Custom watercooling or air cooling?

[That Linux guy]

I know from linus' video aios are bad. But would an ek block good tubing and really good pump and res and an alphacool 420mm monsta rad be better then the best noctua cooler with the best nocuta fans?

[8-Bit Ninja]

Water cooling will yield better temperatures and typically quieter operation, however it simply comes down to cost. If your computer has cost you $1,500 then spending another $500+ on custom water cooling for a slight performance bump and reduction in noise is a waste of funds that could be put to better use just buying higher end parts. 

[WihGlah]

Be warned - watercooling can become a money pit.

 

I just ordered £170 of parts to add to my GPU loop. That will bring my loop cost to a little over £2.5K

 

 

[That Linux guy]

Just now, WihGlah said:

Be warned - watercooling can become a money pit.

 

I just ordered £170 of parts to add to my loop.

I mean once your done tour done right?

[Moonzy]

Just now, That Linux guy said:

I mean once your done tour done right?

you're never done with PC upgrades

 

there's always something else in that hell hole, and water cooling is just another side quests

[That Linux guy]

1 minute ago, Moonzy said:

you're never done with PC upgrades

 

there's always something else in that hell hole, and water cooling is just another side quests

I was referring to watercooling specifically.

[WihGlah]

13 minutes ago, That Linux guy said:

I mean once your done tour done right?

Well, sort of.

 

You can get a bit hooked on less noise and more performance. Next thing you know you are ordering an MP5Works Backplate cooler for your Optimus 3090FTW3 GPU block because your Memory junction temps are a bit too high. (£170 with fittings)

 

I came close to ordering a Corsair 1000D last month to fit in an extra 480mm rad.

 

 

[That Linux guy]

Just now, WihGlah said:

Well, sort of.

 

You can get a bit hooked on less noise and more performance. Next thing you know you are ordering an MP5Works Backplate cooler for your Optimus 3090FTW3 GPU block because your Memory junction temps are a bit too high.

 

I came close to ordering a Corsair 1000D last month to fit in an extra 480mm rad.

 

 

Oh

[WihGlah]

Just now, That Linux guy said:

Oh

Make a good plan, get your budget set and stick to it.

[tkitch]

9 minutes ago, That Linux guy said:

I was referring to watercooling specifically.

AIOs aren't bad either.  They work just fine, if they're installed correctly.

 

But Custom Watercooling is a  hell of a money pit, it's one reason I haven't gotten into it,

 

CPU Block the cost of a fairly high-end heatsink?  GPU Block that potentially costs more?
Even more than that on Couplings, and than Radiator(s)

Tubing, plus tools, and everything else?

I don't wanna drop 500-1000$ on cooling stuff for my computer.  

 

Also, there are upgrades, and changes, and everything else.  

[WihGlah]

Oh - I forgot to add in the retired parts I have that I put in my son's PC. And my spare parts tray. There is another £400 in there easy.

[Sat1600]

 

[flibberdipper]

19 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

you're never done with PC upgrades

 

there's always something else in that hell hole, and water cooling is just another side quests

God forbid you're a data hoarder on top of that. tfw I'm looking at a ~3K (all said and done, first half doesn't have GPU or a monitor upgrade which is about half that) PC upgrade and then a bare minimum ~2.4K file server upgrade.

 

And while I'm here I'll just toss my two cents: I'm more of an air person, personally. The lack of any real hassle or maintenance and ability to be basically silent are huge to me, especially where I tend to notice the sound of pumps a fair amount.

[LogicalDrm]

-> Moved to Custom Loop and Exotic Cooling

[Mick Naughty]

Custom is better. And comparing the price of putting an aio on each component, it isn’t that much more. 

[That Linux guy]

7 minutes ago, Mick Naughty said:

Custom is better. And comparing the price of putting an aio on each component, it isn’t that much more. 

Why do you have a spare rig

[Mick Naughty]

1 hour ago, That Linux guy said:

Why do you have a spare rig

Because I game on one. The other I use for everything else. And those are the only two I feel I need to list. 

[bowrilla]

On 3/2/2021 at 9:36 PM, That Linux guy said:

I know from linus' video aios are bad. But would an ek block good tubing and really good pump and res and an alphacool 420mm monsta rad be better then the best noctua cooler with the best nocuta fans?

AiOs aren't bad, they work okay. And if you go big enough they do outperform the best available air coolers. However, you're paying 3-5x as you would for a big NH-D15 for example. 

 

Custom (open loop) water cooling pulls way ahead of all other sorts of regular cooling (both air cooling and close loop AiOs). But you'll be paying even more. 

 

However, a custom open loop will not just offer lower temps you can trade a bit of that additional cooling performance for less noise. You're paying a price for this though. A full custom loop will tick in at ~500USD/EUR with basically no limit.

 

P.S.: Super thick radiators are not very useful as you can only make use of the potential in a push-pull config with high static pressure and higher fan speeds: more noise and lots of consumed space. A good (!) mid-sized radiator (30-40mm range) is most of the time a better choice unless you don't care for noise and size.