Does anyone still use watercooling?

[MrLaister]

My computer is quiet when running normally, but I often run world community grid and folding at home when at my PC and my stock fans get noisy.

I read watercooling doesn't really help from an efficiency's sake - but I could move the heat to a nice big radiator with some big slow fans on it.

I've seen all-in-one kits which are fairly accessible, but really want a nice custom build - problem is I can't find them cheaper than £300 all factored in.

Is that the right price bracket I should be looking at?

I've thought about using parts not specifically for watercooling rigs - like sourcing my own pipework and fans, but the real cost seems to be in the heat exchangers to the CPU and GFX card chips. I guess you're paying for the custom low-volume builds, right?

Any advice or pointers on where to go is appreciated!

MrL

[Mikep1212]

I have currently just done my first soft tube eater cooled build and i love it. It was the EK 360mm soft tube kit for £300. The pump (EK D5) and the fans (EK Vardar) are never more than 40% and i don't even have the fans on if the CPU is below 40 degrees.

The EK one is as said £300 and i needed the GPU block also +£130, but there are cheaper alternatives that have a great reviews, see here: https://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/cat/Water-Cooling-Kits_40.html

I'm sure Chaos will be along shortly with some more info

[Milli]

Give them (mike and chaos) a couple of days and as long as you provide beer and whiskey they'll sit up to silly hours in the morning doing it for you [emoji23]

Sent from my LYA-L09 using Tapatalk

[Sneakytiger]

i use corsair liquid cooling of cpu and gpu if that counts.

[MrLaister]

i use corsair liquid cooling of cpu and gpu if that counts.

How is it? Does it run quiet?

[Chaosphere]

Depends if he means a Corsair custom loop (their Hydro X line) or just a bog standard H series all-in-one.

A decent all-in-one with a good fan curve can be quiet and keep most modern CPUs at acceptable temperatures.

Full custom loop cooling is expensive. I think my loop cost north of £600 when all was said and done, but its likely a bit above average. The kits Mike linked may be a decent half way house, but some may limit your options later down the road, or have shortcomings in key areas. Sometimes (but admittedly not always), you get what you pay for.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend kits from established water-cooling brands like EK or Alphacool, but I wouldn't know enough about the other, cheaper, options to recommend them. As you said, you're probably looking at around £200-300 as a minimum. It isn't cheap! A good all-in-one will cost you £100, give or take...

Custom loops, when done right, lead to better results. Quieter, cooler. For most though, I don't think it is worth the price of entry nor maintenance required. As I said above, all-in-ones (or good air coolers for that matter) will do the job for most. I think if you are going to build a custom loop, it should be because you want to do so, not just because you need a quieter or cooler PC. If you have that itch, they are a lot of fun.

You just have to decide what it is exactly you're looking for, and how much you're willing to spend! Happy to give some more specific advice on particular kits or set ups if you do want to build something a bit more unique than the norm.

[Galatoni]

Low budget and very effective!

[Liberator]

Now you are just being silly, that will never work.

The BIOS battery is missing.

[Chaosphere]

:roflmao:

Brilliant.

[TeaLeaf]

I still run a custom water-cooling loop on my Obsidian-based system which I built in 2013 and is, after 6+ years of faithful service, now due for a major upgrade of everything.  I'm currently planning to keep it as water-cooled for the almost total silence it provides in the room rather than any overclocking potential.   The nice thing about custom loops is the overclocking potential (if you want that aspect) which allows a system to remain competitive for a fair bit longer than it otherwise might, and this in turn reduces the cost per annum of the system.    So my Obsidian system was not cheap, but then look at how long it has lasted me, so £ per year is fairly good value.   And it is just about inaudible in the room, which is priceless.