Water Cooling

[KingCody]

there is no need for a huge dual 120mm radiator, that's just overkill (it will also require a larger pump, which can mean more uneccessary noise). a single 120mm radiator (or even an 80mm radiator) will still provide more surface area than most heatsinks. also, don't forget the surface area of the waterblock as well.

even though there are huge aftermarket heatsinks available that might match the surface area of a radiator, that doesn't make them as effective as a water-cooling system. a heatsink will get hot enough to burn you, but a radiator only gets warm to the touch. for that reason alone you can use a very low speed fan, or sometimes not use any fan at all.

 

[CMH]

a heatsink will get hot enough to burn you

Gotta disagree with you there. My Ultra-120 doesn't get that hot ever, and thats with a very low rpm fan (S-Flex SFF21E) with a fan controller putting it even lower.

 

[Cinders]

Strickly speaking your ultra 120 is a phase change system not just an air cooled heatsink, and some heatsinks designed to handle smaller loads do get hot enough to burn fingers. :stickout:

Oh yeah, the reason I bought a PA120.2 (dual rad) was so I could overclock the heck out of my hot processor (roughly 126W at 3GHz with no extra voltage) and still have almost inaudible fans. In fact everything I purchased was bought based on preformance reviews that made sense from reputable sources.

 

[KingCody]

a heatsink will get hot enough to burn you

Gotta disagree with you there. My Ultra-120 doesn't get that hot ever

you're right. not all heatsinks get hot enough to burn you.

I should have been more specific when I said "heatsink". i was referring to a standard heatsink (which is just an extruded aluminum block with protruding fins and a fan screwed into the top of it).

the Ultra-120 is a heatpipe cooler, which is a more advanced and more effective heatsink design. this is the type of cooler I was referring to when I said "huge aftermarket heatsinks"

:wave:

 

[CMH]

Okay, fair enough, it really is a phase change system, but not the ones that cost thousands (which really would be what others meant when they said phase change).