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To Watercool or not to Watercool?


frosty15

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Hi guys,

Been busy for a while with a couple of 9800's that bit the dust, finally bought a nice cheap FX 5900 Ultra to add to my Superbudget rig, £26. :)

 

My birthday was last week, so I have some pennies to spend, finally :nod: and I'm in 2 minds what to do with it. I'd like to take my 754 Venice as high as it can go as I've just finished completing the rig, so whilst I'm tempted to blow the lot on an SLI-D and Oppy, I've been wondering what watercooling will help me achieve.

 

I have a background in plumbing, so I'm not going in with my eyes closed, also I've spent quite a few long hours reading up on kit and specs etc.

I feel I can't really justify spending a fortune on Danger Den although I know it would prolly give me a slightly higher overclock, so a midrange setup is more likely on the cards.

 

Basically my question is this.:

 

Currently I'm rock solid stable @ 250x10 with memory @ 1:1, but my temps are @ 50°C (load). :sad: .

Current cooler is an FX stock cooler with heatpipes and it just doesn't cut the mustard when overclocking.

Should I buy a top of the range air cooler eg TT Big Typhoon or Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro, or would a mid-range XSPC watercooling rig get me an extra 100-200MHz or more?

 

Proposed watercooling rig:

 

waterblock - XSPC X20

chipsetblock - XSPC X20

graphicsblock - XSPC Zern

Pump/Reservoir - MCRES 1000P

Rad - XSPC R120-D (dual 120mm)

2x120mm Panaflo

Tygon ½" tubing

 

Approx £150

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Hmm this is hard for me to decide. Either an opty or SLi-D or the Watercooling.

 

To be honest if your computer does what you would like it to do now, get the Watercooling and clock like HELL! Good kit for that price.

 

Otherwise get the Opty and SLi-D.

 

Btw, what are your initial targets for your venice? I'd expect 3GHz atleast :P

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Yeah 3GHz 8D

 

I'm aiming for that on my 3000+ NewCastle, can get into Windows at 2.7 not stable though.

 

However yeah treat yourself get the W/C Setup. :shake:

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lol you guys crack me up :D 3 gig lol hate you bring bad news to a good party BUT I must :D 2750 on good air and maybe 2820 on water :sad: only 754 cpu on the street thats seen 3.0 is the 4000+but then I only talk data base stable.

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Love my WC setup...

 

My Costs, FYI

 

Mailordered from US: (in US$)

 

Pump - Swiftech MCP655 - 79.99

Rad R - Black Ice Extreme II 240mm - 62.99

Rad F - Black Ice Extreme II 120mm - 44.99

Reservoir - Cooltechnica HDPE 5.25" - 9.99

Waterblock CPU - Cooltechnica Whitewater LE - 34.99

Waterblock GPU - DangerDen Maze4 Acetal - 44.00

CPU Pad - MSI Mobile Pad - 9.99

Coils & Fluid - Swiftech Smartcoils & HydrX - 25.00

 

Purchased here at home: (in C$)

 

Gigabyte Aurora Case - 165.00

4 Nexus 120mm Fans - 72.00

OCZ BGA RAM sinks - 38.00

Sunbeam PCI Anywhere rack - 15.00

2 Silenx 60mm Fans - 26.00

Evercool VC-RE 14.00

 

Total (C$): 673 + tax + shipping + duty = ~$850

 

This is basically EVERYTHING I needed to cool the PC - the only additional mods I made were to modify the HDD bay of the Gigabyte case to remove the cage (so I could install my second rad there) and then move the HDDs to the 5.25" bays. I also made a plastic shelf to hold the 60mm SilenX fans to cool the RAM.

 

Soundproofing on the case is optional - I added it on all surfaces and layered the drive bays (my pump is in the 3.5" bay) and then sprayed over it with a butyl rubber coating (basically truck bed liner) to turn the silver surface black and fill in the nooks and crannys. The result is almost truly noiseless.

 

I figure this is an expensive "mod" but it basically gives me the ultimate platform for current and (hopefully) future technology - I am even now going to be transitioning my MSI K8N Neo2P to this case with a Opty170... Nice thing is that this system is compatible with all current intel and AMD sockets/interfaces including the new AM2!

 

PM me a line if you want some specs or help.

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Dude your best money spent is #1 gpu #2 memory. the money spent on water is wasted as far as how high you can clock your cpu. You can get that E 6 to 2750 on good air on H20 if at very best and it ant gonna happen is 2800 stable

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Yeah 3GHz 8D

 

I'm aiming for that on my 3000+ NewCastle, can get into Windows at 2.7 not stable though.

 

However yeah treat yourself get the W/C Setup. :shake:

come on man you cant get to 2600 stable why spred the bull . of 3.0 :rolleyes:

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