Are there any water pumps on the market today that can compare in noise level to a Nexus 120mm fan spinning @600rpm?

I'm thinking of going "water" but I'm afraid the pump noise would be the end of me. Anything over the noise level of a Nexus 120mm @600rpm is out of the question.

I was also thinking about water cooling couple of years ago. Back then there were not quiet enough pumps, and what i've heard later is that some of them are getting noisier in time (maybe because of moving parts loosing their best performance?). Well, i didn't enter the water world at all but i built a chimney cooled system instead - and it's been working fine. However, i'm also interested about this question about water pumps noise levels nowadays. Have they developed in two years?

No, watercooling is not for those wanting really quiet operation. Not with retail pumps anyway.

Don't go WC if you want very quiet... its only worth while if you want hot, overclocked components without it being very noisy. Keep in mind even ignoring the pump you still need fans (and usually a lot of them).


Actually, thats not entirely true. You can have a (nearly) silent WC'd system... but it requires putting the noisy stuff somewhere else, which usually isn't practical.

Not entirely true.

I WC a C2D E8400@3.5 GHz (can go to 4.6, but I don't really need it there ) + a Radeon 5870 @ Stock

This is all done using a Zalman Reserator 2 (completely stripped down, just a radiator now) + 2 pumps (Laing DDC-1T + EK-DCP 2.2.)

Pumps are near silent, but you really need to wrap them in lots of foam.
EK also has a nice buffer (sound dampening) assembly: http://www.ekwaterblocks.com/shop/ek-dc ... e-kit.html

This is all virtually silent. Only audible at night when everybody in the house + town sleeps.

I run an EK2.2 Pump/reservoir combo - with this set at 70% on the motherboard fan header, it is virtually silent.

I use Scythe S-Flex fans running at 660-800rpm - and all is very nice and quiet - silent is a subjective term.

I also have experience with a Resorator - it is currently cooling my GTS450.