water cooling...any experiences?

[bubba freaktree]

I was wondering if anybody ever "water-cooled" a computer.

Does it eliminate all fans?

Is it hard to setup?

Does it ever leak?

[habibbijan]

No, it does not eliminate all fans. It usually eliminates the processor fan. The only people that usually deal with water cooling are hard-core overclockers because it's heavier, more of a hassle, and much more expensive. Some kits do run the risk of leaking.

For a DAW, I would prefer just getting a quiet, low-rpm heatsink/fan, such as the ones made by Zalman. Save the money for gear.

[bubba freaktree]

thanks for the insights. for me it's a bit strange that you list zalman as a quiet fan, because i have a zalman fan and it's noisey as hell. something i'm planning to swap out when i get around to it.

[habibbijan]

Hey bubba,

Admittedly, I don't own a Zalman fan. I had just heard that they were quiet, especially the "flower" HSFs. Since you own one, you have more authority to speak on that subject than me.

I have a Speeze HSF, and it's pretty quiet, but I bet I could have found something quieter if I wanted to pay more than $11. I quickly learned to stay away from Thermaltake. Even their variable speed Volcano 9 sounds like a hairdryer. That stupid thing is collecting dust in my closet.

[bubba freaktree]

yeah, i'd be wary of buying something called a "volcano".

[+Erik.+]

bubba, a good deal of noise is also dampened by a good case.

I have exactly the same queit fans in both my machines yet the sound of the fan in the 2nd just seems to reverberate around the case and is as noisy as it ever was, while the main machine isn't inaudible its about 65% queiter! Also check the noise of your PSU fan.

[KX]

I bought cable extensions and put all my computers in a "spare" room. It's expensive
but very efficient.

[Sonic Valley]

I had a collance system two years ago when I got this box...it was quiet enough...till a hose let go and started leaking. I took the system back.

The best way is like someone mentioned...put the box in another room or isolate it...

[agrikk]

I run a watercooled DAW with cooling parts that I researched as carefully as any other component in my system.

My rig has a single 150mm fan that runs at 7 volts. It is ducted through a radiator and circulates in the case before being vented out past the PSU and the open rear of the case.

I have a cooling loop that cools the video card, northbridge and CPU and my case runs at ambient.

So that's a single fan cooling my entire case, since I've disabled the fans in my PSU.

Suffice it to say that my rig runs quite cool and silent. Plus, I built the case out of 5/8" wood with rubber mats under the hard drive bracket to reduce vibrations.

Watercooling cost me about $150. $40 for the pump, 20 for the radiator, and 75 or so for the two waterblocks and the balance in misc hardware like tubing, clamps and a homemade resevoir.

If designed properly, the cooling loop will never leak.


Another rig I have uses a Zalman CNPS6000-Cu Heatsink (with a 120mm fan in the bracket) running at 7v and it's about as quiet as you can get.

[bassdude]

IMHO, if the soundcards you use are worth the whole computer 5 or 6 times over, then water cooling is out! http://www.audioforums.com/forums/smile.gif The risk of a leak/condensation, no matter how good the system may be, and with power on is not a good recipe.