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I just finished fixing the problems with my water-cooling project (the one from my crappy "College Modding Guide"). I ended up just ordering an MCP350 from Newegg and got NEXT DAY delivery (even though it was for 3 day) since I live in LA and Newegg's west coast warehouse is near Whittier, CA, about 25 miles away from me! Anyway, the MCP355 was just too loud for me and even though I may be taking a slight performance loss, the quietness of the MCP350 is totally worth it!
My last setup included a Zalman CSP9500 on a regulator, Vantec Stealth and SilenX fans, a Thermalright HR-03 Plus (for the 8800), all inside an Antec Solo. The Solo itself came with sound dampening material on the panels and tons of anti-vibration features - the hard drive bay, I might add, did an incredible job nullifying the HDD when it spun up or starts clicking. Basically, I had the quietest air-cooled case possible (I know someone will disagree) .
But my water-cooled setup (thanks for all the good advice on this forum, btw) is sooooooooo quiet that I almost laugh when I see posts arguing that air-cooled PCs are ultimately quieter since slow-rotating 120mm fans are becoming the standard. I had my air-cooled rig on the floor, and it was quiet indeed. But this thing is so dang quite...I put it on top of my mini-fridge right next to my desk and the low noise "disappears" as soon as I turn my room fan on or play light music. Sorry, I just had to get it out!
I think the only reason people argue air-cooled can be quieter is that they've experienced a noisy pump or radiator fan. To me, this is what makes WC HARD - knowing how the components will play together when you can only go by other people's opinions rather than first-hand experience. Especially since making a purchasing mistake sucks b/c it costs $$$, as opposed to buying a Vantec Tornado and replacing it a little later with a quieter $5 fan. In my case, I unknowingly bought a noisier pump on eBay for a really good deal. This is EXACTLY the same as buying a Thermalright 120 with a 100 CFM/40 db fan, except correcting the latter mistake is less expensive. So I bet people get stuck with the wrong equipment (if they seek silent WC or vise versa for performance) and then just gripe about it. The again, the facts are all there, it's just a matter of research (which I initially failed at!).
Of course, I am waiting on a new graphics card, so I am not sure how the performance compares (I am guessing and expecting better). My air-cooled rig got an e4300 to 2.92 Ghz stable, although I think it was last motherboard's FSB rather than the Zalman that stopped it there. I am hoping to hit 3.5 Ghz stable at a nice temp. I'll have the results next Wednesday for everyone's enjoyment....
But for now, I am enjoying the almost unfair advantages of water cooling.
My last setup included a Zalman CSP9500 on a regulator, Vantec Stealth and SilenX fans, a Thermalright HR-03 Plus (for the 8800), all inside an Antec Solo. The Solo itself came with sound dampening material on the panels and tons of anti-vibration features - the hard drive bay, I might add, did an incredible job nullifying the HDD when it spun up or starts clicking. Basically, I had the quietest air-cooled case possible (I know someone will disagree) .
But my water-cooled setup (thanks for all the good advice on this forum, btw) is sooooooooo quiet that I almost laugh when I see posts arguing that air-cooled PCs are ultimately quieter since slow-rotating 120mm fans are becoming the standard. I had my air-cooled rig on the floor, and it was quiet indeed. But this thing is so dang quite...I put it on top of my mini-fridge right next to my desk and the low noise "disappears" as soon as I turn my room fan on or play light music. Sorry, I just had to get it out!
I think the only reason people argue air-cooled can be quieter is that they've experienced a noisy pump or radiator fan. To me, this is what makes WC HARD - knowing how the components will play together when you can only go by other people's opinions rather than first-hand experience. Especially since making a purchasing mistake sucks b/c it costs $$$, as opposed to buying a Vantec Tornado and replacing it a little later with a quieter $5 fan. In my case, I unknowingly bought a noisier pump on eBay for a really good deal. This is EXACTLY the same as buying a Thermalright 120 with a 100 CFM/40 db fan, except correcting the latter mistake is less expensive. So I bet people get stuck with the wrong equipment (if they seek silent WC or vise versa for performance) and then just gripe about it. The again, the facts are all there, it's just a matter of research (which I initially failed at!).
Of course, I am waiting on a new graphics card, so I am not sure how the performance compares (I am guessing and expecting better). My air-cooled rig got an e4300 to 2.92 Ghz stable, although I think it was last motherboard's FSB rather than the Zalman that stopped it there. I am hoping to hit 3.5 Ghz stable at a nice temp. I'll have the results next Wednesday for everyone's enjoyment....
But for now, I am enjoying the almost unfair advantages of water cooling.
