Cooling stuff down... a LOT

[Tag]

I was thinking about the general methods of cooling, wondering if its actually worth it...

Heres what I think: I have a water cooling kit (soon to have a VGA adaptor included) more for the sound than temps. But I thought... well, why else would anyone want pletier elements?
A hour or so research later... -7c temp on an idle cpu is possible with something that could cost no more than $90 ($60 Maze4 CPU waterblock and $30 pelt element) and a day of (skilled) handywork. But whats the point?

Surely if you can keep temps on say a CPU between 20C and 50C and still clock as much as you want stably, there are NO advatages of lower temps. Right? I have my X2 4400 at 2.6 (+400mhz)
How, if temps stay within decent range, would it be possible do clock higher with something like pelts or similar (excludes v-mods or other extremes)?!

I think there is far too much emphasis on cooling PC components beyond reasonable levels. Once I have my VGA maze4 then Ill be happy as my pc will be silent and live as long as I would want ANY PC to.

Opinions?

 

[Amodedude1]

Well Tag, you put up a very good argument. My opinion for why some people, including myself, go with extreme cooling is because it’s a hobby. This type of cooling will also allow for extreme over clocking. A prime example of this would be the notorious 5GHz Project. However, in your case the need for extreme cooling is not necessary and impractical. From what I can tell, you want a system that is quiet and will last you as long as possible. Obviously extreme cooling is not practical for it can be excessively loud and if you do extreme over clocking, you can greatly diminish the life expectancy of your computer. As you may know, computer components are designed by the manufacture to run within a specific frequency, or speed. Making components go far beyond there specific speeds will diminish life expectancy greatly. If you ran the CPU featured in the 5GHz project (http://www.tomshardware.com/2003/12/30/5_ghz_project/) I would say it would only last you a little less than a year at 5Ghz. Also, you must consider that computers are a hobby for some, and reaching the maximum OC is a goal that makes a PC enthusiast proud, unless they fry their CPU!
As for your over clock, 400MHz is a very good OC! I’m guessing that if you did go the extreme cooling route, that you might be able to squeeze another 50-200MHz more out of it. But I would just recommend that you stick with the cooling solution you have now and see how much more speed you can get with it. Just try to really stress test your CPU, burn it in, and then see how much more MHz you can get. Keep doing this until your system gets unstable then bump it down to a stable level. Then burn in the CPU again and see how high you can go.
With your current cooling setup, you might be able to squeeze a lot more power out of your system. Just be mindful of your temps! Good luck!