Is extreme cooling worth it?

[MTDEW]

If a friend has a 1.4 tbird that will only do 1.55ghz @ 1.91v.
Load - cpu temps at 123f
Idle - Cpu Temp 107f
case temp around - 70f

It will boot & run fine a 2v / 1.6ghz but its overheats & locks @ 140f+ temps.

This is all done with a cpu multiplier @ 10.5 & FSB speeds of 133-153

Epox8k7a , Crucial pc2100 ddr, 512mb

Now, ive never got into watercooling but it sure seems that alot of people doing extreme overclocking are using
some sort of extreme cooling with great success.

Just looking at THIS link & THIS one , seems to prove that etreme cooling works or these guys are alot more than lucky buying cpus that overclock above the norm.

But we all know people can tell "fibs" so to speak. LOL

What are the realistic odds of water cooling getting this 1.4 to 1600 stable at 2v??
Or isnt overheating the problem here?

We consider anything over 50c / 120f the limit on heat for our setups.
Are we being too conservative with temps & its something else keeping his rig from being stable.

Anyone here ever try watercolling & DIDN'T think it was worth it??

 

[Duvie]

temps are going to widely vary on socket a mobos as you know, and it most situation not likely accurate...

I can say I ran my 1.4@1.5ghz and hit temps of 52c fine and stable at default voltage with cheapo fan on an ecs mobo...But this could be apples and oranges...we just don;t know with inaccuracies of socket a thermal temps...The best guage should be some stress test and stability...

 

[WarCon]

I found that my watercooler really made a difference with my T-bird as it was temperatures that was holding back the chip that I purchased. It was an AXIAR from a bad week. With an Alpha PAL 6035 and delta fan, it peaked at 1.3ghz at 49-51C full load. I switched to a Aquastealth II with Aquacoil radiator and I was able to hit 1.4ghz at 39-41C full load. I voltage modded my mobo and with better thermal compound, I was able to hit 1.466 at 43C full load. One thing to make sure if you watercool is to plan for good airflow in your case. And always make sure you draw air in from outside (its always cooler) your case. I have a 7237 Enlight case and drilled out all the holes in the front panel to make them bigger and drilled over twice as many more, just to make sure my radiator was never starved for air. I think the people that get disappointing results either have a poor radiator or aren't moving enough air through it.

BTW, with a 1.6A @ 2.4ghz, my temps at full load are 38C highest. (That is uncalibrated too, calibrating my temps dropped the readings by 3C). How to calibrate for anyone thats interested.

 

[MTDEW]

How are the koolance cases for newbies?
koolance case

 

[lastig21]

I ran a watercooled setup for awhile. The watercooler made a huge difference in overclocking, but I am still not sure that it is worth it. When overclocking with a heatsink, I thought my voltage was what was holding me back. I couldn't hit 1.6 with 1.875volts. With watercooling, I could run 1.6stable at 1.80v. I didn't really have time to tweak it out because my waterpump died, so I gave up the watercooling.

I don't know what week chip you have, but very few 1.4ghz Tbirds ever get to see the 1.7mark (and those that do are in peltiered or even more extreme systems). Assuming that you could hit 1.65ghz with watercooling, would the 100mhz difference from the oc now make any difference to you in real world performance? I did it more as a hobby, and honestly had fun with it until the pump died, but it was a great deal of work. If you go that route, don't go cheap on the parts. Do some research and get a high quality setup.


Here is my old setup if you want to check it out.

 

[alpineranger]

Extreme cooling is good for enjoyment, but a bad idea to save money, and potentially bad for your sanity. If you really want 1600, get a athlon xp 2000 (or whatever it is exactly that will get you 1600 mhz). That will get you a guaranteed stable 1600 mhz. I had a lot of friends who were once into watercooling (back in the celeron 300a days). None of them do it anymore, and not because they can't afford to.

 

[greg]

With CPU prices what they are, NO. Back in the day it was, but today try to notice even a 30% OC. With superfast systems, its like modding your Corvette to get that extra .2 sec in the quarter. DO it for fun, but don't try to justify it pricewise.

 

[exp]

<< Is extreme cooling worth it? >>

Not from a price-to-performance ratio but if you have the cash it can be a fun way to expand your computer hobby.

 

[MTDEW]

My friend ordered a koolance case.
we'll let him play with the water cooling for awhile & see if its worth it for me.

In the meantime as you can see, I replaced my 1.4 tbird with an 1900xp that does 1775mhz "air cooled" for a measly $200.00 minus the $100.00 I sold my 1.4 tbird chip for.

So Im more than happy with my $100.00 purchase.
So I guess alpineranger and I think alike.


He says, Thanks for the advice guys.
we're very interested to see how much maintenence water cooling is & how much it helps with overclocking also.

For now, Im taking the wait n see approach & i'll watch & see how his watercooled project turns out, before I decide.