Higher end GPU or custom cooling

Hardware Build a PC
1

Looking to build a new gaming pc when the new radeon GPUs comes out. So i was wondering would it be better to spend my money on a custom liquid cooling system or a 2nd graphics card.

Heres what i im thinking

CPU- i7-4770k

Mainboard- ASUS ROG Maximus VI hero (does this have the sound radar that ASUS was talking about?)

RAM- Patriot viper 3 4x 8 gbs (already own)

PSu Thermal take black widow 850w (already own)

Case- NZXT Phantom 410 Gunmetal edition

 

Right now i have budgeted in about 300usd for the GPU and was looking into a r9 280 or something that will be similarly price from nvidia after their upcoming price drop. I mainly do gaming but im looking into doing some video rendering. So would it be best to get a better GPU( or maybe a second one) or would custom cooling be the best bet. I do intend on doing over clocking and have budgeted around 300 for the cooling system.

 

2

The way I like to think about it is you wont notice the watercooling in your gameplay but you will notice the second graphics card. Unless of course you need the water cooling for high voltage overclocking then it may be worth it but just a minor overclock won't need watercooling as most cards have a 2-3x cooling safety factor for just that reason. 

3

If you have a windowed case and are a showoff, then do some custom loop.

If you don't show off as much and like performance, then go SLI/Xfire.

4

not the answers i was looking for but never the less they are answers.

5

Out of curiosity what exactly were you looking for? 

 

6

If the system is not at 24 hour load, i would say going with a second graphicscard.

Also, when you actually look at the costs of a custom loop that will perform and look good, you will find that it does not fit within your 300 $ budget.