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Kits, Case or DIY: Which one is for YOU?

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rogerdugans

Linux challenged Senior, not that it stops me...
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Kits, Cases and Home-Brewed: Which one is for YOU?

This is a common question around any water cooling forum- there are so many choices nowadays that it gets harder for someone who is newly considering water cooling to figure out all the time.
Here is an article for the Overclockers.com front page on this subject as well- Water Cooling: Kit vs Do It Yourself
I am NOT going to try and tell you which components to use- I am woefully out of date on component knowledge anyway.
What I will try and do is help YOU figure out what meets YOUR needs.

Just answer the following questions honestly:
1) What is your goal?
a) MAX performance/low temps
b) Low Noise!
c) Better temps than I have now, but not extreme.

2) How confident are you in your case modding skills?
a) I have no fear.
b) I can handle a Dremel, drill and a file
c) I am too nervous about wrecking my computer and case to mod it.

3) How much of a budget do you have?
a) Unlimited.
b) $500
c) $300
d) $200
e) $100 or less


(If you answered "a" to all of the above then I am jealous.)

Understanding the results:

1) What is your goal?
a) For the BEST cooling, go with a Phase Change system, or some type of refrigeration. Phase change products can be bought commercially, installed in a case and ready for your pc.
If that is out of your budget then a homebuilt system WILL be able to get you the best performance possible, but be prepared to do a lot of research on components, and then be ready to do quite a bit of case modding.

b) Low noise is a crossover point: there are some decent kits/prebuilts around, but even they tend to be much noisier than a purpose-built "Silent" homebrewed rig. If you really want absolute quiet, build your own.

c) There are many kits around that can meet this need, but some are better than others. Note that if you build your own you can get similar or better results for less money but you will have to do more work- case mods and so on.

2) How confident are you in your case modding skills?
a) Building your own is the way to go if you have the skills and take joy in making things: you spend less money, get better performance and can take pride in doing it yourself.

b) If you can handle these few tools then you should be able to do everything required to mod a case for water cooling. This can save you big money, depending on the system.

c) We all have different skills, so this is nothing to be ashamed of, but it does limit your choices considerably: pre-built water cooling case or one of the comlete kits that bolts right on or in. These kits do NOT meet the needs of either silence or maximum performance, but some do just fine for cooling an overclocked system. Think of them performing almost as well as some of the higher-end Air Cooling systems, but with lower noise levels.

3) How much of a budget do you have?
a) Wanna adopt me? ;) If you have this much dough to spend then Phase Change may be for you- the prebuilt systems are quite good but very expensive- around the $1000 range. But you can buy anything you want for straight water cooling too- budget is not a consideration for you.
b) Up to $500 can get you any of the good kits and pre-builts, so budget really isn't a concern for you, either.
c) Up to $300 starts getting into the need for making choices: the best pre-built cases may exceed this, but the same components should be available- you just have to put them in your own case. Some case modding required. There are some decent performing solutions that are in this range that need little modding, but performance is not up to par with the best available, and noise levels can be less than silent.
d) Up to $200 Unless you buy a used system you can't afford a pre-built case. The kits and cases under this range tend to be less than stellar performers, although they can get the job done. Best bet is to look for used stuff or build your own system. A very good home built system can be built for under $200 if you do research and shop carefully- performance can be either MAXed out or Silent, as you choose.
e) Please do NOT buy any new "kit" at this price range- it is likely that the OEM heatsink for your cpu provides similar performance and noise levels. Look for used stuff or build your own. Modding is something that you should start practicing if you want to water cool in this price range and haven't done any yet.
NOTE: A truly top-notch system can be built for less than $100 if you really spend some time and effort learning and buying good used parts.

To sum up:
If you enjoy case modding then building your own water cooling system is porbably for you: less money, best performance and the most flexibility as far as noise and temps.
If you don't want to mod anything then you have to figure out your budget: some good pre-built options are available but they are costly- $200 and up. Better ones cost more.
If you have a low budget then you really should build your own system: pretty much anything you find that is pre-made for less than $100 is not worth it. You may be able to get a deal on used stuff.

I really don't think there is anything wrong with kits if they meet the needs and budget you have: they can be simple to install and use and some perform pretty well. They also can be very reassuring for a new water cooler: almost everything is done for you. They do tend to cost more and giver lower performance however.
Personally I did start with a kit from Swiftech and I don't regret it one bit- I still use many of those parts quite a few years later! I also have a Koolance Exos (first edition) that I bought used out of curiousity and I actually think it is a pretty nice unit- its on one of my LAN rigs.
Most of my water cooled systems are home-built though, and will remain that way simply because it lets ME decide on which attributes to place stress: noise, temps, costs and gives me a feeling of satisfaction when I finish a system.
 
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Just so you all know, when he says things like "some perform pretty well", this is what he means:
http://www.swiftnets.com/products/h20-120-r3a-0.asp
http://corsairmemory.com/corsair/COOL_water.html
http://www.dangerdenstore.com/product.php?productid=7&cat=2&page=1
http://www.cooltechnica.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=WCK
http://www.asetek.com/nyhederPro/visnyhed.asp?nyhedid=407&DatabaseID=1

And yes, I do recommend the above very highly. First timers will end up spending more than they plan putting something together themselves.
 
On #2, I agree that building your own CAN save you money, but only if you already own the necessary tools. For someone without the necessary tools that initial investment can seem daunting all by itself. So, another decision point would be what tools are available, which are you willing to buy, how often will they be used, and do you have an appropriate space to use them in?

FWIW, I've never ventured into phase change (though I keep thinking about it) because I would want to build it myself but I live in a one bedroom apartment in Manhattan and literally don't have an appropriate workspace or the room for the necessary tools.
 
max preformance
i have no fear, my theory is (if it doesn't fit or it gets in the way then CUT IT OFF!)
Unlimited.
 
Another thing that you should add is upgradablity.

If you get a kit to start out with, then decide you don't like it, but maybe want to just upgrade the block/pump/rad...whatever...can it upgrade to other water cooling parts out there and not just with that specific brand...
 
MVC- you bring up a good point about tools.
While the bare minimum of tools required can be bought fairly cheaply, that is still money that you may not have.

big_dish- Upgrade potential is another good point, but perhaps trickier: virtually any system can have blocks added or changed but many of the more compact units could be very tricky to upgrade the pump or radiator.
 
Good thread. I started also with a Swiftech kit, but ended up spending too much money redoing the setup by buying a different pump (got tired of the MCP600 whine), fans, rad, etc. It would have been a lot cheaper and easier to have bought components that met my purpose for watercooling--quiet. So I would add that a big factor in deciding what to go with is also performance/silence. The higher the performance, the louder it tends to be, but knowing what you want before buying is the way to go.

I just changed out my BIXIII with 6 Deltas at about 5 volts ea (which was pretty quiet) for a small car rad (1' x 2' x 5/8" thick) and I am very pleased with the results. I only have two 120mm case fans at 7 volts and a very quiet PSU with only one 120mm fan, and my temps only have about a 4c flux from idle to load (prime 95) and it is uber-quiet. I would have saved a lot of money building a setup up front. But that is just me!
 
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