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Heavy_Equipment · 02-17-2008, 06:29 PM

I read the editorial when Joe posted it, and I agreed with the main message on the direction of the hobby, even though I was water-cooling at the time.

My water-cooling experience started as an OC tool, back in the Celeron 300a days, and lasted through the Athlon XP 2500+. All in the name of getting more for less.
In the end, it was out of necessity. Efficient heat exchange was key, since I had a DC herd with 12 rigs.

My final kick at the water-cooled can was this:

One big pump, a 5 gallon res, 2 heater cores and fans hooked up to a dryer vent to exhaust the heat outside. I even set it up in front of an AC unit.
It never evolved past the 6 rigs hooked up to the loop as seen here, but it sure was fun to build.
The last of that DC herd, and any subsequent water-cooling went offline about 15 months ago.

Fast forward to present, and here I sit with a Q6600 Quad with stock HSF, OC'd to 3GHz, chewing through Rosetta@home, and I can hear the wall clock ticking away beside me. 12 GHz in one very quiet and moderately cool box.

I have lost any need/want/desire to squeeze any more out of this system, and it's easily the quietest PC I've had in 10 years. My $270 Q6600 is doing $1100 QX6850 speeds right out of the box, so why bother?

Water-cooling served it's purpose for me, but at this stage of the game, it's now water under the bridge.

02-17-2008, 06:29 PM	#69
Heavy_Equipment Cooling Savant Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Newmarket, Ontario, Canada Posts: 282	Re: watercooling lost its magic I read the editorial when Joe posted it, and I agreed with the main message on the direction of the hobby, even though I was water-cooling at the time. My water-cooling experience started as an OC tool, back in the Celeron 300a days, and lasted through the Athlon XP 2500+. All in the name of getting more for less. In the end, it was out of necessity. Efficient heat exchange was key, since I had a DC herd with 12 rigs. My final kick at the water-cooled can was this: One big pump, a 5 gallon res, 2 heater cores and fans hooked up to a dryer vent to exhaust the heat outside. I even set it up in front of an AC unit. It never evolved past the 6 rigs hooked up to the loop as seen here, but it sure was fun to build. The last of that DC herd, and any subsequent water-cooling went offline about 15 months ago. Fast forward to present, and here I sit with a Q6600 Quad with stock HSF, OC'd to 3GHz, chewing through Rosetta@home, and I can hear the wall clock ticking away beside me. 12 GHz in one very quiet and moderately cool box. I have lost any need/want/desire to squeeze any more out of this system, and it's easily the quietest PC I've had in 10 years. My $270 Q6600 is doing $1100 QX6850 speeds right out of the box, so why bother? Water-cooling served it's purpose for me, but at this stage of the game, it's now water under the bridge.