Yet another 'should I watercool? Thread'

[jesperbj]

Hey all you beautiful tech people.

I've been a laptop-only kind of guy for the longest time, but after getting into a lot more tech stuff, I've realized the wonders of a desktop and am now getting ready to build my first one in a few months.

I'll be studying to become a 3D animator soon and I am a huge gamer, so naturally, the thing I will be building is a beast - and therefore, I am considering watercooling.

I plan on getting an Intel i7-4790K 4.0 GHz cpu, 16 gb of ram, an Asus Z97 motherboard and a GTX 780ti (or hopefully a GTX 880) in a Corsair 650D case.

Now a few important things:

- I want a very quiet PC.

- I will be playing demanding titles like 'The Witcher 3' in 1440p.

- I will be doing 3D rendering.

- I am an unexperienced builder.

- I don't plan on doing overclocking right away, but I (think) I will after a few years.

- I might go SLI 780ti or 880 in the future.

My question is now; Will watercooling be worth the price and time for me? Would it be unnessecary for 880 SLI to be quiet, given that they will most likely be more power efficient than a 780ti?

If I choose watercooling, I will be going with a closed loop (AIO) like the H100i or H80i, no matter what, simply because it's easier.

I have a big budget, but I would still like to save money where I can.

[Tea1337]

I would suggest just a AIO Cooler like the H100i for you CPU, and your GPU will do fine on air. 

 

BTW: Custom loops are DIY loops, and H80i's and things are AIO's

[Jobbe03]

The H series aren't custom loops....

 

Just get an AIO like the H100i and some decent fans.

[IcedEskimo]

If you want some customization with your AIO, you can get a Swiftec H220 and switch out the tubes and cooling liquid but that's about it. The H220x looks really good and performs really well (better than the corsair AIO's and it's predecessor the H220) but the only downside is you can mount the radiator only on the top because of the reservoir mounting. sometimes, and I repeat sometimes, some high-end air coolers do perform better than a few AIO's but it's only a few of them and if you ask me, AIO's look neater than air coolers.

[cooperred]

The Corsair Hydro series, NZXT's Kraken series and etc aren't custom loops, just so you know.

You'd be fine with something like a Kraken x61/x41 or H100i

[coalminer071]

if u really want a low temp and quiet pc, the best is to get watercooling. unless you get GPUs with triple slot coolers, you would never get a "quiet pc"

[jesperbj]

The custom thing was a typo, I just meant closed. Sorry about that.

Thanks for the answers so far guys.

[Peopie]

-snip-

Would you consider going for a 4930k rather than a 4790? Or rather, maybe you would rather wait for Haswell-E to come out? If you get an X99 build, you would be pretty good on your computer for many years.

 

If you get a high quality aftermarket cooled graphics card, it should be pretty quiet by itself, but if you get a regular reference cooler, then those usually get really loud.

 

For AIOs, corsair is really popular, but if you really want performance, then the H220X is a great option, with its potential for expandability .

[jesperbj]

Would you consider going for a 4930k rather than a 4790? Or rather, maybe you would rather wait for Haswell-E to come out? If you get an X99 build, you would be pretty good on your computer for many years.

 

If you get a high quality aftermarket cooled graphics card, it should be pretty quiet by itself, but if you get a regular reference cooler, then those usually get really loud.

 

For AIOs, corsair is really popular, but if you really want performance, then the H220X is a great option, with its potential for expandability .

I'm not sure, what I do know is that I want the highest clock speed out of the box as possible and that I need the build finished before the end of the year. If I were to look for an aftermarket cooler instead of watercooling, what kind of pricerange are we talking?/can you recommend any?

[coalminer071]

if u want the highest clock speed outta box, im suggesting the lightning series from msi. but they are a good fortune above the reference designs.

[Peopie]

I'm not sure, what I do know is that I want the highest clock speed out of the box as possible and that I need the build finished before the end of the year. If I were to look for an aftermarket cooler instead of watercooling, what kind of pricerange are we talking?/can you recommend any?

 

Sorry, I think I mightve confused you about the aftermarket cooler thing. I mean if you get like an MSI Lightning, ASUS Direct CU2, Gigabyte Windforce, and those types of high end cards, then sound won't be a problem for graphics cards.

 

I'm not sure how much clock speed will really affect your usages, but if you are going to be doing some very heavy 3D rendering, and other extremely CPU intensive tasks, then I definitely think you should get the 2011 socket/ Ivy-Bridge-E/Haswell-E cpus.

 

If you do decide to wait for Haswell-E/X99, then you could get the new DDR 4 memory, and a whole bunch of newer updates to small but important hardware. I don't know when Haswell-E will be released though, so it might not do you any good to be waiting for it to be released.

[NeatSquidYT]

Just get a H105/H100i and a decent GPU (such as something from Asus or GIGABYTE)

[coalminer071]

personally, ive had bad experiences with gigabyte products, maybe they stepped up their game now. i wouldnt still use them though.