Water Cooling friendly P35 motherboard?

[Kenjutsu]

Hello everyone,

I will be upgrading over the next few months, and need some advice on a water cooling (WC) friendly GA P35 motherboard.

My WC components are:

• WaterChill Antarctica CPU lid, Socket T (only) 10mm
• WaterChill CPU Cooler Antarctica DYO - CPU01/A 10mm
• WaterChill Chipset Cooler DYO - NB01/P2 10mm

I am considering the following GA motherboards:

GA-P35-DS3L (rev. 2.0)
GA-P35-DS3R (rev. 2.1)
GA-P35C-DS3R (rev. 2.1)



I am looking at getting an Intel Core 2 Duo E8400.

My current components that I will be re-using:

• 4 x Patriot Signature DDR2 PC2-6400 (800MHz) 1GB
• SoundBlaster Audigy 2

Can anyone give some feedback on whether these boards are WC friendly, and also a general impression on these boards to make my decision easier?

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Water Cooling friendly P35 motherboard?

I think they all would be fine using WC, just get the one that has the other features you like more. As for the DDR3 board, pass on it. By the time DDR3 is cheap enough to easily get and use you will likely be getting a new board that supports the upcoming 1366 socket anyway.

I suggest a DS4 if you can afford it, if not get one of the others that has the amount of SATA ports you need

[Kenjutsu]

Re: Water Cooling friendly P35 motherboard?

Thank you for the reply.

I think they all would be fine using WC

How easily can the heatsink on the Northbridge be removed? I will be placing a small fan blowing onto the Southbridge heatsink.

By the time DDR3 is cheap enough to easily get and use you will likely be getting a new board that supports the upcoming 1366 socket anyway.

That is good advice. I never thought about it that way.

I suggest a DS4 if you can afford it, if not get one of the others that has the amount of SATA ports you need

The DS4 boards are out of my price range. I also do not want to mess with all those heatpipes to get the WC components fitted.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Water Cooling friendly P35 motherboard?

Well, I used a 965P-S3, and it was the same as my DS4 the heatsink comes off pretty easily with little pressure needed, you dont need to worry about breaking anything that is for sure. If you are worried a bit I would suggest after you remove the plastic push pins that you simply warm the back of the NB area up with a blow dryer, but trust me it is not cemented on there like some other brands I have used

Yeah, I guess I forgot your main point here WC, sorry about the DS4 suggestion your are correct, that would be a waste. But it does have more bios options then the DS3's but you are paying really for the heatpipes, which you would be removing the use WC anyway. So I suppose you just should get the one with the right amount of ports and other features that you want.

[Kenjutsu]

Re: Water Cooling friendly P35 motherboard?

If you are worried a bit I would suggest after you remove the plastic push pins that you simply warm the back of the NB area up with a blow dryer, but trust me it is not cemented on there like some other brands I have used

That is good news My current MB is an Asus P5AD2-E Premium, and the NB heatsink came off very easily as well.

So I suppose you just should get the one with the right amount of ports and other features that you want.

I would like to get the GA-P35-DS3R, due to the fact that more SATA ports are available, but the GA-P35-DS3L is much cheaper, and the 4 SATA ports would be adequate for now. Luckily I am in no rush to buy, so maybe the DS3R will see a bit of a price drop as the X38/X48 boards become more common place.

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Water Cooling friendly P35 motherboard?

Yeah, might as well wait a bit, you know you may need the extra ports later. Where are you from? If the US I may be able to help you find a DS3R cheaper unless you will only shop one place.

Let me know

[Kenjutsu]

Re: Water Cooling friendly P35 motherboard?

Thank you for the offer Unfortunately, I am from South Africa where everything is more expensive :-(

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Water Cooling friendly P35 motherboard?

Ahh, well sorry about that! And I guess I wouldn't have a clue where to suggest for you to shop around at!

Maybe google shopping will be customized for your area?

[Kenjutsu]

Re: Water Cooling friendly P35 motherboard?

Luckily there are a few online sites here in South Africa which do stock GA products. I will just wait a while to see if the prices will drop.

Thank you again for the help and advice :-)

[Lsdmeasap]

Re: Water Cooling friendly P35 motherboard?

Anytime. Please feel free to post back if you do need some help once you get your board

[GIGABYTE - Janus Yeh]

Re: Water Cooling friendly P35 motherboard?

in my test, yes it is ok, Iam using water cooling now.

[Kenjutsu]

Re: Water Cooling friendly P35 motherboard?

Hello Janus

Thank you for the reply. Sounds good :-) Can you give some info on your WC setup?

[GIGABYTE - Janus Yeh]

Re: Water Cooling friendly P35 motherboard?

What info you need?

well it is one of my test platform...

it is GIGABYTE GH-WIU02
GIGABYTE - Product - Thermal Solution - Liquid Cooling - Products - 3D Galaxy II

THIS ONE

[Kenjutsu]

Re: Water Cooling friendly P35 motherboard?

Looks good :-)

[Kenjutsu]

Re: Water Cooling friendly P35 motherboard?

Just another question:-)

I would like to add MOSFET heatsinks to the board. Which of these Mobo Chipset/MOSFET Coolers would be recommended?

I am looking at Microcool Passive Heatsink MOSFET Chipsink - Black How many would I need for the GA-P35-DS3L?

TIA