The Akasa Amber 120mm fans are a good choice for case fans as they're very quiet.
water cooling best choice for todays rig?
- Thread starter Cartoon Corpse
- Start date
Cartoon Corpse
Veteran
do the fans 'link' in series to 1 PSU connector or something? or do you need a separate one for each on the PSU? do i pretty much need to look for a PSU with the same number of connectors (and type) as the number of dohickeys in the box?
Air cooling is anything but incapable of cooling today's stuff.
I find my dual core Opteron + X850 XT to be just as easy to cool as my old Athlon XP. I bought a $35 Artic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro which keeps the chip well below 50C Prime95'ing at 2.6GHz/1.46v. That's a cheaper and more effective cooler than my older $50 Thermalright SLK800. The cooler blows air directly at the case's rear exhaust fans and is rotatable on its base for different mobo layouts. Awesome design.... Combine that with Arctic Cooling's GPU coolers which exhaust air outside the case and your case temps are fantastic.
BTX is an Intel gimmick. It is extremely difficult to use with AMD CPUs because the RAM is too far from the CPU and the integrated controller has problems maintaining signal integrity. I've seen reviews of cases with those BTX-like ducts where the systems run hotter too.
I find my dual core Opteron + X850 XT to be just as easy to cool as my old Athlon XP. I bought a $35 Artic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro which keeps the chip well below 50C Prime95'ing at 2.6GHz/1.46v. That's a cheaper and more effective cooler than my older $50 Thermalright SLK800. The cooler blows air directly at the case's rear exhaust fans and is rotatable on its base for different mobo layouts. Awesome design.... Combine that with Arctic Cooling's GPU coolers which exhaust air outside the case and your case temps are fantastic.
BTX is an Intel gimmick. It is extremely difficult to use with AMD CPUs because the RAM is too far from the CPU and the integrated controller has problems maintaining signal integrity. I've seen reviews of cases with those BTX-like ducts where the systems run hotter too.
my Zalman 9500 is a nice frikin huge heatsink.
If the case has two 120mn fans, it would be more than enough. Four 120s is abit over the top, for case fans. The real solution after you have good case venting , is to get a AC unit for your room. Get your ampient down to 44f.....
If the case has two 120mn fans, it would be more than enough. Four 120s is abit over the top, for case fans. The real solution after you have good case venting , is to get a AC unit for your room. Get your ampient down to 44f.....
If you have coolers on the graphic cards that vent the warm air out of the case and a couple of 12cm fans for air intake and one fan below the psu (thinking of ATX layout here) helping to vent the warm air from the processor out of the case then yes that will cope with the heat just fine.
Watercooling allow you to cool the parts with less noise but it's more expensive.
Watercooling allow you to cool the parts with less noise but it's more expensive.
DudeMiester
Regular
Cartoon Corpse said:
I was talking about fans in general, regardless of size. Of course, the CPU fan plugs directly into the mobo, the GPU fans plug into the cards and the PSU fans have their own power source (they are in the power supply unit after all lol). Now that you mentioned it though, the largest heatsinks do take 120mm CPU fans.
Also, there's no reason why you need specifically 4 case fans either. There's no "magic number" or "uber-setup". Just use common sense, and make sure there is good airflow through the case and hence the temperatures are ok. It's that simple!
Cartoon Corpse said:
You can usually do that, but don't put too many on one line. You can always look at the amp output of the PSU in it's manual, and how much the fans are using by reading their power rating and doing some math. Generally though, it's a good idea to spread your load across your PSU connectors somewhat. Highend PSUs will usually have 2 12v rails (4 pin connectors are 12v), which means they've got 2 sets of regulators that split the available connections. You should balence the load between those rails to get the cleanest power.
Like I said, common sense. Make sure the air is getting to where it's needed and don't stress your PSU by attaching everything to one cable. It's only as complicated as you want to make it, lol.
Cartoon Corpse
Veteran
thanks for that info. balance across the rails...got it.
the maddman
Regular
Cartoon Corpse said:
AMD has also said they don't need BTX to keep their chips cool. It's also been said that the BTX form factor isn't a good fit with on die memory controllers, the motherboard is laid out with the Processor first, then the north bridge, then the south, and the RAM is next to the northbridge, not the CPU.
Then again, Intel wouldn't design a spec that's hard for their competitors to reach would they?
Cartoon Corpse
Veteran
over at ibuypower they only offer water cooled cpu cooling + fan for their amd processors in the gamer fx category.
the budget still offers air cooled solutions but no amd x2 past 4800....and no fx past 57.
the budget still offers air cooled solutions but no amd x2 past 4800....and no fx past 57.
Cartoon Corpse
Veteran
im leaning towards liquid cooling now. especially for AMD.
also gateway has a whole article on BTX now (though they don't offer AMD of course). apparently they are offering a complete line of BTX form factor now.
that upcoming intel (claim to surpass AMD) offering may be why?
anyway thanks for all the input.
also gateway has a whole article on BTX now (though they don't offer AMD of course). apparently they are offering a complete line of BTX form factor now.
that upcoming intel (claim to surpass AMD) offering may be why?
anyway thanks for all the input.
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
Legend
I was strongly considering water cooling for my next build what with it being so fashionable and now mainstream, but after putting together a mid-range gaming machine for a friend (Athlon 64 3500, 1 gig ram, three hard drives, DVD burner, passively cooled chipset, X1600, etc) , I think I'll stick with aircooling. A decent case, a few temperature controlled 120mm fans, and the new generation of quiet, aircooled CPU coolers and PSUs means you can build a very, very quiet aircooled case without resorting to watercooling, even for gaming.
If you want something absolutely silent (and don't count the noise from a water pump or PSU), or want to overclock, then watercooling becomes more attractive, but right now I'll stick with the simpler "less to go wrong" aircooling that is still very quiet for non-overclocked systems.
If you want something absolutely silent (and don't count the noise from a water pump or PSU), or want to overclock, then watercooling becomes more attractive, but right now I'll stick with the simpler "less to go wrong" aircooling that is still very quiet for non-overclocked systems.
this is what i currently have:
Gateway - scrapped that piece of crap and just using the motherboard, its a Athlon 64 3400
ATI Radeon x850 agp pro- this card can be flashed to get 16 pipes, but im not sure its worth it.
Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS - Everyones standard.
Antec 500 SmartPower 2.0 - nice easy cable installing, reduces system clutter.
Cool Master Stacker 830 - amazing unit, ill be able to install everything ill need for good looks (nice and clean setup), air flow, and liquid cooling.
Big Water 745 - not too sure if this pump will be able to handle my loop. also scapping the single internal/external radiator.
VGA Water Block - i figured if i ever flash my x850 card to open up 4 additional pipelines that this would come in handy.
ill show ya what im going to be working with. should be here by either monday or tuesday, hopefully.
Aqua Bay M1 - lets me know level of liquid system and indicates there is water flow.
Aqua Bay M2 - this will replace my internal/external radiator from the Big Water 745, also frees up an ugly looking fan mount.
Aqua Bay M3 - ive read its best to have your tank above the pump for bleeding purposes. should help in looping everything together.
HardCano 12 - lets me know if my pump is failing or something is about to explode!
Two Lazer LED Cannon Blue - threw these in for looks
Cyclo RAM Cooler - looks cool and could be handy for OCing.
So far i havent had any problems installing the motherboard, power unit, or cards. ive noticed that the stacker has amazing amount of room to do just about anything. now if i can just figure out where all these plugs go :bang head
does anyone kmow if ill be able to carry out my loop with all these components. im scrapping the single internal/external radiator for the M2 to give it that clean look. i figured i can always just hook up that external 2 radiator anyways. i was planning on using 3/8" tubing but im not even sure if the pump will handle all this. can anyone help me out before i make a swimming pool out of my computer, lol.
Gateway - scrapped that piece of crap and just using the motherboard, its a Athlon 64 3400
ATI Radeon x850 agp pro- this card can be flashed to get 16 pipes, but im not sure its worth it.
Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS - Everyones standard.
Antec 500 SmartPower 2.0 - nice easy cable installing, reduces system clutter.
Cool Master Stacker 830 - amazing unit, ill be able to install everything ill need for good looks (nice and clean setup), air flow, and liquid cooling.
Big Water 745 - not too sure if this pump will be able to handle my loop. also scapping the single internal/external radiator.
VGA Water Block - i figured if i ever flash my x850 card to open up 4 additional pipelines that this would come in handy.
ill show ya what im going to be working with. should be here by either monday or tuesday, hopefully.
Aqua Bay M1 - lets me know level of liquid system and indicates there is water flow.
Aqua Bay M2 - this will replace my internal/external radiator from the Big Water 745, also frees up an ugly looking fan mount.
Aqua Bay M3 - ive read its best to have your tank above the pump for bleeding purposes. should help in looping everything together.
HardCano 12 - lets me know if my pump is failing or something is about to explode!
Two Lazer LED Cannon Blue - threw these in for looks
Cyclo RAM Cooler - looks cool and could be handy for OCing.
So far i havent had any problems installing the motherboard, power unit, or cards. ive noticed that the stacker has amazing amount of room to do just about anything. now if i can just figure out where all these plugs go :bang head
does anyone kmow if ill be able to carry out my loop with all these components. im scrapping the single internal/external radiator for the M2 to give it that clean look. i figured i can always just hook up that external 2 radiator anyways. i was planning on using 3/8" tubing but im not even sure if the pump will handle all this. can anyone help me out before i make a swimming pool out of my computer, lol.
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