Is watercooling worth it?

[charlie21]

I was all set to buy about $70-80 bucks worth of fans and a heatsink for my system, when I noticed that there are watercooling setups available for not much more than that. My question is, how much trouble is it to maintain a watercooled rig? How frequently do you need to add water, how often do the parts need to be replaced, things of that nature. And would this be quieter than a good Panaflo fan setup?

 

[cheapgoose]

i'm no expert but i think a high end air cooling set-up can be as effective as a low end water setup.

if you're gonna go water, go with quality parts. I'm kind of slowly buying parts for my next rig, it'll take awhile but it'll be worth it when it's complete.

 

[charlie21]

I'm more concerned with noise than anything. Temperature doesn't bother me, as long as my system is stable. I'm running an XP1800+ with the retail HSF @ 55C right now. Runs like a champ, and has for 7 months now. But I'm getting a new case and I was looking to invest in a nice, quiet cooling solution that would last me a while.

 

[cheapgoose]

oh, well if that's the case, get yourself a slk800 and a nice ystech adjustable, or panaflo if you wish. for case fans, some nmbs would do the job, they're very quiet but doesn't push too much air. also, a bay bus or rheobus will take care of any noise problems.

 

[EeyoreX]

How many fans were you looking at for 70 bux? In my server case I have 3 80mm fans, plus the PSU fans. I run the fans at about half speed with a Sunbeam rheobus and I am quite and cool enough to be stable. I won't win any "Low Temp Awards" but I don't need or want to. My load temp is no higher than 56C and I am always stable.

[EDIT]Oh, and I am not to keen on introducing water to my PC. So I'll just stick to the air colling.[/EDIT]

\Dan

 

[Syborg1211]

I bought my entire watercooling system at www.d-tekcustoms.com and i spent around 300 bucks on it. Is it worth it? Well I was going for extreme but quiet cooling, and I got it. It's not as silent as it can be either because I have a louder 120mm fan. Current cpu temp is 37 degrees with an ambient of around 30+. I can now sleep at night with the loudest thing in my room being the ceiling fan...