Is it allowable to discuss water-cooling products that don't compete with Corsair?

This is really a question for the moderators. I want to abide by the forum rules, believe me I do. At the same time, I noticed that Corsair's Computex demo included a non-Corsair water-cooling system. (starts about 3:00 into the video). So here is my question.

I'm all but 100% certain that I am going to get an 800D case, but I still haven't 100% decided on air or water cooling. And if I water-cool, I'm not sure which one, although I have some ideas.

Here is just one example of what I am trying to figure out: I plan to get a "Vendor A" motherboard to run an Intel i7-920, overclocked of course. I'm also planning to use a 12 GB Corsair memory kit. Now, I know people have achieved a 4.0 overclock using air cooling, but I also know that this would mean really noisy fans.

So my question is, with water-cooling, how much _quieter_ would my system, as compared with air-cooling? In other words, I want to have a system that is both quiet and nicely overclocked.

And I want to have this discussion in the context of the 800D case, because that is the case I am planning to use. My strong preference is to install the water-cooling system inside the case, and the 800D seems perfect for that.

Now, I know that the forum rules specifically disallow discussion of competitive products. But, how is "competitive" defined? If Corsair has water-cooling products, H30 and H50, does that mean I can't ask questions about products that include GPU or chipset cooling? Can I get some specific guidance here?

Would it be OK if I did a post about "vendor abc" and asked people to reply to me privately, rather than post a public reply?

Without doing an exhaustive search, I found one posting where someone was asking about a third-party radiator and whether or not it would fit into the 800D. The moderator did answer that question.

Thanks for considering this question. :confused:

It's fine. The only water cooling system they currently have is the H50, and that's meant to compete with air cooled CPU heatsinks, not full blown systems.

Put it this way, if the forum filter doesn't filter it, you're good to go. Just don't go willy nilly and slander anyone :)

If it's a discussion purely about WC and not related to Corsair in any way (e.g. WC theory and not about how it would fit into the case), I'd suggest posting in the non-Corsair areas at the bottom of the forum.

BTW, don't forget about the Case Gallery. Feel free to add pics of your setup to it!

Watercooling is only quiet if you leave enough headroom to be able to run your fans on low RPMs. With the Obsidian you can have a double-thick 3x120 in the top and a single 120 in the back so i think you'll have no problem managing that. Some good fans for this would be Yate Loons (affordable) or Scythe S-Flex (extremely good).

I'd recommend the ZM-MFC1 Plus for a fan controller, as it compliments the looks of the 800D front panel pretty nicely and can control 6 fans. Which means you can put your 4 radiator fans, your Corsair AirFlow (assuming you want one of those) and your HDD fan on there. That fills up all six connectors so the bottom intake fan will be going on full RPM, but i think that one should anyways.

Watercooling is only quiet if you leave enough headroom to be able to run your fans on low RPMs.

not totally true, sunon makes 60+CFM fans that are almost dead quiet, i had 3 of them on my rad with a fan regulator and there was no difference between full and 1/2 speed.

it really depends on the brand, ya just have to read the dB spec before purchase. below 40 is a good start.

and avoid Delta, they are loud as a lawn mower!!

below 40 is a good start.

Hmm. IIRC in my last silent system i could hear 25db 120 mil fans on full RPM. Just barely audible, but still not perfectly silent. I probably couldn't stand 40.

I've been a bit anal about this in the last few years, having grown up on the Intel stock cooler made me hate the slightest PC noise at home.

here ya go, 90 CFM but only 18dBA

http://www.crazypc.com/products/56620.html

shweet!!