Water cooled AMD 64 systems

[Vince Coen]

Hello All!

Can someone explain the basic setup for a water cooled system as well as the
justification over a standard heat sink / fan combination?

Do you plug it into the mains cold water supply?

What volume of water is used per day?

Thanks,

Vince

 

[Wes Newell]

Can someone explain the basic setup for a water cooled system as well as the
justification over a standard heat sink / fan combination?

There really isn't any justification for it for normal users unless
you're trying to build a silent PC. The A64 CPU's run very cool.

Do you plug it into the mains cold water supply?
No. At least not normally.
What volume of water is used per day?

None hopefully, unless you have a leak.

The normal setup consist of a water pump, a water container, a radiator,
a fan for the radiator, a water block (that mounts on the cpu), and hoses.
basically the water is circulated and cooled by the radiator when heated
by the cpu. Personally, I've never used a water cooler. Some aren't any
better than a good air cooler. Some are even worse. I don't think you can
buy a decent one for under $100. If I were going to use water, I think I'd
buy one of those water chillers that take the 5 gallon plastic bottle and
forget the radiator and fan and just recirculate the chilled water back to
the 5gal plastic bottle. I think that would work good. I think you can buy
one af them for about $50, then you'd need a good pump (2 if you want
backup), and a good water block. Yeah, I've thought about it.

 

[David Simpson]

There really isn't any justification for it for normal users unless
you're trying to build a silent PC. The A64 CPU's run very cool.

Yes, a silent PC would be the main reason, very high over clocking, or to
get the heat out of the case, instead of just blowing hot air around all
the time. (but a good case and case fan would fix the last part) The main
goal of a water cooled system, is get the heat away from the chips, and as
water conducts MUCH MUCH better than air, you can get the heat away easy.
But, you have all the plumbing to do!!! Plus, electronics and water don't
mix well.

BTW, I have a water cooled system that I (you could have better hearing
than me, but not many people do) can't not hear in a normal house, from
more than 2 feet away, and that's the HD. From the front of the system,
you can't even hear the fans!!!

Some aren't any better than a good air cooler. Some are even
worse.

This is true, research before you buy! Look at:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/

and read some of the forums, before you buy ANYTHING, including air
coolers. It's mainly about silent PCs, but since 95% of a PCs noise comes
from the cooling system, this site has a LOT of good information.

I don't think you can buy a decent one for under $100.

Also true, and it would be more like $150 for a good one. The super
easy/quite ones are about $200-$250 (Zalman Reserator, etc). If you didn't
care about the looks, you could build the same (or better) system for $100,
easy. (You can use a couple of heater cores from a car, and get 100%
passive cooling, and still be cheap)


BTW, if you do go with water cooling, do NOT mix metals. Either do 100%
copper, or 100% aluminum.


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[Vince Coen]

Hello Wes!

04 Jan 06 06:30, Wes Newell wrote to All:
WN> There really isn't any justification for it for normal users unless
WN> you're trying to build a silent PC. The A64 CPU's run very cool.

Thanks for the explaination from both of you. I will stick to a fan/heat sink
combo as and when I can afford to buy a new mb and x2.


Vince