freefallfreak 0 #1 October 11, 2003 Ok...here's some puter master's chance to make me feel like a dummy...Anyone know anything or have any experience with an Ahanix creation called Iceberg coolers? My puter techie suggested it for my system but I have a feeling that he just wanted to install it as an experiment to see how it really works. I went ahead and ordered it cause it wasn't really expensive, we installed it and at least it doesn't leak, and I don't have as many fans running inside the tower now to make noise. The CPU seems to be staying at 30 degrees C, but I'm not sure if that's a good cool temp cause I don't know what it was running at before installing the watercooler. I'll post pic's of it . Just wandered if this was an experiment on my techies part or if it really was a good investment. TripleF (Ok, so I'm puter illiterate....) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 15 #2 October 11, 2003 Primary reason to go water cooled is you are planning on overclocking the CPU to levels that would normally fry it with just a fan. Overclocking a CPU is making a 2ghz processor run like its a 2.2 or a 2.3. Free extra speed, but it also makes the CPU run a lot hotter and reduces the life of the CPU, unless steps like water cooling or in the cases of the big boys Cyrocooling. In Cyro cooling they basically just drop refridgeration coils around the CPU and force the CPU to run in a cold environment. Another reason to go water cooled is ti can reduce the number and volume of fans in a case. If you want a silent system... water cooled can help. If its a good investment, thats if it leaks or not. Another factor is the quality of the water pump. Cheap pumps burn out then nothing moves the water and the chip basiclly cooks in its own heat. I've had a watercooled system. Nowdays I just load the system up with extra fans and blow as much air around as possible to cool a system. Although a Cyrocooled would be a nice project some day Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darkvapor 0 #3 October 11, 2003 QuoteThe CPU seems to be staying at 30 degrees C, but I'm not sure if that's a good cool temp cause I don't know what it was running at before installing the watercooler. It depends on the processor and the speed its running at. I have an older Athlon 1.4 Thunderbird that runs at 45°C (113°F) (edited to add: this is a fan cooled system). They say you can run processors up to about 65-70°C before they will be physically damaged. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freefallfreak 0 #4 October 11, 2003 Cool, Dude. I appreciate the information. I wanted a quiet system and the only fan running in it now is the one used to cool the radiator and it's really quiet. I don't think I'll ever reach a point where I understand computers enough to overdrive one but it's cool to know that if I ever open enough windows/applications (porn, ya know, lol) that at least I won't hurt the CPU and besides, maybe if the pump keeps working right, it'll extend the life of the CPU. Thanks again for the info, dude. I wasn't sure if this was just some fly-by-night moment of insanity on my techies part or not, lol. TripleF Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freefallfreak 0 #5 October 11, 2003 Thanks DV. I'm so puter illiterate it isn't funny and sometimes I think my techie likes to install things in my system just cause he wants to experiment, lol, not that I mind a lot but it's nice to know that what he's doing isn't really a waste... TripleF Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fast 0 #6 October 11, 2003 Yeah, a friend of mine got a water cooled case just so it was more quiet. He never overclocked or anything, just got sick of the noise in his room. His had 4 fans all super small and variable, because they were quieter than just one large fan.~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest #7 October 11, 2003 One of these days I'm gonna overclock like a sonofabitch and dissipate the waste heat with ethylene glycol, just like they did on the Apollo spacecraft back in the bad old days ... "The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
happythoughts 0 #8 October 11, 2003 Geez... I'm not a hardware geek, but isn't this old school? Old mainframe CPUs used to be water cooled. Now they pump cool air up from a false floor. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fast 0 #9 October 11, 2003 QuoteGeez... I'm not a hardware geek, but isn't this old school? Old mainframe CPUs used to be water cooled. Now they pump cool air up from a false floor. Yeah, kinda... Its a newer thing when we are just talking about desktop PCs. Still isn't even very mainstream though. I gave up on overclocking when I quite playing FPS games.~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billo 0 #10 October 11, 2003 F^3......cooling not necessary....... The water cooling systems are neat looking, don't get me wrong.....they are a lot of cosmetics. I am running a new, ASUS A7N8X deluxe 2800athlon w/1GB ram and no memory problems whatsoever...and not water cooled. Don't worry about the cooling fans. I am running a Zantec on my CPU, my vid card, another fan on my NB. Check out www.frozencpu.com if you want to get part numbers. Don't worry, what your friend recommends oughta work, but it is a lot of extras. But its hard to tell. Fwd me your stats and I'll help u out. Let me know if u have any issues. b Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bip 0 #11 October 11, 2003 I have a Vapochill rig. Keeps my cpu at about -20 deg C. http://www.asetek.com/ At the moment I run my p4 2.2 at 2.8 p.s. I notice there is a person on dropzone.com who loves to make things clicky. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ErnestHemingway 0 #12 October 11, 2003 Dude, I overclocked a 1.6 to a 2.4 with NO water cooling. Do not water cool your box unless you plan on SEVERELY overclocking your box. BTW, I had no problems when I did this. The only way to find out if you need to water cool is to experiment. If you do not have the money to experiment, then you do not have the money to water cool. If you do water cool, just remeber to replace your tubing EVERY year. If you do not, expect to buy a new box EVERY year (That is an exageration, but I hope you get my drift). In the end, water cooling is NOT worth it. No matter what techie geek tells you otherwise. Your choice. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ErnestHemingway 0 #13 October 11, 2003 Fast: Now we have MMORPG's. Which, BTW, take more processing power than FPS's. In the future, so will everything else. Just observing. I honestly don't want to piss anyone off, as I am new. Let me know if I should tone down. HL2 sucks. :-) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChasingBlueSky 0 #14 October 11, 2003 QuoteQuoteGeez... I'm not a hardware geek, but isn't this old school? Old mainframe CPUs used to be water cooled. Now they pump cool air up from a false floor. Yeah, kinda... Its a newer thing when we are just talking about desktop PCs. Still isn't even very mainstream though. I gave up on overclocking when I quite playing FPS games. Actually, they are selling WaterCooled Cases at CompUSA now. What people don't realize is if you don't sand down the top of the CPU, the connection won't work as well as it should. By not lapping, you can leave a space between the cooling unit and the CPU which can cause condensation to form, thus smoking your system instantly. Oh yea - lapping voids your warranty and isn't as easy as it sounds. This isn't something for newbies unless you have money to burn. They still water cool Mainframes in datacenters - the last datacenter I had the joy of working in had two of them - one of them busted a pipe and flooded the room - some paper from the printers slipped into the raised floor and clogged the drain - we almost lost a few millions dollas worth of equipment due to that. As stated - water cooled is something new in the PC market started about 4 years ago when people realized you could seriously overclock some early generation P2 and P3 CPUs. HardOCP.com was able to OC a 3ghz P4 to 4ghz via watercool shortly after the 3ghz hit the market. The cooling market is huge now - you can do it for just about any component in your system (I still don't see why you need active cooling for the southbridge). However, most is not needed - you can play a heavy duty FPS for hours on a simple cooling solution and have the system stay stable with a high frame rate. Well, unless you are using WindowsME. OC's are more in it for the stats then playing the games. It is a subculture within the computer geek culture. Oh yea, my system is OC'd from the AMD2100 level to about the 2300 level with a simple solution (the nvidia2 400 mobo is sweet!). There is no reason to pay that much for a cooling solution anymore when the next CPU in performance range is often cheaper than the Heatsink/Fan combo unit. Just check out www.pricewatch.com_________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jayruss 0 #15 October 11, 2003 do you have the web site where you bought this from? __________________________________________________ "Beware how you take away hope from another human being." -Oliver Wendell Holmes Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freefallfreak 0 #16 October 11, 2003 Jayruss, I got it from Tigerdirect.com but the website for the cooler company is www.icebergcooler.com. I only paid $100.00 for the entire kit and it was easy to install. I watched my techie do it and it took about 15 minutes. Being the puter illiterate person that I am, I don't know how to make it clicky for you. And I bought it cause it's a toy...and I love toys, lol. FFF Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freefallfreak 0 #17 October 13, 2003 QuoteDo not water cool your box unless you plan on SEVERELY overclocking your box. No, I don't plan on OC'ing the box. QuoteThe only way to find out if you need to water cool is to experiment. Yes, it was an experiment. QuoteIf you do not have the money to experiment, then you do not have the money to water cool. It was not about money but skydiving is expensive too and if you don't have the money for safe gear, you don't have the money to jump. QuoteIf you do water cool, just remeber to replace your tubing EVERY year. If you do not, expect to buy a new box EVERY year (That is an exageration, but I hope you get my drift). The company sent enough tubing for three years (6 feet of it). QuoteIn the end, water cooling is NOT worth it. No matter what techie geek tells you otherwise. Too late...already done it, lol, but thanks for the advice. FFF Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
