Need advice on liquid cooler

Quickpaw

Quickpaw

New Member
As the title states I'm looking to change out my air cooler for a liquid cooler. I live on the second floor of my house and it gets hot up here even in our cold Canadian winters with my desktop pc running.

I think I marked up the bottom surface of my air cooler as well which is resulting in somewhat disappointing temps on stock (~35-37 idle)

At any rate, I'm looking for something reliable, good performance (~25 degrees or less on idle at stock if possible) with the ability to handle a mild overclock should I decide to do that (maybe up to 4.5, 4.7 max on my 2600k). I'd like to spend less than $100 bucks on it but show me what you think is the best value.

I'm completely new to liquid cooling rigs, so I need all the help I can get here. System specs are in my sig.
 
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Antec H20, Corsair H60/H70/H80, Zalman Ultimate, Thermaltake water 2.0. But personally, I would throw in the extra $17.50 and get the Corsair H100 Extreme. BTW, I wouldn't consider 4.5-4.7 a "mild' OC.
 
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You can push a 2600k to 4.5 without adding too much heat, i guess thats why i consider it mild. I would definitely agree that 4.7-5 would be more intense but my build used to handle anything before those clocks without breaking much of a sweat.

Of course my cooler is no longer giving me the performance it once did, hence my reason for starting this thread (along with a desire to learn more about liquid cooling). At any rate, im looking for more information than just a product list.

i.e. Do i have to purchase cooling fluid seperately, what should i be looking for in a cooler, will all coolers work with my case, etc.
 
Quickpaw said:
Do i have to purchase cooling fluid seperately, what should i be looking for in a cooler, will all coolers work with my case, etc.
Click to expand...

No, there's no need to add/replace the coolant, it's a closed loop.If it has to be under $100, get the Antec H20. I have the Corsair H60 and it don't perform as good as I thought, stock speed idles at 29-31c. I found out that the H60 is better when reaching higher temps, as it gets better in cooling as the temps climb. I never hit 70c+ with my 2550k (even at 4.5 stressing).
 
the only thing you need to add to a liquid cooler is some good thermal paste. And overclocking to 4.5 will add a lot of heat. Also, if you want the performance back on your current cooler you'll want new thermal past, needs replacing every couple years for best performance. If you want it as cheap as possible, wolfeking said he got his 2600k to 4.8 ghz with a hyper 212 (30 bucks) but that wasn't a safe everyday temp, but it should run 4.3-4.5 all day long safely.
 
He spent $85 on a cooler, I am sure he did something wrong if it is not cooling very well.

Take it off and take a pic of it (both before and after you remove the TIM) and post them here. That will likely tell us where the issue is and how you can fix it for far less than a closed loop system.
 
As I said before, I damaged the bottom of the cooler, where it contacts with the CPU. It happened during a move.

I had tried some of the Noctua thermal paste I got with the cooler but it had gone super thick and was not spreading well. Reapplied Arctic silver thermal paste last night cause I had time and I was bored, temps are a bit better, still looking at liquid cooling options though, I really want to try my hand at it.

Its more of an interest thing than anything else, though I do appreciate you guys trying to troubleshoot, I'm skilled enough in those areas to do it myself as I work with computers almost 24/7 (not trying to say I know more than anyone just that I know how to troubleshoot and I know the damaged cooler is at fault here)

Really just looking for info on liquid cooling solutions lol..
 
Well you can use a water cooler, but you will just be wasting money on it really. If you want to do it right, then you need a custom loop. If you go closed loop, you are not going to be markedly better than a good air cooler, which you already have.
Since your cooler is damaged, try seeing if the warranty will fix it?
 
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