I building a new computer and want to water cool it... my question is...whats the best way to go by a full system or buy each item..... not really scared of doin the work jus wanna kno whats better
I prefered to mix and match, get what's suited to me. Its not any harder to build a mixed system it just might mean a little more research in terms of compatability ( I.E make sure all your fittings are the same size) When I built my watercooling system it was cheaper and generally gave you better performance to just pick what parts suited your setup. That was 2 years ago tho they could have some good setups out now.
Buying the parts that match your needs is a good way to do it as not only do you get the best out of your setup you also gain a certain level of knowledge in the process. Just a note though, it's always best not to mix and match metals, i.e. don't but one copper wb and one alu one, keep it all copper or all alu to help prevent corrosion.
I'd recommend the Really Useful Watercooling Threads on this forum, and the forum search function, as many people in the same postition as you have asked similar questions. This way you can get an expansive range of advice. The ultimate Watercooling site is Procooling.com, although they definitely expect a bit of knowledge on the part of a new forum member. Overclockers.com also has an excellent watercooling section. In answer to your first question, the doctrine used to be that a self-built system is better than a kit. However the quality of kits has impred much over the recent years, with companies selling individual components also selling kit packages. Decent ones are supplied by Asetek, Swiftech, DangerDen and, if you decide to go small bore, Innovatek and Aqua-Computer. I wouldn't worry too much about mixing your metals, by the way. That's one of the reasons why we use additives.
Like nexxo said, there's not much performance difference between some kit's and a custom setup, but building your own can be more satisfying The first big decision you have to make is probably small bore (tubing of around 6-8mm, usually typified by european designs), or large bore (3/8" or 1/2" diameter, US style). Small bore tends to be slightly easier to work with, and imo looks neater. Large bore is, obviously, bigger and so slightly more of a hassel to route round your case, it may well yeild better temperatures though. My way of deciding was to find one component that I liked and really wanted to use and fitted everything else round that (for me it was this). What sort of case are you thinking of using? And what components will you be cooling? (what cpu etc.)?
this is the case i want to use and im goin to water cool my AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ and eVGA Geforce 7800GT 256MB
Well, if you wanted to go the /really/ easy route the Tt Bigwater is designed to work with that case. Otherwise you've got lot's of space so fitting w/c shouldn't be too difficult.
I thought that Thermaltake Bigwaters were bad- surely is more expensive, but a single rad on the back, a 12 volt DDC pump and a TDX CPu block plus a full (chipset + RAM) danger den 7800 Gpu block plus hosing and a res will set up back upto £180 ( goto www.coolercases.co.uk) but you will get great performance that can be used on any case with a 120mm fan, and its internal! Mankz
Reviews say that the performance is not bad at all. And jamesdta considered it because of the ease of installation relative to self-built systems.
