AIO Cooler on a certain motherboard

[superb_falcon]

I am thinking of getting an aio cooler after a few months after the build. There are two options,
Gigabyte GA-AB350M-HD3 or MSI B350M-PRO VDH
I've seen people saying you need to plug it in pump connector or cpu_opt connector, but it only has system fan headers and a cpu fan header, so can I install aio coolers one of these boards. I'm planning on using ID Cooling Frostflow+ 240, and it comes with a fan splitter.Thank you very much!

 

[The Paladin]

the pump connects to CPU_Fan, the Fan for the radiator connects to OPT_CPU or FAN 1 (and set fan management to control Fan1 properly)

 

[geofelt]

Motherboard fan headers allow speed control.
If you use the splitter that comes with the cooler, both the pump and the radiator fans will be controlled on the same basis. You may or may not want this.

That said, I am not much in favor of aio coolers.
My canned rant on liquid cooling:
------------------------start of rant-------------------
You buy a liquid cooler to be able to extract an extra multiplier or two out of your OC.
How much do you really need?
I do not much like all in one liquid coolers when a good air cooler like a Noctua or phanteks can do the job just as well.
A liquid cooler will be expensive, noisy, less reliable, and will not cool any better
in a well ventilated case.
Liquid cooling is really air cooling, it just puts the heat exchange in a different place.
The orientation of the radiator will cause a problem.
If you orient it to take in cool air from the outside, you will cool the cpu better, but the hot air then circulates inside the case heating up the graphics card and motherboard.
If you orient it to exhaust(which I think is better) , then your cpu cooling will be less effective because it uses pre heated case air.
And... I have read too many tales of woe when a liquid cooler leaks.
google "H100 leak"
I would support an AIO cooler only in a space restricted case.
-----------------------end of rant--------------------------

Your pc will be quieter, more reliable, and will be cooled equally well with a decent air cooler.

 

[superb_falcon]

Motherboard fan headers allow speed control.
If you use the splitter that comes with the cooler, both the pump and the radiator fans will be controlled on the same basis. You may or may not want this.

That said, I am not much in favor of aio coolers.
My canned rant on liquid cooling:
------------------------start of rant-------------------
You buy a liquid cooler to be able to extract an extra multiplier or two out of your OC.
How much do you really need?
I do not much like all in one liquid coolers when a good air cooler like a Noctua or phanteks can do the job just as well.
A liquid cooler will be expensive, noisy, less reliable, and will not cool any better
in a well ventilated case.
Liquid cooling is really air cooling, it just puts the heat exchange in a different place.
The orientation of the radiator will cause a problem.
If you orient it to take in cool air from the outside, you will cool the cpu better, but the hot air then circulates inside the case heating up the graphics card and motherboard.
If you orient it to exhaust(which I think is better) , then your cpu cooling will be less effective because it uses pre heated case air.
And... I have read too many tales of woe when a liquid cooler leaks.
google "H100 leak"
I would support an AIO cooler only in a space restricted case.
-----------------------end of rant--------------------------

Your pc will be quieter, more reliable, and will be cooled equally well with a decent air cooler.

But my case is Thermaltake Versa H15 Windowed Chasis and supports only up to 15 cm but most air coolers are 16 centimeters. ;(

 

[superb_falcon]

the pump connects to CPU_Fan, the Fan for the radiator connects to OPT_CPU or FAN 1 (and set fan management to control Fan1 properly)

so the system fan header is fan 1/opt_cpu?

 

[Karadjgne]

Multiple ways to install that aio, depending on what results you want, and if the mobo will do it.

On my mobo's, cpu_opt is a straight 12v, its totally non controlled by bios or software. So good place for a pump that runs full speed constantly. This leaves cpu_fan via splitter to the 2x fans, so the aio responds to cpu temps easily.

Or, if cpu_opt is controllable, reverse the connection, pump on cpu_fan, because if the pump fails, the rpm reads 0 and mobo safety switch will shut the pc down. Corsair standard directions for installation of aio.

As long as something is in cpu_fan header, how exactly you install the aio is up to you, but I would suggest you use the splitter included to both fans simultaneously, don't put them on separate headers.

 

[geofelt]

Cryorig H7 has a 120mm fan, is a very good cooler, is quieter, cheaper, and will never leak
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=13C-000U-00005

 

[Karadjgne]

I've personally seen aircoolers leak. Bad QC on the heatpipes. I've also seen a few supposedly excellent aircoolers with warped bases, basically rendering them next to useless. I've replaced cracked mobo's from big air failures.

Every kind of cpu cooler has its good points and drawbacks. Aios do not leak by themselves, 99/100 it's due to users forcing installs, bad QC from factory or pulling on the hoses during wiring etc. Might as well tell ppl not to use big towers in humid climates because the weight of the cooler will eventually warp the mobo.

And that H7 doesn't have the top-end cooling that the FrostFlow does, it's actually a very good 240mm aio.

Do the math. The Corsair H100 series has been around for years, it's the #1 best selling aio worldwide. If it's sold 10Million units that's prolly a low estimate. At a 1% failure rate, that's 100k leaky units for 1 reason or another. Guess how many owners posted around the world that their aio leaked. Google is going to be full of those stories. What you don't see is the 9.9Million other users complaining that their H100 worked perfectly. And that's not including all the other aio sales.

 

[superb_falcon]

I've personally seen aircoolers leak. Bad QC on the heatpipes. I've also seen a few supposedly excellent aircoolers with warped bases, basically rendering them next to useless. I've replaced cracked mobo's from big air failures.

Every kind of cpu cooler has its good points and drawbacks. Aios do not leak by themselves, 99/100 it's due to users forcing installs, bad QC from factory or pulling on the hoses during wiring etc. Might as well tell ppl not to use big towers in humid climates because the weight of the cooler will eventually warp the mobo.

And that H7 doesn't have the top-end cooling that the FrostFlow does, it's actually a very good 240mm aio.

Do the math. The Corsair H100 series has been around for years, it's the #1 best selling aio worldwide. If it's sold 10Million units that's prolly a low estimate. At a 1% failure rate, that's 100k leaky units for 1 reason or another. Guess how many owners posted around the world that their aio leaked. Google is going to be full of those stories. What you don't see is the 9.9Million other users complaining that their H100 worked perfectly. And that's not including all the other aio sales.

You Da Real MVP

 

[Karadjgne]

Nahh, geofelt is actually very knowledgeable on this and the H7 is an excellent budget aircooler. It also has one of the best and easiest mounting systems, heaps better than its closest competitor, the hyper212 series. Add to the fact it's only 145mm tall so fits almost any mATX, ATX case and it's offset design so clears any size ram easily, the H7 is next to impossible to beat for value and ability. I'd own one without issue, but I own 2x AIO's and neither one gives me a lick of trouble. They just sit and work so quietly that the only way my wife knows the pc is on (far cry from the old P4) is the led lights. Even at 4.6GHz on an i7-3770K my kraken x61 is almost dead silent, the fans almost never reach 900rpm.
And that's the gimmick. Most ppl are so used to the H series Corsair's, with its high rpm, high volume fans, that other AIO's are lumped into the same catagory, noisy. Honestly, there's plenty of loud air coolers too, even the hyper212 is very loud when pushed. If you slap some Noctuas on a Corsair AIO, you'd never hear the 'it's noisy' again.

But anyways, good luck with the AIO, I like them personally, even if some ppl don't.