Birthday Wishlist... more computer upgrades!

[DreamThrall]

I know I've posted something similar to this before, but I figured I'd run this by the board now that I've got a better list. Most of it is cooling related... But here's the stuff I'm asking my wife to get me for me birthday

Case:
Thermaltake Blue Xaser V Damier Damier Full-Tower Case, Model "V5000D" -RETAIL

CPU Cooling:
Thermaltake AquariusII Liquid Cooling System, Model "A1604" -RETAIL

-or-

Thermaltake EXTREME VOLCANO 12, All Copper. 2 Adjustable fan speed controllers, installs in expension slot or in the front (in 3.5" drive bay) for AMD Athlon XP up to 3400+ -RETAIL

Extra Stuff:
Thermaltake Xtra Accessories-Ducting Mod, Model A1442 -Retail.
Thermaltake Aluminum RAM Heatsink, Model "A1933" -RETAIL
Thermaltake Giant II Highest Performance Cooler for Video Card With HeatPipe -RETAIL
Thermaltake MEMORY COOLING KITS-DDR Copper Heat Spreader, Model "A1414" -RETAIL

Yes, I want to OC EVERYTHING!!! Anyways, let me know what you think.. Especially looking for comments on that water cooler vs the heatsink/fan. Thanks!

EDIT: Comp specs might help...

AMD Athlon 2800+ XP
Gigabyte GA-7N400-L (nForce2 Chipset)
1 GB PC2700 RAM
Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB
2 Crappy HDs (that will hopefully also be upgraded)

 

[ShinRa]

i have that same video card heatsink, let me tell u while it cools great, the thing is a bitch to put on. it took me like 2 hours, what should have been 10 minutes.

 

[Asus]

The case it great.

The water cooling will be pretty quiet but not for OCing. It is a rather poor water cooling system and it probably won't be much difference in temp than a average third party air heatsink/fan.

The heatsink and fan will cool it pretty good but it will be ready for the noise.
The duct mod will help slightly with cooling.
Ram heatsinks really are over rated, they trap heat more than they help disapate.
The graphics cooler will be a good improvement from most gfx card coolers.

Thats a good way to spend money, but not really the best way to get cooling or OC potential.
It's the gimicky stuff that companies market and sell.

If you really wanna stick with Thermaltake then I would suggest this cooler. Link

OCing first depends on the chip itself. You won't be able to OC very high with all the cooling in the world if the chip isn't from a good batch.
Your system parts and memory can also limit OCing.

The best way to start out for cooling is to have good case cooling. Without that, none of the massive coolers have good air to start with. Something with 2 80mm fans front and 2 back or 1 120mm fan front and 1 back instead.

Oh and you will need a tube of this along with reading up on OCing.

 

[SidewinderX]

I have the HSF (and the thermal compound) than Asus linked you to, I'll vouch for it's quiteness and goodness.

 

[DreamThrall]

Thats a good way to spend money, but not really the best way to get cooling or OC potential.
It's the gimicky stuff that companies market and sell.

If you really wanna stick with Thermaltake then I would suggest this cooler. Link

Thanks for the advice! Honestly I was sticking with ThermalTake because I heard their stuff rocks. If there's better stuff, say so! What would you recommend for cooling (CPU + other case mods other than case fans - that case has 5)? I was looking at the hard disk coolers, but those didn't seem worth the $10 or so :-\

Anyways... as I said, I want to OC everything, but be able to keep it somewhat quiet (or at least be able to set it so that is is quiet), and have it be very cool. Cold, even. I'm hoping to stay around $100 or so for all the cooling mods.

 

[DreamThrall]

bump... asus, where'd you go?

 

[blahblahblah]

I want to recommend 2 things before you buy anything.

1) Read up about overclocking, if you haven't already.

2) Just test out how well you PC OC's right now before all of the cooling additions. Sometimes you get unlucky and will not get a very OCable CPU or video card. That is why you do a test to make sure you are not wasting you money on stuff that won't help you overclock.

 

[DreamThrall]

Well I'd like to get the stuff anyways, just for the sake of having a better cooling system, even if I'm not going to OC it that much, or at all even... My CPU runs a bit hot as it is, so I'm afraid to OC it with my current setup :-\

 

[GreasedNeut]

i have that same video card heatsink, let me tell u while it cools great, the thing is a bitch to put on. it took me like 2 hours, what should have been 10 minutes.

you got ure x800xt?