Im considering geting either water cooling or vapo...

Im considering geting either water cooling or vapo, and i have about 350-400 bucks to spend. im not sure how much vapo chill systems are. But i really am looking for some sweet cooling. espacially because i just got my new ram, 2x512mb PQI tccd . and right now im running at 260 stable, and my temps at idle are about 29-30C and at load 37-39C. And im hoping to get this cpu at its max. 300fsb or more. And im wondering if there are any vapo chill kits that i can buy, or is it all individual parts that i need to buy serperatly? Im mostly leaning towards vapo. because i dont really feel safe having water in my case, but im not sure what vapo uses either so i guess that could just be *** unsafe.

thanks Sp1k3

You won't get a huge improvement with w/c'ing over what you currently have. I believe vapo's range around $500+ ? I may be wrong.

you can get a used mach 1 for around $400, if you look around. Or you could get really high end water cooling for you CPU and GPU for the same price (I mean REALLY high end, top of the line stuff). I went with the insane watercooling, spent around $350 or so, but i couldnt be happier. Phase Change kinda scares me, the whole idea of condensation and negative temperatures gets me worried, Id rather go with water, as with my system my OC isnt really limited (at 270 FSB now, and i dont think my chip will go higher than that, maybe 1 or 2 FSB max), and i get great temps with little noise.

I think that you're looking for some extreme cooling definietly.

Phase change systems are very nice, but kinda pricy. It may be problematic to get one in reasonable price, unless you have some time and knowledge for DIY rig.

Water - you'll get performance boost over your current cooling if you get good parts, but don't expect huge temp drop unless...

Water cooling can be extreme too, if it's running with water chiller (which I personally consider dumb) or when you run it as bong. With bong cooling water temp drops below ambient - the more water evaporates, the lower temp. This way on nicely OCed system, you can get CPU temp close to ambient. Such solution is a bit cheaper than phase change, but as you haven't got WC already, I'd recommend phase change if only you really need such performance and can afford it. On the other hand, bong system can be easily sued for cooling any parts for which you find water blocks - north bridge, GPU or others.

phase change
+++ extreme performance
+ can easily run 24/7 without looking at
- expensive
- chills only CPU (if it's DIY, it can chill everything)
- uses more power than water cooling
- risk of condensation when mounted incorrectly

bong (we can forget normal WC I think)
+ very good performance
+ can chill everything
+ a little cheaper than phase change
+ uses less energy than phase change
- water level needs to be checked
- and water needs to be added from time to time\
- won't freeze your CPU
- risk of water when mounted incorrectly
- depending on layout, can be noisy

I'm planning to convert with my pal his WC rig to silent bong soon. We'll see how it's going to perform, but I dobut taht you want to wait that much. Maybe check extreme cooling subforum?

Advantages of geothermal watercooling over bong:
++does not sound like waterfalling whenever you turn it on
+ never have to check water level
+ does not get dibrees from the air into the water and thus the loop/pump
+can use non conductive fluids
- have to dig a big *** hole in the ground, or drill one.

well thanks guys. im not to sure how the bong thing works, havent really heard of it, atleast until a few days ago. And as far as the vapo goes, i think i that i dont care if my cpu has frost on it. and my room tends to stay around 70's atleast for most of the day. but here in california it gets to high 80's, mid 90's and sometimes 100s durring summer, so i was hoping to get this new setup soon. i think if 400 is not enough, then i could always earn some more money for it . And im wondering for the vapo, if its diy it can also cool vga, and northerbridge? right now i have a fortron 530w, and im also wondering how loud vapo is, because this computer is about 3-4 feet away from my bed. and i leave my computer on durring the night, like most people here. thanks again

Bong uses effect of evaporation. When water evaporates, it gets chilled. There were some photos of bong rigs in water cooling section I think.

and about DIY (do it yourself) rigs - if you make one - you can design it to chill more parts than only CPU. I've seen photos of rigs with chilled GPUs and even North bridges, but making phase change system is difficult - requires time, knowledge, and usually some experience.

Phasechange is not worth it unless you plan on doing major overclocking.

well im wondering what i can accomplish with water vs vapo, because i have also taken in to consideration the bong thingy, and what temps can i expect from bong? cause im hopin to get better than what i obviosuly get on air. idle temps are about 29-31C, and load is about 38-41C depending if i have my window open. And this is at 265 fsb, so im thinking my air cooling is pretty nice see my sig. and also i forgot to add in, i have been looking at other peoples temps on normal water cooling, and they arent to great of temps, unless they set it up wrong, or their rad sucks. either way i am hoping to get 15C or less, with nb and cpu in the loop, probally not video card unless i get my new one soon.

Unless you do some sort powered heat movement you will never get sub ambient temps with anything. I have seen people put their watercooling radiator outside when it is in the negative C's outside, that will get you in the temp range you want. But, that won't be all year round will it? You also have to worry about condensation which is a pain IMHO.

A bong is an open system, and as such a major pain to run over an extended period. There are very few people running an open evaporation system on a daily basis, just ask around.
If you're not willing to 'risk' watercooling as you mentioned, then neither phase-change nor bong/chiller setups will be a realistic alternative. Both are more difficult to handle and potentially more risky to run (mainly because of condensation).

Perhaps the money is better spent on improving other components of your system.