- Joined
- Apr 20, 2007
I've finished a htpc build and have some trouble with heat building up in my rig. People over at htpc hinted this is the ultimate place for water cooling questions, so here it comes.
The rig I have is placed in an indent in the wall in the livingroom. I though it had farily enough space for cooling, but it seems that after changing all original noisy fans, and putting in a Zalman 9500 it still sounds a bit of a jet engine to keep it cool enough. Running silent is a no-no. Due to the indent and limited airflow, it tends to go hot after some 2-3 hours and temperatures on CPU reach 52-56, NorthBridge around 43-45 sometimes triggering the PC Probe (Asus) alarm.
I have frowned earlier at watercooling. Hey, liquid and electricity? Right
But I'm willing to give it a shot. If you guys think it helps and could quiet down the rig.
The questions are:
- Is it possible to achieve a cooler environment with water cooling and also get it to work if the airflow is limited still? (I'm thinking of the area around the radiators at the back). I might use 2 80 fans up front on the sides to suck air into the system though in silent mode if necessary.
- Can this be achieved with an internal liquid cooling system?
- I have 2 80 mm fan outlets at the back. 3 more (1 on each side, and one underneath the HD bay up front). So I'm lacking 120 mm... still achievable without modding the case too much?
- Components? I've been looking at Thermaltake pump and block cooler. I definitely need suggestions especially on the northbridge that tends to go to hot. Unfortunately Swiftek seems like the only place that does 80 mm radiators. Should I opt for two of these? How hot does the air go with watercooling?
I don't intend to overclock, game too much. More a peaceful system, opting for queit, tv watching and recording.
My rig is a:
932B Moncaso Chassi
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
P5B Deluxe
Asus GeForce 7600GS
Zalman 460B PSU
Corsair 2 Gb
Samsung HD spinpoint.
Cooling with Zalman 9500 and 5 Cooltek fans (11db).
The rig I have is placed in an indent in the wall in the livingroom. I though it had farily enough space for cooling, but it seems that after changing all original noisy fans, and putting in a Zalman 9500 it still sounds a bit of a jet engine to keep it cool enough. Running silent is a no-no. Due to the indent and limited airflow, it tends to go hot after some 2-3 hours and temperatures on CPU reach 52-56, NorthBridge around 43-45 sometimes triggering the PC Probe (Asus) alarm.
I have frowned earlier at watercooling. Hey, liquid and electricity? Right
But I'm willing to give it a shot. If you guys think it helps and could quiet down the rig.
The questions are:
- Is it possible to achieve a cooler environment with water cooling and also get it to work if the airflow is limited still? (I'm thinking of the area around the radiators at the back). I might use 2 80 fans up front on the sides to suck air into the system though in silent mode if necessary.
- Can this be achieved with an internal liquid cooling system?
- I have 2 80 mm fan outlets at the back. 3 more (1 on each side, and one underneath the HD bay up front). So I'm lacking 120 mm... still achievable without modding the case too much?
- Components? I've been looking at Thermaltake pump and block cooler. I definitely need suggestions especially on the northbridge that tends to go to hot. Unfortunately Swiftek seems like the only place that does 80 mm radiators. Should I opt for two of these? How hot does the air go with watercooling?
I don't intend to overclock, game too much. More a peaceful system, opting for queit, tv watching and recording.
My rig is a:
932B Moncaso Chassi
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
P5B Deluxe
Asus GeForce 7600GS
Zalman 460B PSU
Corsair 2 Gb
Samsung HD spinpoint.
Cooling with Zalman 9500 and 5 Cooltek fans (11db).