a water cooling setup...

[phill9800]

is this setup any good?

http://www.viperlair.com/reviews/case_cool/asetek/antarc/p3.shtml

the review seems to be a hit, which is something im considering for my next pc now, but im also wondering, is it worth it? please help!!!

[bluegreenshxt]

custom kits usually perform better...but watercooling is mainly for high potential hardware/ hot room temp/ quite cooling/ or most importantly bragging rights...

so it depends which of the above you fit into...and how much you want it...but i'm not gettin it for my future s939 tho

[phill9800]

how come? i wouldnt mind it just for the quiteness, anything else is just a bonus really to be honest

[Avid6eek]

It is a big plus to have your system running much quieter. I currently run water cooling, but I am getting rid of it. There really is no need to watercool an Athlon 64 system, as heat really isn't a problem. Even when overclocking, as long as you have a good air cooler, your fine. The CPU overclocking limit is reached before heat becomes too much of an issue. At last report, AMD is also doing very well with their transition to 90nm. AMD actually has working dual core 90nm Opterons that put out only minimally more heat than current Opterons/Athlon 64's. The main reason that I am getting rid of my water cooling is that it makes upgrading much harder. It tends to be a pain in the @ss to remove the cooling equipment so that I can swap out hardware.

[phill9800]

It is a big plus to have your system running much quieter. I currently run water cooling, but I am getting rid of it. There really is no need to watercool an Athlon 64 system, as heat really isn't a problem. Even when overclocking, as long as you have a good air cooler, your fine. The CPU overclocking limit is reached before heat becomes too much of an issue. At last report, AMD is also doing very well with their transition to 90nm. AMD actually has working dual core 90nm Opterons that put out only minimally more heat than current Opterons/Athlon 64's. The main reason that I am getting rid of my water cooling is that it makes upgrading much harder. It tends to be a pain in the @ss to remove the cooling equipment so that I can swap out hardware.

well thank you shiznit for your kind words about it. i am only considering water cooling because of the noise rather than the overclocking side of things, because with this new rig, i doubt i will even bother overclocking at all! if all things go to plan, i shouldnt need to as it will be as fast as hell anyways!

with regards to your water cooling setup, what are your temps like? what where they like before on air?

i do like to keep full load temps below 50C or even better below 40C. im not sure how the amd 64 cpu's do run, whether they run warm or fairly hot.

when you say about overclocking the amd 64's, what the norm for how far you can go for overclocking? does it matter which chipset you use? nforce, via etc? im really looking into it seriously, thankfully, my credit card will be cleared by the end of this month and i WILL be saving up from now in order to build and buy a brand new rig... as i know more or less what im wanting, it shouldnt be to hard, the only thing im kinda 'worried' about, is memory and the motherboard to be honest. im not sure what to go for!

thanks again for the help!

[Avid6eek]

My Athlon 64 ran 38C under load with the stock heatsink (this was outside of a case), and now it runs around 34C under load. The temperatures can vary quite a bit depending on your setup. If I were you, I'd save the $200+ you are going to spend on water cooling and just get a Zalman (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductdesc.asp?description=35-118-109&depa=0) copper flower cooler. These heatsinks are huge, but very quiet. In conjuction with a case with 120mm fans, there shouldn't be much noise. With the money you save, you afford to buy some faster hardware :)

On the motherboard side of things, you should definetly get a socket 939 board, with the nForce 3 250GB chipset. That chipset by far has the most features, and it is just as fast performance wise as anything offered from VIA. If you wait until later this year to buy this sytem, I would hold out and wait for Abit's new motherboard line...Fatal1ty. The first AMD board will be based off the nForce 4 chipset, which should be available later in the year. This will give you PCI-Express support, as well as other improved features.

[phill9800]

My Athlon 64 ran 38C under load with the stock heatsink (this was outside of a case), and now it runs around 34C under load. The temperatures can vary quite a bit depending on your setup. If I were you, I'd save the $200+ you are going to spend on water cooling and just get a Zalman (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductdesc.asp?description=35-118-109&depa=0) copper flower cooler. These heatsinks are huge, but very quiet. In conjuction with a case with 120mm fans, there shouldn't be much noise. With the money you save, you afford to buy some faster hardware :)

On the motherboard side of things, you should definetly get a socket 939 board, with the nForce 3 250GB chipset. That chipset by far has the most features, and it is just as fast performance wise as anything offered from VIA. If you wait until later this year to buy this sytem, I would hold out and wait for Abit's new motherboard line...Fatal1ty. The first AMD board will be based off the nForce 4 chipset, which should be available later in the year. This will give you PCI-Express support, as well as other improved features.

again shiznit, thanks for the help and kind words! i have been looking at the Zalman coolers, but i couldnt find a review of the amd 64 cpus which is a shame! i will have another look soon i think..

im not going to be able to afford it just right now, at the moment the hardware id like is just over £1100!! which is something i dont have at the moment! i would like to wait to get the pci-express (i assume this is the new graphics card slots??) which would be great as i wouldnt need to upgrade for a long time!

with the 38C under a load, was that with the standard cooler or was that with a zalman cooler? i have a long list of things id like, i hope to run them by you guys when i have the money, at the moment im just trying to get the basics in my head so i know roughly what id like to get..

thanks again so much for the help shiznit :)

[Avid6eek]

Those temps were with the stock cooler :)

[kMaN]

I bought a Koolance Water-Cooled kit and I love it. My computer is extremely quiet and of course it keeps the cpu and chipset very cool. Shiznit is correct when he says it getss to be a pain when you are trying to switch hardware though. Otherwise, I love it.

[phill9800]

so with the zalman would i expect cooler temps or not? but then would the cpus be different with the temps as they are the 939 pin? or is that the 90nm cpus if and when they come out?

i think if i get good temps with the air cooling, i would just stick with the air cooling, its not that hot where i live anyways, its mostly raining or thundering most of the time!

[Avid6eek]

The point of using the Zalman cooler is just to reduce noise. You can barely hear it running. It is a very large heatsink, so it should have no problems keeping you Athlon 64 cool.

[phill9800]

The point of using the Zalman cooler is just to reduce noise. You can barely hear it running. It is a very large heatsink, so it should have no problems keeping you Athlon 64 cool.

well im glad for the reduction of noise and i look forward to seeing what the standard cooler can do first. if i dont like the temps, i will ask here and then go and buy what someone (like you shiznit) recommends! hopefully i should be able to keep it at about 40C even with a full load and a hot day :) that would be nice !! oh, im going to get that coolermaster stacker case.. i think thats the best one for me :)

thanks for all the help :) cant thank you enough :)