Liquid cooling, Video cards

Orwell · Post by **Orwell** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 11:50 pm

I haven't found any decent review of the pro's and cons of liquid cooling your system besides them being a pain to install. Any one have some insight on this?

Also, nVidia, or ATI? What model? I think I'd be using it for gaming more so that editing, though lately I've found a creative spark so that may change. Also, for working with 3d modelling programs like 3DSMAX and various modding tools, which one would work for that?

Joe88 · Post by **Joe88** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 12:39 am

You can check www.newegg.com for customer reviews of water cooling systems

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... ategory=62

Joe88 · Post by **Joe88** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 12:43 am

Sorry for the double post but forgot to add something to the first one :

Personally I perfer ATI , I always used them and never had a problem with it.
I also OC my gfx card.

Orwell · Post by **Orwell** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 1:52 am

Well, what I'm after isn't so much which one as to, if it breaks, is this going to kill my entire system? how bad must heating become before fans are no longer viable? Does it use some expensive liquid that needs replaced all the time and so you'll end up spending as much for the liquid as you did for the entire computer in several years? That kind of thing, though browsing the reviews gives a vauge idea.

Joe88 · Post by **Joe88** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 3:30 am

Well what cards are you looking to cool ?
Are we talking about like 2 x1900xtx or 7900GTX ?
Or a lower grade card ?

Orwell · Post by **Orwell** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 2:22 pm

Its for the CPU in its entirety, I think.

Processor Cooling

Liquid CPU Cooling Fan System Kit --- [for INTEL CPU]

Or

Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink

As far as video cards go, probably something like a 7900GTX, though I don't know what I'll go with yet. My question about cooling and what card were intended to be two totally separate questions.

Willen · Post by **Willen** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 5:34 pm

IMO, there are only 2 reason you would use water/liquid cooling. 1) To get a quieter system. 2) Extreme overclocking.

If you aren't interested in either, I'd recommend against it. The installation is less of a hassle to do nowadays, but there are some maintenance issues with the cooling liquid you need to be aware of. Just like the cooling system of your car, eventually you may need to purge and clean the cooling system. And the hardware for the water tank and hoses do take up space in your computer case. Not to mention the cost. On the plus side, it does look cool.

As for ATI vs nVidia, that is just personal preference. Any top of the line graphics card will do. The only exception to that is if you are thinking of doing a dual card setup (SLI or Crossfire), I'd go for nVidia right now since their SLI solution is a bit more mature and elegant. This of course is strictly for games since other applications don't take advantage (yet) of dual GPU setups. And it also means having a SLI-capable motherboard.

Zero1 · Post by **Zero1** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 7:47 pm

My Athlon 64 4800 is watercooled. At 3GHz load it doesn't go above 40C, at 2.4GHz stock idle it's 21C.

There are more limits to overclocking than just voltage and cooling though

Orwell · Post by **Orwell** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 9:10 pm

What's considered a dangerous temperature? Also, what's involved in overclocking? Just changing some settings, or do you play with the actual hardware?

Joe88 · Post by **Joe88** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 9:44 pm

You might wanna check here to learn about OC
http://www.ocforums.com/

and this is a great site too
http://www.frozencpu.com/lit-118.html