Watercooling vs Fans

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • The_Eliminator
    Senior Member
    • Aug 2006
    • 5486

    #1

    Watercooling vs Fans

    I know this argument has probably been around for years but im more interested in whats the most viable option for me. Living in Australia during the summer i have noticed that my PC can reach well over temperatures of 90+ degrees Celsius (especially the GPU), what i want to know is:

    1. Is it better to by a good vented case with lots of fans OR is it better to get a good case with a watercooling system in place?
    2. What is the more expensive option?
    3. Does watercooling require a lot of maintenance? (in terms of replacing fluid etc).

    If anyone could answers these it would be a big help!
  • The_Eliminator
    Senior Member
    • Aug 2006
    • 5486

    #2
    Re: Watercooling vs Fans

    If only Alex98uk were still here. He would know

    Comment

    • Vreki
      Senior Member
      • Oct 2007
      • 4226

      #3
      Re: Watercooling vs Fans

      Rumor has it that AMD is considering this for their high-end CPUs
      http://www.corsair.com/cooling/hydro...pu-cooler.html

      Personally I dont like the idea of having water in my PC

      Comment

      • CptainCrunch
        I am the 1%
        • Oct 2007
        • 12976

        #4
        Re: Watercooling vs Fans

        Originally posted by The_Eliminator
        I know this argument has probably been around for years but im more interested in whats the most viable option for me. Living in Australia during the summer i have noticed that my PC can reach well over temperatures of 90+ degrees Celsius (especially the GPU), what i want to know is:

        1. Is it better to by a good vented case with lots of fans OR is it better to get a good case with a watercooling system in place?
        2. What is the more expensive option?
        3. Does watercooling require a lot of maintenance? (in terms of replacing fluid etc).

        If anyone could answers these it would be a big help!
        I wanted to bash you for the second post within four hours, but I decided to be a small douche instead:

        1. You want a balanced system with consistant air flow. Having a lot of fans can actual negate that if you are not careful. You want airflow to be consistant and over the correct components of a system. Having four fans blow across and then one blowing down through that stream can be a bad idea. Cases can come with some water cooling features, for future use.
        2. Water cooling.
        3. Yes. Well, it depends. You have to keep your water clean and treated and topped off, so you do have to check it now and again. Also pumps and resevoirs break and leak eventually. Not good for a sudden failure and you dont know it until too late.

        Unless you are going to overclock a lot, water cooling isnt the way to go.

        Also, Alex did a few articles on this. Might try a search option if you want his opinion. Maybe the articles are still around. I hope they werent lost because then the world would have lost all the water cooling information.

        Crunch
        Twitter: @CptainCrunch
        Battlelog/Origin: CptainCrunch

        Comment

        • The_Eliminator
          Senior Member
          • Aug 2006
          • 5486

          #5
          Re: Watercooling vs Fans

          I was waiting for someone to pick up on my Alex comment

          Cheers for the info though Crunch much appreciated. So are most cases designed to promote good air flow over the correct components? Or would i have to pay a bit more for a case that does this?

          You put me right off the idea of watercooling when you said the word leak :P

          Comment

          • Anarchy1
            Member
            • Aug 2010
            • 1546

            #6
            Re: Watercooling vs Fans

            If you are looking at the nice cases designed for gaming, then it should be set up well for airflow.
            Battlelog/Origin ID - Hurricane043

            Comment

            • CptainCrunch
              I am the 1%
              • Oct 2007
              • 12976

              #7
              Re: Watercooling vs Fans

              What Anarchy said.

              Generally the smaller cases have some bad flow designs as well as the cheaper ones. Most cases will have fans positioned a certain way to blow over hard drives and RAM and out the back.

              There are a lot of cases out there and it just really depends on how they were setup. I personally like Coolermaster and their "upper level" cases as they tend to design them with cooling in mind.

              Most the time, if a case is around $80 or so, its designed pretty good for cooling. Not always, but you get the idea.

              If you want to get real geeky about it, you can check this site out that has a positive pressure video:
              Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.


              Its also good to note that the case in the demonstration looks like mine, made by a different company.

              Crunch
              Twitter: @CptainCrunch
              Battlelog/Origin: CptainCrunch

              Comment

              • Basil.
                Member
                • Aug 2006
                • 683

                #8
                Re: Watercooling vs Fans

                good wire management will also help with proper air flow. The Cooler Master Haf case are nice and have lots of options for fans.

                Comment

                Working...