64 bits and pieces for watercooling

[Radamanthus]

Take the title as you will, I'm upgrading my computer for college at the end of the summer. Basically, i'm getting my stuff now and saving the rest of my money for my school life. This, of course, means my conputer that's runing at 75 Dbs right now (after coming form Thievery) needs to be toned down to accomodate dorm life.

This, of coruse, means that I've gotto replace all my 80 mm fans with something quieter, the only thing I can think of would be watercooling it, with an external radiator. Of course, I might as well go for the gold, and get a fanless or quiet one, too.

While i'm at it, my home-modded AMD processor might need upgradings, if I plan to get the watercooling system. However, given price, technology compatability, and other factors, i'm not certain if I should go for a 64-bit system now. (I do have a 64-bit version of WinXP pro though. go figure).

Does anyone out there have any experience with a watercooling system? Or perhaps my 64-bit delimma? This harcore comp-modder wants a high-powered but quiet rig...

Oh, and i'm considering, atthe moment, the Zalman Reserator Plus, or the Thermaltake Symphony, though i'm open ot suggestions.

[-KewlAzMe-]

well if you are gettin a new chip, just get a good one and don't OC it. AMD 64 3500+ is less than 200 now and it runs super cool already so the fans dont need to over work. Plus get an ASUS mobo with cool n quiet and the fan can adjust what it needs.

[Pestcontrol]

Agreed, if you want to sleep next to your machine, AMD is currently your only choice, and watercooling not strictly necissary. Cool & Quiet works so well, given a large enough heatsink and a motherboard that adapts fan speed, it's possible to have the fan stop when the machine is idle or very lightly loaded. The same goes for modern graphics cards, which lower their frequencies and fan speed in 2d mode.

Also, check out some sites like storagereview.com for harddrive noise levels.


There are fanless, passively cooled powersupplies out there, but be wary of these as the powersupply fan has a critical job of pulling air through the system, you'll need at least a case fan to compensate if you get one of those, so there's not much of a point. Better get a quiet one with a 120mm fan in the bottom, and a case where you can fit it unobstructed.

[Baz]

Ive had watercooling for 2 years now and its nice and quiet (not cool and quiet though because im running a barton)
The system has a cpu and chipset block, and my videocard is a passive zalman sink. the rad is cooled with 1 7volt moded 120mm fan so the only real noise is from the psu (which is getting loud in its old age ) and the harddrives (which power down at night). It costs a packet but its worth it. If you really want a silent computer though, buy a laptop

[Radamanthus]

Well, as far as fan speeds go, my Hardcano 13 does all hat already, including case and power supply fans gagued on power required and relative heat. That, and an AMD Cool and Quiet is not nearly as cool nor as quiet as my home-modded AMD mobile. However, price and performance might lead me to the 64-bit processor (gotta be top-of-the-line though, as I despise upgrading wihtout going all-out). Perchance I ought ot look into a new motherboard and processor, and keep my other internals?

[-KewlAzMe-]

well if u are gettin a new CPU go with http://forums.blackcatgames.com/showthread.php?t=8409

[Baz]

winner

[Machine]

I have a fanless 300 watt power supply in the TS server. Very nice indeed runs "warm to the touch".

The Hard disks are the loudest thing in there now, I've taken the fan off the processer which runs at a steady 40 degrees. I have got 2 fans - one at the front and one on the back running at half speed.

Like I said, the Harddisks make all the noise now, need to invest in some better ones and/or get enclosures.

[Radamanthus]

Okay, so I've still not gotten a lot of decision-mkaing skills happened here, but it seems that the Opteron is rather the thing to look at if i DO decie to upgrade.- that's still not decided yet. It's highly likely that, if I should, i'll be spending about 300 dollars for a new mobo and processor, yet it would also appear my AGP video card would need replacing, as everything uses PCI-E now. thta's another 150 at least, making a rounded 500. That's a month of work, given that I eat lightly (which i do anyway).

Is it worth it? I'm asking your professional opinions here, not shooting-the-moon suggestions ofn quad-core processors or obvious things like fanless power supplies- i'm not the noob everyone seems to think I am. I'm just having trouble making a decision between cooling my current system or upgrading a year ahead of schedule, and i'm asking for a few suggestions about what to do, and perhaps a pointer at a good, yet inexpensive piece of hardware, like the Opteron.

[Baz]

I'm waiting for ut2007 =)
Also a job which pays in real money, not rape dollars

[-KewlAzMe-]

i'm not the noob everyone seems to think I am.

LIES!

I too am caught between Baz's suggestion about the Opteron, although I think for the few pennies more, I'd go with the Opteron 170 for the easy OC... and the X2 models. The only catch for me would be the L1 Cache is lower on the Opteron, but from what I read, that doesn't make a big difference on AMD chips anyway because of the shorter pipes.

Then I read X2 are more for Gaming, Optys are more for Stable multitasking.. but i read that is negligible and you can game all you want with the Opty too.

Decisions, decisions.

Oh Baz has a new bazatar!

[-KewlAzMe-]

Come to think of it, I will probably be sending my current Athlon 64 Processor and mobo to my server and ebaying my P4 3.0G and mobo, So that means I can also upgrade my main Mobo too.

I currently have DDR400 RAM supported on my A8N-E.. Is there any good reason to go to DDR2533 supported MoBos? I would assume so, any suggestions? I do prefer to stay in the Asus or DFI line, and I dont think i will need SLI

[Pestcontrol]

Opteron 1 series and A64's are nearly identical, the only difference is that the Opteron supports ECC memory and chipkill, and stricter reliability standards. Performance is the same.

[Baz]

the 165 is a 939 opteron, which I assume just means its a hand picked a64.
Does ecc have different pins to normal ddr?
edit: Same pins. I wonder where the requirement for ecc comes in on 940 boards

[-KewlAzMe-]

the 165 is a 939 opteron, which I assume just means its a hand picked a64.
Does ecc have different pins to normal ddr?
edit: Same pins. I wonder where the requirement for ecc comes in on 940 boards

yea i guess the latest 939 opty's can do both RAM types.. but what about DDR vs DDR2? would i be bottle necking much if i stuck with DDR or should i get with the times and upgrade to DDR?