----- Original Message -----

Date:    Sun, 3 Feb 2008 16:20:07 -0600
From:    "Dean K. Kukral" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Water Cooling?

I am thinking of upgrading to some new hot-running equipment and am
considering water cooling, which I don't recall seeing mentioned on this
list.  (Water cooling would help components run cooler and quieter plus
last longer.)

Have any of you tried this?  Have you had problems, or have things gone
smoothly?  Any suggestions or caveats?

Dean Kukral

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I'm no expert in this area Dean and I haven't owned a water cooled
system.
I have been actively doing a lot of reading and researching on
"alternative"
cooling methods for a few years and have a few opinions, if you don't
mind.
There are a lot of inexpensive water coolers out there and it really
depends on what you're willing to invest. I have noticed that the
components
have shrunk in size greatly and now there are a few systems that offer
the
pump motor housed in the same casting as the cooling block that mounts
to
the cpu, rather than a larger external pump. This does cut down on the
number of hoses that are attached to the system overall, and reduces the
number of fittings. That probably leads to an overall increase in
reliability, but I have no direct experience.
Phase change cooling is the best, but is also the most expensive. There
are
a few manufacturers that offer complete cases that have the units
built-in
rather than adding the components to an existing tower.
Another option is "TEC" or a Peltier cooler. I have looked at these also
and it offers better cooling than just a heat sink, and somewhat better
cooling than some of the lower-end water cooling systems. other than
phase
change coolers. TEC is the only cooling option that will actually
provide
cooling below ambient temperatures.

I've been recently looking at new systems offered from Cyber Power.
There
are several Intel systems that come pre-configured with the Cooler
Master
Aquagate liquid cooling system. Here is a link to the Cooler Master site
and
the cooler that is offered. This particular unit has the pump motor
built
into the thermal block that attaches to the cpu. It is a universal
system
and very compact.

http://www.coolermaster.com/products/product.php?act=detail&tbcate=152&id=28
67

However, reviews are "lukewarm" toward the product. While it is a
"universal" type cooler and it is compact and fairly easy to work with
(judging by specs and reviews) apparently smaller is not always better.

http://www.justechn.com/reviews/articles/2007/10/13/cooler_master_aquagate.p
hp
http://www.viperlair.com/reviews/cooling/liquid/aqmini120/p2.shtml
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/coolermaster-aquagate-viva.
html

The other option I was looking into for the new PC is the TEC cooler.
I've
read about phase change coolers and have always wondered why anyone
other
than an extreme hardcore OC'er would want that much horsepower! But to
each
his own I guess! The interesting thing about the TEC coolers is the
ability
to achieve below ambient temperatures without the use of Freon. One of
the
TEC cooling options available at Cyber power is the Vigor Gaming Monsoon
Lite.

http://www.vigorgaming.com/components/cmp_monsooniilite_intel.html

There are a few reviews that give the cooler a pretty good overall score
in
terms of cooling and overclockability. It is a monster of a cooler and I
am
a little worried that if your were to jar the PC, or if it were set down
too
hard, it would damage the pcb where the cooler mounts onto the mobo. But
the
reviewed performance is encouraging.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/472/7/
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=2921
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/03/15/vigors_monsoon_ii_tec_cpu_cooler/page
2.html

I personally would rather try to build a system that didn't harbor any
liquids or gaseous substances just to be on the safe side, but I am sure
that advanced cooling has progressed to the point of better reliability.
Maybe I'm stubborn in this respect. If I can get a cooler that provides
lower than ambient temperatures without the use of gas or liquid, than
my
feeling is there is nothing to leak out. On another note: the TEC cooler
has
a "sort of" fail safe kind of design because it still uses a heat sink
with
heat pipes connected to radiant fins. I think there is less of a chance
of
the CPU getting fried in this manner should the fan fail.

Just food for thought!



Chris Ryan

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