I built a water-cooled system for the first time with my i7-975, and don't regret it at all. With FSX running and the CPU at 4.4 GHz, the core temps peak in the low 40s. I use two 360mm x 120mm XSPC RX360 radiators in series in a cooling "tower" external to the PC case, with six low-flow variable-speed fans running at their lowest setting. It's the quietest cooling system I've ever used by a long shot.Add to that the complication that I live at 7000 feet elevation, which reduces the density of air at room temp to about 75% of what it is at sea level, meaning I have to push a 33% higher air volume to move the same mass of air across the heat exchangers. Any air cooling system here would have required a fairly noisy multiple high-volume fan arrangement to keep enough air moving across the fairly small surface area of an air cooler (relative to the much larger surface area of two deep radiators), and no air solution that I know of will match 40 deg temps while running high overclocks no matter how fast you run the fans.That said, I agree that better engineering in heat pipe technology is producing some high-quality air coolers that can keep temps within limits and avoid the complexity of water cooling. CPU temps on an i7 in the 60s while overclocking aren't unreasonable, and some of the better air coolers can do that, with some tradeoff in noise (and subject to some other limitations that may apply like high ambient temperatures or high elevations).Word Not Allowed, I can't agree that water cooling keeps room temps lower...you're transferring the same amount of heat from the CPU to the outside enviroment either way. It may well be that the temp of the air coming off the air cooler is higher than the temp coming off the radiators, but that's to be expected because the volume of air across a w/c radiator is generally much higher. But the amount of heat transferred is the same, and will have the same effect on room temp.Interesting discussion.RegardsBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO

Hey Paul - you can run fans at lower than 12V to achieve silent operation.

Thanks.Yep, 12, 7, 5 right off the lines or use a pot, or the Bios or Speedfan depending, you can make any box near silent these days, as long as its well thought out.What gets me is all the claims some of these fan manufacturers make, nice boxes and graphs showing the new "tech" that says "buy me".After puting just about every new fans thru testing I could write a book, well a blog...Pu a lot of these fans up against a RAD or Cooler to induce some air pressure and changes occure all over the map, Not only DB, but some of the "silent type" fans have so much blade angle that it cant push or pull air very well, so as long as its in a non-restrictive environment all is ok, will pull the claimed CFM. Should probably start a new thread on the subject so we can all compare notes, There are some keepers and lossers depending on how you want to use them.Best find so far out of about 30 fans is the CoolerMaster Blade for Pushing, on the other hand "SilenX pro" is very bad, not only can't push, DBs go thru the roof when pressure comes to bare.

I built a water-cooled system for the first time with my i7-975, and don't regret it at all. With FSX running and the CPU at 4.4 GHz, the core temps peak in the low 40s. I use two 360mm x 120mm XSPC RX360 radiators in series in a cooling "tower" external to the PC case, with six low-flow variable-speed fans running at their lowest setting. It's the quietest cooling system I've ever used by a long shot.

Bob, got any pics of that setup? I'm going to switch my primary PC to water before the hot temps of the summer hit and I'm still getting ideas.

Bob, got any pics of that setup? I'm going to switch my primary PC to water before the hot temps of the summer hit and I'm still getting ideas.

Sure...here's a look at it. The system is two XSPC deep 360mm x 120mm low-resistance radiators, a Swiftek MCP655 pump, a ~150ml reservoir, and the water block is a Swiftek Apogee GTZ "special" all-metal brass block. Tubing is 3/4" clear Tygon. I use distilled water with a benzylkonium chloride antimicrobial (Petra's PT-Nuke) additive. Fans are six twin ball-bearing Thermaltakes run through a Zalman MFC1 fan controller--both the pump and fans are powered by an external 13.8VDC supply (but could be powered from the PC's 12v taps as well).Note that I have neither kids nor creatures roaming my house, so the exposed fans aren't a problem. Original plan was to mount the components in an old PC tower case, but I never got around to it. With both the pump and fans running at their lowest settings it'll keep all four cores of the 975 (clocked at 4.4 GHz) below 55 deg C with Prime95 or OCCT LinPack running hours on end.CheersBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO

I am currently getting 4.4 Ghz from i7975 using noctua air cooling heat sink/3 x 140mm noctua fans.I have to thank all those who have added input to this post cause it really does help folks decide when thinking of build.So far from what i have read on this post, i still think air cooling offers the least hasle solution as long as you have control over room temps in summer i.e. a/c.I would rather keep my air cooling and get a portable a/c for my living room in summer months , than go liquid or phase cooling.Cause in winter air OC has zero issues, and my Lian Li case came with sound proofing pads inside, but i added even more. So it quite quiet , even at max rpm for all 8 fans in the system. With water cooling the only thing you can achive over air is slightly lower temps and DB, but not a higher OC. My Noctua hetasink is cooled by 3x140mm noctua high air flow fans arranged back to back. You can smell the heat sink cooling down as the noctua fans raise thier rpm.As for DB my case is sound proofed so i noise with 8 fans is no where compared to my old pC which had only 3 fans and no sound proofing.For air to compete with liquid in all seasons , you need to have a/c for summer, cause good air cooling can make wonders if you have the right ambient temps in the room.My verdict to anybody thinking of new build is, the cpu air coolers around today like noctua etc are excellent and will get you same OC as liquid cooled systems, but not phase cooled systems. I would rather have air cooled system with a/c in summer rather than liquid cooled without a/c in summer.For those who cant handle extra complexity, i say go air cooling, then get portable a/c for summer, or turn down your OC in summer.

Interesting thoughts.I built yesterday a computer for a friend of mine, with air cooling. It's a computer consisting out of new components, Thermaltake Contac 29, Coolermaster Elite case. Yes, I know, relatively cheap components, but I must admit it's more silent than it was couple of years ago.But still, it crosses my limits by far. Hearable noise of harddrives (2x WD Blue 640GB) is terrible, and the fans (both CPU and GPU) spinning up is also too much for my ears. In any case, even it would be more silent, the change of the fan spinning frequency is disturbing enough.Anyway, I am happy for everyone, if they are happy with their setups, I know I'm very satisfied with mine!As a sidenote: Bob, your setup - simple awesomeness ;-) (love the bath)

Nice DIY setup Bob. Did you use compression fittings or barbs?I've been looking hard at XSPC's RX480 (double-thick, quad-120mm radiator) which I would mount to the back of my full tower EATX case via a radbox. Not too interested in water-cooling my GPU yet so I think a single rad that size should be adequate for my CPU.

Nice DIY setup Bob. Did you use compression fittings or barbs?I've been looking hard at XSPC's RX480 (double-thick, quad-120mm radiator) which I would mount to the back of my full tower EATX case via a radbox. Not too interested in water-cooling my GPU yet so I think a single rad that size should be adequate for my CPU.

Max--I used Dangerden FatBoy barbs and plastic clamps. I think that RX480 radiator would work fine...and you always have the ability to push up the fans a bit if you need a little extra in any case. The low fin density on the RX series allows you to run with the fans turned way down. I use Thermaltake A2029 dual-ball-bearing fans. Six of them turned all the way down (~5v) yields a faint low-pitched hum from 3 ft away.BTW, I used 3/8" thick x 1/2" wide dense foam weatherproofing tape run around the exterior edges of the radiator to make an effective shroud. I used a dremel to drill through the tape for the fan mounting screws. You have to take great care with the fan mount screws on the XSPC rads--if they go in too far they can impinge on and puncture the tubes.RegardsBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO

Thanks for the info, Bob! My air-cooled 4GHz Q9550 is just getting too loud for my tastes, and really heating up the living room. Time for some low speed fans on a big old rad!