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Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it?

Started by Macster 13 posts 7 min read

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MacsterCharter Member · 2872 posts

Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it? – image 1

My next big bad rig is going to be setup for Watercooling, but I was curious on a more consumer endpoint, is it worth the time and effort to go and do the water cooling process.. any pros or cons to it?

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RE: Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it?, FireDragonLightning, Nov-17-04, 02:57 PM, (1) RE: Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it?, Macster, Nov-17-04, 03:07 PM, (2) RE: Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it?, FireDragonLightning, Nov-17-04, 08:18 PM, (4) RE: Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it?, rpicardi1, Nov-17-04, 06:42 PM, (3) RE: Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it?, wakeboarder82, Nov-18-04, 00:42 AM, (6) RE: Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it?, rpicardi1, Nov-18-04, 06:48 PM, (8) RE: Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it?, Chessie SD50 8563, Nov-19-04, 11:57 PM, (11) RE: Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it?, chuckzeiler, Nov-17-04, 09:08 PM, (5) RE: Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it?, Jonatan, Nov-18-04, 05:04 AM, (7) RE: Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it?, Engineer_Kyle, Nov-19-04, 01:07 AM, (9) RE: Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it?, heffed, Nov-19-04, 04:24 PM, (10) RE: Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it?, tsayyote, Nov-21-04, 02:43 AM, (12)

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rpicardi1Charter Member · 1549 posts

RE: Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it?

Some of the Alienware systems are liquid cooled, usually with something similar to antifreeze. Therefore no corrosion problem.Liquid cooling usually something done to control CPU temperature of overclocked high end processors.Seems like just another set of components that need to be powered, coolant systems, radiator, tubing, etc... that could break down over time, on a system being pushed to the limits of performance.SRV Ron

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wakeboarder82Member since Jul-13-04 · 92 posts

RE: Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it?

>Some of the Alienware systems are liquid cooled, usually
>with something similar to antifreeze. Therefore no corrosion
>problem.
Well I don't know anything about liquid cooling but antifreeze is corrosive. That's why radiators start leaking over the years.

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rpicardi1Charter Member · 1549 posts

RE: Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it?

"That's why radiators start leaking over the years."Only if you don't flush them and replace the coolant every 30,000 miles per manfacturer's recommended service as the inhibitors do wear out.The coolant used by Alienware is not going to be what you use in your car. Using the wrong stuff, even in your car, example, mixing the GM pink stuff with the generic green variety WILL result in some expensive cooling system damage.As the chip designers continue to develop their products, making them faster and more efficient in using power, they will start running cooler. Heat being produced in the semiconductors is nothing more then wasted energy. There will soon be a limit reached on how small and fast the compoents can be made. Additional speed will only then be obtained by increasing the processing bandwidth and packing all components of a computer as closely together as possible.SRV Ron

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Chessie SD50 8563Member since Aug-1-02 · 203 posts

RE: Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it?

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GM's "Pink #####" (AKA DEXCOOL) is specially designed to be non-corrosive. However it does have a major problem. Depending on the climate you live in it has a habit of breaking down well before its 150K Mile lifespan, And while it wont start eating away at your system it does start to turn into a chalky lava looking goo that will dry up in your radator or heater core and cause system clogs.Im at 73400 Miles in my 2000 Malabu and theres no chalking and my coolant still test good, so Im okay.As for liquid cooling in PC's Im kinda suprised they really went to using that and not the compressed gas "heat pipe" cooling systems like what is used in most laptops
Matthew Mitchin
Chessie SD50 8563

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chuckzeilerCharter Member · 790 posts

RE: Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it?

I’m sorry, but there is no way that liquid cooling is the future. The obvious development is better processing.

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JonatanCharter Member · 2411 posts

RE: Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it?

Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it? – image 7

Bah, throw the thing into a deep-freezer, that works for me! /JonatanSteam rules!
Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it? – image 8 Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it? – image 9 Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it? – image 10 Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it? – image 11
Train gifs from Dans Railroad Gif RoundhouseNever trust computers. If you do, they will betray you.I'm the steam freak, ph34r me!!

My E-mail jonatan.gronoset@telia.com

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Engineer_KyleCharter Member · 224 posts

RE: Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it?

Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it? – image 12




There are a few other things you may want to check:
1. Be sure that your water pump doesn't go out! (It could cause your timing belt to shred, causing your processor to seize up, and then you would need to have a new engine dropped in!)
2. Along with having your coolant periodically changed, make sure that your oil and filter are changed every 3,000 pages visited.
3. Don't forget that you may want to have your alignment checked so that your mouse pointer arrow doesn't veer off suddenly.
4. If your HD displays signs of knocking, you may want to switch to a higher grade of fuel! (P.S. diesel ruins IBM compatibles!)

Sorry Mac, couldn't resist!


Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it? – image 13

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heffedMember since Apr-8-03 · 2521 posts

RE: Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it?

I have been extremely pleased with my water cooled system. Runs cooler and quieter than any air cooled system I've owned. I would recommend it to anyone. Especially with the faster (and hotter) processors and video cards. (If you're going water cooled, may as well cool the vid card while you're at it )Pros? I've already mentioned cool and quiet. Cons? Well, a leak would be bad. And it's recommended that you replace the coolant once a year, but that's really no big deal. (no, the waterblocks don't corrode) So they are slightly higher maintenance than a traditional air cooled system, but I think the pros outweigh the cons.-Jeff

Union Pacific fan.

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tsayyoteMember since Aug-7-02 · 61 posts

RE: Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it?

Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it? – image 14

LAST EDITED ON Nov-21-04 AT 02:45 AM (EST)

^As he said... definatly worth it!I love watercooling and will never go back to air. Although my watercooler is rigged with 3 Tt Smart Case Fans, it's definatly not quieter than air cooling, but at 75 cfm's its keeps the radiator nice and cool, especially when the processor, chipset, gpu and 2 raptors are all on the same setup.I think I've read that some of the Sony computers are watercooled, although not a full on setup; I think its passive. I'll check next time I work at Best Buy.

_______________
---Donating spare cpu cycles to Folding@Home. What are your cpu's doing?---
Water-cooled PC's.. are they worth it? – image 15
AMD 64-bit 3500 skt. 939 (H20 cooled) || MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum (chipset H2O cooled) || Koolance Exos watercooler || 1GB Mushkin PC3200 "Blue" (2-2-2 series) || ASUS Radeon 256MB 9800XT (H2O cooled) || Creative Audigy 2 pl. || 2 x WDC 36.7GB Raptor 10,000 rpm SATA (H2O cooled) RAID 0 || WDC 80gb 7200rpm || IBM 60gb 7200rpm || Lian Li PC-65 || Antec 550watt || Klipsch Promedia Ultra 5.1 speakers || Logitech Elite/MX-700 || Lite-On 52x24x52

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