It seems that these new cpu's like the intel i7 quads are getting pretty warm and a lot of people are water cooling.

IMHO water cooling and phase changing are not as cost effective as the use to be. I say invest in a high end air solution (something with copper heat pipes and 2 120mm fans in push-pull configuration). I wouldn't spend an extra $500 for -5 degrees and little performance increase. Heck, I have a $1000 Mach II GT that can cool a CPU to -20 degrees collecting dust as we speak.

You mean something like a Xigmatek or Thermalright?

I think these days high end air means Prolimatech's Megahalems and Mega Shadow.

Water cooling doesn't need to be super expensive. Phase is not a good example, phase is for serious overclockers. Water cooling is all relative. From a simple CPU block pump rad and t-pipe to very high end kit.

A very simple set up can be put together for around a £100. Cheaper if you use second hand components. I'd say a reasonable setup CPU,GPU,240Bix rad, pump, res and tubing can be done for a little over £200.
With that you'll see a the temps drop on the CPU to below what air can do, but the GPU you'll notice more. I'd say you can expect the CPU to drop 5-10 degrees but the GPU can drop upto 20-30 depending on the GPU and block.

That's my experience anyway, I've been water cooling my PC's for the last 5-6 years, ever since the XP athlons. I won't go back to air now. IMO, water cooling is a must for me. My PC is a lot cooler running and and a hell of a lot quieter. Especially with the newer high end GFX cards cooling solutions

I have an i7 965 and I have no temperature problems with a medium priced CoolerMaster V8, which is far from a new and cutting edge air cooler. I have more problems with my 285GT video card temps by far than I ever did with my processor. I run my processor overclocked to 3.865Ghz on multiplier 29 with no voltage increase and I monitor it constantly. And the cores rarely get over 130C running most games. My video card would get to over 180C if I didn't use the EVGA Precision to turn up the speed of the video card fan. The extra noise doesn't bother me because I only turn it up to play games and I only use headphones when I play games, so I can't hear the extra fan noise very well. But with a faster fan speed I keep my GPU temp below 150C.

But getting back to the i7 processor problem, it's only an issue for those using the locked 920s and 940s. This is because they usually have to increase voltages and that will always result in higher temps. But with my unlocked 965, it's a non-issue.

Thanks Fishingnut this is very helpful to know. I was going to get a i7 950 maybe I'll go even higher. I know that a really good case helps also. I was looking at this cooler.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0G4e3rqiWU

Hackl - notice how that has 3 copper heat pipes and the radiator fins are flush on both sides for a push pull config. How a well ventlated case that has a lot of fans and dust filters would be the way to go:

I have the Antec Twelve Hundred, I mounted 2 extra 120mm fans (one on the side flowing in, and another blowing in behind the middle fan)

This summer I built my first computer and made it water cooled. I got most of the parts used and decided not to bother with the vid card (so i wonder what the point was). Anyway, cost was rather cheap using used parts. It is much quieter than my older air cooled computer - which is a big plus to me. At the moment I have a small leek where the plastic valve is that connects to the radiator system. It is all outside the case. It was fun building it all.

I was looking at a Lian Li P80 case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112174