Cooling Solutions

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So, after experimenting with my overclocking, and watching my GPU temp rocket up to about 72 degrees, I think it might be worth be swapping out my fans for some replacement.

Currently I have a two fans at the top rear of the case (one rear facing, the other top facing), a stock CPU fan/heatsink combo, stock cooling on the Graphics Card, another fan bolted onto the empty drive bay in the main enclosure.

Theres also a fan in the bottom enclosure between the PSU and the HDD's, but I could probably leave that as is.

Im thinking of either upgrading the GPU and CPU fans (and the case fans too) for better alternatives (particularly the CPU), or possibly implementing a liquid cooling solution.

Looking on the web, Liquid cooling can be set up to cover RAM, GPU and CPU (hell, even HDDs but i dont think I need that). I also heard that you can cool the southbridge, but im not too sure if I'd need that at all. So this might be a good solution.

What are your recommendations? Do any of you use Liquid cooling and, if so, how effective are they?

Fergal

 

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I use several fans in mine, as explained in previous threads so wont go into again here. I found that replacing teh stock cooler for a better after market one helped in my system a great deal. As did increasing the fans from 80mm to 120mm in the case.
Only problem with this is noise and dust. More fans makes more noise and you can get more dust in the system. Filters help with the dust but can restrict air flow. For noise i bought the quietest fans i could afford.

As for Liquid cooling. This all depends on the type you go for. You can cool using just liquid, a combination of Fans and liquid, or if adventerous, use something like liquid nitrogen! There are some cases on the market that claim to keepa system cooled down to around 1 degree or lower using a method similar to a fridge.
Biggest down fall to liquid is probably cost. They dont come cheap for decent ones. The Zalman one i looked at was £150 and taht just cooled the CPU.
With liquid though, you can cool almost all the parts in the system from CPU, GPU, Memory to the Hard Disk.
best advice is to look for some Case modding websites for tips and suggestions.

 

I never did liquid cooling before, but I know its very effective.

In some cases people where able to overclock their systems by 2 times their stock cpu speed and were successful in keeping the system stable due to liquid cooling.

I always wanted to try it my self but never really did because of the risks of the tubes leaking if not done correctly.

 

I know someone who did liquid cooling but it leaked when there was somesort of vibration I think a heavy goods vehicle went past his house and his ATX was on a small desk by the window so the desk shook and his pipes inside the case came out their attachments on flooded the inside.

So be careful, I cant see why a good fan system wont do, yes it can cause extra noise but you can buy fans which are virtually silent.

 

My machines liquid cooled at home. Works well although it will never go below the temp of the room, so if its a warm room then their is little point.

Mine sits quite happily under full load at about 25 deg C (Water is at 30 though) with the fan on the lowest setting. Water block is solid as well so there is little chance of it spilling everywhere (I say that, I will get home to a pool of water now).

Apparently the choice of champions these days is oil cooled http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/01/09/strip_out_the_fans/ not to sure meself.

Anyways, if your stuck i could see if I can point you in the right direction

 

Thats got to be piss take (havent seen the video yet) but wouldnt the oil get hot and fry the circuits, never heard of GPU n CHIPS before

 

As twizzle mentioned, just getting a good CPU cooler will help. Stock coolers don't exactly have a reputation for efficient cooling.

 

I've heard of Oil Cooling before actually.

As far as I understand it, Oil is flammable, but heat alone is unlikely to ignite it, you'd need a spart or a flame of some sort. Oil will also conduct the heat away better than water, so that will certainly further reduce the temp.