# Pros and cons of water cooling



## p_o_s_pc (May 4, 2007)

What are the PROS and CONS of water cooling your CPU?


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## technicks (May 4, 2007)

Pro is: keeps stuff nice and cool.

Cons are: Good watercooling is expensive


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## p_o_s_pc (May 5, 2007)

There has to be more than that


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## hat (May 5, 2007)

With watercooling there is always the risk of getting a leak...


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## Kreij (May 5, 2007)

Pros : 
1) Excelllent heat dissapation. Water is better than air for that.
2) You simply cannot get the same heat removal from an air system that you can get from liquid (although they are getting close)
3) Bragging rights. 
4) UV liquid cooled system look quite impressive. See #3

Cons : 
1) A good system is expensive, although with informed buying you can mitigate that greatly. 
2) A leak can kill your computer, however, if you are dilligent about your setup and testing you can virtually eliminate this risk.
3) There is Maintenance. Any LC system will have to be maintained. You will have to clean out your system on a regular basis to prevent corrosion and crud build up. This is the killer for me. I have enough crap to take care of at home, I don't want to have to drain-refill-bleed my computer every six months.

If you are looking to OC at extreme levels, go liquid. If you are not, a top of the line air, or Peltier, cooler is less of a hassle.

The most important thing is DO THE RESEARCH !


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## curt (May 5, 2007)

*hey*

i agrea about the hole being risky part 

but if your carefull u cane be safe from evin a major hose blow out 

like my water system has about 30-40 psi in the hoses an flow is crazy 

so im vary carfull about seals an protection for 1 cus my hoses can spray up to 5 feet open 

an 2 im using 30% antyfreez an 70% water [for my chiller system so it can take the -20c temps]

[just so ppl know for some odd reson antyfreez carodes rilly fast if it gets on chips or solder points]

allso my hole water unit was free made from an olf water foutain pump an a air condishoner 

an my home made [copper] block  i made on the kitchen stove



[best part about wate cooling is if u have a big rig like mine it struggles just to beat room temp playing a game an with the cpu 5c off from my water evin on a 32c day ill be laphing then turn on my chiller

[cheak out my 3800+ boot or die to get an idea on my chiller]

[i allso have 2 s939 cpu.s that if water proffed the top on if u guys wana see i got some picks one i did with super glue an the other with 25year garinty out door window sealer


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## d44ve (May 5, 2007)

man, that was difficult to read =)


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## p_o_s_pc (May 6, 2007)

So is there any thing else?If ANY one has any pros or cons please post them.


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## frankenchrist (May 10, 2007)

*what*?


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## almighty (May 10, 2007)

PROS : Its very very good at keeping things cool

CON : Your PC components cant swim


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## suraswami (May 10, 2007)

Having toddlers at home running around oh no don't do it.


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## p_o_s_pc (May 11, 2007)

I don't have any kids yet only 14.I am going to try a good HSF with Copper and heat pipes and see how it does.Thanks every one.


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## RatusNatus (May 11, 2007)

My first one, Big Water 745, had a leak just on top of my $500 VGA.
It was on my first install of a WC system and its all my fault. Iv just put the screw too hard and it made a leak.

If you change your components regulary, then keep on air. Its hard to unnistall it on every change of hardware.


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## p_o_s_pc (May 11, 2007)

RatusNatus said:


> My first one, Big Water 745, had a leak just on top of my $500 VGA.
> It was on my first install of a WC system and its all my fault. Iv just put the screw too hard and it made a leak.
> 
> If you change your components regulary, then keep on air. Its hard to unnistall it on every change of hardware.



I change hardware alot    on my computer so water cooling wouldn't be smart 
I have a HSF on the way with the heatpipes and is copper so Monday i will see how it does also i have a video card in shipping 7900gs KO


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## largon (May 11, 2007)

+ Fun to build, tweak and tinker. 

- Annoying and time consuming to build, tweak and tinker if you're not in the mood or in a hurry and the system is in bits and pieces.


I just sold my WC gear and already planning for a new one.


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## RatusNatus (May 11, 2007)

largon said:


> + Fun to build, tweak and tinker.
> 
> - Annoying and time consuming to build, tweak and tinker if you're not in the mood or in a hurry and the system is in bits and pieces.
> 
> ...





Thats it!  But it really work.

I did a mobo RMA and didnt put back my WC. Iv bought a audugy 2 card and it stay at the very same place of the pump and reservoire, so, another 5 hours to spend to solve the cable problem and the "new" outside case place.


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## Mediocre (May 11, 2007)

almighty said:


> PROS : Its very very good at keeping things cool
> 
> CON : Your PC components cant swim


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## frankenchrist (May 12, 2007)

Try the Big Typhoon ot the new Coral looking Zalman They both are so close to water it is insane!

*Typhoon weighs a ton tho but I loved mine pre water.*


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## Deleted member 3 (May 12, 2007)

It doesn't cool better per definition, there are plenty of sets that cool at the same level of air but are very silent. Some people just love silence.


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## AT-2500 (May 12, 2007)

if you like to move your computer - buy this here.
you'll need it cause liquid cooling is heavy 


ok, for serious: i would not watercool my LAN PC...


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## Dippyskoodlez (May 12, 2007)

largon said:


> + Fun to build, tweak and tinker.
> 
> - Annoying and time consuming to build, tweak and tinker if you're not in the mood or in a hurry and the system is in bits and pieces.
> 
> ...



I love my water setup dearly, but its not for me.. I simply travel too much.  

However, for a desktop, I'm never going back to air.


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## Boneface (May 12, 2007)

I just went with the aquagate mini r120 and i love it keeps me at 35c on a hot day and i dont have to worry about leaking or refilling for a long time. All i have to do is use a can of air to keep my rad CRAP free. but of course its only for cpu


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## agapetos (May 20, 2007)

*WC and heat pipes*

Thanks for the cool forum, I look forward to snoop around for info.

I am in the process of building my first WC system and are also running into some cons:
I have 2 mobo that I can choose from, both of them have heat pipes for the north and south bridge. They are build in a way that thye airflow from the CPU cooler cools the heatpipe.
If I install a WC system, I am supposed to add this fan that ASUS provided in case of liquid cooling. But it is noisy....so, I don't want WC because of OCing, but because I want it quiet.
How do I get around this issue?

I am thinking to add a block on both the south and North bridge, but don't know if the standard blocks will fit this one. The mobos are M2N32-SLI Deluxe and GA-m59SLI-s5.

Anyone have any experience cooling any of these two mobos I would really be grateful.

Thanks!!!


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## frankenchrist (May 20, 2007)

If you are going to water cooling anyways then why not purchase a north bridge waterblock Koolance has water cooling aplications for nearly everything.


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## agapetos (May 20, 2007)

yeah, I think I need to do that for both north and south bridge, you think?
Also, the heatpipe is cooling a bunch of coils too, and I am think of doing my own mod on this one.


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## zekrahminator (May 20, 2007)

I'm too lazy and cheap for water cooling, so I buy all my heatsinks and fans from Arctic Cooling and Zalman .


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## jpierce55 (May 20, 2007)

I have a used Koolance Aquian, not top of the line at all. It swings out so changing components will be really easy, but I also have a full tower. It is by what I read not much better than stock cooling (but does my graphics card better than the Zalman 700). What it is, it is MUCH quieter than stock.

That said I paid $61 for it and no way would I pay the $230 for it and a g-card connection.

Leaks do look lower risk since it sits on the outside of the case:
http://www.koolance.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=28_48&products_id=204

How likely is a leak to kill your system? Is it rare? I know it is possible but have not heard much about it.


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## Zeratul_uy (May 21, 2007)

I got nice and silent air cooling, except the CPU fan, that makes too much noise, i thought about WC there is a time ago, but it's to expensive and one made by me can kill my pc xD 
that's the kind of modding i'm afraid of doing hehe


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## agapetos (May 21, 2007)

I put a bid on eBay on a Koolance Exos 2 and hope I get it cheap. It is supposed to be pretty powerful, and I'll have to get all the blocks and tubing seperate. Hope it is quit.


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## jpierce55 (May 21, 2007)

agapetos said:


> I put a bid on eBay on a Koolance Exos 2 and hope I get it cheap. It is supposed to be pretty powerful, and I'll have to get all the blocks and tubing seperate. Hope it is quit.



Try this for the parts it is where I got my little extras:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php


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