XPostFacto
VIP Member
I am getting close to the time that maybe I should upgrade my PC. I have a motherboard picked out along with a 4th gen Core I7 and 16 gigs of DDR3 memory. I will use my present power supply, graphics card, hard drive, and Blu-Ray DVD player so I can save some money.
The next most important thing is keeping the CPU cooled. I have looked at the various liquid coolers out there and was deciding to get one of the Corsair brands, at least that was until I read the comparison between air-cooled and water cooled CPU coolers. This site explains everything: How to Best Cool a PC: Your Air and Water Cooling Options Explained - Tested
I read everything I could, and I have decided to pursue the cheaper method of just using an air-cooled system like I have on my present system. One thing the article points out is that the liquid cooled system only cools the CPU, not the other components on your motherboard's chipset, nor does it cool your memory. My present system is pretty fast, and no, I don't overclock, nor do I intend to do so. My system is fast enough as is. Back in 2009, when I purchased the components, I used the heat sink and fan combo that came with my Q9400 CPU. Everything was cool, until I started playing a graphics intensive game. Alarms started going off everywhere from my motherboard. I then went to Best Buy and bought the biggest heat sink and fan comb I could find, a 120 mm fan. The fan has vents on all 4 sides as it is bolted onto the heatsink. It blows air onto the heat sink fins and also blows air onto the chipset and memory, something you wont have with a liquid cooled system. Sure, you'll have a cool CPU, but everything else will be red hot and probably alarms will start going off, and it was a good thing I had my speakers on, since I don't turn them on unless I'm watching a movie or playing games. Now, you can cool your chipset and memory as well as your graphics card with a liquid cooling system, but it's going to be expensive, and with my small compact Thermaltake case, I don't have the room for those hoses. Oh, let's not forget that those hoses might even leak with the worst possible scenario of your CPU frying. Perhaps that liquid is liquid freon and not water, but who knows at this point? In any event, water around elecrtronic components is never a good idea. My worry is that if something can go wrong, it will, and it will be in my new computer.
The next most important thing is keeping the CPU cooled. I have looked at the various liquid coolers out there and was deciding to get one of the Corsair brands, at least that was until I read the comparison between air-cooled and water cooled CPU coolers. This site explains everything: How to Best Cool a PC: Your Air and Water Cooling Options Explained - Tested
I read everything I could, and I have decided to pursue the cheaper method of just using an air-cooled system like I have on my present system. One thing the article points out is that the liquid cooled system only cools the CPU, not the other components on your motherboard's chipset, nor does it cool your memory. My present system is pretty fast, and no, I don't overclock, nor do I intend to do so. My system is fast enough as is. Back in 2009, when I purchased the components, I used the heat sink and fan combo that came with my Q9400 CPU. Everything was cool, until I started playing a graphics intensive game. Alarms started going off everywhere from my motherboard. I then went to Best Buy and bought the biggest heat sink and fan comb I could find, a 120 mm fan. The fan has vents on all 4 sides as it is bolted onto the heatsink. It blows air onto the heat sink fins and also blows air onto the chipset and memory, something you wont have with a liquid cooled system. Sure, you'll have a cool CPU, but everything else will be red hot and probably alarms will start going off, and it was a good thing I had my speakers on, since I don't turn them on unless I'm watching a movie or playing games. Now, you can cool your chipset and memory as well as your graphics card with a liquid cooling system, but it's going to be expensive, and with my small compact Thermaltake case, I don't have the room for those hoses. Oh, let's not forget that those hoses might even leak with the worst possible scenario of your CPU frying. Perhaps that liquid is liquid freon and not water, but who knows at this point? In any event, water around elecrtronic components is never a good idea. My worry is that if something can go wrong, it will, and it will be in my new computer.
