mgsmid Posted January 18, 2009 Posted January 18, 2009 im OCing a q9550 to 3.33, and looking to have it say there. do i have to spend the money to get water cooling or can i just save 200 bucks and get a THERMALRIGHT ULTRA 120 EXTREME CPU COOLER Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turophiliac Posted January 18, 2009 Posted January 18, 2009 i'd say the air cooler would be your best bet. it's way cheaper and maintenance consists of blowing out the dust once in a while. water cooling takes quite a bit of work to keep it going, and for the overclock you are talking about you should be fine on air cooling. maybe if you were going for 4.0GHz, water cooling would be a good idea. also, the Xigmatek Rifle cooler is about half the price of the TRUE and cools to the same potential, if not better. so if cash is an issue, the Xigmatek would be the way to go. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgsmid Posted January 18, 2009 Posted January 18, 2009 i'd say the air cooler would be your best bet. it's way cheaper and maintenance consists of blowing out the dust once in a while. water cooling takes quite a bit of work to keep it going, and for the overclock you are talking about you should be fine on air cooling. maybe if you were going for 4.0GHz, water cooling would be a good idea. also, the Xigmatek Rifle cooler is about half the price of the TRUE and cools to the same potential, if not better. so if cash is an issue, the Xigmatek would be the way to go. what about a combo deal something like a Ultra / ChillTec / Socket 939/775/AM2 / Thermal Electric CPU Cooler, is that worth anything in your mind? because i want some head room for experimentation. i don't really want to fry the cpu just have something to toy with Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
psycho_terror Posted January 18, 2009 Posted January 18, 2009 watercooling takes practice and planning, but once done properly it's really not much work. if you know you will frequently mess around with your computer, and want to invest time into it to make it run as well as possible then watercooling might be for you. if you want a hassle free experience with as little work as possible to get the job done (possibly at the expense of a little performance), then go with air. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVIYTH0S Posted January 19, 2009 Posted January 19, 2009 watercooling takes practice and planning, but once done properly it's really not much work. if you know you will frequently mess around with your computer, and want to invest time into it to make it run as well as possible then watercooling might be for you. if you want a hassle free experience with as little work as possible to get the job done (possibly at the expense of a little performance), then go with air. with a TRUE the possibilities are slim Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verran Posted January 19, 2009 Posted January 19, 2009 water cooling takes quite a bit of work to keep it going That's really not accurate. Once assembled, you really shouldn't have to touch your water system for years. I put mine together and never touched it again for like 2 years. That said, I still think air cooling is the way to go. Whether it's a TRUE or something similar, I think it fits your description better. You don't sound like you want to go extreme and tweak every little setting. You just want a nice easy stable OC, and air is perfect for that and should even leave you room to go a bit higher if you want to later. Plus it's cheaper and easier. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
road-runner Posted January 19, 2009 Posted January 19, 2009 The only time I have had to mess with my watercooling is when I changed something in the loop like the a cpu block, otherwise there is nothing I see to do to it but blow dust out the radiator. Most of the people changing the fluid are the ones that put all that florescence/dye junk in there to start with and then wonder why there is junk in there loop... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVIYTH0S Posted January 19, 2009 Posted January 19, 2009 if you are only going for 3.33ghz as your OC you wont even need something as good as a TRUE. There are other coolers that will suit you just fine and will save you money Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turophiliac Posted January 19, 2009 Posted January 19, 2009 geez, all I meant was that a watercooling setup usually required more maintenance and/or knowlege to run than just an aircooling setup. And besides, the CPU is only going to be overclocked from 2.83 to 3.33 GHz so it's not like a water setup is really needed... trying to steer the OP away from a water setup that will obviously cost more than a decent air cooler and that would require much more knowledge than needed for air. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verran Posted January 19, 2009 Posted January 19, 2009 geez, all I meant was that a watercooling setup usually required more maintenance and/or knowlege to run than just an aircooling setup. And besides, the CPU is only going to be overclocked from 2.83 to 3.33 GHz so it's not like a water setup is really needed... trying to steer the OP away from a water setup that will obviously cost more than a decent air cooler and that would require much more knowledge than needed for air. And you're right. Air is the right way to go. I just wanted to clarify the part about maintenance and water setups. It's a common misconception that water requires regular maintenance and that's really not the case. I just want to make sure the OP has a clear understanding of the options. Otherwise I totally agree with you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedEuphoria Posted January 19, 2009 Posted January 19, 2009 (edited) With an E0 Q9550 and the best bang for the buck air cooler(Xigmatek S1283) you should be fine hitting 4Ghz on air if your board can run the quad that well and you have enough air movement in your case, like at least 2x 120mm fans and maybe a better 120mm fan on the CPU cooler. Many of them do 3.6Ghz on stock voltages or so. Edited January 19, 2009 by SpeedEuphoria Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVIYTH0S Posted January 19, 2009 Posted January 19, 2009 With an E0 Q9550 and the best bang for the buck air cooler(Xigmatek S1283) you should be fine hitting 4Ghz on air if your board can run the quad that well and you have enough air movement in your case, like at least 2x 120mm fans and maybe a better 120mm fan on the CPU cooler. Many of them do 3.6Ghz on stock voltages or so. ya that's the cooler I meant to link, and as far as overclockability of the Q9550. I mean I have my Q9450 at what you see below so you could probably get a 4.0ghz overclock or more. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now