Thinking of going water cooled; is it quieter?

[RIGorous1]

Hi everyone, I'm thinking of going water cooling for my system because I can't stand the noise my system makes ever since I got my klipsch promedia 4.1's. I'm not sure if water cooling is the solution though because the radiator unit in the water cooling systems have fans too right? and I'm not sure if that noise level will be any better.

Also, if water cooling is significantly better than air cooling, then why hasn't all systems gone water cooled? The technology has been around for awhile now, but why hasn't people picked up on it? or rather why haven't manufacturer's made watercooling more affordable?

 

[StageLeft]

Most companies don't do it because it's a more expensive and involved hassel than simply slapping a heatsink and a fan onto a CPU. Yes it's superior cooling, but not so much so that most manufacturers feel the need to do it.

In regards to your case sound I'm not sure...I suppose it could be quieter if you get a small fan for the radiator, but perhaps you just need a quieter one for your CPU's existing heatsink?

 

[RIGorous1]

your right... I actually modded my system for this. I have, believe it or not, 6 80mm fans in my system in addition to my gf4 fan and various other small fans. 2 of which are variable rpm fans that can be manually downgraded to 800rpm @ 15 dbs. The other fans are vantec stealths with run 28cfms @ 21dbs.

My problem is that i have too many quiet fans that add up. So my question becomes: is a water cooler quieter and better than using all the fans I have now?

Does anyone have a water cooled system want to comment on how loud their system is?

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: RIGorous1
your right... I actually modded my system for this. I have, believe it or not, 6 80mm fans in my system in addition to my gf4 fan and various other small fans. 2 of which are variable rpm fans that can be manually downgraded to 800rpm @ 15 dbs. The other fans are vantec stealths with run 28cfms @ 21dbs.

My problem is that i have too many quiet fans that add up. So my question becomes: is a water cooler quieter and better than using all the fans I have now?

Does anyone have a water cooled system want to comment on how loud their system is?

How about a rheostat or a fan controller? You can turn the fans down as much as you want. Turn them up during a game a little because speakers will be on and turn them down and even some off during web browsing.

 

[0roo0roo]

vantec stealths aren't as quiet as u'd want for the rpm its weird, i havea few. two cases with rheostats

both have the psu/case fans regulated. i slow down even the 92mm vantec stealths a bit. the ghetto mod case has 2 92mm vantecs, and 2 80mm vantecs. each channel can handle several fans. the other case has generic case led fans, sound the same once u turn em down. water cooling is a hassle, it better have no leaks or your so screwed. if the single pump dies, your system will too. you have a little leeway with fans. not sure how load a pump/fan on the radiator would be anyhow, but you'd be able to hide the pump i guess.

 

[squidman]

Yo son, u live in Sahara? I just looked at pics of yo rig with all them fans...DAMN! i mean, i used my pc in 30C room temperature, which is REALLY hot, and it was cool. AND i ran stock at the time, with just one exhaust and 1 intake fan. AND my $#!+ was overclocked. u hrdcore bro. Get rif of them useless PCI and agp fans, whassup with that?

 

[Cerb]

Three fans are all you need.
1 slow and quiet intake for HDs.
1 slow and quiet exhaust.
1 adjustable for the CPU (or get a Zalman fanmate for the current one).
Zalman heatpipe for video.

Look at your cables!
Now look at this!
Cable routing
No need to be that precise, but you have your case airflow blocked with those cables. Get them out of the way and you won't need all those fans. Zip ties are your friends.

 

[OverVolt]

Wow, my case is kinda neat, but ya gotta be an orogami expert to pull that off.

 

[EeyoreX]

I have 2 rigs. My server rig has 3 80mm fans, plus the HSF. It's fairly quiet, the 80mms are hooked up to a Sunbeam rheobus.

My main rig has 5 80mm fans all connected to a Sunbeam rheobus as well, plus another 80mm fan on my AX-7HS. It's generally quieter than the server because the server has a Volcano 7+ that needs replacing to something quieter.

I agree with some of what squidman said. The stuff that I could understand anyhow, about the PCI slot coolers. I had one and found it was loud and useless so I got rid of it. I don't understand how manufacturers get away with them. The heat rises but they (the one I had and have seen anyhow) seem to be designed to cool the things above them by pulling air? Maybe it works in theory, but they didn't help me. I think if you rheobus and ax the PCI slot coolers you'll be a happier and more sane computer user. I for one, do not want to introduce the hassle and bother, not to mention the potential for disaster, of a water cooling setup in my already fairly quiet rigs.

\Dan

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: OverVolt (edit: spelling--pet peeve)
Wow, my case is kinda neat, but ya gotta be an origami expert to pull that off.

As I said, you don't need to be the that precise...I'm nowhere near that good, but I can still get the cables out of the way.
On water...it looked pretty good.
Then You could 7v fans (or buy/make a rheobus) and get heatsinks as good or better than the AX-7. Such solutions are quieter than even the magnetic pumps, and as cheap or cheaper than water cooling.

 

[Lonyo]

Use some 1200m fans running quite slowly (7v mod them?). That should push quite a bit of air with very little noise.

 

[corkyg]

Water cooling is very quiet unless you get a leak of some sort - then the strange hisses and crackles can be unnerving.

 

[DTSS]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Most companies don't do it because it's a more expensive and involved hassel than simply slapping a heatsink and a fan onto a CPU. Yes it's superior cooling, but not so much so that most manufacturers feel the need to do it.

In regards to your case sound I'm not sure...I suppose it could be quieter if you get a small fan for the radiator, but perhaps you just need a quieter one for your CPU's existing heatsink?