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That is a useful kit but apperently it is missing one of my requirements. the fans attached to the radiator are 34 dbs which is nearly 2 times the limit I set on sound. <br />
<a href="http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=341&num=2" rel="ugc">http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=341&num=2</a><br />
The above link is a review of the kit you mentioned. Is there maybe a way to switch out the fans with quiet ones? or do I need to stay with the fans that come with it?<br />
Another thing, to convert from fans to water cooling, do I just leave my case open? or do I need some sort of plastic cover where the fans used to be? or what sort of protection/changes need to be made.<br />
I do need a bit of side advice. What is the difference between tubing sizes and all that?<br />
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Thanks again.
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How did you decide to select 20db as a limit? &nbsp;40db is considered a quiet room: <a href="http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/phys_agents/noise_basic.html" rel="ugc">http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/phys_agents/noise_basic.html</a>&nbsp; 34db is considered very quiet for a fan and you might want to test some fans for comparison; I think you will find that ambient noise exceeds 34db by a large margin and 20db may be an unrealistic goal. &nbsp;Your power supply also has a fan which will contribute a significant amount of noise, unless it is a special made quiet power supply. &nbsp;If you need to, you can probably wire the radiator with a fan control to slow down the fans and reduce noise even more, but I doubt it will be necessary.<br />
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Since water cooling takes the place of moving air to cool your components, it is optional whether you close the case or not, since airflow is not as important for cooling (you do need some airflow to cool the motherboard). &nbsp;The different tube sizes affect the water flow rate; larger tubes support higher flow, but some coolers are small and require smaller tubes.
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As listed in my first post my current setup is air cooling with Fans that are 17-19dbs. &nbsp;They are so quiet you can barely tell my computer is on. While 40db is the standard that is quite loud. Also keeping in mind that 89dbs is the typical max on most stereos I would rather not have my computer only 50% of the LOUDEST a stereo can get, that seems a bit extreme.<br />
<a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010110573%201372826144&bop=And&CompareItemList=N82E16811999099%2CN82E16811999199" rel="ugc">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010110573%201372826144&bop=And&CompareItemList=N82E16811999099%2CN82E16811999199</a><br />
Those are the 2 types of case fans I use.<br />
<a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106061" rel="ugc">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106061</a><br />
This is the CPU fan I use.<br />
<br />
So while typically 40dbs is the standard I prefer to exceed it and provide myself a quiet computer that still does everthing needed.<br />
This is also why I had to ask here rather than just randomly picking a water cooling kit. Anyone can pick up a kit, but it takes someone with dedication to question the word &quot;quiet&quot; and see what they mean and compare it to what I want.<br />
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Thank you for the info about the tubes.
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I think you may have misunderstood the decibel rating system - each 3db increase is a doubling in loudness. &nbsp;Most stereos will go beyond 89db (at least mine does, and those I was shopping for); that is just the reference point for measurement of speaker efficiency.<br />
<br />
If you really want quiet, the Zalman Reserator XT will let you set it manually to eliminate any noise: <a href="http://www.quietpcusa.com/Zalman-Reserator-XT-Ultra-Quiet-Water-Cooling-System---Black-P351C20.aspx" rel="ugc">http://www.quietpcusa.com/Zalman-Reserator-XT-Ultra-Quiet-Water-Cooling-System---Black-P351C20.aspx</a>
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&quot;... I would rather not have my computer only 50% of the LOUDEST a stereo can get, that seems a bit extreme. &quot;&nbsp;==&gt; &nbsp;I have to comment on that. &nbsp; Decibels is a logarithmic scale. &nbsp; The difference in level between a sound at 40db and one at 89db is 10^[(89-40)/10] = 79,432 times as loud ... i.e. the 40db signal is 1/79432 = 0.001259% as loud as an 89db signal (not 50% !!). &nbsp;Note that the human ear also perceives sound in a logarithmic manner ... so a sound with twice the sound pressure level does not &quot;sound&quot; twice as loud. &nbsp; In general, a sound that's 10db &quot;louder&quot; (i.e. has 10 times the level) will &quot;sound&quot; twice as loud. &nbsp; So from a &quot;loudness perception&quot; perspective, that 89db sound will sound about 32 times as loud [rounding 49 to 50; then simply computing 2^(50/10)].<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, I agree 40db is on the high side for a &quot;quiet&quot; computer. &nbsp; I shoot for about 30db ... which is indeed VERY quiet. &nbsp;From 3 feet away you can't tell if my system is on or off.<br />
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By the way, you indicated the primary motivation for doing this is to better cool your hard drives =&gt; these are generally the easiest of the internal devices to cool well with airflow. &nbsp;If your system is otherwise doing well with the temperatures (especially CPU &amp;&nbsp;GPU), you may want to simply reconsider how you have the airflow routed around the hard dries. &nbsp; A simple 120mm fan blowing air on the drives may be all you need =&gt; or possibly you simply need to &quot;turn up&quot; your current fans a bit.<br />
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In any event, that's a very nice case, with more-than-ample room to mount whatever cooling solution you decide to use. &nbsp; ... and it's clearly designed for a good water-cooling solution, so you'll have ample room to run all of the various tubes, etc. =&gt; but you WILL need to be sure the radiator gets ample airflow to exchange all of the heat.<br />
<br />
As a matter of interest, are the temperatures good if you turn your fans up a bit? &nbsp;(if you have a SPL meter, turn them up until you get to about 25db at 3 feet)<br />

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That seems like what I am looking for (though it is another one saying &quot;quiet&quot; and not listing the dbs.<br />
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As to decibel to real world, the difference between 20 and 40 dbs is more than enough to turn a computer that is functional into one that is a distraction when you are not using it. <br />
<br />
Moving on, how do I go about prepping the system? How do I get the heatsink off the northbridge, how to get the fan off the video card, and how to prep a CPU for water cooling (do I still need thermal paste?)<br />
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As to the new kit, again that seems perfect with displays and the ability to fit the noise level what I want (even though it lacks a detailed explanation of what quiet is).
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My case has the hard drives directly screwed into a 120mm fan, so that is not enough. Also I dont know of any way to turn them up? Either way that is a moot point anyway, I want to experience water cooling as it is the one part of case modding I have not done.<br />
Another question, how many things can I cool with a water cooling system and what determines that? I mean if I want to cool the ram, cpu, gpu, and harddrives, that is a lot of tubing isn't would I need extra parts to be able to handle all that?
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&quot;... I want to experience water cooling as it is ...&quot; =&gt; &nbsp;Understand. &nbsp; So air cooling (or totally passive cooling with a case designed to be one huge heatsink) is out :-)<br />
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&quot;... how many things can I cool with a water cooling system and what determines that ...&quot; ==&gt; &nbsp;As many as you choose to, subject only to the flow rate of your pump (which is more than adequate with any of the systems Callandor noted -- I like the Zalman myself), and the heat dissipation of the radiator =&gt; which can be increased by simply increasing the airflow over it (that's why the fans are temperature controlled).<br />
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Water cooling will work very nicely for this system ... although I still think a 20db noise target may prove a bit overly ambitious. &nbsp; <br />
<br />
Speaking of noise level ... I assume your 74GB drive is a Raptor. &nbsp; If that's correct, the noise specs for a Raptor are 29db idle (just spinning); &nbsp;36db seeking. &nbsp; Typical specs for 7200rpm drives are 28db idle, 34db seeking. &nbsp; So you've ALREADY got a noise &quot;floor&quot; of about 28db. &nbsp; Anything below that will be inaudible (since a 28db sound will &quot;mask&quot; anything lower than that).<br />
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I think this is a good start to the information I need and leads me to aiming closer to what I want. I also need to research a bit more before I can implement anything it seems.
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What is the Zalman model in your suggestion? the link wont work on my computer.<br />
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Also as to the raptor that is likely the case but it is my boot drive and isn't always seeking, though I think I will tweak my goals a bit from your information, but I am trying to make this system a center piece and learn the process. I also modded my current case with the goal being quiet (which I achieved) now I need quiet and cool, and indeed I need a new focus anyway.<br />
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Also I never really got an answer to how do I prep the system for the conversion.
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Gary was talking about the same Reserator XT that I pointed to in one of my links. &nbsp;Prepping the system entails removing existing heatsinks and cleaning the surfaces with a soft cloth and alcohol to remove thermal compound wherever a new water block is going to be installed. &nbsp;You should apply new compound when you are ready to install the water blocks.
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I seem to have lots of problems with my current Air cooling setup on my computer so I am aiming at going to water cooling.<br />
<br />
I have a U2-UFO case from Mountain mods (yes it is a large case and it was purchased this way on purpose).<br />
The goals of the upgrade are:<br />
CPU cooled<br />
RAM cooled or atleast safe from overheating (I have 4 sticks of 6400 1GB Kingston value select ram)<br />
Video Card cooled (Geforce 8800 GTS) made by BFG<br />
Hard Drives need cooling (this is the main reason the water cooling solution is needed the hard drives have been overheating and I have 1 74 Gb and 3 500GB drives).<br />
The whole system needs to be quiet. My current setup has the loudest &quot;fan&quot; at 17 dbs, I will allow a water cooled solution to be a maximum of 20 dbs.<br />
<br />
Thank you in advance.
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I seem to have lots of problems with my current Air cooling setup on my computer so I am aiming at going to water cooling.

I have a U2-UFO case from Mountain mods (yes it is a large case and it was purchased this way on purpose).
The goals of the upgrade are:
CPU cooled
RAM cooled or atleast safe from overheating (I have 4 sticks of 6400 1GB Kingston value select ram)
Video Card cooled (Geforce 8800 GTS) made by BFG
Hard Drives need cooling (this is the main reason the water cooling solution is needed the hard drives have been overheating and I have 1 74 Gb and 3 500GB drives).
The whole system needs to be quiet. My current setup has the loudest "fan" at 17 dbs, I will allow a water cooled solution to be a maximum of 20 dbs.

Thank you in advance.

Looking to convert a case from Air cooling to Water cooling and need help/advice

Components are those devices that are internal to a computer -- the PC boards, the central processor (CPU), the memory (RAM), disk and video controllers and so on.