re: PC Discussion - Gaming, Performance and Enthusiasts

quote:

---

What would you go with for 240/280 size?

---

A swiftech all-in-one, but don't try to add your two 780 Tis to the loop. You'll want 360 minimum to cool 3 components.

quote:

---

I plan on doing it, cost isn't a huge issue for me. May just end up getting a bigger case and moving the r4 to my Mame cabinet. It's in need of better cooling.

---

I just went to FrozenCPU and added all of my water-cooling components to a shopping cart.



Just realized I forgot to add my SLI bridge pipes to that -- another $30. Also, this cart isn't precisely my setup -- my pump is the black version but it's out of stock on the site. Also, my fans are the gentle typhoon AP-15s, but I could've just used the AP-13s and probably wouldn't have needed a fan controller.

It can easily get more expensive than this if you go all out with pump redundancy, more expensive radiators and blocks, rigid acrylic tubing with tons of angled fittings, etc. You can also go a lot cheaper without losing much performance. You'll probably just be sacrificing aesthetics and acoustics.

For example, the biggest budget-killers in a custom loop are full-cover GPU blocks and fittings. The full-cover GPU blocks are the worst in terms of value: They are proprietary, and once you upgrade your graphics cards, the blocks are useless and you'll need to buy new full-cover blocks if you want to watercool your new cards. They are difficult to sell second-hand, because it's less common for folks to want to water-cool last-gen cards. But... they look damn good.

Fittings can get expensive too, depending on type used and number of components in the loop. Compression fittings look best but are in the $5/piece range up to $10+, and angled fittings, if you end up needing any, can be over $20.