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Got $300.. What is the BEST watercooling I can get.

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Osirus

Member
Joined
May 9, 2004
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Check your Six...
Hello everyone, I currently want to upgrade my Water cooling system. Im using the Thermaltake Aqauries now. I have a budget of $300 to do this with. Ive been reading around on all the different kits, but Im still unsure what to get. My current CPU is a 3.0E. I will be overclocking, so I want to get the best for $300, Any information on this would be great.
 
Stay away from the kits, build it yourself, its cheaper and you get way better results that way.
Read the stickies
http://www.ocforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=127
and read through the post's here,
http://www.ocforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=71
you will learn alot from a bunch of very knowledgable people who have been doing this for a while. Then when you have a question you will be better informed on what to ask and someone will help you out.
Good luck :)
 
well firstly i wouldnt get a kit and if i did it would be a asetek waterchill kit as they are pretty decent.

now if you want a upgrade you should get a diy systemfor around $300 usd i owuld get something alont the line of this:
swiftech mcp600 pump($75 ish)
10ft of clearflex 60 ($1 per foot max)
Dangerden RBX or TDX cpu block (around$60?)
86 chevette core or jr120 rad
and a maze4 gpu block.

totals up to way less than $300 more like $200-250 once you add little things like hoseclamps and waterclamps should come up to $300 max.
 
from what i heard get danger den. they have customizable kits. how do u guys like the skin? i think it cud b better. especially the quick reply box CCS codin needs to be black
 
greenman100 said:
Iwaki WMD-20RZT - $120
Caprice heatercore - $20
Cascade-$150
tubing-$10
Fittings-$10
4x 120mm fans of yor choice-$40

so, you're $50 overbudget....but that's pretty much the best you can do, period.


I do wonder, does the better temps of the cascade vs WW or RBX outweigh the fact that you could afford to buy a CPU, NB, and GPU block for that same price... nothing against the cascade, but on a budget of 300$ Id say the 3blocks would out perform anything a single block does.

I just bought mine for 320ish

rbx
maze4 nb
silverprop GPU
DD UV blue tubing(15')
metal worm clamps
UV blue bay res
eheim 1260
some 120mm radiator.
 
ares350 said:
I do wonder, does the better temps of the cascade vs WW or RBX outweigh the fact that you could afford to buy a CPU, NB, and GPU block for that same price... nothing against the cascade, but on a budget of 300$ Id say the 3blocks would out perform anything a single block does.

I just bought mine for 320ish

rbx
maze4 nb
silverprop GPU
DD UV blue tubing(15')
metal worm clamps
UV blue bay res
eheim 1260
some 120mm radiator.

He didn't seem to care about his GPU.

NB cooling is a total waste of time, and hurts system performance overall.

He wanted the best, I gave it to him
 
greenman100 said:
He didn't seem to care about his GPU.

NB cooling is a total waste of time, and hurts system performance overall.

He wanted the best, I gave it to him

it may (arguably) be the best setup - but givin the likelihood of him obtaining a cascade is so low it's not really a practical suggestion... :(
 
Osirus said:
Hello everyone, I currently want to upgrade my Water cooling system. Im using the Thermaltake Aqauries now. I have a budget of $300 to do this with. Ive been reading around on all the different kits, but Im still unsure what to get. My current CPU is a 3.0E. I will be overclocking, so I want to get the best for $300, Any information on this would be great.

we really need to know what case this is to fit in... anything we propose is likely to be bulkier than an aquarius...
 
Watercooling the NB is not a waste of time...on a lot of mobos the NB gets really hot and could really benefit from better cooling. Sure you could get a good NB heatsink + fan combo, but since you are doing watercooling you might as well watercool the NB too.
 
Thanks for all the info guys. I have read through the stickies, did rearch on the forums here, looked at a bunch of other forums on the same mater, and alot of people seem to like the Danger Den kit. I was also reading about the swiftech kit, the one with the blackice 2 fan radiator.

The case it is going in is the Thermaltake XaserIII.
 
Silent Buddha said:
Watercooling the NB is not a waste of time...on a lot of mobos the NB gets really hot and could really benefit from better cooling. Sure you could get a good NB heatsink + fan combo, but since you are doing watercooling you might as well watercool the NB too.


ok, you're looking at like 20w.

that is not needed for watercooling, and it hurts the overall system, and costs money.

It is another restriction for the pump to get through, and could make a couple degree impact on the block, if the block responds well to higher flow.

seriously, get an NB cooler, and a quiet fan, done

<edit> kits are also a waste of money
 
pardon the noobie ness.. but what does NB stand for? I know once I hear it, Ill get it, and go *duh*

Im seriously lookin at the swiftech one, but not sure about it. I want to buy everything from one place, and not from a bunch of stores.
 
greenman100 said:
ok, you're looking at like 20w.

that is not needed for watercooling, and it hurts the overall system, and costs money.

It is another restriction for the pump to get through, and could make a couple degree impact on the block, if the block responds well to higher flow.

seriously, get an NB cooler, and a quiet fan, done

<edit> kits are also a waste of money

Once I get my Vdd mod done I'll be pushing 1.9-2.0V through the NB, which I consider enough to watercool. Yes, it is another restriction. But you can minimize it by getting the new DD Maze4 chipset cooler. Swiftech's NB block is also very high-flow. It's exactly why you get a good pump, so you can run cpu block + gpu block + nb block in series just fine. I look at watercooling as getting rid as many fans as possible.

NB = Northbridge :)
 
Ahh.. well that wasnt what I was thinking... Anywho, can you point me at a good pump to chill the CPU, NB, GPU?

so I should go with Danger Den then for the blocks?
 
Swiftech MCP600, Danner Mag 3, and the whole Iwaki line of pumps are good. You have to realize what your needs are since you probably don't need like an overkill pump.
 
Well I want to keep it as cool as possible, currently my 3.0E is oc'd at 3.4 holding at 37C degree's..

I was thinking about getting the following
Danger Den MAZE4 Chipset Block
Danger Den MAZE4 CPU Block
Danger Den MAZE4 GPU Block

I dont know where to find the Iwaki pumps, but I still need a radiator and resivor correct?
 
Lol, you asked for the best, so off I go on my little spending spree.

Thermochill HE120.3 (3 120mm fans, can I say more?) $120
Zerex $5
7' Tygon from McMaster Carr ($2 a foot) $14
AquaXtreme 12V pump (i know I'm going to get flamed for my choice, but personally I dislike AC pumps as they're usually ugly, big, and need a relay to turn on with the computer) $80

Now here's where your options come in.

You can either go for all out CPU cooling, or a more balanced, yet still very powerful CPU and GPU setup.

Cpu only option:
Cascade $150 (i thought they were closer to $110 greenman, maybe I'm wrong)

CPU/GPU:

RBX $50
Maze 4 GPU $35

You're $69 over budget with the CPU only config, and only $4 over budget with the more balanced config. The balance could be tilted if cascades cost more or less than what greenman posted the price as (i seem to remember it being cheaper than $150, maybe he's counting shipping)
 
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