Which watercooling kit?

[Goose]

Hello all,
I am thinking of investing in a water cooling kit for my new rig. However i only have around £100 for the kit itself, so will that get me one that is worthwhile? or would i be better off leaving it?

I looked at a couple of kits that seemed ok but i am a bit of a newbie when it comes to watercooling.

Cooler Master Aquagate Viva - only £41.52 from ebuyer via google checkout. Seem's way to cheap to be any good.
Link here

Or there is the Gigabyte 3d Galaxy. £117 from aria.co.uk.
Link here


Another problem is, i need an 8800GTS water block and i couldn't find one for these kits, any suggestions on a good kit?

Thanks for replies

[Clunk]

None of those to be honest. Cheap watercooling generally will give you temps that are similar to decent air cooling, only with louder fans.

I would say to spend the money on decent air cooling, or save up a bit and get decent water cooling.

[Agent]

Same as Clunk - I wouldn't go for a kit system.

For a £100 you would get some decent 2nd hand gear - well worth looking at the FS forum, or post a wanted.

Otherwise save up and do it properly

[eddta]

So what is the proper way to do it then? I know nothing about water cooling but I am very intrigued for the future.

[Clunk]

Decide what you want from it, performance, or silence, or both.

Decide on what you are going to cool.

Decide how much you want to spend.

[Agent]

and importantly, what case you are fitting it in. If its a small case, you will have to be more careful about what you buy size wise

[eddta]

If I wanted to use my current case and wanted to go for pure performane what would I go for. I don't really care about noise.

[Clunk]

You may be able to fit a dual rad in the front of that case, but I couldnt swear to it, try emailing a few radiator manufacturers..thermochill are very helpful

[eddta]

So what manufactures are good for watercooling and what components would i need to buy?

[Clunk]

First you need to find out what fits...thermochill radiators are the best, but they are quite deep, and arent cheap, but if you can fit a PA120.2 in the front, that would be a great place to start.

Email them and check, and then we can sort you out some other stuff to go with them...unless anyone else on here knows?

[ian_heath]

Hi all.
I felt I may have something to add here .. or more of a "what not to do" angle
I have a Thermaltake BigWater 735 liquid cooling kit installed in/out of my Antec p180b case. I felt I wanted to point out that I have had MANY issues with faulty components (such as a DOA pump that could not be replaced at the store but instead forced me to wait more than 4 weeks)
Funny enough i had a almost identical encounter with my T/T Toughpower 750w PSU
Failed early - had to be replaced AFTER it was sent back for testing
From my experience (and many other professionals I have spoken with) if you are looking at buying ANY core component that is critical to the system function, only buy Thermaltake if you like having your PC in parts scattered all over your study for VERY extended lengths of time.

Ok .. now that is off my chest, Ive recently purchased a Zalman GPU water block ZM-GWB3 and also the (matching) VGA RAM water block ZM-RWB1 and both of these have been plumbed into my t/t liquid system.
So far I have been impressed by how well engineered (as opposed to the silly level of over-engineering made synonomous by t/t) but best of all the average retail price for Zalman items is often coming under t.t.
I am looking at upgrading my system part by part but I suspect I may soon shell out and get the whole package. Oh, and a word of advice for anyone reading this and about to plunge into the deep end (excuse pun) of water cooling.
If you are planning on a ATX/BTX/(Any Tower case basically) I would consider the more compact integrated units (pump/tank) that are designed to be fitted into a single/dual disc bay.
No matter what case you have (mine being one of the worst for this) mounting a radiator/pump/tank INSIDE the case and allowing clearance so no hoses kink up can be a HUGE challenge. If you have a case like mine and have 4 full 5.25" bays, it is unlikely you will ever need more than 2 so make use of that space.
Doing that also allows you to view/access funky things like flow meters etc (if fitted)
My 735 kit was not supplied with ANY flow meter and as a result a large air embolism managed to get locked in my cpu water block so it appeared all was well when my brand new core2duo reached somewhere around 110 C before the system failed. Not meaning to be even more anti here but the hose they give you (t.t) is ****. Its v stiff and kinks readily. Best hose i have used (and still use) was puchased off the roll at JAYCAR (handware supplies) and looks to be identical to that you would buy in any aquarium shop.
Now why not save yourself another pile of cash and instead of paying $25-35 for a half litre bottle of "PC coolant" get down to your local repco or supercheap auto parts shack. Read the contents on the bottles. Both are (differing in strength) Ethleyne Glycol (antifreze) but if you get the more exy one you may find like i did that a WHOLE litre of CONCENTRATED coolant cost me around $7
Dilute that 3 parts coolant, 1 part DISTILLED WATER (only) and you have top shelf coolant and you have so much of it you can put fresh stuff in next time as it does work a bit like oil in an engine and flushes out grit and impurities so you really wanna be keeping it fresh.
Wow .. sorry - i dragged that out a lil

Happy clocking all

Ian