Water Cooling and Over-clocking

[drummer_tom]

Hi guys,

Who here has water cooling. I'm slightly nervous about it to say the least, as I don't like the thought of water in such close proximity to electrical components.

What cooling do you guys have?

What is there that is relatively cheap?

Is it possible to o/c the Q6600 (which I have) with the stock cooler? It normally runs at about 40c.

Cheers


Tom

[MWISimmer]

I personally wouldn't go near water cooling these days, it just isn't necessary. A few years ago it was all the rage, just to squeeze a few more Mhz than air cooling but now with the less power/heat hungry CPUs it's more of a status than necessity.
As for your question, most water cooling loops are self powered and can be tested independently without having to turn the PC on so any leaks won't short your system.
And yes, you can OC a Q6600 on air, just ask all of the Q6600 owners here!

[Celtman]

I don't like the thought of water in such close proximity to electrical components.

If your not comfortable, don't do it . I don't use water cooling, and never would for the same reason that you don't like the thought of it, water+electricity usually = death to components/humans touching the PC

What cooling do you guys have?

I have the stock cooling on my Dual core (E6850), and it works very well. Temps usually around 10-20C (then again, I'm in Glasgow, so VERY cold ambient temps )

Is it possible to o/c the Q6600 (which I have) with the stock cooler?

I have heard of the Q6600 getting to 3.2Ghz on air, but I wouldn't go above 3Ghz with stock cooling (infact I wouldn't overclock at all - if I need better performance I would buy a better part, especially after my old AMD blew up on my when I overclocked...... )

Regards,
Neil 8-)

[drummer_tom]

Thanks for the responses!

So this air cooling, is this just basically a better heatsink/cooler to what I have? So just a bigger better fan which gets stuck on top?


Cheers


Tom

[Slotback]

You may be abled to squeeze some more juice from your Q6600 on stock cooling, maybe 2.8ghz with good case ventilation? To get into more serious overclocking you need a good heatsink, it's not just with a bigger fan, but usually advanced designs utilising advanced thermal pipes, often they're so heavy that they require a backplate on the mobo to stop the weight of the cooler straining or even snapping the board. The best coolers are the Tuniq 120 and the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme, they're huge and may not fit into some cases.

E.G. http://www.thg.ru/cpu/20050813/images/tuniq_tower.jpg

And you also need thermal compound between the heatsink and CPU for optimal thermal transfer.... e.g. Arctic Silver 5. All instructions, dimensions and so on should be on the manufacturers site.



If you want a further temperature drop you can use sand paper to sand the Integrated heat spreader of the CPU and the bottom of them heatsink to allow better heat transfer, known as lapping... of course, research this more before you do it.

Just renember, you've got a small square that puts out 100 watts of heat, stock, WAY more overclocked.

[drummer_tom]

Thanks for all the info so far guys. I don't know if I would want to risk 2.8GHZ on stock cooling. Maybe 2.5 or 2.6 tops.

My case is the Soprano by thermaltake. 3 case fans - one on the side, one large on the front and one large on the back, plus the 14cm fan on the PSU.


Tom

[Fozzer]

I don't like the thought of water in such close proximity to electrical components.

If your not comfortable, don't do it . I don't use water cooling, and never would for the same reason that you don't like the thought of it, water+electricity usually = death to components/humans touching the PC

What cooling do you guys have?

I have the stock cooling on my Dual core (E6850), and it works very well. Temps usually around 10-20C (then again, I'm in Glasgow, so VERY cold ambient temps )

Is it possible to o/c the Q6600 (which I have) with the stock cooler?

I have heard of the Q6600 getting to 3.2Ghz on air, but I wouldn't go above 3Ghz with stock cooling (infact I wouldn't overclock at all - if I need better performance I would buy a better part, especially after my old AMD blew up on my when I overclocked...... )

Regards,
Neil 8-)

Give that Man a prize... [smiley=thumbsup.gif]...!

Paul...Stock everything......!

Need a faster Processor?...Buy a faster Processor!......!
Need a faster Graphics Card?...Buy a faster Graphics Card!......!

Need Reliability?....Observe the above!......!

[Celtman]

Give that Man a prize... [smiley=thumbsup.gif]...!

Oo what do I win?

[Fozzer]

Give that Man a prize... [smiley=thumbsup.gif]...!

Oo what do I win? ;D

Your lucky day... [smiley=thumbsup.gif]...>>>

...my old, un-clocked Pentium 486!... [smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif]...!

Paul...A free gift every week!... ...!

[Slotback]

A, Q6600 is a $250 processor, with a $50 cooler you can overclock it from 2.4ghz to 3.6ghz, that's a 50% improvement in raw hz, where it would vastly outperform a $1000 processor by a massive margin. It just happens that a $1000 processor almost costs as much as an entire highend computer.

[drummer_tom]

At this precise moment in time, I do not understand FULL WELL what I am doing. I have a basic idea but no in depth knowledge - hence the asking of the question on here first and lots of reading on here and other places to follow  :)

I'm not trying anything until I am 150% confident!

[Flying Mouse]

I have never tried to overclock expensive parts.

I stick with the ol saying that goes:

If something is not broken, don't try and fix it.

[ThatOnePerson]

Even with aftermarket air cooling my WC setup still beats it out. At complete idle my q6600 never gets hotter than 28-29C and thats at 3.6ghz. I was nervous about it to, but now that its running and ive seen how darn tight the hose connects are (had to run under really hot water for 10 minutes and took another 10 to get out of the tube) I have no issues with it and consider it a good investment for not only keeping your cpu cool but enabling you to overclcock further than I would ever dare, or feel comfortable with running 24/7 on air.

[Brett_Henderson]

Overclocking is not like it was a few years ago. Sure, there are risks, but they're miniscule if you do your research.

A Q6600 (or similar) is actually UNDERclocked when it comes from the factory. Most likely to adapt to the cheap motherboards, and slow RAM, that OEMs (like Dell or Gateway) use... It's like a built-in margin for reliability.

If you have a solid motherboard, and decent RAM, and invest in a good fan... you can run a 2.4ghz Q6600 at

[Fozzer]

I have never been one to fiddle about, when everything I have seems to be working to my satisfaction.... ...!

...as has been said, time and time again, ....

If it aint broke, don't try and fix it...

...and risk trashing what you have already got!.. ...!

Why mess about with something that is working perfectly O.K...

...just for the sake of "Fiddling about"?.... ...!

Paul...I would much prefer to mow the grass...much more practical...Trust me......!

.... ....!

...I am sure that urinating (Water Cooling) on my trusty Socket A, AMD 2600+MMX Central Processor  is not going to improve its performance, in any way, shape, or form!.... ...!