Help a gal dabble in OCing

[Kirst]

My system is coming together, I finally got windows installed, woooo hooooo, but still need my other 60gb to come in the mail. Anyway, it is a 1.2 266 on a kt7a raid. So I thought it would be cool to play with it a little. Could someone help me out here. Should I just use a dangerden waterblock, or a tec and waterblock?? Is there another way I should go?? I don't want condensation, I have seen those silicone kits...are they any good?? Do I coat the entire motherboard?? Do I use foam?? If a tec is potted, does it create condensation more?? I live in arizona, its its very dry here, so what should I do?? If I do get a waterblock, where do i get one of those nifty pumps?? Is silicone hose very secure?? Sorry that I have all these questions, just want to be on the safe side. I have read lots of reviews and stuff, but I would rather hear from down to earth people who have used different products. Well I guess that is my rant and rave, sorry, I guess its a girl thing. Any help, suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Email me, post, do whatever you can to get me my information.

Kirstin

[stool]

Just quickly, if you haven't played around with supercooling yet, start out with watercooling. As watercooling won't get you below ambient temperatures, you shouldn't have to worry about condensation. You can pick up pumps, radiators, etc. from the vendors who appear on the main page. DangerDen and Overclock-Watercool are two I have done business with, and they will sell complete watercooling kits. Seriously. I wouldn't consider using a pelt until you know all the ins and outs of doing so, as the condensation and power issues can come back to haunt you.

[Kirst]

Ok, so let me see. You say I should just go with a waterblock of some sorts first, correct?? What kinda of temps should I be running right now with my 1.2 and heatsink and fan?? What kinda temp drops will I get if I am to use a waterblock?? I am running like 37C at idle I think. The dangerden waterblocks look better than the ones from Overclock-Watercool, but who knows. Any more information would be greatly appreciated.

Kirstin

[diehrd]

For an idle temp 37c is a little high what heat sink are you using ???

I too am going to water cooling,Will use the dangerden waterblock.Although there was an aluminum water block I had see and it reviewed very well, wish i knew were i saw it lol.

What heat sink are you using I have the 1.2 266fsb and at ful load using the alpha 6035 I run at 45c,Overclocked to 1330.10x133.Can run stable at 1.46,However the heat hits 49c to 51c depending on what i am doing and at that temp there is no head room left.Hence I will water cool to get temps into the 30 to 35c full load ranges.

[Random Horowitz]

I just got a Swifttech model MC462-A. This thing is incredible I'm running my 800tbird at (125X8) for exactly a gig. I'm idling at around 33 degress C. I was playing quake3 team arena for about 30 minutes and quit the game and checked the temp it was at 38C. The heatsink was 80 bucks. The tests I have seen done with it. It gets numbers close to the water cooling version. You can find Joe;s review on the heatsink or go to www.swiftnets.com There is a 4 week backorder for it but it;s worth it.

KT7A-Raid 800 TBIRD @1000 1.85v whoohoo I made the magic number. :) (125X8)

256 REv2 Mushkin RAm @ cas 2
1 20 gig 7200 IBM deskstar and 1 10 gig 7200 Desktar
Plexwriter 12/10/32
Kenwood 72X cd-rom
Sb live
3com NIC

[surlyjoe]

that alumin block is known as "the tidepool" , and they kick ass for aluminum :)

[Kriegster]

In my opinion watercooling ain't worth the aggravation unless you are going to be using peltiers. I would probably opt to get a 1.33 ghz cpu and the best aircooling I could find and you will get within 5% of the performance you would get with the watercooling. Another nice thing about aircooling is you most likely won't run out of air and burn up your cpu :) I guess it also depends on wether you use air conditioning in your computer room. Arizona and aircooled athlons prolly don't mix well in the summer without ac :)

[BigAir]

Right on, I live in Arizona too. If you need any help setting your PC up, let me know by sending me an E-mail. The heat is terrible here isn't it? You should stick with a fan cooler for now I think. When you get used to that, then get some watercooling.

[Kirst]

Ok, so far everyone says that I should stay away from using a tec and waterblock because I don't know what im doing. So maybe I will just use a wateblock, I like the dangerden designs, they look cool, but maybe there is something else to waterblocks that I don't know. And when my system runs at idle, im at like 40C, and everyone seems to say thats hot. So I want to get it down. HELP ME PLEASE

Kirstin

[Thelemac]

You never did tell us what hsf you were using...and thermal compound? Case airflow? Case size? How portable you want it?

Water can make it fairly unportable, since you may or may not be able to fit it all in your case...

Since you seem hellbent on watercooling at the very least, I would recommend DangerDen for the waterblock and radiator. For the pump you should look into what kind of flow rate you want (I believe I saw surlyjoe mention that over 90 gph was overkill) and whether you want to go inline or submersed. If none of this makes sense, then you should do some more research on the main page under watercooling to get started. If you haven't already, I'd recommend that anyway, since you should definately have a good idea of what you're going to be doing before you do it.

[Kirst]

Ummm....I am using an antec 1030 case. I am not sure what heatsink and fan i'm using, its nothing special, i think it was only like 8 bucks or something, and it came preassembled so I am not even sure about the thermal paste. As far as the waterpump, i would rather run submerged, it seem more sealed. My case is pretty cluttery, maybe I can run the pump on the outside and run the tubes through holes I can get someone to drill for me?? As for portability, it doesn't really matter, its pretty set so I shouldn't worry, but my case is cluttered with wires and ribbon cable, :*( Any more help would be appreciated, where can I get a pump from??

[Kriegster]

8 dollar hsf's just dont cut it. you want a $25 hsf and thermal paste:) you can also try running your computer with the case open. this will show you how much lower your temps would be if you ventilate your case. Also, until you get better cooling you should slow your cpu down and reduce the vcore. When choosing a heatsink bigger is usually better, and so is louder :)

[Kirst]

OK OK, so I guess I have a ****ty heatsink, but you can't blame me, I'm kinda new to all this. My case is ok air flow I think, there is the fan on the powersupply, then two 80MM fans blowing out the back, then a 80mm fan in the front blowing in and another 80mm fan in the front blowing over my harddrive, soon to be harddrives. I don't think the case being open would be that good, I ran it with it open and its just the same. Oh yeah, I have an antec video card blower thingy also. I mean, my case temp or system temp, whatever they call it is right about what the room temp is, so I don't think opening the case would do any good. As far as heatsink and fan, maybe some suggestions to hold me over until I get my waterblock. I decided to go with the dangerden block. But now I need a pump, any suggestions boys?? Also, what kinda tubing, and should I run the pump inside the case or next to or what?? I want a submerged pump. I saw a clear jar one for like 50 bucks at 0verclock-watercool i think. So now what else would I need?? Whose radiator?? I think the dangerden cube is so cute and he will probably fit in my case no problem. What do you guys think??

Kirstin