Going to try water cooling in China, could use some advice

So, I decided I'm going to finally try a water cooled build.
I'm currently in China, which is both a blessing and a boon.

After looking up parts, I can get all the parts for under $100 without any problem. Now I just need to make sure I get quality parts. So looking for advice on selecting parts. And I have read the guides and tutorials and have a general idea of what's going on.

Going for Cpu (Q6600), North Bridge (EP45-DS3L) and Video Card (HD4890), probably with two separate loops.

Ok, here are the rules:
1) I only have Artic Silver 5 as thermal paste. I had to import that from the USA. I don't trust name brands bought in China to be genuine (see #2). Last thing I need is bad TIM, when I know Artic Silver is decent.
2) Don't talk name brands. I'm in China, and most likely don't have access to said name brand, and have to worry about counterfeits. If you know for sure a genuine name brand is available on Taobao (and not expensive, see #3), you can bring it up.
3) I'm not interested in marginal improvements at great cost. If something costs double the price, I want over double the performance. Most parts I'm looking at cost about $10-15 each, (this is China, stuff is cheap).
4) Looks mean ZERO to me. It can be uglier than the old women with rotting teeth that are here in China. Once I close the case, I don't have to look at it.
5) I've got room in my case for 4 radiators - 1*120, 3*90/80, and a drill. Almost anything goes.

Questions:
1)How do I tell if a part is good or not? What specifically am I looking for in a design? Most of the parts I'll be buying don't have reviews anywhere, though most have the basic specifications.
2)I know the blocks need to have large contact area with the water, but what is best? I've seen them flat, with grooves, with little raised blocks, and with 180º turns.
3)Different metals is bad, I know. I'm going with copper. So that means copper blocks and radiators, right? What about barbs and other such things? Is there any metal I can mix with copper and still be OK?
4)Pt nuke isn't available here, so I need an alternative. I'll be on the lookout for some pure silver.

Thank in advance for the advice.

Based on your requirement #3 about cost you should probably just do something else, Because water cooling IS marginal improvement at great cost.

ssjwizard said:

Based on your requirement #3 about cost you should probably just do something else, Because water cooling IS marginal improvement at great cost.

Click to expand...

And this is quoted for truth. Water Cooling isn't a magical cure for temps. You will see improvements over air, but not like you seem to think you will, even with a severely over-radded system with pure silver waterblocks.

ssjwizard said:

Based on your requirement #3 about cost you should probably just do something else, Because water cooling IS marginal improvement at great cost.

Click to expand...

qft (again). Your temps can only get as low as your ambients when you're using ambient cooling, so you're always in a realm of diminishing returns.

When I said marginal improvements, I was refering to comparing two water cooling componets.

Actually I can build a watercooled loop for the same price as a decent heatsink. Prices are strange here in China. I could have never done this in the USA for the same price. If watercooling out performs air by any amount, then it is a better deal, since the cost is the same.

A decent heatsink will run $65, and will be a Chinese brand that won't perform as good as what you can get in the USA for the same amount. A decent CPU block, res, pump, and radiator, will have the same cost. That's why I'm interested in setting up a water cooled system.

Plus when it comes time to upgrade, instead of swapping out a heatsink and recycling it, I can just upgrade parts in the loop, or add more parts. Buying a few parts is way better than buying a new heatsink. Watercooling is upgradeable, Air cooling is changable.

If building a watercooled system was significantly more expensive than air, I wouldn't do it. But this is China, and the prices here are very different than in the USA or Europe. The cost difference between air and water cooling is marginal.

If it turns out to be successful setup, down the road I could add in some cooling modules. Something I can't do with air cooling. That'll help with the ambient temps.

So, can I get some help here in what to look for in Chinese water cooling parts? Basically if you were looking at generic parts, how would you know which ones to buy?

Okay, I get what you want to do. Problem is I have never seen a WC part that has anything to do with the Chinese market. Not saying we don't have parts that we watercoolers use that are made in China.

Your pretty much out of luck here. I can direct you to the watercooling stickies up top, there is a list of WC stores worldwide. And guides that list the stuff we like to use. If you can find those parts there, your golden. I don't think you'll find any of them though for cheap sale in China.

Have you tried all the Chinese PC forums? They have to have modders there and like us they share on the internet. We do have members from Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South America once and a while. They pay outragous prices for the stuff we use, markups, customs, etc.

Good luck, I just can't see how I can help you.

Unfortunately my Chinese isn't that great. When I try to read Chinese forums I get lost pretty easy.

I have found lots of parts for sale on taobao. I'll read up on some good parts and try to find some with similar design and specifications, and just hope for the best. The parts are really cheap, and my computer is old, so if it all breaks I'm not out that much.

Also, if water cooling doesn't perform that great, I may try a submerged PC instead. It may be more fun to build, and not that expensive with chinese parts. Since I'm not worried about my computer failing, and my next upgrade will be a new system, I may try the sumerged route.

Oil submersion is a lot harder to screw up with bad parts...I think that would be the route I went. throw a cheap rad and pump in there to keep oil temps down and you should be golden.