Why did you QUIT water cooling?

[Spawn-Inc]

right now i have only water cooled 1 rig, that was for noise reasons, i have a 320 radiator for a cpu only loop with very slow fans, and a undervolted pump, so unless im under heavy load (such as prime) i cannot hear the fans, i could of probably got it silent with an over sized heat sink, but i had never wcd before, and wanted an excuse to get one

edit: @the person who mentioned there cat getting ill. was you using anti freeze and water or pt nuke or what?

i want details because i have 2 cats my self.

it's the antifreeze that is deadly to pets. it smells sweet and tastes sweet so they drink it up then http://www.pets.ca/pettips/tips-59.htm explains it more.

 

[QuietIce]

Out of the seven rigs I currently have running 3 are water and 4 are air. Air is much cheaper to buy and easier to assemble (though the Corsair H50 is changing that ). Air also takes up less space but newer water-cooling products are making inroads here as well. For a little more money the Swiftech MCP Drive units take up a little more space but are a whole water loop in a relatively small package. No way to get around the size of the rad, though. In the end the laws of physics win and a single fan (or even single-sized push-pull) will only remove so much heat. At some point a double or triple fan cooling area is needed for higher heat loads.

There's no denying the better performance of a good custom loop (or it's cost and assembly time!) but as we move forward I expect to see prices on good air come down (the Sunbeam 120 CCT is already very reasonable) and compact water cooling products take over the price-niche of high-end air coolers.

not funny! the antifreeze that we use to anti-corrode our loops kills livers on pets and other animals.

edit: @the person who mentioned there cat getting ill. was you using anti freeze and water or pt nuke or what?

i want details because i have 2 cats my self.

This is a thing of the past. Anti-freeze is no longer required if you're careful about your components. In the past aluminum components were more predominant than today and we needed anti-freeze to keep down corrosion but manufacturers got the message and switched to copper & brass. For algae/bug control you can by a silver coil to insert in the loop (or better yet, silver barbs!) and run nothing but distilled water. No danger there to pets or humans ...

 

[Spawn-Inc]

Out of the seven rigs I currently have running 3 are water and 4 are air. Air is much cheaper to buy and easier to assemble (though the Corsair H50 is changing that ). Air also takes up less space but newer water-cooling products are making inroads here as well. For a little more money the Swiftech MCP Drive units take up a little more space but are a whole water loop in a relatively small package. No way to get around the size of the rad, though. In the end the laws of physics win and a single fan (or even single-sized push-pull) will only remove so much heat. At some point a double or triple fan cooling area is needed for higher heat loads.

There's no denying the better performance of a good custom loop (or it's cost and assembly time!) but as we move forward I expect to see prices on good air come down (the Sunbeam 120 CCT is already very reasonable) and compact water cooling products take over the price-niche of high-end air coolers.

This is a thing of the past. Anti-freeze is no longer required if you're careful about your components. In the past aluminum components were more predominant than today and we needed anti-freeze to keep down corrosion but manufacturers got the message and switched to copper & brass. For algae/bug control you can by a silver coil to insert in the loop (or better yet, silver barbs!) and run nothing but distilled water. No danger there to pets or humans ...

large doses of either pt nuke are harmful, but nothing we will ever see

not all companies seem to have got the memo *caugh* thermaltake... *caugh*. antifreeze is also used for below zero setups.

 

[QuietIce]

Tt is still making those cheapie units of theirs ...?!?

 

[Spawn-Inc]

Tt is still making those cheapie units of theirs ...?!?

yup, i don't seem them changing as it would mean higher prices.

and most of those sealed units use aluminum rads.

 

[QuietIce]

Factory-sealed units don't count.


Are all Tt units factory sealed? (Not that I would ever buy a Tt cooler ...)

 

[Spawn-Inc]

none of there units are that i'm aware of. they improved there water blocks in that it's all copper, but it's still not a good performance block. and they changed there rads from copper round tubes to aluminum flat tubes. they took the technology from quad bikes.

 

[hokiealumnus]

I haven't quit water cooling, and hope I never do. It's fun!

What I did quit was extra water blocks. It was a rather nice feeling thinking to myself "and then there was one" when my loop trickled down from CPU, NB & GPU to just the CPU. Sure, it doesn't look as good, but it's much easier to get around inside my PC now.

I'm sure there will be a stock GPU cooler that's loud enough to drive me back to WC the GPU, but I'm pleased with my current 4890 for the time being.

 

[jcw122]

I quit we were moving homes and my Dad made me get rid of my bong cooler. I only had it for about a month, but it was a ton of fun! The only issue was that it ate a solid amount of water up, so refilling in the long term would have been expensive.

 

[Mycobacteria]

At the moment im on air in a lian li PC V1000.

It's so much easier, the ocs are almost the same and just as stable.

 

[eobard]

I ran H2O for roughly 6 years. Gave it up when I left socket A behind and went 775. My PSU ate my mobo and there was no reason at that point to try to stay socket A, even the best Barton on the best mobo couldn't compete with a bottom of the line C2D. And I was sick and tired of the constant fighting any time I needed to snake my video card out from under the runs of tubing running from the bottom of my case to the CPU socket so I figured rather than waste the expense on a new block or some kind of mounting adapter I should just get a heatpipe sink instead, which I did. Just as effective, lot less maintainance and I'm not paying any electrical bills for the extra fans and the pump running.

 

[hafa]

(A)lot less maintainance (sic) and I'm not paying any electrical bills for the extra fans and the pump running.

+1

 

[Spawn-Inc]

Just as effective

i beg to differ, but i get your meaning.

 

[Automata]

The time it took to setup the watercooling just wasn't worth it to me. I ran watercooling on a p4, then dual Xeons then e6400. I just stopped after that as it created a lot of downtime on my computer. I just can't have that now. The cost was also extremely high for me as I wanted to have the best parts.

I eventually got into server equipment and dropped my parts.

 

[Junglebizz]

I stopped for many reasons.

- Primarily, it was louder than I had hoped. I have had 3 systems since that were all air cooled overclocked rigs and all were quieter and performed very well.

- Maintenance on the system was going to be a lot more time and hassle than just a vacuum and a can of air.

- Changing sockets and mounting specifications meant having to get a new water block the next time around.

Perhaps I would do it again if I went with some more high end components, but when I water cooled, I wanted to keep costs down and totally customize my setup. It was fun in the long run, but now I don't have as much time or money to dedicate to such a project.

 

[720x770]

wow thread resurrection from 06 to 2010 (o'10?)

is this a record?

 

[hokiealumnus]

I think I remember an '04 from last year. Definitely not a record, but it is a healthy resurrection.

 

[QuietIce]

I think I remember an '04 from last year. Definitely not a record, but it is a healthy resurrection.

Agreed! This question is just as valid today as it was then - maybe even more so with all the options available now ...