Air cooling or water cooling?

I wish to purchase a water cooler, but my only fear is of a leak that will damage my very expensive rig. I do not mind the cost and would really appreciate the improved performance by it removing more heat and making less noise, but not at the cost of losing my system.

Just how much of a risk is it and which out of the two would you recommend?

It depends on what exactly you would like to do, if your not going to overclock, get a decent air cooler(hyper 212+) they are nice and quiet. If you plan on doing some major overclocking, get a water cooling system. Remember that water cooling systems use fan to, they arent completely silent.

The risk in a water cooling system isn't really higher. Even a catastrophic leak shouldn't damage the system from the water. You'll be using distilled water and a few anti-microbial chemicals in it and it shouldn't be conductive at all.

A water cooling setup, however, is higher in maintence since it requires reflushing at least yearly, and recommended once every 6 months.

A water cooling setup, however, is higher in maintence since it requires reflushing at least yearly, and recommended once every 6 months.

XaosII

what kinda rig is it guna be? gaming? video editting?

I would go air every time, unless i was building some kind of super computer lol

I wish to purchase a water cooler, but my only fear is of a leak that will damage my very expensive rig. I do not mind the cost and would really appreciate the improved performance by it removing more heat and making less noise, but not at the cost of losing my system.

Just how much of a risk is it and which out of the two would you recommend?

Stunneronureyez

here is what you are going to want to do to get started. 1 theres two ways to go about this, your own custom loop or get a kit, by kit i mean swiftech its the only kit that is good enough in that area. 2 if you want to go with a custom Loop for your cpu you will need the following:

Cpu Block: i Recommend either Danger Den/ Switech apogee/ or Heatkiller, Koolance has some good Blocks also. make sure it comes with a back plate or if you purchase a Heatkiller Cpu block get the back plate that goes with it. you will also need to go by socket type.

Resivior: You can either get a bay resivior or an internal one if you prefer. Bits power has some good ones but there are better. another thing you will need to do is clean your rad with a mix of distilled water and vinegar to get out any junk in the res that wad caught up when it was being fabricated.

Pump: Swiftech or Danger Den has a good selection.

Radiator: These Range from single to Quadruple but being if your only going to set up only a cpu loop go for a dual Rad, now if your going to loop your gpu's also go for a triple or quadruple, you will need to buy blocks for your gpu's also koolance and Danger Den have a good selection also. On that note you will need to purchase fans for your Rad. Xps/Koolance/Swiftech have some good rads for a reasonable price.

Tubing (anti Kink Recommended) Tygon/Fesser/primoChill are some good ones. Depending on the size you Decide to use, you are going to need barbs that fit that size tubing, Example: i use 1/2 ID (inner diamiter) 1/8 wall thickness 3/4 OD (outer diamiter) so you will need a 1/2 x 3/4 barb to fit the tube compression barbs are a plus pn makeing the setup look neater. But barbs+clams are just fine.

Third part depending on the case you are using you will most likely need to modify your case, Drilling holes for screws/ Holes for the tubing to fit if you have watercooling holes on the back of your case, also depends on the size of the tubing you purchase.

there are also guides you can read so you can learn how to fill and Drain your loop, but in order to do this you will need to jump your psu by using a paper clip, ( only do this for when Filling your loop and leak testing) when ready to fill your loop with the prefered coolant either distilled water+additives or a all in one coolant EXP: Fesser one you will need bend the paperclip in a U shape, please make sure the psu is turned off when doing this along with all other motherboard connections, you will using the 24pin connector. At this point only put one end of the paper clip into the green wire socket and the other end into the black ground wire socket this way you can jump your psu with out it being connected to the mobo, please and i mean please do this part correctly so you do not mess up your psu.

When that is prepped and ready begin fill the resivior 1/4 way from the top of the res and stop. Turn on the psu and let the res drain then stop when most of the fluid is out of the res do not drain it completely, Rinse and repeat untill the full loop is filled and the res itself is filled up, just do not fill the res to the top leave some space for air to be released from the fluid. You will have some air bubbles but they will go away in time. if you need more info you tube has some Videos on how to Jump your psu please i advise when jumping your psu do it correctly as it can damage your psu. Also for some guides XtremeSytems has one and a couple others do as well it seems hard at first but when you jump into it you will see how fun it is just take your time doing it and you will have a gret loop if done properly. :D

i also forgot to tell you also when you are only jumping your psu to leak test your loop.

I dont see a need for water cooling when a heatsink like the hyper 212+ should be good for your overclocking needs.Nick3306

i saw the need for it being my Cpu needed 1.32V just for 4.2 with HT/Turbo :P

I'll probably get lynched for saying so, but coming from a string of high-end air coolers, I really like the cheap closed-loop mini-water-coolers-in-a-box like the H50 if you can grab them on sale. The sheer amount of space NOT being taken up around the CPU socket for a change is mind-boggling, and they compete well enough with the high end air (though they get totally destroyed by even a budget 'real' WC setup) that I'm happy.Makari

they aren't bad for what they are, the H50 is fine for the price but the 100 dollar price tag on the h70 just doesn't suite me :|

I would go with air, water is nice and can do the job better, unless noise is an issues, i would go with air

I would go with air, water is nice and can do the job better, unless noise is an issues, i would go with air

James161324

true but it also depends on the volts needed for your oc some need more then others, but air cooling is fine depending on the OC your trying to get to but for 4.0+ depending on what volts your cpu desires watercooling is a must only if you are running high volts but then again watercooling isn't for the weak hearted :p

what kinda rig is it guna be? gaming? video editting?

I would go air every time, unless i was building some kind of super computer lol

Tim_Millington

It is going to be a gaming rig and will be used for the Intel i7 2600k and Asus P8P67 Deluxe motherboard. I do eventually plan to overclock as well.

I was planning on getting the H70, but may opt for an air cooler now and go down the water cooling road after a few months, also giving me time to save up for a much better water cooler.

[QUOTE="Tim_Millington"]

what kinda rig is it guna be? gaming? video editting?

I would go air every time, unless i was building some kind of super computer lol

Stunneronureyez

It is going to be a gaming rig and will be used for the Intel i7 2600k and Asus P8P67 Deluxe motherboard. I do eventually plan to overclock as well.

I was planning on getting the H70, but may opt for an air cooler now and go down the water cooling road after a few months, also giving me time to save up for a much better water cooler.

While I have no personal experience of overclocking Sandy Bridge CPUs (would love to get my hands on one :) ), reading early magazine reviews about their overclocking attempts seems to suggest that a good air cooler is plenty enough to get you a good overclock. Micro Mart have just done a review, getting it up to 4.4GHz purely by increasing the multiplier. They then upped the voltage slightly and were able to push further to 4.9GHz - don't have the magazine to hand but I think it was with a Titan Fenrir cooler.

[QUOTE="Nick3306"]I dont see a need for water cooling when a heatsink like the hyper 212+ should be good for your overclocking needs.Neo_revolution7

i saw the need for it being my Cpu needed 1.32V just for 4.2 with HT/Turbo :P

[QUOTE="Makari"]I'll probably get lynched for saying so, but coming from a string of high-end air coolers, I really like the cheap closed-loop mini-water-coolers-in-a-box like the H50 if you can grab them on sale. The sheer amount of space NOT being taken up around the CPU socket for a change is mind-boggling, and they compete well enough with the high end air (though they get totally destroyed by even a budget 'real' WC setup) that I'm happy.Neo_revolution7

they aren't bad for what they are, the H50 is fine for the price but the 100 dollar price tag on the h70 just doesn't suite me :|

[QUOTE="Stunneronureyez"]

I wish to purchase a water cooler, but my only fear is of a leak that will damage my very expensive rig. I do not mind the cost and would really appreciate the improved performance by it removing more heat and making less noise, but not at the cost of losing my system.

Just how much of a risk is it and which out of the two would you recommend?

Neo_revolution7

here is what you are going to want to do to get started. 1 theres two ways to go about this, your own custom loop or get a kit, by kit i mean swiftech its the only kit that is good enough in that area. 2 if you want to go with a custom Loop for your cpu you will need the following:

Many thanks for all the information, you appear to be very well informed and experienced with this. At this moment in time it looks rather complicated and a very long and expensive process, but I still wish to go down the water cooling route in the future. However since I am only a beginner when it comes to building a gaming PC, I will play it safe and stick with air cooling for the time being.

But I would like to ask would you recommend a water cooling kit or building a custom kit yourself?

[QUOTE="Neo_revolution7"]

[QUOTE="Nick3306"]I dont see a need for water cooling when a heatsink like the hyper 212+ should be good for your overclocking needs.Nick3306

i saw the need for it being my Cpu needed 1.32V just for 4.2 with HT/Turbo :P

gaming but i also do like to O'c, my gpu is the last thing i need to Add to my loop before i decide to overclock that as well. Also i have had so many Air cooled Rigs i became tired and bored of air cooling so i went to the next best thing Watercooling.

[QUOTE="Nick3306"][QUOTE="Neo_revolution7"]

i saw the need for it being my Cpu needed 1.32V just for 4.2 with HT/Turbo :P

Neo_revolution7

gaming but i also do like to O'c, my gpu is the last thing i need to Add to my loop before i decide to overclock that as well. Also i have had so many Air cooled Rigs i became tired and bored of air cooling so i went to the next best thing Watercooling.