Watercooling recommendations

L31mr0d

Didn't really know where to post this, I guess it is building and upgrading

Ok so i'm looking to move over to a watercooling setup for my comp. I know all the components that are needed from reading the tuts in this thread but they don't specify who are the best/reliable brands to go for and which are the ones to avoid (i.e. leaky). Also i've presently got installed a Zalman 9500Cu for my CPU and a Zalman VF900Cu, which I figure is high end air cooling, will I see much benefit in moving over to a decent watercooled system?

So what are the best brands to look into, where can they be bought online or in Ireland also, in regards to the blocks, do they usually fit all sockets and graphics cards, or am I going to have to buy new ones every time I upgrade my mobo and gfx card?

Cuddlesworth

Budget?

L31mr0d

Well see thats the thing, I don't actually know what would be the ballpark for a reliable and efficient watercooling setup would be. Lets say ~€500.

I'm really looking for advice on what brands people here have used and whether they would recommend them or stay clear. Like is there a cheap complete watercooling setup out there that is surprisingly good, or an overly expensive one that doesn't really give that much improvement.

8T8

With €500 you can go for luxury water cooling with a Zalman Reserator 2, no fans at all and it can be hooked up to the CPU, GPU & chipset eliminating the noisiest parts.

Check out reviews here & here.

All the usual place sell water cooling setups Asetek are a very common brand one I used before when I dabbled in water cooling it was a decent product no major complaints though I went back to air cooling as I changed components in my system too much.

L31mr0d

Ok well 500 is a rough estimate, I would more than likely want it a lot cheaper so as to put the rest of it towards the actual H/W. You kinda answered my other question 8T8 which was whether it would suite me as I like to take things in and out of the computer a lot. Can you get blocks for the cpu and vga that would fit most sockets (i.e. all AMD socekts and all Nvidia 6 & 7 series, maybe 8?)

Cuddlesworth

8T8 wrote:

With €500 you can go for luxury water cooling with a Zalman Reserator 2, no fans at all and it can be hooked up to the CPU, GPU & chipset eliminating the noisiest parts.

Check out reviews here & here.

All the usual place sell water cooling setups Asetek are a very common brand one I used before when I dabbled in water cooling it was a decent product no major complaints though I went back to air cooling as I changed components in my system too much.

The Zalmon setup provides the same temps as a stock Amd cooler. Its a silent solution.


Asetek are ****, the only redeeming factor is that they have black Ice radiators. Besides that the quick connect fittings are a water leak nightmare, pump has terrible head and flow and the block is a cheap rip-off of the Whitewater, but missing all the things that made the whitewater good(whitewater was Cathars first commercail high flow block design).

Get the swifttech kit with the storm if you are looking for performance. Is costs around 300.

8T8

Ah well this was a while back but other than the pump being occasional noisy it never leaked on me but I could have been lucky but krazy_8s I'll take your word on it as I haven't kept in on the water cooling scene.


As for upgrades L31mr0d that is something you will have to think about, most of the water cooling solutions out their I believe have brackets for CPU's, GPU's etc for instance the brand recommends swiftech you can see quite a few bits on their website. Same goes for the Zalman unit.

The biggest pain in the ass is chopping & changing the cooling setup with new components but if your not doing that too often then it shouldn't be an issue or you dont mind doing that in the first place.

youcancallmeal

I'm selling pretty much most of what you'll need to get started. I got them from unklerosco here a while back and never really got a chance to get it set up
Its quality high end components all from alphacool.de, tis a shame to see them sitting here beside me not being used

See my advert here

awhir

swiftech and danger den make the best in gear europe in my option.i have the Swiftech H20-220 Apex Ultra Watercooling Kit (also drapper has it)i would reccomend it as its 1 of the best wc KITS on the market.but if you are willing to buy parts sepratly i think that would be the best bet.get a siftech storm (waterblock),black ice dual rad,danger den or swiftech pump and t block.

awhir

lol also just reminded me and just ordered a t block and a few clamps .lol

Cuddlesworth

Or you can just amass parts like me, 2*D5 pumps, a hydor 50z, storm cpu block,
tdx cpu block, thermochill he120.2 and pa.120.3, a maze 4, full waterblock for a x1800xt and various other ****e.

, I want my phase.

L31mr0d

I think it would probably be worth my while just changing over to a better case to sort out my heat/noise problems, i've got a nice vibrating Qtec case at my feet at the moment. If the problems persist with a better soundproofed case i'll look into moving over to watercooled later. Plus atm my current case isn't big enough to house a watercooled setup, maybe a single rad setup but then it probably wouldn't even be worth it if I want to cool my vga/cpu/nb and possibly HDD

unklerosco

It aint worth the outlay for what u want.. U'll prob find that the air cooling u have will be as quite as a wc setup... Ur temps will drop a bit but not that much, might give u a little bit more headroom for overclocking but not much....

I stopped using WC cause an arctic cooler freezer 64 cooled my athlon X2 within 2c of my wc setup n it cost me €25.... I spent over €600 at alphacool.de, mostly on WC gear.... NEVER AGAIN.

Though, it does show u the bargin Al got....

Oh and i still have my Storm G5 block(ultra rare)... i'll prob get burried with it as i'll prob never get around to using it...

Anti

agreed, i water cooled my 3500+ and my coolermaster vortex got it within 4C when under full load. The only way it will work to you advantage is to use the new akasa external waterchiller. But you may aswell have a sff for the price that thing costs.

If you have 500 to spend look at a second hand vapochill. And just use a aquagate with modified piping/block for the chipset. I have one for sale as it goes its externally or internally mounted ( using 2x 5.25" bays ) PM me if interested

Cuddlesworth

unklerosco wrote:

Oh and i still have my Storm G5 block(ultra rare)... i'll prob get burried with it as i'll prob never get around to using it...

, I'll rob your grave. Any chance of selling it?

unklerosco

krazy_8s wrote:

, I'll rob your grave. Any chance of selling it?

maybe, money talks.....;)

Cuddlesworth

120? I reckon it will take 50 to get you killed, 40 to buy some blackninja gear and 30 for a shovel. This way its just less hassle.

awhir

krazy_8s wrote:

120? I reckon it will take 50 to get you killed, 40 to buy some blackninja gear and 30 for a shovel. This way its just less hassle.

just pay it mr.hitman