Where to start?

[Takefear]

I have only been building PCs for about a year now. I am wondering what is the best ways to start in the whole water cooling area of things, as I am completely unsure about how to do it. I am running an i5 2500K and would love to be able to get it to a great clock speed and have it water cooled.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[LeeJC73]

Hi

Do you want to go custom loop or are you just looking for water cooling to overclock?

If you're only ever going to put your CPU under water then you could look at the all in one water cooling solutions from Corsair (H60/80/100) and NZXT.

If you're looking to go custom water cooling then the place you realistically have to start is your chassis.

Custom watercooling can give better temperatures and the pre built system but that depends entirely on how you implement it.

Either way your starting point is going to be what you can do with the chassis you have or what are you prepared to buy.

I've got a 2500k at 4.7Ghz in a custom loop, but I know guys that have got that with air and with the self contained systems.

[Takefear]

Hi Do you want to go custom loop or are you just looking for water cooling to overclock? If you're only ever going to put your CPU under water then you could look at the all in one water cooling solutions from Corsair (H60/80/100) and NZXT. If you're looking to go custom water cooling then the place you realistically have to start is your chassis. Custom watercooling can give better temperatures and the pre built system but that depends entirely on how you implement it. Either way your starting point is going to be what you can do with the chassis you have or what are you prepared to buy. I've got a 2500k at 4.7Ghz in a custom loop' date=' but I know guys that have got that with air and with the self contained systems.[/quote']

I would like to just have water cooling to overclock, and have looked at installing a corsair H60 and think that that is the way I should go. I just don't understand the ins and outs of the whole process. All I really want is to cool my CPU to a stable temperature so that I could overclock.

[GrandmasBoy]

All I can say is research research research!

Also I would recommend the biggest most baddest water loop you will possibly want in the future. I make this same recommendation for case as well. You don't want to do what I did and upgrade your case 4x to finally get the one that suits your needs. Also I went from H60 to H100 to 360 rad to a 420+140 rad setup. WASTE OF MONEY. LOL I wish I hada just got the big loop in the first place.

If you know the H60 will be enough for you then go that route but I recommend not buying one if you know you will upgarde in the future. Those AIO's work great for what they are.

[Takefear]

All I can say is research research research! Also I would recommend the biggest most baddest water loop you will possibly want in the future. I make this same recommendation for case as well. You don't want to do what I did and upgrade your case 4x to finally get the one that suits your needs. Also I went from H60 to H100 to 360 rad to a 420+140 rad setup. WASTE OF MONEY. LOL I wish I hada just got the big loop in the first place. If you know the H60 will be enough for you then go that route but I recommend not buying one if you know you will upgarde in the future. Those AIO's work great for what they are.

Well I'm pretty sure that I will not be doing anymore upgrading in the future as I feel like I have almost finished this build. I am not intending to install a new CPU, so would you say that, just for overclocking, the H60 will do?

[LeeJC73]

The H60/80 won't really give you much improvement over a good air cooler.

If you've got the space in the case then the only device that should be looking to push you away from air is the H100.

[Gmac]

If you really are interested in doing the best cooling you realistically can , and can afford to do so, do then look at a custom water cooling loop is the way to go.

Grandmasboy has the nail on the head. "All I can say is research research research!"

A good place to start is with Linus's custom water cooling build guide. If you havent checked it out already (dont forget to hit the like button)

A little out of date but a good place to start.

[Takefear]

Thanks for the help guys! I guess I will go do more and more research.

[Whaler_99]

As everyone has said, a top end air cooler will pretty much match a AiO kit, even a 240mm unit, like the H100. Now, if you can fit it, the Kraken X60 does look pretty boss and so far performance testing has been rally good on it. If you are serious about wanting to overclock, look at www.frozencpu.com. They have some basic WC kits from XSPC, aquatuning and others that basically give you everything you need to start water cooling your CPU. Just make sure your case can handle it. And if looking at a kit, start with a 360mm rad kit, as anything smaller is pretty much a waste...

[GrandmasBoy]

All I can say is research research research! Also I would recommend the biggest most baddest water loop you will possibly want in the future. I make this same recommendation for case as well. You don't want to do what I did and upgrade your case 4x to finally get the one that suits your needs. Also I went from H60 to H100 to 360 rad to a 420+140 rad setup. WASTE OF MONEY. LOL I wish I hada just got the big loop in the first place. If you know the H60 will be enough for you then go that route but I recommend not buying one if you know you will upgarde in the future. Those AIO's work great for what they are.

Well I'm pretty sure that I will not be doing anymore upgrading in the future as I feel like I have almost finished this build. I am not intending to install a new CPU' date=' so would you say that, just for overclocking, the H60 will do?[/quote']

Hey, I never intended to keep upgrading either. Linus once said in a video "Water cooling is basically like injecting drugs into your veins and you'll find that what once was enough is quickly not enough anymore." but yes a H60 would be sufficient for a decent overclock like 4.2-4.6 ghz. If you feel like you will get the bug and really want to push it I would go for a dual fan unit if it can fit in your case. If not maybe H80i?

[Takefear]

All I can say is research research research! Also I would recommend the biggest most baddest water loop you will possibly want in the future. I make this same recommendation for case as well. You don't want to do what I did and upgrade your case 4x to finally get the one that suits your needs. Also I went from H60 to H100 to 360 rad to a 420+140 rad setup. WASTE OF MONEY. LOL I wish I hada just got the big loop in the first place. If you know the H60 will be enough for you then go that route but I recommend not buying one if you know you will upgarde in the future. Those AIO's work great for what they are.

Well I'm pretty sure that I will not be doing anymore upgrading in the future as I feel like I have almost finished this build. I am not intending to install a new CPU' date=' so would you say that, just for overclocking, the H60 will do?[/quote'] Hey, I never intended to keep upgrading either. Linus once said in a video "Water cooling is basically like injecting drugs into your veins and you'll find that what once was enough is quickly not enough anymore." but yes a H60 would be sufficient for a decent overclock like 4.2-4.6 ghz. If you feel like you will get the bug and really want to push it I would go for a dual fan unit if it can fit in your case. If not maybe H80i?

In my new case I will have room for a dual fan unit, so a H80i will do the trick?

[GrandmasBoy]

Yes an H80i should do the trick. What kind of clocks are you planning on pushing? If nothing above the 4.6 ish maybe 4.8 you should be ok. When I had an H60 and 2500k I wasn't comfortable going over 4.6 as the temps were starting to reach near 80's.

[Takefear]

Yes an H80i should do the trick. What kind of clocks are you planning on pushing? If nothing above the 4.6 ish maybe 4.8 you should be ok. When I had an H60 and 2500k I wasn't comfortable going over 4.6 as the temps were starting to reach near 80's.

I was intending to go just over the 4 Ghz mark, so about 4.2 or so, as at the moment, due to the poor ventilation in my current case, I tend to be at a temperature of around 70, which I am uncomfortable with, and sometimes it will spike like crazy in games such as battlefield 3.