Water cooling help

[DarkStarr]

I am looking for a watercooling setup that will cool my 955 BE better (shouldnt be too hard). It needs to be around $100, doesnt need to be a kit but I am a noob when it comes to water cooling which is why I am asking for help.

 

[Kougar]

What CPU cooler are you currently using?

As I've had to answer quite a few questions similar to your own as of late, I am confident in saying you will not find a watercooling setup for <$200 that would outperform the Noctua NH-14, which costs under $100.

 

[DarkStarr]

Its just an old coolermaster one that keeps temps a bit lower than the stock heatsink on load, about 10C less or so. Also I can get a Prolimatech Megahalems Rev. B CPU Cooler for $71.96 shipped vs the NH-D14 for $92.98 from newegg and temps seem only about 1C lower on the noctua.

The Mega would be from sidewindercomputers.com which I have never used, anyone know if they are good?

 

[b1lk1]

What CPU cooler are you currently using?

As I've had to answer quite a few questions similar to your own as of late, I am confident in saying you will not find a watercooling setup for <$200 that would outperform the Noctua NH-14, which costs under $100.

May not outperform the HN-14, but the NH-14 is as big as a bus.

I'd look for a Corsair H50 or CoolIT ECO system. I've used both with excellent results. THey are very competetively priced at under $100. The Thermaltake FRIO also astounded me, if those last 2-3C of cooling power are no concern it works well and will fit any ATX case/motherboard unlike those oversized beasts.

You won't find a build it yourself kit for under $150 that is worth the dough.

 

[DarkStarr]

Size doesn't bother me, for me its the price vs performance and since I am finding the Mega for the lowest price so far I may go with that.

Edit: Wow, I found the Mega local for EVEN less but I still need the AMD mounting kit shipped so it tacks on a bit but its still much less, $61.76 total for the Mega and the ARM-02 mounting kit shipped

 

[Kougar]

There is around a 5C difference in the NH-D14's favor between it and the Megahalems, but if you can find the Megahalems for that price it's a great alternative. As b1lk1 has tested the Thermaltake Frio, it is a good equivalent cooler to the Megahalems that you may be able to find even cheaper.

The NH-D14 offers around a 8-10C drop in temps over those prebuilt WC loops, and does so with less noise and one of the best mounting systems I've had the pleasure of using. Given it is the same price as those prebuilt WC loops I just can't recommend them. Even the Megahalems outperforms them at a much lower price. Not to mention those self-contained loops are going to fail within a couple years while an air cooler may only need a new fan.

 

[DarkStarr]

It pretty much all depends as this test shows next to no difference here

EDIT: Thanks for the help, I just wonder if any local stores have the ARM-02 mounting kit, then I could save a bit more.

 

[b1lk1]

My only question now is that if you don't plan on pushing your overclock further then why not go for the cheapest solution (FRIO) available? I personally cannot justify the size of the Mega and the Noctua considering they are really only good for extreme overclockers that must have those last few degrees C to keep things stable.

 

[DarkStarr]

Well thats what I want to try, I wanna go for 3.9 - 4 Ghz if I can. For the price I cant really argue, the Mega and the ARM-02 mounting kit are only a total of $61.76 and I just looked up the FRIO and it seems to be about $60 so I figure why not go with the Mega.