- Joined
- Jun 11, 2008
- Location
- San Diego, CA
I bit on the D4 deal for $29 because it's a $70-75 pump and I've just been washing the idea of water around in my head.
I'm a 1xGPU kind of guy, I never go crazy on multi-GPU set ups, but I'm in the process of upgrading my rig and I'm weighing air versus water.
I know the age old arguments. You see, I'm kind of a prehistoric modder. I used to over-clock back in the Socket A days when you could get a mobile Athlon XP because it ran cooler and over-clock it on a desktop motherboard.
I know physically air can never move heat as efficiently as water and I know water is potentially quieter. I also know that air has evolved so rapidly that the difference between a high end air system and a low end water system is nigh none. I also know that water blocks have evolved to the point where the only real benefit of higher end blocks is the quality of finish and the resistance.
The thing is, I'll never buy a Thermalright product. As a product reviewer, I had to learn through hard experience about just how much they care about the legitimacy of their products' reviews. Being told I had to lap an Ultra 120 heatsink before I could publish my results, even though a lapping kit wasn't included, and then being told I wouldn't get Thermalright products for testing wasn't a very solid experience for me. So when it comes to air, the best air I would get would be a Xigmatek HDT-S1283 or the Kingwin Revolution variation, or maybe a Vendetta 2.
The main reason I would go with water over air is because water kits have very reusable parts. The radiator, reservoir and pump will most likely be reusable in future builds. The GPU block might be, the CPU block would most likely need to be changed in future builds. With air, one generation to the next you'd need a completely different heatsink. Air heatsinks for video-cards are also nowhere near as evolved as CPU heatsinks.
That being said, would I really see a benefit of going with water comparing the following two builds?
1) Swiftech Apogee GT - It's much less restrictive than the Fuzion/GTZ and only 1.5'ish degrees hotter, but it's also $15-35 cheaper. Great trade off.
2) XSPC RS360 - Martin from Xtremesystems gave this radiator a great review. It was almost as good as the Thermochill 120.3 but less than half the price. It's even cheaper than the Swiftech QP 320.
3) Swiftech Laing D4/ MCP650 - It was only $30. Some people report issues with a whining noise, but I can't imagine it being any louder than my crappy fan set up I have now. I always have movies or games going too.
4) Swiftech MCW-60R - This water block always gets great reviews and I've seen people re-using it from the G80 two years ago until now, just by using different mounting positions. I can't see myself going with a full coverage that'll end up being thrown on Ebay for $20 versus the $100 I spent on it.
5) Swiftech MCRES-Micro - Is there any reason to go with something else? A T-Line? I like this one because it's easy to mount somewhere hidden.
6) Yate Loon Mediums and I'll use my Sunbeam Rheobus to control their speed.
Now if I went air, I would get:
1) Xigmatek HDT-S1283 - With swapped out fan for a Yate Loon.
2) Continue to use my Accelero S1 Rev 2 but throw a Yate Loon on it instead of the Scythe Flex I have on it now.
3) Add Yate Loon mediums to my current set up to get rid of the crappy fans I have and control them with my Rheobus.
All this would be to cool a Q6600 and HD4870.
I'm a 1xGPU kind of guy, I never go crazy on multi-GPU set ups, but I'm in the process of upgrading my rig and I'm weighing air versus water.
I know the age old arguments. You see, I'm kind of a prehistoric modder. I used to over-clock back in the Socket A days when you could get a mobile Athlon XP because it ran cooler and over-clock it on a desktop motherboard.
I know physically air can never move heat as efficiently as water and I know water is potentially quieter. I also know that air has evolved so rapidly that the difference between a high end air system and a low end water system is nigh none. I also know that water blocks have evolved to the point where the only real benefit of higher end blocks is the quality of finish and the resistance.
The thing is, I'll never buy a Thermalright product. As a product reviewer, I had to learn through hard experience about just how much they care about the legitimacy of their products' reviews. Being told I had to lap an Ultra 120 heatsink before I could publish my results, even though a lapping kit wasn't included, and then being told I wouldn't get Thermalright products for testing wasn't a very solid experience for me. So when it comes to air, the best air I would get would be a Xigmatek HDT-S1283 or the Kingwin Revolution variation, or maybe a Vendetta 2.
The main reason I would go with water over air is because water kits have very reusable parts. The radiator, reservoir and pump will most likely be reusable in future builds. The GPU block might be, the CPU block would most likely need to be changed in future builds. With air, one generation to the next you'd need a completely different heatsink. Air heatsinks for video-cards are also nowhere near as evolved as CPU heatsinks.
That being said, would I really see a benefit of going with water comparing the following two builds?
1) Swiftech Apogee GT - It's much less restrictive than the Fuzion/GTZ and only 1.5'ish degrees hotter, but it's also $15-35 cheaper. Great trade off.
2) XSPC RS360 - Martin from Xtremesystems gave this radiator a great review. It was almost as good as the Thermochill 120.3 but less than half the price. It's even cheaper than the Swiftech QP 320.
3) Swiftech Laing D4/ MCP650 - It was only $30. Some people report issues with a whining noise, but I can't imagine it being any louder than my crappy fan set up I have now. I always have movies or games going too.
4) Swiftech MCW-60R - This water block always gets great reviews and I've seen people re-using it from the G80 two years ago until now, just by using different mounting positions. I can't see myself going with a full coverage that'll end up being thrown on Ebay for $20 versus the $100 I spent on it.
5) Swiftech MCRES-Micro - Is there any reason to go with something else? A T-Line? I like this one because it's easy to mount somewhere hidden.
6) Yate Loon Mediums and I'll use my Sunbeam Rheobus to control their speed.
Now if I went air, I would get:
1) Xigmatek HDT-S1283 - With swapped out fan for a Yate Loon.
2) Continue to use my Accelero S1 Rev 2 but throw a Yate Loon on it instead of the Scythe Flex I have on it now.
3) Add Yate Loon mediums to my current set up to get rid of the crappy fans I have and control them with my Rheobus.
All this would be to cool a Q6600 and HD4870.