Decisions...Decisions...

[_Jay_]

So I got my warranty replacement today for my H80i. The pump had failed on it after about 2 months. I have been running my old 212 EVO and it is running like a champ. Currently my 8320 is OC'ed at a comfortable 4.3GHz and I have had no issues during everyday use or hours long gaming sessions. So now I am faced with a dilemma. I hate the look of tower coolers in that they are so massive that they take away from the aesthetics of a nicely built rig. The water coolers make everything look clean and professional in my opinion. I am not sure I want to take the risk of reinstalling the H80i and having another pump failure or some other problem. Plus, if I try to sell the H80i, I am sure I could get much more for it if it's still in a sealed box. This whole experience has kind of soured me on the whole AIO cooler thing. So I either suck it up and keep on trucking with my current air cooler or I sell the H80i and put the money towards a WC Starter Kit for like $150-$175. I am just not sure I would trust myself to install it correctly and the last thing I need is to fry my mobo or GPU if I get a coolant leak somewhere.

 

[sobe]

What watercooling starter kit for $150??

I would recommend an XSPC D5 AX series kit as an intro into watercooling.

 

[_Jay_]

I was looking at something relatively inexpensive like This

 

[ATMINSIDE]

I would either stay air or put together your own loop, personally.

 

[_Jay_]

I would either stay air or put together your own loop, personally.

Would the kit I linked above work? I am not trying anything crazy as far as OC'ing goes. Might want to push for 4.5GHz but probably not passed that.

 

[Blaylock]

I've always been a function over form guy personally. That being said the only time I'll go water is for a benchmark system where constant massive overclocks are used for sometimes extended periods. I don't think I'll ever go AIO unless someone like swifttech comes up with a kick arse 120/140.3 fully expandable set-up.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Would the kit I linked above work? I am not trying anything crazy as far as OC'ing goes. Might want to push for 4.5GHz but probably not passed that.

Should do fine. The pump isn't the best, but its way better than an AIO pump.

My only concern would be if you want to expand to include your GPU sometime it might not be enough pump.

 

[RnRollie]

^^^This
The 750 will do if you don't go crazy later on with tri-SLI waterblocks , 5 extra rads and one million 90° fittings.
For a CPU only, the 750 is ok, but the D5 kit is better.

 

[sobe]

You will want this if you want the dual bay,
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2...uded_and_Free_Dead-Water.html?tl=g59c683s2174

The kit will be expandable for future additions as well, that pump will handle quite a bit.

 

[_Jay_]

Well $250+ for a cooler is a little out of my range for now. I think I might just keep the EVO for now since all is well and sell the H80i and put the money towards either another SSD (240GB), a WD Black HDD or the NXZT H440 I've had my eye on! Those are more in my price range right now. When I get my next Xmas bonus, I'll look into getting a 2nd GTX 770 for SLI and then adding a good WC Kit for the CPU & GPU's.

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

 

[Ajay57]

Good idea as the EVO will help to cool your VRM Section as well, where the H80i you could need a extra fan blowing in that area to help out!

Like i said before you could always add a extra Fan to gain that little bit more on your OC!

And it would not cost you too much as well.

Regards,

AJ.

 

[_Jay_]

Yea, if I am going to do a Custom Loop, I wanna make sure I can afford to do it right.

 

[sobe]

Yea, if I am going to do a Custom Loop, I wanna make sure I can afford to do it right.

Good Do it right the first time, also take time and patience to read then reread the watercooling stickies we have

 

[Blaylock]

+1 right there!