Wes Newell said:
There really isn't any justification for it for normal users unless
you're trying to build a silent PC. The A64 CPU's run very cool.
Yes, a silent PC would be the main reason, very high over clocking, or to
get the heat out of the case, instead of just blowing hot air around all
the time. (but a good case and case fan would fix the last part) The main
goal of a water cooled system, is get the heat away from the chips, and as
water conducts MUCH MUCH better than air, you can get the heat away easy.
But, you have all the plumbing to do!!! Plus, electronics and water don't
mix well.
BTW, I have a water cooled system that I (you could have better hearing
than me, but not many people do) can't not hear in a normal house, from
more than 2 feet away, and that's the HD. From the front of the system,
you can't even hear the fans!!!
Some aren't any better than a good air cooler. Some are even
worse.
This is true, research before you buy! Look at:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/
and read some of the forums, before you buy ANYTHING, including air
coolers. It's mainly about silent PCs, but since 95% of a PCs noise comes
from the cooling system, this site has a LOT of good information.
I don't think you can buy a decent one for under $100.
Also true, and it would be more like $150 for a good one. The super
easy/quite ones are about $200-$250 (Zalman Reserator, etc). If you didn't
care about the looks, you could build the same (or better) system for $100,
easy. (You can use a couple of heater cores from a car, and get 100%
passive cooling, and still be cheap)
BTW, if you do go with water cooling, do NOT mix metals. Either do 100%
copper, or 100% aluminum.
--
____________________________________________
/ David Simpson \
| City of Heroes, Basic Stamp, RPGs, War Games |
| (e-mail address removed) |
|
http://www.nyx.net/~dsimpson |
\____________________________________________/