PC Specialist launches enthusiast Liquid Series PCs

[HEXUS]

Now offering premium liquid-cooling on gamer systems.

Read more.

[Nifl]

Don't think it makes much sense to buy such a PC. Custom loops are a hobby and not a smart cooling solution.

[flearider]

plz explain why there not a smart cooling solution ?
my 8350 has ran at 5ghz for 3+ yrs never going above 55 deg c ?
it's quiet and low maintenance?
yeah it is a hobby and a very good cooling solution

[Nifl]

plz explain why there not a smart cooling solution ?
my 8350 has ran at 5ghz for 3+ yrs never going above 55 deg c ?
it's quiet and low maintenance?
yeah it is a hobby and a very good cooling solution

It's not smart because it's extremely expensive, has a very high maintenance and is complete overkill for most situations. If you think a custom-loop is low maintenance, you don't have a custom loop: the radiators love dust, the liquid has to be frequently refilled, sometimes replaced and if you want to replace a part, the whole system has to be emptied. For most people air-cooling is ideal, while high-end gamers and enthusiasts are perfectly fine with an AiO solution. Custom-loops are something you do for fun and to show off, what you get for your money is prestige, not efficiency.

[cjs150]

"Custom-loops are something you do for fun and to show off, what you get for your money is prestige, not efficiency"

I will accept that custom loops are a lot of fun but disagree that they are for show off (although some people do that). I run a custom loop because it is quiet - a lot quieter than air cooling, but only if you are cooling both GPU and CPU.

And yes they do require some maintenance but not as much as you suggest. A properly designed custom loop is easy to fill and empty which only needs to be done once a year (not frequently) and takes 30 mins at most.

[jimborae]

....what cjs150 said

[Nifl]

"Custom-loops are something you do for fun and to show off, what you get for your money is prestige, not efficiency"

I will accept that custom loops are a lot of fun but disagree that they are for show off (although some people do that). I run a custom loop because it is quiet - a lot quieter than air cooling, but only if you are cooling both GPU and CPU.

And yes they do require some maintenance but not as much as you suggest. A properly designed custom loop is easy to fill and empty which only needs to be done once a year (not frequently) and takes 30 mins at most.

It takes you 30 minutes just to empty your custom loop and you call that low maintenance? lol
You might as well get an AiO solution and not have any maintenance for five years. So no, it's not a smart solution.

[jimborae]

It takes you 30 minutes just to empty your custom loop and you call that low maintenance? lol
You might as well get an AiO solution and not have any maintenance for five years. So no, it's not a smart solution.

Except most AiO's don't offer the same levels of performance or low sound levels and I've yet to see an AiO that includes a graphics card block and can still do a decent job. And yes 30 mins in 12 months is low maintenance for a performance orientated solution.

[StaticLNX]

Agreed Cjs150.

[StaticLNX]

plz explain why there not a smart cooling solution ?
my 8350 has ran at 5ghz for 3+ yrs never going above 55 deg c ?
it's quiet and low maintenance?
yeah it is a hobby and a very good cooling solution

It's not smart because it's extremely expensive, has a very high maintenance and is complete overkill for most situations. If you think a custom-loop is low maintenance, you don't have a custom loop: the radiators love dust, the liquid has to be frequently refilled, sometimes replaced and if you want to replace a part, the whole system has to be emptied. For most people air-cooling is ideal, while high-end gamers and enthusiasts are perfectly fine with an AiO solution. Custom-loops are something you do for fun and to show off, what you get for your money is prestige, not efficiency.

Wrong
I'm a quadriplegic with a full swiftech CPU/GPU's custom loop and rarely have a friend "every 1 1/2 years" refill/blow my radiators out which is the same if not less that I'd have them blow my system out anyways.

[cjs150]

It takes you 30 minutes just to empty your custom loop and you call that low maintenance? lol
You might as well get an AiO solution and not have any maintenance for five years. So no, it's not a smart solution.

30 mins is to empty the loop, check for any gunk, refill, get rid of bubbles and blast the fans and radiators with some compressed air. In my old air cooled rig I spent more time, more often cleaning away dust bunnies - but that was in days before decent dust filters as standard

My view is that AIO solutions are pointless, in general they only cool the CPU and are not materially better or quieter than a good air cooling solution unless you are going for the extreme end of overclocking. It is only when you add the GPU to the cooling loop that water cooling comes into its own.

[chinf]

In a system where water cooling is worthwhile, usually the GPU(s) kick out as much heat as the CPU, so I agree using an AiO just for the CPU isn't optimal. That said, there are adaptors that enable AiO to be used on the GPU too; I'm currently running a cheap AiO on my GPU using a NZXT Kraken G10 adaptor, and it's quiet and cool even under constant full load at max overclock.

[flearider]

plz explain why there not a smart cooling solution ?
my 8350 has ran at 5ghz for 3+ yrs never going above 55 deg c ?
it's quiet and low maintenance?
yeah it is a hobby and a very good cooling solution

It's not smart because it's extremely expensive, has a very high maintenance and is complete overkill for most situations. If you think a custom-loop is low maintenance, you don't have a custom loop: the radiators love dust, the liquid has to be frequently refilled, sometimes replaced and if you want to replace a part, the whole system has to be emptied. For most people air-cooling is ideal, while high-end gamers and enthusiasts are perfectly fine with an AiO solution. Custom-loops are something you do for fun and to show off, what you get for your money is prestige, not efficiency.

so your running a £1200 system on air and overclocking it your cooler cost you £90 and it's still running hot ..i bought my rads second hand 2 tripples and a quad i cool cpu n/b and gpu on 2 seprate loops all o/c. cost wise over 5 yrs or so they have paid for themselfs as they don't need changing from system to system only needed to change the gpu block when i updated to a 290 .. the rads pumps and res will go into the zen when it arrives so value for money yeah ..
and i agree with the others takes 20-30 mins to change a part 10 mins to clean once a month or 20 mins to change out water (thats really cheap) ..planning a system pays off over the yrs .

[Froggywoggy]

"Custom-loops are something you do for fun and to show off, what you get for your money is prestige, not efficiency"

I will accept that custom loops are a lot of fun but disagree that they are for show off (although some people do that). I run a custom loop because it is quiet - a lot quieter than air cooling, but only if you are cooling both GPU and CPU.

And yes they do require some maintenance but not as much as you suggest. A properly designed custom loop is easy to fill and empty which only needs to be done once a year (not frequently) and takes 30 mins at most.

I get the feeling Nifl is a bit envious or made a custom loop which leaked. Not sure why he's being so negative about what is just an enthusiast cooling solution.

[anselhelm]

Looks goodly. I do like PC Specialist, as I got my SkyFire IV laptop from them for a very respectable price.

As much as I love Scan, especially for their first-class customer service, I do find that PC Specialist offer better value on laptops at the very least. (Haven't compared other PC prices.)

I'm looking forward to the day when we start seeing custom water-cooled desktop replacement laptops from PC Specialist. (Hint, hint, any people reading who work at PC Specialist. Make it happen!)