What to Buy: Water Cooling or Speakers?

[Vehementi]

Thermaltake Aquarius2 Water Block

I'm torn between this and a new set of speakers. I've always dreamed of having water-cooling, I'm sure it would be uber-cool (both ways ).

But, on the other hand, I have my PC hooked up to my boombox. It's not like the sound is awful, but it leaves alot to be desired.

I have about $200 to spend, and this will buy either the waterblock or the speakers. I'm planning on buying whichever on Christmas...

What should I get?

 

[Vassal24352]

well the question is do you actually need the cooling??? if your system runs at a good to reasonable temp then you don't really need it.... even though water cooling would be really cool my advice to you would be the speakers beacuse if there is a lot to be desired then by all means go with the speakers

 

[Vehementi]

But I want water cooling...

My temps aren't that bad. It's pretty cold here in the winter, and I have 5 case fans...

But gahhh, LOOK AT THAT THING!!!!

 

[vassil3427]

Personally I say you get another strip of 512mb of that DDR400 you have..... But if its just speakers or watercooling go with speakers and maybe a lil extra Ram like 256mb or 512mb... you know spend $75.00 on a good set of 5.1 speakers...and the rest on memory...water cooling looks cool(And I wouldnt mind having it myself) but they do require maintanance occasionally...

Hey I noticed you went ahead and got a WD SE 120GB HDD, dont you just love the 8mb cache??:grinthumb

Or maybe even an Audigy 2 and a 6.1 surround sound set of speakers ...dont know how much a set of those speakers would run though....

 

[Vehementi]

Nah...I currently have 512, that's like plenty. It's not like I'm a programmer or a server or anything, so 512 is really enough for me.

After I buy the speakers, I'll have alot of extra money left. Maybe like $70-80. I might be able to get something extra with that. But then if I buy the water block, it will probably easily go over $200.

Water cooling may be a little extraneous. I really need the speakers...

And yes, I really love this HDD. The reason I didn't wait until SATA drives is because I got the A7V8x w/o the SATA chip :haha: I've never had such low seek times, and so much space! 130GB total storage!

Or, I could spend most of the money on something else, and use the rest to pay Creative/CSW to fix my speakers!

 

[SNGX1275]

Is there nothing else you can spend $200 on? Seems like you have a good enough system that nothing really needs upgrading. I guess I'm not as much into computing as a lot of people around here, but if I had $200 extra to spend I probably wouldn't spend it on my computer.

 

[Vehementi]

Good point SNGX. I thought about that...But truthfully I don't have much else to buy. I really do want speakers, too...

Contrary to popular belief, I don't spend all my money on computers. Most, but not all.
It's not like I have a car, or something else important to spend on.

If I buy something rash like a bow or something I'm afraid the novelty would wear off and I'd never use it again...

But, the question remains. If I'm going to buy either one of these, I'd like to know which.

I don't know what I'm thinking, I should just get the speakers...

 

[Julio Franco]

If I were you I would get the speakers...

 

[Vehementi]

Ok ok I'll get the speakers.

Water-cooling? Pah.

 

[SNGX1275]

If I had to say something I'd say speakers. But really if I were you at your age I'd try to get some of my more wealthy friends into R/C Cars, either gas or electric, I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I had with them when I was your age. Another good suggestion I offer is to get a good home theater reciever, it seems you have money quite often to spend, get a good reciever and then either shop around for good used speakers or wait a bit and buy some speakers. I've heard some great computer speakers, but there are just so many more options if you go with home entertainment speakers. Just a thought - its your money, do what you want.

 

[Phantasm66]

just read the whole thread. speakers.

 

[Tarkus]

Well, after reviewing your specs. I'd say go for some 5.1 speakers, preferably something that will go with your sond card like CSW 5.1 speakers. and use the extra money for a DVD player. I can't tell you how much better DVDs are with a computer with a 21" monitor, unless you have a widescreen TV already. Also MP3s sound good in Dolby ProLogic. 5.1 . Speakers will really go well with that. I like water cooling but won't give you that much more performance than air cooling overall, just quieter. Do the sound! My two cents worth.

 

[SleeperDC]

for me, i will go for speakers.
i always think watercool will flood my system and my room.

 

[Butterball]

Personal, i would go for the water cooling, but im happy with a pair of headphones (live in a dorm, and dont want to suffer the wrath of others)

But i realy do like the Thermal take system, but you have to know that there are others out there, Ibought my complete system for $150 and have never looked back, but it would seem that you are more interested in the generation rather then removing sound form your computer

 

[Vehementi]

Thanks for all your help...

Speakers it is.

And I have a DVD drive With a 21" monitor...It really is nice.
Then once I get my speakers...

The noise from my computer is completely regulatable, I can go from like 20-50dba if I choose. It's usually @ about 35dba, but not when I'm listening to music or anything else that drowns it out...

 

[StormBringer]

be careful when you start regulating fan speeds. This is not a linear curve(rpm/cfm). Unless you know what you are doing, or you have a way to monitor the temps. Otherwise you'd be smart to use a Baybus.

 

[Vehementi]

With the extra money from Christmas I may be able buy another 120GB WD SE and put them in RAID0...

 

[Vehementi]

Ehehehe I'm in the position to buy both...

 

[iss]

LOL is this the same vehementi that was poor mouthing about the prospect of spending 59.00 for a power supply the other day?

if you go for the water cooler better buy a good quality one. the cheapos have been known to not work when you hit the power button. guess what happens to you AMD chip when the water pump dont work? or stops working ( rice crispies time- snap, cackle POP! )

personally I am not to fond of the idea of water in my case

 

[Vehementi]

Eh. I ended up spending $53 Newegg (<-love them) were the only ones who reported their price on pricewatch correctly.

I'm not getting a watercooler, actually. I'm spending $225+ on home theater equipment

And it's distilled water, not regular water, which is not conductive.

I might buy an SLK-800, just to keep my temps lower. I idle at 50+C currently.

 

[Vehementi]

GAH screw the SLK-800 and the waterblock.

I idle at 32C now, because I flashed my BIOS and ASUS Probe is detecting my temps correctly.

Oh yeah and my PC is uber-quiet too. It can't be any more than 30dba.

 

[Vehementi]

That's with a Volcano 9 and Arctic Silver 3. Probe isn't right though, as it's still reporting my system board temp to be 5C below my idle temp. (22 - 27.9C)

The sysbo and the temp receiver are on opposite sides of the case however...

 

[SNGX1275]

Originally posted by Vehementi
And it's distilled water, not regular water, which is not conductive.

Right -Distilled water is not conductive. But soon as it drips onto a surface with things that can dissolve in water Poof! :hotouch:. So all that dust and other crap thats floating in the air, when your fans blow it against your mobo or vid card some of that crap sticks (we've all seen it if we've ever opened up a case - or even looked at the dust buildup on fan grills). When water hits that stuff, something is bound to dissolve and cause the water to become conductive.
You are safer with distilled compared to saltwater, but you aren't invincible.

 

[iss]

"And it's distilled water, not regular water "

hehe so is it evian or perrier? (no lemon)