Going back to air...

[Mrvile]

Well, it's been a very long time since I've posted here...

But anyway, I don't think I can handle water anymore. It was fun and all while I was into OCing and tweaking, but now that I've kind of chilled out and found other hobbies, I don't think watercooling is for me anymore. First, it's loud as hell. Sounds kind of weird because water should be quiet, but this pump I'm using is louder than any fan I've used before. Second, I'm lazy and I never have the motivation to maintain it, so the system itself is probably going down the tubes (no pun intended). I'm looking for something easy to setup, maintain, and is fairly quiet that isn't going to cost me a fortune.

I'm kind of out of the loop right now, does anyone have any suggestions for a modest air cooling setup? I'll need cooling for both the CPU and the GPU. I want something more than just stock cooling, but I don't need something like a Tuniq Tower or a Scythe Ninja...

Thanks,

-retired Cases & Cooling vet...

 

[JAG87]

thermalright Ultra 120 for CPU
thermalright HR-03 for GPU

you wont regret it!

 

[Mrvile]

Originally posted by: JAG87
thermalright Ultra 120 for CPU
thermalright HR-03 for GPU

you wont regret it!

I was thinking of staying below $50...

Also I forgot to mention that I'm using a K8N Neo2 Platinum motherboard so a lot of the bigger coolers won't work.

This is what I have picked so far...Zalman 7000AlCu ($30) and Arctic Cooling Accelero X1 ($20). I know they're both pretty old but they should both have decent performance to sound to price ratio right?

 

[smopoim86]

for the cpu the artic cooler 64 will probably perform better than the 7000alcu(not sure about the all copper version).

I think it's cheaper too

 

[dampeal]

The Arctic Cooler 64 Pro PWM editon is a good cheap choice... or the Noctua NHU-9F CPU cooler, a bit more expensive but good, quiet cooling...

as for GPU, I love my Thermalright V1-Ultra, a bit on the expensive side though..

 

[aigomorla]

Wow sad to see your leaving the water. Anyhow you wont get anywhere near close cooling your water could give.

I would recomend the Freeze64 Pro. Its cheap and will perform near or on par with the ninja. Also fits in your price price range.


Anyhow im going almost 4yrs water and i never had a problem with any of my rigs. Also i havent had to do a coolant change or anything for 1 yr on my NAS. She's running fine and the coolant is still good.

The only hassle i have found is with my storm block where i would have to clean it regularly every 6-9 months. Well inspect it more then clean it.

Also have you tried the newer pumps? i dont know how old your pumps are but he D5 and Liang DDC (non 18W version) are virtually quiet. Also u could step up radiator and drop quieter fans.

Lastly your TDX in your pictures need to get cleaned out. I dont think its normal for the inside of the block to turn black like that :X

EDIT: Bah ur using a D4, and not a D5. I dont understand when u say its loud. Maybe your pump is dying if its getting really audiable, because i have 2 D5's on my MC's Opty and to be honest, i can hear my raptors when they seek over my pumps.

Unless ur talking about that really really high pitched humm noise u hear when u get REALLY REALLY CLOSE.


I would recomend dropping in a fill/bleed line and reduing your loop after you cleaned out your blocks. by having both fill and bleed, i can replace the coolant in under 5min and have the system rebled and back running within 20min tops.

If you need some advice on loops and orders drop me a PM. I really hate to see a vetern like you go back on air :[

 

[Mrvile]

Originally posted by: aigomorla
Wow sad to see your leaving the water. Anyhow you wont get anywhere near close cooling your water could give.

I would recomend the Freeze64 Pro. Its cheap and will perform near or on par with the ninja. Also fits in your price price range.


Anyhow im going almost 4yrs water and i never had a problem with any of my rigs. Also i havent had to do a coolant change or anything for 1 yr on my NAS. She's running fine and the coolant is still good.

The only hassle i have found is with my storm block where i would have to clean it regularly every 6-9 months. Well inspect it more then clean it.

Also have you tried the newer pumps? i dont know how old your pumps are but he D5 and Liang DDC (non 18W version) are virtually quiet. Also u could step up radiator and drop quieter fans.

Lastly your TDX in your pictures need to get cleaned out. I dont think its normal for the inside of the block to turn black like that :X

EDIT: Bah ur using a D4, and not a D5. I dont understand when u say its loud. Maybe your pump is dying if its getting really audiable, because i have 2 D5's on my MC's Opty and to be honest, i can hear my raptors when they seek over my pumps.

Unless ur talking about that really really high pitched humm noise u hear when u get REALLY REALLY CLOSE.


I would recomend dropping in a fill/bleed line and reduing your loop after you cleaned out your blocks. by having both fill and bleed, i can replace the coolant in under 5min and have the system rebled and back running within 20min tops.

If you need some advice on loops and orders drop me a PM. I really hate to see a vetern like you go back on air :[

Thanks for the tips.

First, there's nothing wrong with my TDX...in fact, the pics you see were taken shortly after everything was set up. It looks black because of the camera flash and the shadows and all - just bad photography.

Also, yeah it's my pump and yeah it's unnaturally loud. I'm sitting about three feet away and I can hear a pretty high pitched whine that's louder than anything else in this room (aside from my typing). But the thing is, it has been that loud ever since I set it up...I dunno, it might just be my case being so full of holes, but I've tolerated it for the past year and a half. Now that I don't OC anymore, cooling performance isn't as important to me and really the only thing I'm looking for it quiet and reliable.

I had fried my top DVD burner a while back because the reservoir cap leaked, and I'm always scared that something else is going to happen (although besides that, nothing else has leaked). But once is enough to leave me shaken...

I guess I could swap out a few old parts for some newer parts, like a D5 pump, but it's not like I need it and it's a good $80 I could put somewhere else. It's sad leaving water, especially after all the passionate work, time, and money I've put into it, but I've moved onto other hobbies and it's just not my thing anymore.

Anyway, back to the topic...

I looked at the Freezer 64 as a possible choice, but it looks big (will it fit my poorly designed Neo2 Platinum? I know the 7700 and the XP-120 don't...) and I know the Zalman series are known to be very quiet, I wonder how the Arctic Cooling one compares...

Again, I'm not looking to spend a lot of money on this, I don't really need top notch performance.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Mrvile

Originally posted by: aigomorla
Wow sad to see your leaving the water. Anyhow you wont get anywhere near close cooling your water could give.

I would recomend the Freeze64 Pro. Its cheap and will perform near or on par with the ninja. Also fits in your price price range.


Anyhow im going almost 4yrs water and i never had a problem with any of my rigs. Also i havent had to do a coolant change or anything for 1 yr on my NAS. She's running fine and the coolant is still good.

The only hassle i have found is with my storm block where i would have to clean it regularly every 6-9 months. Well inspect it more then clean it.

Also have you tried the newer pumps? i dont know how old your pumps are but he D5 and Liang DDC (non 18W version) are virtually quiet. Also u could step up radiator and drop quieter fans.

Lastly your TDX in your pictures need to get cleaned out. I dont think its normal for the inside of the block to turn black like that :X

EDIT: Bah ur using a D4, and not a D5. I dont understand when u say its loud. Maybe your pump is dying if its getting really audiable, because i have 2 D5's on my MC's Opty and to be honest, i can hear my raptors when they seek over my pumps.

Unless ur talking about that really really high pitched humm noise u hear when u get REALLY REALLY CLOSE.


I would recomend dropping in a fill/bleed line and reduing your loop after you cleaned out your blocks. by having both fill and bleed, i can replace the coolant in under 5min and have the system rebled and back running within 20min tops.

If you need some advice on loops and orders drop me a PM. I really hate to see a vetern like you go back on air :[

Thanks for the tips.

First, there's nothing wrong with my TDX...in fact, the pics you see were taken shortly after everything was set up. It looks black because of the camera flash and the shadows and all - just bad photography.

Also, yeah it's my pump and yeah it's unnaturally loud. I'm sitting about three feet away and I can hear a pretty high pitched whine that's louder than anything else in this room (aside from my typing). But the thing is, it has been that loud ever since I set it up...I dunno, it might just be my case being so full of holes, but I've tolerated it for the past year and a half. Now that I don't OC anymore, cooling performance isn't as important to me and really the only thing I'm looking for it quiet and reliable.

I had fried my top DVD burner a while back because the reservoir cap leaked, and I'm always scared that something else is going to happen (although besides that, nothing else has leaked). But once is enough to leave me shaken...

I guess I could swap out a few old parts for some newer parts, like a D5 pump, but it's not like I need it and it's a good $80 I could put somewhere else. It's sad leaving water, especially after all the passionate work, time, and money I've put into it, but I've moved onto other hobbies and it's just not my thing anymore.

Anyway, back to the topic...

I looked at the Freezer 64 as a possible choice, but it looks big (will it fit my poorly designed Neo2 Platinum? I know the 7700 and the XP-120 don't...) and I know the Zalman series are known to be very quiet, I wonder how the Arctic Cooling one compares...

Again, I'm not looking to spend a lot of money on this, I don't really need top notch performance.

Heh a simple pump change would be a better solution then AIR. And an addition of a T-Line to help with bleeding/filling. Heres some recomendations on possitions of T-lines to help with filling and bleeding.

Also Newegg has the Swiftech MCP350 pump for 57.99 These are the famous Liang DDC's and should give u enough headflow to power a TDX and a single 120x1 radiator + gpu.

Its also gonna be quieter then your D4 if you say its a loud high pitch noise. You might want to invest in petra tops because the pumps are 3/8" ID. Promise you that route will give u better quieter cooling also cheaper then dropping in a GPU and CPU cooling option.

Anyhow heres how my loop is setup:
1

2

3

You want the T-line to be at the Lowest possible location on your case since ur resivour is at the highest. I dont like single Bay resivours as they make a Swoosh noise if there not filled up to a level.

Lastly, your gonna miss these temps if u go back to air:
30 min orthos Burin With RTHDRDBL for 30 min on 570mhz 7900GT's


Use Pure DI water and some Petra Pentosin G-11 additive. I had a leak on my top video card and spilled all over to the bottom. Didnt know it happened til i saw my Bios label tag turn blue from the stain. Didnt fry anything because DI water is non conductive DD High Flow Barbs were the culpret, changed them to EK high flow.

Also didnt you do a proper leak test for at least 8 hours? I cheat this method by using reverse vacum. I compress the tubes with a vac, for about 15 min. If its air tight for that long, its definitely water tight. Also compressing too long can lead to warp issues with the tube so 15 min is what was on the DD video i saw.

EK HIGH FLOW BARBS = Ownage ive seen about a 1C drop in temps thanks to these.


If your that scared still use Promochill PC-ICE. I love that stuff as it helps lubracate. Usually i alternate between DI water and promochill, but theres videos of it over at frozencpu.com on people POURing it into a live system without having anything fried.



Your at a stage where overclocking is not important and silence is golden. Im there too, so if ur looking to silence that water kit, i'll be more then happy to help you. I just hate to see a veteran or anything for that matter step away without giving it another shot.

 

[Mrvile]

Originally posted by: aigomorla
-

Hey man, thanks for taking the time to make a post like that, I appreciate you trying to help. But I've already made up my mind and I know I'm going back to air. I'm a couple months away from going to college and once I go, I'll either be switching to a small LANable homebuild or a laptop, and I'll be giving this computer to the family (primarily my sister). I want to keep things simple and easy for them, and I'm either going to be making the switch now or when I leave.

Maybe I'll toy around with water again when I get settled down in college but I honestly can't see myself doing it...OCing was fun and all, but it was purely educational (I didn't see any performance gains in realtime use) and now that all I look for is quiet and reliable, I know air will keep me more than covered...I know with the right setup, air can be dead silent.

So anyway, I gotta make sure the Freezer 64 fits on my motherboard before I order, otherwise I'll have to go with the Zalman 7000. Does anyone use the Freezer 64 with the K8N Neo2?

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Mrvile

Originally posted by: aigomorla
-

Hey man, thanks for taking the time to make a post like that, I appreciate you trying to help. But I've already made up my mind and I know I'm going back to air. I'm a couple months away from going to college and once I go, I'll either be switching to a small LANable homebuild or a laptop, and I'll be giving this computer to the family (primarily my sister). I want to keep things simple and easy for them, and I'm either going to be making the switch now or when I leave.

Maybe I'll toy around with water again when I get settled down in college but I honestly can't see myself doing it...OCing was fun and all, but it was purely educational (I didn't see any performance gains in realtime use) and now that all I look for is quiet and reliable, I know air will keep me more than covered...I know with the right setup, air can be dead silent.

So anyway, I gotta make sure the Freezer 64 fits on my motherboard before I order, otherwise I'll have to go with the Zalman 7000. Does anyone use the Freezer 64 with the K8N Neo2?

im sure if you google it you should get an answer.

Also the XP-90 works well and is cheap if you dont intend to overclock too hard. All you need to do is add a quiet 90mm fan to it, and im sure it will fit on the neo.

 

[Balex99]

I had very good luck with my Arctic Cooling Accelero X1. I put them on 2 x 7800GT's sli'd and they performed well and were dang near silent.

You may have just saved me some money. I was thinking very seriously about going liquid but I may just stick with air. This Oc'ing thing is hard to shake though.

 

[natethegreat]

Freezer 64 Pro $18 + s/h

VF700 $22 + s/h

This should get you set up on air for ~$55. I wouldn't worry about the Freezer 64, I've used this cooler on a few different boards and have never came across any issues mounting the cooler (plus it can be mounted in 4 different directions for optimal airflow).

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Balex99
I had very good luck with my Arctic Cooling Accelero X1. I put them on 2 x 7800GT's sli'd and they performed well and were dang near silent.

You may have just saved me some money. I was thinking very seriously about going liquid but I may just stick with air. This Oc'ing thing is hard to shake though.

Corsair Nautilius 500 for the newbes in watercooling


The op has some knowledge in H2O cooling so im giving him advance tips and advice.
Dont let this thing scare you. H2O cooling and overclocking if done right is straight up addicting.


And Nate's recomandations are what i normally went with. There great problem free Quiet Air solutions that wont break your budget.

 

[Balex99]

Well, I am going to try and reset my Ninja for the third time to try and get some better cooling. I am at 35 deg idle and hit over 60 under orthos with just 1.325v. Would like to see what my chip could do with atleast 1.45v. Might be able to get 3.6 out of it.

I have been looking at the Swiftech Apex GT kit. I am not completely against the idea. Like tinkering with this thing. Just need to do some more research before I pull the trigger.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Balex99
Well, I am going to try and reset my Ninja for the third time to try and get some better cooling. I am at 35 deg idle and hit over 60 under orthos with just 1.325v. Would like to see what my chip could do with atleast 1.45v. Might be able to get 3.6 out of it.

I have been looking at the Swiftech Apex GT kit. I am not completely against the idea. Like tinkering with this thing. Just need to do some more research before I pull the trigger.

welcome to the darkside, like a mocca?