I've been running on a custom water loop the last four builds, as I have always liked the very low noise and the high cooling performance.  I mitigate the leak risk by keeping the pump, radiators, flow meter sender, and tank in a cooling tower outside the case, and run the 1/2" I.D. water lines in through the back of the case via a drip loop.  I also run a Koolance water detect loop/alarm in the case.  

That said, I recently swapped out my GPUs, and for the first time in many upgrades/builds, the noise and temps on the new cards with air coolers might actually be good enough to preclude putting water blocks on them.  I still prefer to have the CPU at 65 deg rather than 85 deg, so the water loop is still useful.  After eight years of running water-cooled PCs, I'm comfortable with the build procedures, system maintenance, and operation, plus I have all the tools, so water loops seem very natural now. 

Regards

Quote

I just don't know how people can part with a grand for a GPU - nuts!

Yes, you are totally right. Prices for especially CPUs and GPUs are totally overpriced. On the other hand, I see it as an investment over the next five years. Just think about the money you spend during five years for stuff you realize later you did not really need...

Cheers
Frank

The only justification is that the PC's today seem to last longer for Flight Sim.   When I started you were lucky to get 2 years out of a build which I think was partly hardware and also because the sims were updated every 2 years.  Now the pace of update is slower (that may change now), and the hardware is going further.  My current i2500K build was done over 5 years ago and still performs ok, not great, but ok with P3D v4.  I am hoping I get at least 4 years out of this build.

7 hours ago, ryanbatcund said:

Me and Mark have been exchanging PM's at the hardware forum.  I just can't part with the cash for a GTX 1070...  400-500 bucks in insane.  I spent 320 on my GTX 970 and I thought that was pricey.  I'm really bummed that the mid-high xx70 card is so pricey!  My next upgrade will likely be a 8600K/GTX 1060 6gb / 16gb gskill trident z.  I'm going to "attempt" to keep my corsair 650d case and 750w seasonic psu.  I just don't know how people can part with a grand for a GPU - nuts!

Hi Folks,

Yeah - I think it's really the video card that's made the price jump... In the past I tended to buy the previous generation (one down from current) of products to save a few bucks... My last two builds - the CPU's were around $300 - the MOBO's around $200 - and the video cards around $300... Now the price jump with the previous generation video card is up to around $500... All similarly spec's products for their time... Whether it's justified - we'll see... On my last build - I started with a GTX570 and upgraded mid life to a GTX970 - both top of their line - honestly - the improvement was negligible and I really had some buyers remorse...

I still think the CPU clock speed seems to give you the biggest bang for the buck in the sims I use (P3D, DCS, ARMA)...

Honestly - my [email protected] is really not that bad - keeping reasonable (middle of the road) settings - it does pretty well with v4 loaded with all the usual suspects... It's only in the most demanding areas that it gives me an issue to the point I'm not happy with it (has to be fluid)... ORBX Monterey comes to mind...

If I were you - Ryan - and - didn't want to bite off the $500 video card - you may want to try upgrading the rest of your equipment - pop in the GTX970 in and see how you do... With better clock speed on a more modern and powerful  CPU - I bet you would see significant improvements - especially if you avoid the urge to jack all your sliders to the right...

Anyway - just my two cents...

Regards,
Scott

Hi Folks,

OBTW - I ran the prices through that Micro Center store "MDFlier" posted - and for the CPU/MOBO/GRAHICS/MEMORY - seemed to beat both Newegg and Amazon by more than $300.00 - they don't appear to ship most products - but if you live near them - it might be worth checking the prices... They also appear to have an easy return policy - so if something doesn't work - you're not left dealing with vendors in Asia to get something rectified... I anticipate purchasing the bulk of my build from them...

Regards,
Scott

What a BRILLIANT thread!  Great info here, even for those who aren't yet upgrading.

My only input would be re AIO coolers and the Noctua air cooler.

I've had no less than FOUR of the Corsair AIO coolers. If trying to run a relatively quiet system, these are definitely not great value for money, as I can pretty much guarantee you'll end up having replace the Corsair fans. Even at 66% rpm they're like Concorde on takeoff roll;-)  BUT, to get the CPU temps that Corsair claim, you need to run those outrageously fast turbo's at full tilt!

I agree with Martin... I recently had to switch back to my old Noctua NH-D15 air cooler, after the pump in the AIO cooler died.  It did CONSIDERABLY BETTER at keeping my new 7700k, running 4.9GHz, within decent temps than the H115i AIO.

To be honest, I'm only looking at going back to liquid cooling, to get back the space around the case.  Once experiencing a lovely empty case, its hard going back to grazed knuckles etc;-)

2 hours ago, scottb613 said:

Hi Folks,

OBTW - I ran the prices through that Micro Center store "MDFlier" posted - and for the CPU/MOBO/GRAHICS/MEMORY - seemed to beat both Newegg and Amazon by more than $300.00 - they don't appear to ship most products - but if you live near them - it might be worth checking the prices... They also appear to have an easy return policy - so if something doesn't work - you're not left dealing with vendors in Asia to get something rectified... I anticipate purchasing the bulk of my build from them...

Regards,
Scott

Just an fyi - If you click "change store" and select "Micro Center Web Store", you can buy online. 

I'm in Duluth so there is a MC just down the road (2 hrs) in MSP.  I'd probably save money driving there and getting the parts 

20 hours ago, Rob Ainscough said:

 

No heat from my side, differences of opinion all part of the process and encouraged, not discouraged.  When debates shift to "qualifications of who's got the better opinion/experience" is when things get heated ... there really is NO NEED to get into the "qualifications" process between members as it doesn't add anything of value to the OP.  I respect everyone's opinion especially those that have shown they care.

I think the OP is getting some great information to make an informed decision.

Cheers, Rob.

 

Oh yes Rob. I wasn't referring to you. I didn't expect that response from you. Plenty of others who do get rather hot under the collar though. 

18 hours ago, mdata said:

However, I have always stayed away from Water coolers. For two reasons, I do not overclock anymore and the thought of a leakage scares the wits out of me.


Cheers
Frank

 

 

Happened to a friend of mine just a few weeks ago. His H100 sprang a leak. He was lucky though, no other components were damaged.

 

Hopefully the H100i V2 in my daughters rig won't leak. Not sure about pump longevity, I heard, on average, 3-5 years, not sure if that's accurate. 

I'd love to keep the gtx 970 but the 3.5 gb of vram just gets eaten up by XP11.  And P3D v4 isn't much better.  What I really need is a cheaper 8GB card.  Maybe the next round will have that.