- Joined
- Jan 26, 2004
- Location
- Charleston, IL
It's been a while since my last experience with watercooling, and it wasn't really so great. I made the mistake of buying one of those pre-packaged Koolance watercooling cases. I've been on air now for a couple of years, but I've been interested in getting back into water, both for the decreased temps, and potential decrease in noise since my computer lives in my bedroom with me. I'm wanting to go slow in getting my feet wet this time, instead of just jumping right in on my own.
I've been looking at a few of the prebuilt kits from Swiftech and Petra's Tech. Like these with single 120mm radiators:
Petra Coolkit Lite
Swiftech H20-120
or these with 240mm radiators:
Petra's Coolkit Basic
Swiftech H20-220
Swiftech Apex Ultra
For now I'm just wanting to put water on the CPU. Possibly do the GPU later on down the road. My main question is, will the 120mm radiator kits cool an E8400 effectively? I know from reading that a single 120mm radiator isn't quite enough for a CPU and GPU, and some aren't enough for newer dual cores, and they're definitely not enough for newer quad cores. I guess if I'm wanting to do the GPU later on down the road that the 240mm radiator would probably be the better bet for future proofing though...
Also, I'm looking at getting a new case at the same time. I've been looking at the Antec P182 and Thermaltake Armor, both with and without the 250mm side fan. I like the layout of the P182, but it looks a little small for watercooling, unless the radiator was mounted externally. The Armor has loads of room for just about anything. I'd like to keep everything internal if possible, so input from people with the P182 and internal radiators would be welcome. It looks like the single 120mm rads would probably mount inside just fine, but the 240mm looks like it would have nowhere to go.
And yes, things are going to be overclocked. My E8400 is at 3.6 right now, but anything higher gets a little toasty and quite loud.
I'm wanting to keep this as cheap as possible, but quality is more of a concern than price. I just don't want to go too overboard for now. I'm definitely staying away from anything made my Koolance, Thermaltake, etc.. this time around.
Thanks in advance!
I've been looking at a few of the prebuilt kits from Swiftech and Petra's Tech. Like these with single 120mm radiators:
Petra Coolkit Lite
Swiftech H20-120
or these with 240mm radiators:
Petra's Coolkit Basic
Swiftech H20-220
Swiftech Apex Ultra
For now I'm just wanting to put water on the CPU. Possibly do the GPU later on down the road. My main question is, will the 120mm radiator kits cool an E8400 effectively? I know from reading that a single 120mm radiator isn't quite enough for a CPU and GPU, and some aren't enough for newer dual cores, and they're definitely not enough for newer quad cores. I guess if I'm wanting to do the GPU later on down the road that the 240mm radiator would probably be the better bet for future proofing though...
Also, I'm looking at getting a new case at the same time. I've been looking at the Antec P182 and Thermaltake Armor, both with and without the 250mm side fan. I like the layout of the P182, but it looks a little small for watercooling, unless the radiator was mounted externally. The Armor has loads of room for just about anything. I'd like to keep everything internal if possible, so input from people with the P182 and internal radiators would be welcome. It looks like the single 120mm rads would probably mount inside just fine, but the 240mm looks like it would have nowhere to go.
And yes, things are going to be overclocked. My E8400 is at 3.6 right now, but anything higher gets a little toasty and quite loud.
I'm wanting to keep this as cheap as possible, but quality is more of a concern than price. I just don't want to go too overboard for now. I'm definitely staying away from anything made my Koolance, Thermaltake, etc.. this time around.
Thanks in advance!