Question: Water cooling system-pros and cons ?

[ACEwoK]

yeah i think i'll have to have a serious look at this. Any idea of cost in AUD?

[Danoclese]

My system cost me roughly 270 CAD tax included....hope this helps

[sahel]

I'd say you should only consider watercooling is when you are really into overclocking and tweaking of your computer. With good use of fans and thought-thru choices of your hardware, your PC should be able to keep it's head cool under normal use (that includes gaming for hours).

The negative sides for watercooling:
- Costs
- Space (the whole system isn't small usually).
- Risk (there is always the possibility of a problem, and liquids inside a PC is no fun).

positive sides:
- It sure cools with little noise
- status


My advise would be to pay attention to the components. Get a PC casing designed to be silent (Antec Sonata series for example), get a modulair psu so you don't have problems with cable-clutter. Use as big fans at low speed as possible. Trux gave some very good advise earlier imo. You should be able to make a very silent fan-cooled pc without much trouble.

[ACEwoK]

yeah, sounds like sound advice. I think its time i treated myself and got an Alienware rig me thinks.

[Jemima]

Originally Posted by AlexGold

There is one thing I don't understand. What If I want to change a hard drive in the PC or a maybe the Ram. Would I have to drain the whole thing out to add/remove elements ?

yes, for anythign that u have a cooling block attatched to that u want to change. its a closed system so if u need to remove part of the system that liquid will still be in the pipes waiting to move. even when switched off fluid does that if there isnt a cooling block attatched to it then u can move things around as much as u like, the system my hubby had was just graphics card and processor, so anything else could be shuffled about as normal.

so unless u plan to attatch a cooling block to your ram or hd you can shuffle and change as u wish

[seanjohn]

i Wouldnt i would find some new fans. The fans i have on my computer case and on my cpu run silently. or at least i think so. Liquid cooling can have its drawbacks because what if the line breaks you are going to be furious that you will have to buy a new computer. I vote no for you
seanjohn

[Raven]

The thought of water in my pc scares me still (as it does others I've read). So the next best thing...I bought an Ultra Chilltec CPU cooler It works great! I have an Antec Twelve Hundred case that has holes ready for water cooling installation..if I need to make the jump to water..but I don't see that happening soon...or ever 6 stock case fans (one big boy on the top), PSU fan and the Chilltec fan. Runs cool (super chilly!) and is pretty quiet given the number of fans.....

[Svarog]

Are there cons at all?
I never had problems with fans noise, I usually get used fast to any irritating sounds - be that either coolers or a neighbor with a masonry drill - and stop notice it, but when I bought my last computer with a full water cooling (including the PSU) I noticed a huge difference. It runs 24/7 and the first I do after I wake up or come home - check the power light on the case, because that is the only way to tell is it on. It's amazing .

[Marmac]

Originally Posted by Jemima

he turned the computer on 2 days ago and a sorta fizzly pop noise (im not technical ) followed by some extremely loud expletives were to be heard through out the house.

oooh that sounds expensive.

Did it let the smoke out?

You know all things electrical run on smoke right?

As soon as it escapes the damn things dont work.
Just read this article, its true!

Oh back on topic I would say if you are not running any high end/demand stuff then fans are fine.
I did notice my PC quietened noticably after installing a better quality, larger power supply.
The one supplied with the system was barely adequate and was running flat-out all the time with the fan whirring away.

[Jemima]

Originally Posted by Marmac

oooh that sounds expensive.

Did it let the smoke out?

You know all things electrical run on smoke right?

the smoke didnt get out, but i think the water might of dissolved it. and yes turning out to be very expensive. hes got a new card ordered a new motherboard on the way and already got a new cooling block, this time hes gonna use the non conductive gel just incase

he hasnt lost faith that water cooling is the way to go, just being a bit more careful this time