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Water Cooling New System - Exos Al

T

Thomasag

Member
For a low-overclocking, harcore AMD64 gaming system - I'm lookin to water cool to maintain low temps and exceptional performance.

So far the Koolance Exos Al looks like the easiest (for a newbie builder like myself) and safest way to go.

This sh*t is spendy. The Exos only comes with a CPU waterblock, and you can buy different "coolers" to replace it? What about vid card and hard drive components?

Does anyone have the exos or <b>know which water blocks would be best to couple with the system?</b> Maybe if someone is using it they could <b>list off what components they hooked up.</b>

Thnks 10x


PS. complete/detailed alternatives to the exos welcome
 
Hi

I have an Athlon XP-M 2600 OCed to 2.5GHz that is one an Exos.. It gets pretty good temps. with a room temp of 28C it gets 33-35C under load using Prime 95 (temp read from on die using MBM5). It would be hard to do that with air without sounding like a vacuum cleaner. In mode 2 it is very quiet.

Before you say I'm biased I also have a A64 3200+ system that is custom using DD TDX/120mm radiator/MCP600 1/2" ID. This gets better temps but it's not an enormous difference. I cant directly compare since they are in different systems. If you really want a huge difference you need TEC/Water Chiller/Phase Change.

One nice thing about the Exos is it has 2 tiny pumps so if one goes out the other can limp the system along. (Though I havent heard of this happening to anyone.) Also the temp sensor and fan control is built in. So it's pretty much hands free. It was also easier to set up than the DIY. For the first timer this is a good way to start. You can also take this setup more easily from case to case. [ NO case mods necessary. That was a huge plus unlike my A64 system.]

Either way you go, you'll get good temps and quieter system.

EDIT: You need water blocks of course.. The one I use for my exos is CPU300H06 I also have a GPU 180L06 but I dont have that in the loop currently on the exos system cos the vid card for that has a VGA silencer on it that I put in a long time ago. The tubing for Exos is 1/4" to fit through the PCI so your block also have to be 1/4" unless you want to use adapters. You can "daisy chain" your coolers for VGA and/or MB and/or HD if necessary.

You can find exos quite a bit cheaper on Ebay. (some brand new too. That is how I got mine. $167 for Exos AL with the CPU300H06 Brannew still sealed.)

 
I run the Exos-Al with the CPU300H06 waterblock on an Athlon XP-M 2600+ @ 2.6GHz (1.85v) - I idle around 39C for the most part and while you can get better results with air cooling it will be MUCH louder...before I had an Thermalright SP-97 and a Panaflo H1 92mm fan and while the temps were about 3-5C lower it was much louder...

I am also running the GPU180L06 waterblock on the NB chipset...it's fantastic...
 
So, so far it looks like I'd go Exos Al with the CPU300H06 (cpu waterblock) and the GPU180L06 (vid card waterblock).

Will the CPU300H06 fit an Asus 6800 ultra? should i wait for a better waterblock to come out for the vid card?

what about hard drive/other component cooling? important?

Thnx for the input so far, and if there's more ppl with the exos plz list your setup!
 
Just cool your CPU and video card with water. Anything else is unnecessary. You could get a passive cooler for your chipset and HDD's if you want, but make sure you have good case airflow or there pointless.
 
Originally posted by: Ackmed
Originally posted by: pirred908
Top notch compared to what? I could get an air system to run better temps.
Click to expand...


False.
Click to expand...

i guess but its not a great system either. it doesn't have the noise advantage since its loud as f*ck and sits right on top of your pc. radiator isn't all that big either. but its an easy to use kit thats for sure.
 
Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
Originally posted by: Ackmed
Originally posted by: pirred908
Top notch compared to what? I could get an air system to run better temps.
Click to expand...


False.
Click to expand...

i guess but its not a great system either. it doesn't have the noise advantage since its loud as f*ck and sits right on top of your pc. radiator isn't all that big either. but its an easy to use kit thats for sure.
Click to expand...

It isn't loud unless it is on Mode 3 - Modes 1 and 2 are extremely quiet...having it on top of my case is an advantage I think because it looks nice sitting on a Cooler Master Praetorian...
 
Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
Originally posted by: Ackmed
Originally posted by: pirred908
Top notch compared to what? I could get an air system to run better temps.
Click to expand...


False.
Click to expand...

i guess but its not a great system either. it doesn't have the noise advantage since its loud as f*ck and sits right on top of your pc. radiator isn't all that big either. but its an easy to use kit thats for sure.
Click to expand...

Actually you can get air system to run nearly the same temps.. but it would probably be in the neighborhood of 50+ dBs. I dont know where you get the noise figure for "loud as a f*ck" but I think it's in the neighborhood of 30+ dB. Mode 3 is noisy but who in their right mind uses mode 3 on an exos? I mean even in mode 2 it rarely even begins to ramp up for me on hottest of days. (In California here) I have it on a 2.5Ghz AXP-M. Just for reference, my HD seek is louder than it.

You're wrong about the size of the exos radiator too. It's twice the size of my 120m Dtek Pro. It's big enough to have 3 80mm fans length wise on it. Having both I would say my custom is more powerful but Exos is easier to get along with at a good performance for unchilled water cooling. What reduces the performance on this system is just the amount of water it pushes through the system.
 
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