Terryl
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OK just as the title says, water cooling....Do I need it?
Well it all depends on what your trying to do, if your a gamer then it may be a good idea, as some gaming PC's get quit hot, or if you do a ton of data processing, or handle and do a lot of video data it also would help.
The first thing to do is see if your computer's motherboard has any sort of CPU temperature indicators, I use Intel motherboards, they come with software and hardware to monitor the CPU temperatures.
The more data you crunch the hotter the CPU can get, most systems come with a standard CPU heat-sink and fan, in some cases this stock fan and heat-sink may not be enough to cool the system's CPU, when the CPU gets too hot it may slow down or even lock up.
Adding extra fans or a bigger CPU heat-sink can help, it all depends on what your doing with that system.
A standard water cooling setup would consist of a water block for the CPU, this replaces the fan and heat-sink, a pump to move the water around and a heat exchanger, this could be a passive one that uses convection to cool the water, or a fan assisted radiator like in a car or truck, and tubing to pass water back and forth.
Other items would be a water reservoir or expansion tank to hold more water, (it does over time evaporate) a flow indicator, (tells you that something is amiss, like a lack of water) and temperature sensors.
So lets look at the individual items.
First the CPU water block.
There are many types available for many types and brands of CPU's, I would not go with a cheap one as if it leaks your mother board could be ruined beyond repair. (I had one leak, it was covered under a warranty not to leak, so I got a new mother board)
Now these may also come with different sizes of hose options, it all depends on how much heat you need to dissipate, I went with 1/2 inch (12.7 mm) connectors and tubing, this kept things real cool even during the summer heat.(water cooled server is in the garage, it is a bit noisy)
The better water blocks can come with a pure copper CPU contact surface, some of the bigger $$$ ones can come with a silver CPU contact block, these cost a bit.(I went with the copper)
If your into the internal lighting of the case then some even come with LED lighting.
Well it all depends on what your trying to do, if your a gamer then it may be a good idea, as some gaming PC's get quit hot, or if you do a ton of data processing, or handle and do a lot of video data it also would help.
The first thing to do is see if your computer's motherboard has any sort of CPU temperature indicators, I use Intel motherboards, they come with software and hardware to monitor the CPU temperatures.
The more data you crunch the hotter the CPU can get, most systems come with a standard CPU heat-sink and fan, in some cases this stock fan and heat-sink may not be enough to cool the system's CPU, when the CPU gets too hot it may slow down or even lock up.
Adding extra fans or a bigger CPU heat-sink can help, it all depends on what your doing with that system.
A standard water cooling setup would consist of a water block for the CPU, this replaces the fan and heat-sink, a pump to move the water around and a heat exchanger, this could be a passive one that uses convection to cool the water, or a fan assisted radiator like in a car or truck, and tubing to pass water back and forth.
Other items would be a water reservoir or expansion tank to hold more water, (it does over time evaporate) a flow indicator, (tells you that something is amiss, like a lack of water) and temperature sensors.
So lets look at the individual items.
First the CPU water block.
There are many types available for many types and brands of CPU's, I would not go with a cheap one as if it leaks your mother board could be ruined beyond repair. (I had one leak, it was covered under a warranty not to leak, so I got a new mother board)
Now these may also come with different sizes of hose options, it all depends on how much heat you need to dissipate, I went with 1/2 inch (12.7 mm) connectors and tubing, this kept things real cool even during the summer heat.(water cooled server is in the garage, it is a bit noisy)
The better water blocks can come with a pure copper CPU contact surface, some of the bigger $$$ ones can come with a silver CPU contact block, these cost a bit.(I went with the copper)
If your into the internal lighting of the case then some even come with LED lighting.