New to W/C... Swiftech Compact 120???

[GunterFalstaff]

hey guys =P... i have been looking at water cooling for a while now and i have been afraid of messing something up and ruining my computer (like a spill or something >.< ) lol... the main thing i want to know is what you guys think of this kit Swiftech compact 120 ... it sells for around 100 dollars and i was looking at it as a way for a noob like me to get introduced to water cooling... will i see any real big difference in temperatures between it and my current cooling with an asus arctic square (lapped processor and AS5) and good airflow with 2 thermaltake 120mm's at 94 CFM... my idle temps sit around 28-30 at 3.45-3.5 ghz with a 6400+ BE. what kind of temperatures should i expect and also would it be adequate for a phenom 9850 BE? thanks guys!

[aspire.comptech]

You probably won't see any performance increase switching to that kit in regards to idle temps.

Water cooling only starts to outshine high end air coolers when it comes to overclocked cpu's under load.

Theres also the silence factor to be considered.

-aspire

[GunterFalstaff]

well thats more what im interested in, i plan on getting a 9850 and clocking it up to around 3.0ghz and i want a w/c system that can handle that.

[aspire.comptech]

Consider the 240mm version of that kit instead then. That might be better suited to the quad core.

[GunterFalstaff]

well, the thing is... that 120 will fit PERFECTLY in my case (i have a midtower apevia case) i am very limited on how far i can go with water cooling because of my case size and i really dont want to replace it (weve grown quite attatched =P)

[aspire.comptech]

My first case was an aspire x-infinity and aspire later changed their name is apevia. Hence my s.n.

Anywho, for the time being your probably better off sticking with air cooling.

[Pedalmonkey]

agreed. just get a nice TRUE or IFX and you'll see some nice temps even with a semi low flow fan.

[[XC] NetburstXE]

You could get the 240 version and mount the radiator externally if space was an issue. Otherwise, I'd just stick to air until you get a bigger case.

[emoners]

so can the 240 version be at par or better than the TRUE on OC load?

[NysoO]

If you're gonna start with WC, do it right from the beginning. I don't want to be harsch on you, but honestly, that kit is probably just crap and you would probably be better of with a TRUE, there really is no shortcuts. If you would wanna get some decent temps to that cpu, I recommend you to consider a PA120.2, a DDC 3.2 or a D5 vario, a fusion block with quad nozzle and maybe a res or you can simply go with a T-line.