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Having a hard time making a decision for watercooling parts

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Raizy

Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2007
If anyone noticed my previous threads asking a bunch of questions about watercooling parts, well here I am again lol... My bank somehow won't let me transfer funds to paypal or eCheck.

My current old rig:

MOBO: MSI K8MM-V (Absolutely no OC options) socket 754
CPU: Sempron 2800 1.6 Ghz
RAM: 2 different brands, lets just say they're not ment for OCing.
Video Card: MSI 7600 GS 256 MB.
Hard Drive: Seagate 320G (SataII) Heh at least this one ain't old.

I'm currently jobless right now, but I got some money left in the bank. I'm not sure whether I should invest in a water cooling kit for future builds, aswell as a learning experience, or just skip the watercooling kit and save the 750 bucks I got left for a new build. Also, the reason why I am attracted to buy some watercooling parts is because I can keep them for future builds. I've also brainwashed myself into all these modding and overclocking through these forums lol.
 
While its true that the w/c parts can be reused, as your main rig, I think you're better off spending that $750 on a new rig. Are your current case and power supply "good"? Or were you planning on changing that? I think you could do a new rig and watercooling with $750 if you spend your money wisely.

Some rough numbers:
-Reuse the case and power supply and hard drive and video card
-X2 3600+ and a decent mobo - $170
- 2gb ddr2-800 - $150
-Res - $20
-CPU block $50
-GPU block $40
-Tubing 0.59/ft, ~$5
-Pump $50
-Rad $50

Thats just ~$530 right there. I'm probably missing something but that should give you a start.
 
Hmm I was actually thinking about the Core 2 Duo price drops around April 22nd.

I'm hoping to see if I can get a motherboard for less than 200 dollars with SLI support. Also I could probably skip the reservoir and the GPU block, I think overclocking the GPU is not worth it, it's like +5 FPS gained o_O

My case is rather cheap, but I can live with it, I don't need a 150 dollar case (Lian Li's are nice though, I admit...) would need to buy new power supplies because they are only 20-Pin and can't supply power to PCI-E graphics cards.
 
C2D's can be had with watercooling for 750, when I get to work tomorrow Ill look up my wishlist but i know you can do a pretty decent C2D system with WC for that amount.

~jtjuska
 
Is it possible to provide power to a 24-Pin motherboard if I use a 24 pin to 20 pin adapter ?
 
Here is one motherboard to check out for about 130$

Asus P5N SLI http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=20621&vpn=P5NSLI&manufacture=ASUS

This might be a bad thing though: "NVIDIA SLI Technology: Yes - One X16, two X8"

I want an SLI board lol.

RAM - 170$
Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-5400C4 2GB 2X1GB PC5400 DDR2-667 CL 4-4-4-12 240PIN Dual Channel Memory

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=18582&vpn=TWIN2X2048-5400C4&manufacture=CORSAIR

But let's wait to see when those 680i boards drop in prices ...
 
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I am also building a new rig at the moment, and am anxiously awaiting the price drop, its very frusterating to wait, but I know it'll be a lot better to get a e6600 in there for the price of an e6400 or 6300, so I totally see you on that slant. However while I am waiting, there is no reason not to build the loop and start piddling around with the layout, can even get the mobo ram and video cards, get it all in place, bleed that loop, and have it ready for (C2)D-Day :rolleyes:

What I am working on is as follows:

Lian Li PC-G70
Apogee GTX
HW Labs Stealth GT 360
6 Yate Loon SL's, 3 push 3 pull
custom acrylic shrouds (painted black gloss ofc :cool: )
MCW60 + ramsinks
DDC-1 with delrin top
Combination of Tygon 3603 and 2075, 1/2" ID 3/4" OD

Now the case is a no brainer, lots of space, and a floor-mounted PSU means space under the roof for that massive rad. The block is universal, as you said it will last for many rigs to come, similarly the MCW60 is not overspecialized to any one card, and unless they change the face of graphics pcb entirely, should be set. The rad is big enough and efficient enough that unless I want to start cooling multiple boxes, theres nothing that it cant handle. So yes, that idea of longevity in a WC loop is very valid, my first rig was a great learning experience and a raving good time, on this one though I'm getting down to business. The top of the G70 will be cut similarly to my current PC-60, except with three holes of course (Though I am toying with the idea of having a large unified rectangular grill.):



At any rate, I've already thread-crapped enough, but maybe that gives you some ideas. Perhaps you should get the ball rolling on WC components while you wait, as I am, it'll give you time to fiddle with things, and even if you get only a piece or two, once you have it in hand, and look at how it will lie in your enclosure, its much easier to see how one should proceed with the rest of the equipment. I certainly have not gone as cheaply as one could, for instance I could continue to use my Bonneville heatercore:



Additionally, the GTX is sort of an indulgence, I just really desire it, these days the quality of blocks is the difference between tenths of degrees, not night and day as it used to be. Hell, I could probably keep my MCW6002 :p

It is very possible to build a good loop that can destroy a kit for much much cheaper than you might think. The price tag for my listed components minus the case (You don't want to know what the case costs.) is just over $250, which, really, is sort of amazing. So don't compromise, research until your eyes bleed, for the answer is out there, whatever your budget. I will say though that as much fun as it is to play around in the water, you will probably notice the $100 spent on computer components much more than you would the $100 spent on your loop. I imagine if you cared about that reality, you wouldn't be in here denying it with the rest of us. :cool:

Good luck.
 
khriez said:
Is it possible to provide power to a 24-Pin motherboard if I use a 24 pin to 20 pin adapter ?
Yes, but it's not a good idea, especially if you intend to overclock. The voltage drop for the motherboard connector is bad enough already.
 
Most of the time (unless something has changed on boards newer than my own) you can just plug the 20pin in and it'll be fine. If you don't mind doing a little work, you could always replace the 20 pin connector with the 24 pin connector and add the necessary +12v and grounds with the help of a molex connector or two. Just a thought anyways ;).
 
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