Hi,
I need some advice on watercooling parts to buy for a new rig project. The only catch here is that I received some gift certificates from dangerden for Christmas, so I'd like to get some parts from that site. But I'm not locked into getting everything from them. (I have about 150 in GC)
Here are the parameters:
Computer building experience: Expert
Watercooling Experience: Beginner (I have a Coolermaster Aquagate I running in my current machine)
Note: I'm very technically inclined, and I have no fears about doing this at all. I understand most of the concepts of watercooling, and do not let my current watercooler give you cloud your judgement. I know it is not a real watercooling solution.
The parts I have already:
TT Mozart Case
PC Power and Cooling 750W SLI PSU
EVGA 780i
(I'll be doing the tradeup of my 680i in the next couple of weeks)
EVGA 8800 GTX
Corsair Dominator 8500C5D 4x1GB
CPU - I have two choices:
QX6700
Q6600 G0 Stepping
Any suggestions here? QX6700 is an engineering sample, and has an unlocked multiplier. I've had it running @ 3.1 on air. The Q6600 I've had @ 3 on air. Neither one I've spent tremendous amount of time tweaking. There might be more headroom on both.
Objectives:
I want performance more than silence. I don't want the noise of a jet engine, but if it's no louder than a medium noise air cooler, I'm ok with that. But I want as much performance as that sound level can deliver.
I want something as maintenance free as possible. I have very little time in my life, and if I have to do much more than topping off the coolant, or performing some maintenance more than twice a year, it's not going to get done.
I want as little customization work as possible. I have no problem putting together different parts, testing, etc. But I don't want to have to get out the dremel either.
I don't care how it looks. Performance > pretty lights, polished chrome, etc.
Video card: I only have one 8800GTX right now, but I want the flexibility to go SLI. I might even go crazy some time in the distant future and go tri-SLI, so if that flexibility can be built in, great. But I don't want to spend super $$$ to allow me to do this, so if it will cost mega $$$ skip it..
Budget: Like I said, I have $150 in DD gift certs. I'm willing to kick in another $300 or so right now. If the system has expandability, that would be great.
So anyone have any thoughts for me? It would be greatly appreciated. Let me know if you need any more info.
Thanks,
Rich
I need some advice on watercooling parts to buy for a new rig project. The only catch here is that I received some gift certificates from dangerden for Christmas, so I'd like to get some parts from that site. But I'm not locked into getting everything from them. (I have about 150 in GC)
Here are the parameters:
Computer building experience: Expert
Watercooling Experience: Beginner (I have a Coolermaster Aquagate I running in my current machine)
Note: I'm very technically inclined, and I have no fears about doing this at all. I understand most of the concepts of watercooling, and do not let my current watercooler give you cloud your judgement. I know it is not a real watercooling solution.
The parts I have already:
TT Mozart Case
PC Power and Cooling 750W SLI PSU
EVGA 780i
(I'll be doing the tradeup of my 680i in the next couple of weeks)
EVGA 8800 GTX
Corsair Dominator 8500C5D 4x1GB
CPU - I have two choices:
QX6700
Q6600 G0 Stepping
Any suggestions here? QX6700 is an engineering sample, and has an unlocked multiplier. I've had it running @ 3.1 on air. The Q6600 I've had @ 3 on air. Neither one I've spent tremendous amount of time tweaking. There might be more headroom on both.
Objectives:
I want performance more than silence. I don't want the noise of a jet engine, but if it's no louder than a medium noise air cooler, I'm ok with that. But I want as much performance as that sound level can deliver.
I want something as maintenance free as possible. I have very little time in my life, and if I have to do much more than topping off the coolant, or performing some maintenance more than twice a year, it's not going to get done.
I want as little customization work as possible. I have no problem putting together different parts, testing, etc. But I don't want to have to get out the dremel either.
I don't care how it looks. Performance > pretty lights, polished chrome, etc.
Video card: I only have one 8800GTX right now, but I want the flexibility to go SLI. I might even go crazy some time in the distant future and go tri-SLI, so if that flexibility can be built in, great. But I don't want to spend super $$$ to allow me to do this, so if it will cost mega $$$ skip it..
Budget: Like I said, I have $150 in DD gift certs. I'm willing to kick in another $300 or so right now. If the system has expandability, that would be great.
So anyone have any thoughts for me? It would be greatly appreciated. Let me know if you need any more info.
Thanks,
Rich