Watercooling suggestions for this setup

[Turbotwo]

So I just recently built a pc made to run FFXIV. I'm not entirely happy with my cooling I'm looking for External Watercooling solutions. I've checked online, I see that they exist, I just don't know what to buy.

Full tower with 325925205725907 fan slots.

xfx ati radeon 5770 hd

amd phenom II 3.2ghz black deneb

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL61599895 (N82E16820231277)

RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-730SS 730W ATX12V V2.2/ EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Modular LED Power Supply61599895 (N82E16817152036)

ASUS M4A77TD AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard61599895 (N82E16813131603)

LG DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model GH24NS50 - OEM61599895 (N82E16827136177)

CORSAIR Cooling Hydro Series CWCH50-1 120mm High Performance CPU Cooler 61710950 (N82E16835181010)

[Jurgen]

As far as external WC goes, normally those kits are usually either extremely overpriced for the amount of cooling they provide, or they aren't very good at all in general (anything made by Thermaltake).

Sometimes spending $60 or $70 on some good, quality fans can be a whole lot more beneficial than dropping $250 on an external WC setup that ends up being more of a pain than its worth.

edit: NVM, I see you already have the Corsair H50 CPU cooler. What are you currently unhappy with about your cooling? Sound? Cooling performance?

[Turbotwo]

Well Coretemp is reading me at about 41C when I'm doing absolutely nothing. But I'm constantly being told that, that is a bit high for doing nothing. Before I got the H50 I was getting the same temp, so it looks like it didn't do much. I'm also having another problem, my tower is reading my CPU at 30C when doing nothing, I really don't know which one to believe lol. I was going with Coretemp, but I really want to believe my towers reading

[xopher]

the stock fan on the H50 is shit. Go look at my posts in the thread labled H50 in this forum.

edit: here's the link

http://www.bluegartr.com/forum/showthread.php?t=96157

[Turbotwo]

Will do, thanks!

[Kerberoz]

Is the HSF installed with real thermal paste or that useless silicon crap that comes with it for free? 41 idle isn't really hot enough to cause concern, though.

30C on the tower display... is the probe installed correctly? Sounds like ambient.

[Turbotwo]

Don't know what any of that means lol, ambient? Pretty sure it's all wired correctly. And I've used the stock stuff it came with.

[Jurgen]

Ambient is the room temp, or the temp of the air inside/around the case.

As Xopher said, a good fan can certainly help a lot with temps. Are you only using 1 fan? Are you utilizing push/pull (1 fan on each side of the radiator)? 2 Good 120mm case fans would certainly help lower temps over the stock corsair fan.

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/scge120mmsic2.html

That's pretty much the best fan you can buy for a mix of cooling/quiet performance. It moves a lot of air, and is under 30 dba.

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/yalo12d1hisp.html

The Yate Loons are a cheaper alternative. They push more air than the GentleTycoons, but are about 10-15 dba louder. 2 of those fans in push/pull will certainly lower your temps more than a single stock corsair fan.

[Celeras]

Is the HSF installed with real thermal paste or that useless silicon crap that comes with it for free?

Ignore this, the stock TIM that comes preinstalled on the H50 is Shin-Etsu G751.. which is without a doubt top tier. Switching to anything else would be at best a sidegrade, and Shin-Etsu has the added benefit of having the lowest cure time of any TIM except maybe Indigo. The only reason to reapply something else would be if you botched the seating and needed to remount, or bought it used or something.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.ph...&limitstart=12

[edit] Oh, and as far as your actual question is concerned (lol), do your own custom loop or don't do it at all. Anything you can get pre-cooked won't be much of an upgrade over an H50.

[Turbotwo]

Modding the push/pull now. I'm dumb with modding this stuff, at least facing the fans, I see pictures of doing it for the inside fan. How do I face the outside one o.O

[Turbotwo]

Only using stock 120's for now until I get those ones, but I see no change if in fact a degree hotter. Either I mounted the fans wrong or something else. I have both facing the way the brackets are err...the 4 things the wire coming out from the middle of the fan is facing inwards into the pc so its blow cool air in. Thats right....right?

[CoronA1979]

I am not really sure about a AMD processor but my 920 idles around 40c - There again it's overclocked to 4.2ghz but is on air and this idle is without ramping my 3 fans up on the CPU cooler (yah, I have the ole IFX-14 and have 3 fans on it ^__^ )

So, to me 40c isn't that bad >.>

[Turbotwo]

Youre idling at 40C @4.2ghz on a slightly lesser model cpu, I'm idling on a 955 at stock speed 3.2 @40C with an h50 push/pull. Something doesn't add up there.

[CoronA1979]

Not sure what to tell ya - I built the rig coming up on a year ago and spent countless hours working on the OC and that's where I eventually settled.

I'm at work right now but I could show you CPU-Z and RealTemp screenshots etc when I get home if you want.

-Edit-

Spoiler: show

http://theafterlifels.com/album/rona/Stability.png

It idles a little higher and maxes out a little higher these days. I blame myself as I don't constantly take it apart and clean every componet like I used to w/ my OCD.

[Turbotwo]

Nah I believe ya, no reason not to. I want to OC just want the correct cooling to do so. :\ And the know how to actually OC lol.

[CoronA1979]

Nah I believe ya, no reason not to. I want to OC just want the correct cooling to do so. :\ And the know how to actually OC lol.

It was my first build and I honestly haven't messed w/ it much in many months. It was fun, though.

Almost all of my learning in terms of OC'ing came straight from forum posts and asking questions over @ eVGA forums. There is one thing you have to have in overclocking, Patience >.>

I edited the screenshot in my other post, btw.

[Rasengan]

Youre idling at 40C @4.2ghz on a slightly lesser model cpu, I'm idling on a 955 at stock speed 3.2 @40C with an h50 push/pull. Something doesn't add up there.

Uhh, I'm pretty sure they're talking about the i7 920, not the X4 920... so yeah, it's actually a better processor (hyperthreading, tri channel support, etc). As far as overclocking right, there's no magic number/setting. Each processor is somewhat different, so you'll probably get different results. Some people get lucky and find a chip that will be able to withstand a higher voltage threshold or is slightly more efficient or will stable at a higher speed. It's not in all cases, so just take your time and bump up the speed slowly. You'll find your magic number.

[CoronA1979]

Nah I believe ya, no reason not to. I want to OC just want the correct cooling to do so. :\ And the know how to actually OC lol.

You should be able to get a decent OC out of the H50 Corsair cooler. When it came out it was being compared to the top end air coolers. This was a while ago but, yeah you should be able to do 3.8 w/ eaze. Once you start going above 3.8 it gets harder to get stable. 4.0 and beyond can be incredibly frustrating to get stable >.<

[CoronA1979]

Uhh, I'm pretty sure they're talking about the i7 920, not the X4 920... so yeah, it's actually a better processor (hyperthreading, tri channel support, etc).

Yes, an i7 920

[Turbotwo]

Yeah just noticed that when I saw the screenshot haha.