Watercooling. The whole hog or just the CPU?

[BoomAM]

Hi,
In a few months time, i`ll be upgrading my rigs cooling to water cooling. I was wondering if it is worth water cooling the Video card and Northbridge as well.
Am i really gonna get that much better OCs out of the mobos chipset by having it water cooled, or can i get away with the zalman mobo hs i own?
And is it really worth the extra for VGA cooling? Or will a Zalman ZM80A-HP and a 80mm fan be enough. I wont be volt modding the card bty.

What about acoustic matting? any good?

The kit i was thinking of was one of the Asetek kits from OC UK, theres a review of the stuff at www.bit-tech.net .

 

[GAZZA]

I would say to start with if your gonna overclock then just concentrate on the cpu, your north bridge can be cooled and I think a lot depends on which chipset your using and if it already has some form of fan cooling on it.

If your not overclockin' the vid card then a zalman is fine especially if your also looking into making your pc quieter !

That is a decent review of the kit which looks pretty good, nothing special though but then again your rather limited to what you can get in the UK compared to being here in the states !

The Hydrocool 200 is another good product getting some rave reviews on the net but your limited right now to just the cpu cooling as I'm not sure how well it would do if your tried to add on to the system trying to cool down a vga/nb chip.

Also check the weath of imformation over at OVERCLOCKERS.COM and also check out Chill-Tek.com for some real good watercooling gear such as the latest blocks from DangerDen,etc....

Hope this helps.

 

[BoomAM]

Ive read a couple of reviews that say that they hydrocool sucks.
What about the EXOS?
Would a better 120mm fan improve the cooling of the Asetek?
Ive been thinking it out, and i wont actually have anywhere to place the radiator in my system. Cos my only fan outlet that near the right size, is my 92mm exhaust.

 

[GAZZA]

A lot depends on your case, some have setup the radiator near the front of the case with a fan mounted on both sides to create a push pull effect and have the air extracted out of the front of the lower part of your case where you normally have a 80/92mm fan for bringing air into your pc.

Check out these images for what I'm talking about Here and Here and Here

I would say you need to figure out the layout of your case first before deciding on what your going to buy as this will dictate it to some degree.

There are quite a few places you can have your radiator either inside or outside of your case but it may require you to do some modification to your case to accomodate the cooling system.

Also there are diff sizes of radiators to use but obviously the smaller your radiator the less efficient it will be.

Like I said check the OC forums they really do have a boatload of info especially if your starting/thinking of watercooling.

 

[BoomAM]

Im not keen on modding my case to be honest.
There are pictures of of my system internally and externally on my website, which is in my sig.

 

[GAZZA]

LOL man I thought you had a tiny case or something, you've got plenty of room !
You can mount something like a BlackIce pro to that fan hole you have above your psu with a fan either side of it without too much hassle.
I have a case similar that I intend to do the same thing without modifying my case too much right now.

 

[BoomAM]

I`d prefer to buy them as kits. Easyier to do. No hassle either.

 

[NokiaDude]

If i had a watercooling setup I'd try to set it up to cool the North and South bridges. Better stability overall.

 

[Lash444]

I wouldn't cool both thats for sure. Put a good heatsink on there and then get good air circulation going through the case. The reason I say this is because adding a northbridge and southbridge will decrease water circulation. Go read some stuff at overclockers forums. The only things I personally would recommend is the CPU, and when you get a handle on the stuff, the GPU.

 

[BoomAM]

Originally posted by: Lash444
I wouldn't cool both thats for sure. Put a good heatsink on there and then get good air circulation going through the case. The reason I say this is because adding a northbridge and southbridge will decrease water circulation. Go read some stuff at overclockers forums. The only things I personally would recommend is the CPU, and when you get a handle on the stuff, the GPU.

I`m considering getting an Asetek WaterChill CPU Cooling kit. At least.
I am undecided as wether i should cool the GFX card with water as well, or to get a Zalman ZM80A-HP.

Im still not 100% if i should get the Asetek or the Koolance EXOS.
Im researching how to fit the Asetek to my case, if serious case modding is required, then i`ll get the EXOS, but if its just drilling a few holes, then i`ll get the Asetek.