Air cooling or water cooling?

[gaara]

FYI water and liquid cooling are used interchangably and both imply to the fact that you use some sort of specified coolant and not simply "tap water"

The cheapest and most widely used method is 90% distilled water and 10% zerex...distilled water does not conduct electricity and zerex keeps the coolant from getting filled with bacteria and junk

Water cooling is terrible for expensive systems.....you get a leak and your whole system is fried

I used to same coolant as mixture as above and got a leak a while ago...cleaned up my board with alcohol and que tips and let it dry and it worked flawlessly...this even being a heavily overclocked machine

You always leak test for a few hours before powering your system and of course you should maintain the loop every few months or so...follow that and use the above coolant and you will NEVER run into problems

There was a thread here on TF awhile ago where some people took an old computer and then submerged it under canola oil

The problem with that is that it's only effective for a short period unless you're using some other source of active cooling...eventually the oil will just heat up since it's simply retracting it without dissipating at the same rate as the core is dissipating

 

[adiosk8]

This choice gets harder and harder.... I think im going to go for this...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835106044 with some fans that blow toward the back of the case because I have a big 120 in the back that should suck it right out....

 

[003]

Go with watercooling. It wil badly beat any air cooling setup, and it's virtually silent.

 

[adiosk8]

the money is a REALLy big factor right now....and I move my computer alot...will that affect the reliability of my water cooling?

 

[Calzinger]

I hardly consider watercooling as "terrible" for expensive systems. Regardless of your quality components, you must be absolutely careful. It's not like an expensive system is more proned to damage than a cheap one. As gaara said, you should be leak-testing for at least four hours or so (I'd go as far as 24 hours just to be safe). Beyond that, no leaks should begin appearing. For those that have had immediate leak issues and lost parts to it, that's a simple lack of responsibility. Simply put, don't be that guy.

Originally posted by 003
Go with watercooling. It wil badly beat any air cooling setup, and it's virtually silent.

Virtually silent? Do you even have a watercooling setup? My system became about 3 times as loud as it was without my watercooling rig. You do have to keep your rad cool. It's not like heat just magically goes away. And if you get the MCP-650, jeez, has a ridiculously distinct whining noise. It's obnoxious to be honest, but it's usually killed by other fans. Point is, don't think that watercooling will immediately make your system silent. That's a common misconception.

Well...if you move your computer a lot, then you'll be in for a treat with watercooling. Keep in mind that water does weigh something and will make your case a good load heavier. Obviously not good for travel.

Simply put, watercooling should be your decision if you're looking for top performance at a reasonable cost. The downside to watercooling is that there is a good load of maintainance and work that goes into setting up such a system. However, DO NOT think that it is impossible and that you will end up with a broken system like some moron that others earlier described. Again, as gaara said, you can make a flawless system as long as you're careful and are sure to leak-test (and of course take the other necessary precautions).

 

[HAVOC]

I think liquid cooling is all well and good, but isn't it more of a pain in the ***, then anything else?

 

[gaara]

As an owner of a loop I can vouch for the annoyance that watercooling can create...I got two DOA 3200+ chips in a row and got really fed up with having to continue assembling and leak testing and bleeding the loop over and over again, however once you see the actual results it's well worth your while IMO

Of course watercooling isn't for everyone...I for one wanted a nice platform for overclockability and one that could be expanded upon...in all honesty I should only have to change the block mounting kits which is like $20-30 and I have a fully upgradable cooling system