is water cooling a viable option for average joes yet?

[PremiumG]

is water cooling for CPU viable for average joes yet? I mean, are they easy to install (do places sell kits), do they take up a lot of space in the case, and what are the risks of leakage?

also, costs... how much do kits costs?

 

[Zebo]

I'm average Joe and two of my setups are WC I mainly did it for silence. As I can run a couple large 120mm fans at inaudible RPMs over a radiator and still have excellent cooling. Modern GPU's and CPU's just began to require too much noise to cool them. And overclcoking forgettabout it..

1. Yes very easy
2. Kits suck BYO, cheaper and better performing
3. No if you have a big case and use 3/8 tube
4. No risk of leak.
5. Self assembled kit from parts about $100 maybe $120 if you want to cool GPU too. Swifttech (only kit worth a damn) kits range from $200 to $400. Koolance is about $220 and includes case.

 

[imported_NoGodForMe]

Yes, it's easy for the average joe.
Buy yourself a Koolance.
Newegg sells the parts.
The unit sits on top of the computer. You still need case fans to move air across the MB.
Read thru my site to see what I built. I took my time and had no problems, and this was my first water cooling setup. Just remember, if you buy an Athlon CPU, you'll need a special bracket found on the Koolance site for $6.99. In my case, I just bent the clips back and it worked.
http://www.nogodforme.com/MyBabyTera.htm
It's a lot to look at, so just view the pictures at the top, and then scroll to the bottom to see the final pics.

 

[ZobarStyl]

Yes, water cooling is very viable for the average joe, and if you do it right, there's nothing to really worry about so disregard the naysayers who believe you will destroy your whole computer. Hell, just last night I was draining/filling the system and during that time one of the tubes got knocked around on the system and came undone spilling a fair amount of water onto my mobo and 6800GT...but since I use doubly distilled water I just let it dry out and the system is back on running perfectly. Point of the story: just make sure to get a fillport =).

Either way, the Koolance systems, though just kits and thus are not near as fun, are entirely self contained and pretty much incapable of leaking or getting screwy.

 

[MetalMat]

Your average joe could probably do it, but whats the point? Your average joe does not care about getting 1000 more points in 3dmark or 10 more fps by overclocking. Unless the fans make alot of noise, then there is no reason for the average joe to do it.

 

[jbh129]

for my first foray in watercooling I went with a swiftech kit. They offer good pumps, decent radiators and decent cpu blocks with everything you need to set it up.They are also upgradeable which is nice.

 

[Gnoad]

Im a total newcomer to WCing and I've just been studying up at dangerden.com looking at various parts and how it all works together. Pretty simple, and I plan on building a WC setup pretty soon. I may not have experience, but I feel fairly confident now.

 

[coolred]

I was wondering this myself, was always worried baout leaking and ruining my system, but it seems as that is pretty much a moot point, and that these things are pretty reliable and safe. But I am still wondering if its worth the extra cost? I am not too worried about noise, although quiter is always better. But I think my next system may be based on the DFI Lanparty UT 250Gb, which we all know is a great overclocker. But fi water cooling only nets me another 100-200 Mhz, it may just be cheaper to buy a 200Mhz faster processor.