I've never been very Into the extreme cooling scene. I actually don't even plan on ocing anything. It's just that my pc is radiating heat. Enough so that I start to sweat while I'm playing games. I'm not very savvy on custom loops, or water cooling in general, but I'm really hoping I can get a few ideas on the cheapest set up I can get. I plan on including my gpu and cpu, since those are the space heaters on the room.
I can't post temps since I'm going to be working out of state for a while, I'm just planning ahead.
Having a PC water cooled doesn't reduce the heat it puts into the room (If anything it gives off slightly more). XXX watts of heat are still being transferred from the PC to the room. It is just more efficiently transferred, therefore reducing component temperature.
EDIT: BTW its a really minuscule amount of extra heat a water loop introduces. Don't even think about it.
HI. If the air, going out of your case is hot, it means that your system is dissipating heat well enough and the watercooling will not change that, since it have to dissipate the same amount of heat. First question: what is your hardware? CPU, GPU and Case. Second question: how much are you willing to spend and cheap out on?
Well... no... Not in any real sense. Nothing you could quantify with a thermometer in the room, let alone feel it. I guess you could argue that a lower temperature makes the power delivery more efficient? But that's splitting hairs.
Your not overclocking, so unless your worried about the actual component temperatures, don't worry about the water.
I don't know enough about water cooling, so I don't know what to cheap out on. I know gpu and cpu water blocks can go fro 100-200 bucks. I can get the tubes at home depot. And the reservoir can be any container. Not sure what radiators are "good enough"
Also, another reason I want to go water cooled is to make my pc not sound like its about to take off and fly.
So what I'm thinking is that my fans can't keep up with the heat, so the parts are getting even hotter than they should. The fans are dissipating a lot of heat, but the components are still running hot. So the ambient keeps getting hotter and hotter. I know that the heat does end up in the room. But I want to keep it more controlled so whenever I fire up an Inteneive game it doesn't just make the room unbearable. And it would save my pc from messing up sooner than it should.
watercooling != cheap, if it does then a) its a ghetto loop, b) you've scored decent 2nd hand gear
Why not just drop the ambient temps of your room - open up a window/door, turning up the aircon etc, as no matter what you do with your pc the heat being dumped out of it has to go somewhere.
Not really... I have seen some fairly well branded kits with 360 rads for around 200$. Now, I am not sure if they had GPU blocks, but I am 99% certain they don't. So for around 300$ there could be made fairly nice loop. Even better if he gets 240 and adds the gpu block and another 240, but that depends on the case and willingness to spend 350+$ for two 240mill rads and some fans... However, the room will not get colder. The heat will end up in the room and you may cool down the components a bit...
Well then, they are some better reasons. When you say:
In my opinion, that's a bad mindset to get into. I wouldn't be risking my hardware for a little saved cash. So you save $50 on a cheaper loop? If that fails and breaks something, that may be $1000 to replace... However, if you're feeling brave, and that doesn't matters to you, then who am I to tell you you're wrong.
I'll give a few tips while I'm at it too.
No mixed metals. Galvanic Corrosion is a bitch. It gunks up you loops, hindering the heat transfer of the loop and hurting the lifespan of the pump.
The temperature difference of the fluid from the hottest part to the coldest part of the loop is almost negligible. Maybe one or 2 degrees. Anyone who says any different is either uninformed, or they have their loop cooling a toaster. So, there is only one thing you need to know about loop order....
Reservoir --> Pump is a must. The reservoir is the buffer for the water loop, too. It needs to be providing water, without any air, to the pump. Running air through a pump is the worst you can do for it.
That's all I can think of saying now. Your just doing preliminary research now, I assume. I'm happy to answer any questions.
Edit: Oh yeah, not going to help room temps still...
If you look at hot and cold tests of PSUs on jonnyguru.com you can see that the difference at anything but highest specified power draw is below 1%. So extra heat would amount to a couple of watts electrical. Negligible.
Going for watercooling for gear that is being used within it's specification is not worth it in my opinion. Better/more case fans, lower TDP GPU (lower end of the GTX series), better case would be my tips for improving thermal performance.
Biggest difference you'll get water cooling these components (the 8350 and R9 290 mentioned in earlier post) will be reduced overall temps for both components and reduced noise level from the rig with the right pump, fans, and radiator. Technically, you should only need 240mm rad since you are only cooling 2 components but if you could fit a 360 the extra capacity means you can use lower rpm fans and reduce noise level even more. It depends on what you can fit you your case. EK makes a kits with 240mm and 360mm rads. Both come with the same pump/reservoir combo. The pump is pwm controlled so the rpm can be adjusted with fan profiles. The 240 kit runs about $225 and the 360 is about $250 but you still have to buy a gpu water block separately. The cheapest EK block I saw for 290's is about $110 but you maybe able to find a cheaper one from another supplier. I've had several EK blocks and haven't any problems with them.
You would probably see a 10 - 15 degree drop or more in the temps on the 290 at load. The temps posted in reviews that I've seen on the windforce 290 have temps at load going from 78C to 84C degrees (24C ambient) with decibel levels around 35. I have 3 R9 290's with EK full cover blocks and temps stay between 60C - 65C degrees under load and my fans stay at about 1000 rpm, but your temps will depend on the ambient temperature. My room stays around 70F or 21C. I have the same DDC pumps in the EK kits as well except mine are the Swiftech dual pump version. I run the pumps at about 2000 rpm. Everything stays nice and quiet, wouldn't even be able tell that the pc was on if it wasn't for the lights.
A loop's not going to help the heat problem in your room though as others have stated. It would probably make the room hotter since a proper loop will dissipate more heat from the pc into the room.
Water cooling pumps more heat into the room because of a pumo being added in, it will also heat up the room quicker as its able to disperse the heat more easily, in the end the amount of heat being put out is about the same and makes no difference for room temperature
I would be able to tell you, but I'm far from home. I'll try to find the name of the case and I'll update if I do. I didn't put too much thought in the case when I built it. I just got one that was big enough, and had room for more fans if i needed any
I might start pet project. I have a few acs laying around. You guys think it would be possible to use the large radiator on an ac to dissipate the heat outside the house? Sounds ridiculous, but itll give me a silly project to start.