Watercooling kit advise, please advise!

[Turbo]

I am very new to watercooling but I am in need of a good kit to resolve my heat problem. I bought a $170 Icebox 3000 case and it turns out that its a hotbox instead so its on the way back! I was better off with the $15 case and the side off.
System:
AMD 1.4MHz ("Y" @ week 25) clocked stable at 1600MHz 1.87core
Epox 8K7A
512mb Crucial 2100 DDR
G-Force 3
SB Live
I am very intrested in the AquaStealth II kit with the coil upgrade and the pump upgrade. I want to attempt to stay within the $170 mark so that I'm not putting out anymore cash than I have to.
Also, can a system such as the aquastealth 2 with all the bells and whistles stay as an enternal or would I need to go with an external tank also??
Any information you can offer will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Turbo

 

[Bender]

Take a gander at Dangerden.com. They have some of the best water cooling setups around. Before you buy do some research and see exactly what parts will suit you best. Oh and before you try a peltier setup I would go straight water until you have your system dialed in.

 

[AMDGuy]

I did a pretty detailed write up on water cooling here http://www.overclockers.com/tips505/

My total setup cost me about $130.00. I recommend using the DangerDen Maze-2 block instead of the aquastealth block. If I had it to do over again, that's what I would have done. My aquastealth lacked in quality, but is an effective cooler. I plan on upgrading to a Maze-2 sometime.

 

[Turbo]

I have looked at the dangerden products and while I don't know the actual performance of their maze 2 radiator, it does not look like quality work. Maybe this falls a bit more on the kit that they offer with it since it really looks cheap. No way am I using plastic hose clamps on my system, I would never be able to sleep at night. Also the aquastealth upgrade coil looks to be incased so that the air must go through it, the maze 2 is open and does not look as efficient.
I did read your review several days ago and enjoyed it very much. From the kit you bought, it seemed like it was an early model. It would be really nice if both BeCooling and DangerDen would send you the latest models of their high end kits so you could put them up head to head.
I have decided to go with the AquaStealth 2 with the coil upgrade. I had the option of saving $10 and going with the upgrade pump but decided against that also since I will have less than 12 inches of drop, will just run the lines straight without loops and the 180 pump should do fine, I hope! Another turn off for the DangerDen kit was the price, I spent $170 on a case that sucked so its on the way back and thats how much I wanted to spend on the first watercooling attempt.
I hope I have gone down the right path and will be sure to keep the forum posted on my results either way. I want to thank everyone that posted and offered suggestions.
Peace,
Turbo

 

[Def]

The Aquacoil is a very quality piece. Just got mine in today. I found it was a tad larger than the specs they quote, as I had to hack up my Enlight 7237 pretty good to get it to fit in the front. Although it's not like that puppy hasn't been on the wrong end of a Dremel once or twice before.

As for kits, I would recommend against getting any kit, and just piece together your system. Reservoirs sound nice, but most are made of aluminum. Mix that with copper and you can get some nasty battery effect happening. The pumps included in kits are the major weak point though. Those RIO pumps, which it seems all kits use, just really suck IMO. That's the only pump I've heard of failing(not saying they are all crap, just more often than others), and their output is pretty dismal. IMO you want at least 40-60GPH going through your system for good results. The RIO pumps put out about 20-30 max when setup. This is pretty weak. While the 40-60GPH spec might sound like alot, that's barely a steady stream of water. 20GPH is barely a trickle of water. How are you going to cool your processor with that? Case in point, I just ordered me a nice Danner MagDrive 5. 500GPH of power baby.

I just think that purchasing separate components can get you a better system for cheaper. I'm piecing together my system currently, and it's going to cost me ~$20 less than an Aquastealth II, and it will definitely perform better.

 

[William]

dangerden has the best performing and the best quality blocks out there. Furthermore they are an excellent retailer to deal with. They have a video of one of their blocks taking up to 1400psi and I believe most blocks they make could get near that mark too. The cube is probably one of the best radiators out there. Get the dd kit with the cube and go to to lowes and spend $5 on metal clamps.Add a danner or eheim pump and you have one kicking water system.

 

[Flash]

Add a danner or eheim pump and you have one kicking water system.

The DD kits include Eheim pumps.

I'm getting ready to replace a Rio 180 pump with a Danner (either 5 or 7), but I'm a little nervous about whether I really will see improved flow. I've read that magdrive pumps don't do nearly as well with back pressure as direct drive pumps like the Rio. In any case, part of the reason I'm changing is to get the pump out of the water (will run the Danner inline) and to have a more reliable unit, so the difference in flow isn't the only factor in my decision. We shall see.

 

[Billvill]

See dangerden.com ! Simply the best and good people to deal with as well .

Billy

 

[rugby]

The dangerden maze 2 block is second to none for installing. I've installed other waterblocks and hated them!

 

[mcrites]

Turbo (Jul 18, 2001 05:47 p.m.):
No way am I using plastic hose clamps on my system, I would never be able to sleep at night.

Actually. I tested the kit I bought from dangerden and I got some of those plastic clamps that use teeth to stay put. The only way these puppies come off are if you push the clamped part to the side. I tested these clamps for 6 hours and did not detect one leak. As long as you push the clamps together as far as you can, I did not see a problem.

 

[Flash]

I'm sure the plastic clamps are fine. It's not like there's a whole lot of pressure in these systems.

 

[Turbo]

Well If that was not enough, as I mentioned earlier, I bought a aquastealth kit with the coil upgrade (looked like higher quality than the DD radiator), I expect to run this system for a month before looking into inline pumps. In this timeframe, I am flying to Dallas for QuakeCon and a clan Lan party. With the aquastealth tank, would you trust it not to leak if it had to be put on its side or would you drain the system before the plane trip??

Also, right now with my side cover off (cheap case , only exaust is from the power supply) I am running my 1.4 at 1600MHz, 45deg at idle and 50/51 under very heavy load with a core of 1.87. What kind of cooling would you expect a large coil system to produce?
You will have to excuse the newbie questions but I have orders from both crazypc and becooling that won't be here till next week and I can't hardly sleep at night, need input
Thanks for everyones response!

 

[William]

i would definately drain the system.

 

[Michael_Myers]

Turbo (Jul 20, 2001 11:29 p.m.):
Well If that was not enough, as I mentioned earlier, I bought a aquastealth kit with the coil upgrade (looked like higher quality than the DD radiator), I can't hardly sleep at night, need input

I am new too, but I have a question for you. I AM NOT TRYING TO SLAM YOU.......but why ask for anyone's opinion here when what the "old timers" said was clearly: "THE DANGER DEN PRODUCTS ARE SUPERIOR TO AQUASTEALTHS"......and you just sort of spit in the face of all those opinions and said "no" "the aquastealth looks better quality wise"

Im sorry, but me being new and all, I am actualy going to listen to what the older guys say. When it comes time to buy my setup, DD all the way for me......thanks guys.

 

[Turbo]

There were only 3 post when I made my decision and I was sure to thank those that took the time to give me their opinion. In my first post I mentioned the price range that I needed to stay in and thats exactly what I did. I have not seen any reviews of the upgrade coil and without someone that actually owns one or has owned both then who is to say which is better. All I can get is an opinion which is what I set out to get in the first place.
You can be sure that if the quality is not as it appears I will be sure to post my findings so that nobody else makes the same mistake.

 

[William]

there are several reasons why DD is always recomended

1.They have yet to have a watercooler that outperforms their blocks. When one does, they have a new one that is better.

2. The quality of the products is impecible.

3. The DD folks are great people to work with.

Aquastealth products are fine, but they don't do as well as DD. I don't doubt that the Aquastealth is a bad setup, there are several people using aquastealth products here on the forum, but they usually end up going with DD. Try the system out, you should be fine with and should get results better than an aircooler. And please update us on your impressions of it.

 

[Nomortal]

alot of people are saying the the new aquacoil is a better rad then the dd cooling cube
that is why i decided to get .. dd maze 2 waterclock .. eheim 1250 pump and aquacoil

 

[Bobby Manus]

I'll probably buy a maze2 waterblock and the rest of the parts at home depot and the water pump at the local fish store =) Save me about 100$ and could even get a tronger pump probably. I'm really woried about leaks though if I do it this way... I would hate to do damage to something becuase I got skimpy with the epoxy =.