Liquid Cooling Chassis

[PhreeMe]

Hey All

Im looking at buying a chassis with built-in liquid cooling - namely the Thermaltake Kandalf - but have a few questions....

1) Is there any any other chassis which may be better for the same price point?? (R4500)

2) Is it difficult to set up? Read something about needing to drain air bubbles out.... not quite sure how that would be accomplished....

3) Is it worth it?? Can a good fan setup match the water cooling?

It will be for an i7 or AM3 build and would just be looking at applying to the CPU for now. So I'd need to buy either a bracket or the new copper block compatible with 1366/AM3 boards.... which would be better?

Lastly I read an article of an oke that said his GPU temps dropped as a result of a very cool CPU temp.... will there really be reasonable drops?

Many Thanks!

 

[Mypro-D]

Well, are you planning to overclock your CPU or not really?
Depends if on what you want to do with it at the end of the day?
The guys get 4ghz on their I7 920's on Air...
Personally, R 4500 for a Thermaltake Kandalf is not worth it.
Id rather buy a Cosmos S Or a Haf 932 and do my own watercooling.

 

[chickenbeef]

Get a HAF932 for 1.5k or so

The remainder of the cash can get you a Swiftech kit (have to import it)

 

[PhreeMe]

Thanks guys....

As much as I think it may be overkill (not intending to OC) I just want peace-of-mind. My problem is my current pc (X2 5600 BE, XFX 8800GTX Extreme Edition, 4gb Corsair Dual Channel DDR2 800, Asus M2n32 SLI Deluxe) overheats to the point of shutdown. It appears to be my cpu... sits at about 89°C after 1hr gaming on a hot day 30ish°C. The cpu cooler I've got now (Coolermaster - forget the model) says it can cool up to a X2 6000, which in my mind says I should be ok? Also have a 120mm fan at the front and rear of my chassis, blowing from the front and sucking from the back You know what I mean
The new chassis would house an i7 920, HD5850, 6gb ram....

It seems R4.5K+ is kinda average for a LC chassis in SA.... My problem now is I have my heart set on it Anyone currently got one? Not specifically the Kandalf, any.... are you happier for having it? Is it That much better than air cooling?

 

[killadoob]

Seriously if you are not overclocking your pc you are throwing money down the drain but that is your choice i guess.

You should wait for the 3rd of jan as no suppliers are open til then.

 

[Mypro-D]

I dont think its worth it. My PC runs at 3ghz on the STOCK cooler in a HAF 932 with a GTX 295 and it sits at around 45 degrees.

Perhaps your CPU is not seated properly or something. New Thermal Grease?
I honestly would rather spend the cash on a better graphics card.

 

[ponder]

Seriously if you are not overclocking your pc you are throwing money down the drain but that is your choice i guess.

+1

 

[TheRift]

There's something wrong with your current cooling or your CPU just can't handle the game requirement. Throwing water cooling at it is going to be a waste of money, really. Just clean things out and get a better CPU cooler. There's also the possibility of getting a custom water cooling kit all wrong and stuffing things up.

There are people here running the i7 on +4GHz and not seeing those temps. If you want to try some sort of water cooling then try the Corsair H50, but it's only slightly better than air cooling and in some cases a decent air cooler will beat it.

 

[KhoisanX]

My problem now is I have my heart set on it

I think you have to admit to yourself that you want it only because it looks cool or for bragging rights

As Mypro-D said, spend the money on a better graphics card.

 

[PhreeMe]

I think you have to admit to yourself that you want it only because it looks cool or for bragging rights

Its the sad truth
Look if I could save R2.5K by taking a different case, Im all for it.... its just..... liquid cooling....
I just gotta suck it up now... Get a decent case with decent ventiliation. Aside from the HAF are there any other recommendations?

Thanks for the help.....

 

[killadoob]

Haf dude is the best case on the market in my opinion.

Spend that saving on something lekka . 2.5k is a huge saying. The gpu temp and general box temp will drop with water cooling. You have no fans distributing the hot cpu air the box.

Make no mistake watercooling is awesome and really easy to setup and very basic but not needed unless you are overclocking. Would you rather have a great gpu or a mid range gpu with water cooling?
Naaa my suggestion is think before you buy because you sound like me an impulse buyers and we often miss the logical reason why we should not buy because when we want something we want it no matter what.

 

[PhreeMe]

Haha, thanks bud!
I like to think of myself as logical.... but when I get a bee under my hood....
Does the HAF come with all fans installed, or do I need to buy to full it up?

 

[chickenbeef]

Yes, haf comes with enough fans

Here's a good watercooling kit. Saves you from importing http://www.prophecy.co.za/forums/topic/78943-s-liquid-cooling-kit/

 

[Neverwhere]

If your current rig is not overclocked, something is definitely up with your cooling. Maybe the cooler is not sitting right? or to much thermal paste or something. 89 sounds way high if you've also got an aftermarket cooler installed. Try reseating the cooler with an ultra-thin layer of arctic silver themal paste. Or maybe lapping the cooler and chip.

And go with the HAF. It even has special holes on the back for watercooling, as well as an upper fan that can be removed to mount a watercooling radiator. And on the top front of it, it has a tray with a removeable rubber mat that give you access to a watercoolers resevoir. So even though its an awesome air coolnig case (comes with 3x 230mm fans!), it can also be turned into a killer watercooling setup at a later stage if the air-cooling isnt doing it. Also +1 on that watercooling is for the heavier end of overcolcking or its a waste of money.

 

[PhreeMe]

Thanks for the link Silverlight.

Can someone point me in the direction of a retailer who has the HAF 932? I've only dealt with Take2 (would have to import at just over R2K) and Prophecy (out of stock but R700 cheaper). Is there a huge diff between the 922 and 932?

Neverwhere sadly I've tried that.... The second time I re-set the processor, I was more liberal with the application of the grease. Worked for a long time, but seems to be suffering again. Only on hot days that is.