PCFormat Forum Archive

Hi everybody,

I really need some advice. My pc has a heat and dust problem. It idles at 50 degrees+. Gaming brings the cpu it up to 70. I have never touched a cpu fan before, so I need advice here. I usually get my stuff from Matrix, but they don't have watercooling. So I'd like to know a good place for watercooling hardware in Pta that can also give me advice (Unless I get all the advice I need here of course)

If I open the case and blow the housefan onto it, it drops about 10 degrees. But that doesn't solve the dust problem

My system:
2.66 gHz Quad Q9400
DG41RQ
4Gb Ram
ATI 5770
512Mb HDD

Don't waste your money buying watercooling stuff in South Africa. I built my first watercooled system about 8 years ago, and I've never had a PC that wasn't cooled by water since then. The best thing I can tell you is that you spend good money on a decent system, or stick with air. If you're not willing to fork out a good R2500 - R3000, I'm afraid you'll have to stay with air.

Decent WC components are available here, but they're ridiculously expensive here, so I would suggest you avoid that. Importing from sites like Performance-pcs is a way better idea. You pay for the shipping, and you get taxed, but you get top-notch stuff too.

You might want to upgrade your 512MB HDD first, though

Its not necessary to get watercooling, an air cooler can do the same job much cheaper. But if you're really keen on watercooling you could get the closed loop type. The Corsair Hydro series are available at most online retailers, http://www.landmarkpc.co.za or http://www.prophecy.co.za are my favourites:)
As for your dust problem try clean out your tower every now and then, watercooling won't get rid of your dust problem all together. I would definately suggest a cheap and simple air cooler:) something like a Coolermaster Hyper 212

If I do aircooling will I get better than opening the case with a house fan on it? Will it be enough? I get worried at anything over 40 degrees. I'm not sure what the temp should be. Maybe I should look for a case with a huge fan on the side and vents at the top.

Wow no you should be worrying around 70-80 degrees. I'm guessing you have the stock cooler on there now, an aftermarket cooler can drop your temps by 15 degrees average... That Coolermaster Hyper 212 was going for around R300 last time I checked, they're really cheap but VERY effective. Where as the closed loop watercooling kit cost around R800 for the cheapest version and then the full on real deal water cool system is R2000 to R3000
Watercooling is only necessary where you're overclocking your cpu and you're dealing with really hot temps. So I'd say get a cheap yet effective air cooler and upgrade your hdd they're dirt cheap, someone on these forums probably has a spare hdd they're willing to sell.

I get above 70 degrees when gaming with the case closed. I think I'll probably go fo the Coolermaster. Thanks

lol I see I put up 512 Mb HDD instead of 512Gb

Ahhh that makes sense:) one thing to take note of is you should measure how wide your case is, because some high performance coolers are pretty tall and they won't fit inside smaller cases. I'm pretty sure it will fit but just make sure:)