system is depends on your choice of fans, and corresponding curves.. I know that sounds pretty obvious, but not all cases and fans are created equal. My AIO was no quieter than what I run now.. well maybe a tad because I didn't have 3K fans back then. If you feed your AIO fresh air, that is a better shot at cooler temps than most people normally give an air cooler, which usually swelters inside a quiet case with less than ideal airflow.

But feed that cooler lots of fresh air and sunlight and it will grow to make you a proud operator :)
 
freeagent said:
Really? You still have a couple of fans, and a pump.. How loud your system is depends on your choice of fans, and corresponding curves.. I know that sounds pretty obvious, but not all cases and fans are created equal. My AIO was no quieter than what I run now.. well maybe a tad because I didn't have 3K fans back then. If you feed your AIO fresh air, that is a better shot at cooler temps than most people normally give an air cooler, which usually swelters inside a quiet case with less than ideal airflow.

But feed that cooler lots of fresh air and sunlight and it will grow to make you a proud operator :)
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That is why I have 6 intake (4 Pin) fans and tune them to run at a higher RPM (200) than the exhaust fans on the rad and at the back. The Phanteks SK140s (7) are as quiet as Noctua DH15 fans. The Pump on my Alphacool unit is whisper quiet. Maybe it's because I have a 420mm rad but I feel there is enough fluid to absorb most of the pump noise anyway. I do not recommend using the stock fans on some AIOs though. I have a Cooler Master Nepton 280 (in some ways the best AIO ever) and those fans sounded like a hair dryer but again Phanteks had some 140mm fans that fit into 120mm holes that made the cooler 2 degrees cooler and about 20DB lower at the same time. My Gaming PC is in my bedroom so the Wife has to get quiet sleep and that dictates my cooling purchases. To be honest the introduction of Zero fan software (and all it's initial Gremlins) drove me to water cooling in the first place.

kapone32 said:
That is why I have 6 intake (4 Pin) fans and tune them to run at a higher RPM (200) than the exhaust fans on the rad and at the back. The Phanteks SK140s (7) are as quiet as Noctua DH15 fans. The Pump on my Alphacool unit is whisper quiet. Maybe it's because I have a 420mm rad but I feel there is enough fluid to absorb most of the pump noise anyway. I do not recommend using the stock fans on some AIOs though. I have a Cooler Master Nepton 280 (in some ways the best AIO ever) and those fans sounded like a hair dryer but again Phanteks had some 140mm fans that fit into 120mm holes that made the cooler 2 degrees cooler and about 20DB lower at the same time. My Gaming PC is in my bedroom so the Wife has to get quiet sleep and that dictates my cooling purchases. To be honest the introduction of Zero fan software (and all it's initial Gremlins) drove me to water cooling in the first place.
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The only 3K fan I ever had was a Scythe Typoon 120mm but it is 3 pin so no thank you. You could easily slice carrots with that.
 
mama said:
This is a great thread. I've been thinking about going custom loop for my next build. My current rig is on air for simplicity mainly and air is all I know really. Bit concerned as to the size of case required for a solid custom loop.
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Then go external. It's really the best. Removes all the heat from the case and with quick disconnects you don't have to worry about moving. Then there is the fact you can use longer tubes to move the cooler to better locations under your desk.
 
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ZenZimZaliben said:
Then go external. It's really the best. Removes all the heat from the case and with quick disconnects you don't have to worry about moving. Then there is the fact you can use longer tubes to move the cooler to better locations under your desk.
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That is an interesting concept.
 
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I did water in a bucket for many years. I couldn't be bothered with properly fitting everything in my old skool rocketfish case. Not sure how many years it sat on the desk with no side panel.
This was LGA775 C2Q 9650.
3 monitor.jpg


I finally rounded out my hole saw collection & got everything in the case. Still using the 3x120 rad with res & pump in the case.
FX 8320
IMG_0124.JPG

And the R7 3800 system
100_0676.JPG

Very low key...
100_0673.JPG
 
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freeagent said:
Really? You still have a couple of fans, and a pump.. How loud your system is depends on your choice of fans, and corresponding curves.. I know that sounds pretty obvious, but not all cases and fans are created equal. My AIO was no quieter than what I run now.. well maybe a tad because I didn't have 3K fans back then. If you feed your AIO fresh air, that is a better shot at cooler temps than most people normally give an air cooler, which usually swelters inside a quiet case with less than ideal airflow.

But feed that cooler lots of fresh air and sunlight and it will grow to make you a proud operator :)
Click to expand...
Most AIOs come with quiet pumps nowadays, and fans can be swapped if needed. I can heartily recommend Be Quiet! My Silent Loop 2 is whisper quiet on my 11700 at 80 °C max even with a near 200 W load.
 
I went custom water, because in 40C ambients PC go whirrrrr every summer.

If i could have got an AIO on the GPU, i'd have settled for that.

ThrashZone said:
Hi,
Never seen any copper or brass damaged by vinegar personally
No need to beg man just post up some source showing damage you claim will do.
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all my blocks are damaged from vinegar, it totally can scuff them up. Sure you can clean them again, but vinegar totally can mess with the finish.
 
Mussels said:
I went custom water, because in 40C ambients PC go whirrrrr every summer.

If i could have got an AIO on the GPU, i'd have settled for that.
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I wish more GPUs (even mid-range ones) came with AIOs. I wouldn't have to settle with an overpriced and over-specced 6500 XT just to avoid noise. :(
 
AusWolf said:
I wish more GPUs (even mid-range ones) came with AIOs. I wouldn't have to settle with an overpriced and over-specced 6500 XT just to avoid noise. :(
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I got a 3080 with an AIO built in, which was loud and had no fan control - and then the AIO leaked. And it had shit, and i mean shiiiiiiit VRAM cooling (effectively: none)

I miss my kraken G12, and bigass custom air coolers. the 3080 and 3090 absolutely justify those honkers, and yet they're basically off the market
 
I've been using big tower coolers ever since the AthlonXP days. To me this seems the most economical choice. High-end units can easily handle 99% use cases, maybe except overclocked top SKUs under extended all-core load.

I'm not a hardcore oc'er myself, I don't bench competetively, I don't need maximum fps in my games. I have no use for an R9/i9 since I don't run multicore workloads all day. So the advantages of custom water over top-end air cooling are minimal for me. And of course there's the extra cost and maintenance.

I briefly considered AIOs, but the small difference in temperatures - even with unrealistic synthetic loads - doesn't appear to justify the expense. I don't care for the RGB bling either, so the esthetics are of minor importance in my book.

The only drawback of tower coolers (especially dual designs) may be case compatibility and RAM clearance. At least memory issues can be easily remedied by swapping a 120mm fan on the front. Then there's the misconception that efficient air cooling must be noisy. That doesn't have to be the case. All my rigs use a single intake and exhaust fan running at 1300-1500 rpm max - when stress testing - plus a single CPU fan at even lower speed. Only my current Zen3 PC uses a dual CPU fan.

All my systems are barely audible in everyday use and very quiet when gaming. And the temperatures are low :)
 
I went with an Alphacool loop for CPU+GPU during lockdown as I needed to squeeze all that I could out of a 3900X for working locally on data instead of being on site to run datasets over 10GbE links to 2P servers.

At the time I had a 2070S with a particularly frustrating cooler and that was the tipping point (coupled with lots of time at home) to build a loop. I still have a 140mm+360mm radiator cooling just my 5800X now which is ridiculous overkill but the Asus TUF 3060Ti I have is whisper quiet and I didn't bother buying a waterblock for it. Depending on how stupid the power draw of Lovelace and RDNA3 cards is, I may well revert to watercooling my GPU again.

The first thing Nvidia and AMD have to do though, is convince me that there's any point. I already run everything I play at 1440p165 on high or ultra. Games don't look significantly better at 4K because 1440p is already sharp enough to see polygons in the art assets and get the most out of hi-res textures. There's good reason that 1440p is called the gaming sweet spot and performance isn't the only reason that game devs target half-4K checkerboard or dynamic scaling - it's because there comes a point where adding resolution achieves very little visual improvement. I game more on my 4K TV than I do on my 1440p desktop these days and a lot of the time I don't feel that the game looks any better for it.
 
Mussels said:
I went custom water, because in 40C ambients PC go whirrrrr every summer.

If i could have got an AIO on the GPU, i'd have settled for that.


all my blocks are damaged from vinegar, it totally can scuff them up. Sure you can clean them again, but vinegar totally can mess with the finish.
Click to expand...
Hi,
I did read heat does compound the effects so 40c jeez open a window your a/c is broken that's hotter daily than in Texas atm :laugh:
 
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