The Official Cooling Thread!

You need to either purchase the 1366 version, or buy the 1366 mounting bracket for the cooler as a separate addition (if you already have the cooler)

 

I've already got one yeah, but I'll get another one and the place I'm getting it from sells the new mounting kit with it for like 10 bucks So why are the bigwater kits so crap? Do they just not perform as well as high end air cooling? I've kinda always wanted that "wow" factor of having water cooling, know what I mean? And I looked for those parts you recommended - there are no stockers of thermochill rads in australia that I could find, swiftech apogee gtz water blocks are $115 plus $15 for lga1366 mounting kit, those laing pumps are $190, and a decent looking swiftech 2x120mm rad is $100. Plus tubing and fittings = chaching! Would I really need a 1500L/hr pump if I'm only looking to do cpu/nb or just cpu? Oh, and for comparison, a ttake 850i is $175. Stupid australia tax.

Here is most likely where I would get my stuff from.

Edit: What about the gigabyte 3d galaxy II?

 

They perform as well as top end air cooling, but no better, are still expensive, and are poorly made. They fill with algae and clog up, ad the cheap barbs are also prne to leaks.
Don't get me wrong, a watercooled system is very impressive to look at, but seeing the case studies of the two people I know who have had watercooled systems, it's just too much pain, suffering and expense, when really, air cooling still does the job. It's a toy to experiment with, not a required upgrade for any overclocker short of the one that maxes a CPU out for two weeks before it goes pop then buys something else.
Gigabyte's offerings are better than Tt, but even so, it's home-made or not at all really.

 

Lol somehow I knew it would come down to that in the end.. ok well here's a list of what I would consider getting... its VERY expensive compared to a TRUE if I'm only going to be using it for the CPU.. let me know what you think.

Swiftech Apogee GTZ + 1366 bracket $131.50
Pump $69.00
Swiftech radiator $79.00
Swiftech reservoir $45.00
1/2" tubing $14.00 per metre
1/2" hose barbs for rad $8.00
Swiftech coolant $9.90

Anything I've missed? Do rads/reservoirs/waterblocks come with clamps or would I have to get some of those too?

The waterblock alone is more expensive than a TRUE, do you think it would be worth it for all that extra money and effort?

 

rubixcube,
I don't know if you noticed the 4 holes in the radiator, but on many cases it can be mounted on the rear of the case. The screw holes go all the way through so you can mount it on the outside of the rear 120mm exhaust fan with the case as the meat in the sandwich! In my eyes, it makes for a very neat installation.

Best Regards,
Russ

 

Well, unfortunately I'm probably going to rule out water cooling, as it's a bit out of budget, but does anyone have an opinion on the coolermaster v10? I read a review where they used a core i7 920 oc'd to 3.6ghz and the v10 beat a TRUE by 8-10 celcius at load...

 

I'm not convinced basically, I've not read anything to that degree anywhere else. Probably the TRUE was using a normal speed fan and the V10 was maxed out.

 

Here is the review I read. The fans on the v10 are pretty impressive, 90cfm @ 1900rpm and 19dba.

 

Lmao, 19dB. A 1900rpm 120mm fan is 34-36dB at the very least. Coolermaster, like Thermaltake, lie severely about the noise levels of their fans. The Panaflo fan they used with the TRUE will be noticeably quieter than that, and you'll notice with the Core 2 CPU, the TRUE scores better. The uneven surface of the block is at fault, and this isn't really a problem for Core 2s, but with the i7s it does hurt performance. The coolers itself though perform similarly apart from this.

 

So, disregarding price, if I didnt want to lap my TRUE then I'd get a V10?

 

If you had an i7. If you have a Core 2 you'd still be better off with a TRUE, irrespective of the price.

 

rubixcube,
You can stick those specs in the file cabinet under BS, as I can assure you that a 90 CFM fan will make a lot more noise than 19Dba at 1900 RPM! They lie a lot about fan specs all the time. Silenx is famous for doing just that, with their 14dba fans. 90 CFM will be loud just because of the high airflow, especially in a CPU cooler as the air going between the cooler's fins will make a good bit of noise all by itself! Being able to cool 8-10C cooler with the V10 compared to the TRUE, just means that the case airflow works better with it than it does with a TRUE. There are also a number of coolers that beat out the TRUE in open air "breadboard" style testing. but don't work as well in the confines of a case. It's all about getting the airflow, in and out of the case efficiently through the CPU cooler! Sometimes just adding a new video card can be enough to disrupt the case airflow so it runs hotter. I just turned my side lower fan into an exhaust to help remove the hot air from the video card without affecting my other temps.

Here's a screen shot of my "right now" temps.



With the new video card, I have added a new 47C (Blue) source of heat that exhausts inside the case. Just turning the lower side fan around and making it an exhaust fan lowered the CPU (Green) by 4-5C and the NB (Red) by about 5C. Even the System (Purple), dropped a couple of degrees. Everything else is unchanged from before! Case ventilation is one of the real black arts, and almost never predictable ! LOL!!

Oh, here's a little something I think you will like. It's a desktop wallpaper. 1680x1050.
http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/7466/01301rubik1680x1050.jpg
If you need a different resolution, let me know and I'll post it. Thought of you right away, as soon as I saw it!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

Thanks for the wallpaper bud, looks fantastic! Think I'll keep that one on there for a while.

@ sammorris: yeah, the new build will have an i7 so I will probably go for the coolermaster, but that being said, it is kind of expensive, especially if i want to swap out the fans for blue ones I've always loved my TRUE on my current pc, but I think it might be time for me to move on from the fanboy stage... lol.

 

That was one of the things I noticed. If your graphics card has an external exhaust cooler, turn the side fan to intake. If it exhausts into the case, turn it to exhaust.
Something interesting I have with everest now Russ is that as I leave it open its CPU usage keeps continuously rising until it eventually reaches 25%, or the max of one core. The longer it runs the worse games run as well, eventually becoming so laggy they're completely unplayable. MP3 playback also pops and stutters when it's running after a while. Annoying, as I can only 'snapshot' my temps, not monitor them. All I can assume is that the number of sensors involved in monitoring four GPUs overloads the program...

Just be advised, coolers like that are very dependant on CPU fan speed. Even a 300rpm drop could be enough to bring those temperatures closer together, and due to the layout, a 1600rpm fan on a TRUE will still be quieter.

 

I have a Zalman total copper heat sink the old huge kind, it keeps my CPU around 40, that's a 2.4 and a 2.8 C2D.

I was surprised it fit in my MSI PN7 platinum 0-o

 

@sammorris: yeah I'll probably keep the fan speeds up all the time anyway, aiming to go for 4.0ghz - I found a gigabyte guide that details what you need to tweak to achieve it on a core i7 920 with their x58 board I guess noise isn't really a big deal for me, as long as it does the job. However I know you really like things running silent, I've read your specs page lol.

 

Yeah I read that guide. Note it was done with the Extreme board. Not that the less powerful boards can't pull it off, but it might be more difficult.

 

Might go for the extreme anyway, might as well shell out the extra money just for the sake of it. lol. I was thinking about a HIS 4870x2 ... are they a decent brand? Whats all this fuss I've been hearing about 4870s with high temps?

 

HIS are a decent enough brand, but you'd do better with an XFX I suspect.
The fuss about high temps is a fuss over nothing. nVidia cards get just as hot, they just don't let on about it in the probes. The only problem is the cards heat up other components in people's systems (in particular the chipset) which can potentially lead to other problems. If you have a good case though, there's no issue. You might want to consider a new board before an X2 though, the 680is are very poorly made and designed boards, and installing an X2 may well push one over the edge.

 

Yeah, not planning on installing it in the current system. Going to buy everything new except a graphics card, use my 8800gtx for a little while longer, to save some more money before I get a 4870x2. Any news on anything upcoming that I might want to wait for?