WC or buy new cpu? :P

I am considering the WC route but I'm a complete noob to this and would like some input.

Here's my setup:
ATi 9700pro 330/330
p4 2.66 @ 2.9
512mb ddr ram
wd 120g hd
vantec "stealth" psu
Lian Li PC61 case

Will I see way more gains with WC? How much does a WC usually run for and would it be better if I built a custom kit myself? What parts would you recommend?

The thing that worries me is that I dont think WC would fit in my case. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanx in advance.

best thing to do in this situation is examine your case, your budget, and how u think watercooling will benefit you. the search function is a good start if you feel lost.

In my opinion you will "gain" things like less noise, better temps, but real gains depend on your components/configuration. Take your 9700pro as example 330/330 is very conservative, my 9700pro does 396/344 easy on stock air. This is an example of config, your GPU O/C is around 1 1/2 percent(very little), your CPU O/C will depend on RAM(ratio), and MoBO. Certainly keeping it cool with water will help, but ultimately its up to your bits and peices, and how you choose to use them.

I would have to say go water. For one you no longer have to worry about noise, you'll get better temps and you'll be able to use it for while with different CPUs. So far I've doneair from stock to the Swiftech MC462 and 80mm 80CFM delta to water cooling and pelt in the form of a Swiftech MCW-462-UHT. Always had better temps with water but someday I hope to do a phase change cooler.

Dude I have the exact same CPU(see sig) & was stuck at 2.9 as well, UNTIL I got my WC kit up & running & my OC soared to 3.3. Now don't just assume that because it worked for me it will for you, there are lots of variables, I am just trying to show you what COULD be possible with WC. My entire system runs cooler now eventhough I'm only WC the CPU & everything is much quieter without that loud CPU fan in there. I'm VERY happy I switched to WC, despite the dent it put in my wallet.

Really seems to depend on what your goals are. If you want to try to get better O/C out of your system then obviously keeping it cooler will be a help, so watercooling is a good option. If you want to be able to get good cooling with less noise, watercooling will help. If you need better cooling, then watercooling will help.

However, if your current system is all the o/c you want, you have decent temps now, and you aren't concerned with the current noise, then perhaps there isn't much of a reason for you to go watercooling. Prolly sitting down and deciding what you want out of your system in comparison to what you have now will help you make a better decision. Good luck.

If you care about noise, can find a good chip and are planning on keeping the system a good while then go WC.

Just remember that watercooling is very expensive and can be very frusterating at some times. But once you get it built you will be very proud of it.

With it you will notice:

Much quieter.
Much cooler.
Much OC capabilites.
Much bragging rights .

Without it you will notice:

About $150-$250 in your saving account.
High temps.
Limited OC capabilities.
Very Noisy.

It's all up to you. As a newbie to watercooling, I did it just fine with very few problems. Remember, you always have the forums around to give you some help (and I couldnt have done it without you guys).

Good luck if you plan on taking on this challenge. I think you will be glad once you see the end result!

Thanx for all the replies. I'm leaning towards WC even more now.

camel: How the hell did you get those numbers? I have the OEM ATi's 9700pro and I start seeing artifacts. I haven't done anything to the card hardware wise, I just use the stock air fan. no heatsink on the mem either. Am I doing something wrong?

I forgot to mention I have ASUS P2B mainboard with corsair xms memory.

So the budget for WC is no more than $300? Thats really nothing compared to all the money I put into my car, relatively speaking of course. lol

Calavera for $300 you could build a very good watercooling set-up. Matter of fact for $350 you could get a whole Swiftech watercooled case.

Calavera said:

Thanx for all the replies. I'm leaning towards WC even more now.

camel: How the hell did you get those numbers? I have the OEM ATi's 9700pro and I start seeing artifacts. I haven't done anything to the card hardware wise, I just use the stock air fan. no heatsink on the mem either. Am I doing something wrong?

I forgot to mention I have ASUS P2B mainboard with corsair xms memory.

So the budget for WC is no more than $300? Thats really nothing compared to all the money I put into my car, relatively speaking of course. lol

Click to expand...

P2B??? (thats a P3 BX chipset)

I have a retail 9700pro, I do think I got lucky with a good one, but your Core has to have more. Your Mem may very well crap out around 330, try Async and see what that core will do.(uncheck the Sync box in Rad Clocker)
I also use Omegas drivers http://www.omegacorner.com/ (driver package including RadClocker, ArtifactTester, 9800 hack)

Here is a surprise- I go along with water cooling too

Here are my reasons:

with modern cpu's there is little NOTICEABLE difference between - say - 2 Ghz to 3 Ghz. It is there, but for most uses/applications it is not very noticeable.

That makes upgrading a cpu not that cost effective, IMO.

Add to that the constant decrease in prices with the newest being quite expensive....well, I would much rather have a $100 2 gig chip than a $350 3 gig. (figures are pulled from a hat and do not reflect actual prices )
In another 6 months chips will be that much cheaper, yadda, yadda, yadda. Chip upgrades for an AMD faster than 1.8 or Intel faster than 2.2 just don't make too much sense to me right now. A whole NEW system, yes, but not upgrading a cpu that can still keep up.

Water cooling on the other hand.....worst case you might have to get a new water block for a new system- the rest of the components will work and be able to handle the load.

For $300 you can build a fantastic, second to NONE water cooling system that should last you a few years at least. And have money left over
It can make your system quieter, may improve overclock-ability, will reduce cpu temps, can be a LOT of fun to mess with (if you enjoy tweaking hardware) and let's face it: water cooled computers are just COOL, even if the temps were high....

Better return for the money as far as value is concerned.

ROFLMAO, I dont know why I said P2B ahahaahhaahah. sorry, I meant P4PE. lol my bad

I use radtweaker and I just heard 330/330 is safe. I paid around 300ish for my card so I didn't want to risk frying it.
btw, what is 9800 hack? if omega is better than radtweak I'll try that too.

$350 for a WC case seems nice but I really like my black Lian Li case.. where can I take a look at those cases btw?

Also, if I was to make a WC kit myself, where should I start looking for parts?

I'd appreciate it if you guys could just list what you guys would consider a very nice WC setup and I'll look into those parts. (probably just buy those too )

Again, thanx for all the help, now I'm determined to WC my rig.

Look Here

Those are the parts and the setup that I recommend with 100% confidence. There are a lot of substitutions that can be made to save money though, or meet certain design criteria you may have.

I won't tell you which parts to substitute though
That's what the forum's "Search" button is for

I just went through 10 pages reading most of the threads that I thought might help, the one you linked was one of them =)

hehe Welp glad its not a P2B

If your willing to spend $350, spend $200 on WC, and the rest on an Asus P4P800 D. You will see some "Gain"!

A new Asus mainboard, eh? From the name I take its 800fsb? Don't I have to reinstall windows when I swtich mobos?

btw, whats a shroud?

I wish that post of yours rogerdugans would become a w/c sticky, I keep having to search for it. It is in almost every thread asking questions these days and is a great setup. I would REALLY have liked to have had 300.00 to build my watercooling setup, I think I spent like 150.00 total.

So far I've come up with these for my kit:

Cathar's Cascade WB for CPU
DangerDen's WB for Radeon 9700pro
Enheim 1250 pump
1/2" Tygon Tubing

Still undecided on radiator, heatercore, fans.

Will heatsinks suffice for the mems on my 9700pro? I understand these get hot, but I'm not sure if they're really neccessary.
Also, not sure if I need chipset wb on the mobo.. do I? DangerDen ZBlock looks really nice.

it all depends on how high you want to go with your fsb. i am not familiar with intel mobos, but on amd ones, once you get past 200mhz fsb you definately need to watercool the northbridge.