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Best WC kit(noise not a factor, neither is $)

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mkelly09

Registered
Joined
Oct 28, 2003
Im thinking about buying a wc kit, im looking for optimal performance, i really dont care about the noise level or the cost.

Also, i can get a Swiftech 8500A kit from a friend for 200$CAD, i read some reviews about it though and i wasn't too impressed about the performance.

any help is appreciated, thx in advance
 
If you DIY then you can get much better performance. Personaly, I would PM mikeonatrike, he could set you up with something realy nice and for cheap too. Beats any kit out there.
 
I wouldn't buy a kit - it is far more rewarding to throw together a Do It Yourself Water cooling circuit of your own, with your persoanl favourite hand picked components.

That way you can take what you like, and what performs well, and leave behind what you dislike, and what performs poorly.

All you need is a waterblock (the biggest choice - maybe around $65 CAD), a pump (the second biggest choice - $30 CAD), a radiator or heatercore ($5-60 CAD), and a reservoir or Tee-line fitting ($0.50 - $25 CAD) and some hose (negligible really). Presto. You save a lot of moolah, get better performance, and feel really good about it when it is up and running :)

With a DIY you spend around $175 CAD.

If you are set on buying a kit then go with the swiftech - they make decent products and their kits aren't too shabby - no clear weak points except for all the quick connect fittings and 3/8" ID hose.
 
Best bet grab a Whitewater or the danger den RBX, a Eheim 1250, a 1986 Chevette heater core with two shrouds and 2 120mm Enermax adjustable speed fans.
 
Well, based on your criteria, and what I believe I know, you shouldn't be looking at water at all. Like the above posts said, a Prometia or other phase change (see the extreme cooling forum) system would be best. The other alternative appears to be the absolute top of the line air-coolers, combined with some good duct work. They're noisy as hell, but that heat comparison article on OverClockers indicates that they beat out water systems for pure performance. That goes against everything I was lead to believe up until a short time ago, but.....*shrug*.....I can't argue with numbers.
 
omaticrail said:
Well, based on your criteria, and what I believe I know, you shouldn't be looking at water at all. Like the above posts said, a Prometia or other phase change (see the extreme cooling forum) system would be best. The other alternative appears to be the absolute top of the line air-coolers, combined with some good duct work. They're noisy as hell, but that heat comparison article on OverClockers indicates that they beat out water systems for pure performance. That goes against everything I was lead to believe up until a short time ago, but.....*shrug*.....I can't argue with numbers.
WAAAA?! please point me out a HSF that can beat my 4 over room temp load:rolleyes:

Thats, i might add, with a underpowered fan on HC, and crappy thermal paste.
 
4c over room temp load on AMD 1700xp @ 2000? If so, you underestimate thermalright hsfs w/ tornados :p
 
omaticrail said:
Well, based on your criteria, and what I believe I know, you shouldn't be looking at water at all. Like the above posts said, a Prometia or other phase change (see the extreme cooling forum) system would be best. The other alternative appears to be the absolute top of the line air-coolers, combined with some good duct work. They're noisy as hell, but that heat comparison article on OverClockers indicates that they beat out water systems for pure performance. That goes against everything I was lead to believe up until a short time ago, but.....*shrug*.....I can't argue with numbers.

The numbers are misleading. Plain and simple. You have to make sure you're comparing apples to apples. Take for example the SLK-800U. It's review is posted here. By looking at the "Heatsink and Watercooling Roundup" page, you would be led to believe that it had a thermal resistance of 0.15 C/W and that under the same conditions, the best watercooling kit had a resistance of 0.22 C/W. Why then, is watercooling considered superior? You must make sure that you are comparing test done on the same platform! Note that the C/W numbers reported for the air coooled heatsinks are those from motherboard testing, while the numbers from waterblock testing are those from the die simulator. If you compare die simulator results to die simulator results, you'll see that the SLK-800U actually had a best value of 0.23 C/W on the die simulator, which is much different than the 0.15 C/W you see on the comparisons page... You see, most of us watercoolers switched from aircooling for the improved performance. The silence was just an added bonus.

Yes, numbers can be massaged and presented in misleading ways, even if it's not done intentionally. Make sure you know exactly what's being compared so you can make the most intelligent decisions.

Hope this helps clear things up!
 
From personal experience with a tornado and slk800 watercooling doesn't have that big of an advantage other than the noise at lower voltages. For a 40$ hsf (it's much cheaper now) it sure does perform quite well even though it sounds like a vacuum cleaner ;)
 
Yup.. you guys are def right about a good air coolig and regular WC setup... They will perform similar and the only advantage will be the noise which brings to the point people buying 50dba fans to cool their heatercore.... defeats the purpose IMO...
 
ACK! I thought I looked past those damn mobo C/W "results." They shouldn't even be in there, or should at least be colored differently. Thanks Neo. I stand corrected.
 
waterblock= silver cascade
rads= dual xlr 120's(basically chevette heatercores)
pump= iwaki or eheim
hose= clearflex or tygon
external box= v5
Then get 4 120mm fans and a fan controller and you got yourself a great cooling system and virtually silent. The v5 looks amazing as well.:)
 
Well, when i said money isnt a factor, i meant within water cooling, because i know the price cant get as high as a vapo or PE.

Alot of people have been telling me that the kits all suck, and that i should just pick parts and put it together myself, which is what i have decided to do.


Can i get an idea of what the temps will be with the best WC parts ?

I'm hoping mid/low 30's, im getting 45 on a stock fan/heatsink

And what are the best parts around? I see a couple people have listed their fav. parts already
 
mkelly09 said:
Well, when i said money isnt a factor, i meant within water cooling, because i know the price cant get as high as a vapo or PE.

Alot of people have been telling me that the kits all suck, and that i should just pick parts and put it together myself, which is what i have decided to do.


Can i get an idea of what the temps will be with the best WC parts ?

I'm hoping mid/low 30's, im getting 45 on a stock fan/heatsink

And what are the best parts around? I see a couple people have listed their fav. parts already

Your CPU temp will depend on ambient Temperature... If its not too bad (23-27) then you should get low 30s and your load temperature shouldnt be much different than your idle
 
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