To answer your question MadDog, flow speed is the speed (velocity) at which the water flows. Flow rate is the total amount of water that passes through, over a given period of time.
for 1/2 in tubing versus 1 inch tubing, for example, given the same flow rate, the coolant will flow faster in the 1/2 inch tubing. This is relevant because the flow speed will dictate how turbulent the water is, and the more turbulent it is, the better it will be at taking the heat away from the block. The disadvantage of course, is that it can be awfully restrictive, so a better pump is needed (more head), but that in turn adds a greater heat source to the loop, so the whole waterblock design has to take this into consideration.
As for how much better it can be... that's where the baseplate comes in. The thinner the base plate, the more heat is available to be taken away, but if the flow rate isn't high enough, then the heat just sits there, and performance suffers.
As for what it's all worth, what it comes down to is 2 factors:
-overclock
-longer life of the CPU
Putting it in terms that can be measured, i.e. money, we can calculate what it's worth to overclock a system. if your (basic) PC costs $1'000, and you can overclock it by 20% with the right equipment, then you must not spend more than $200 in this venture, otherwise you're not getting your ROI (return on investment).
Longevity is unfortunately one of those factors that's very hard to measure, since there's little data. Some people will say that an overclocked CPU will last an average of one year, so that might be a factor too, or it might just cancel itself out. The point was that a CPU that's cooled better, will last longer. If a little tweaking gets me 4C, I'll take it, any day.
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