Antec Kühler Vs. Corsair Hydro: Sealed Liquid CPU Coolers Compared

[makaveli316]

I don't get these benchmarks. So in the end, these so called "sealed water cooling systems" are overpriced, they generates more noise and are less effective than the air coolers?
Why not include the best air coolers in the bench? I'll tell you why - cause all people will see that these sealed water coolers are crap.
I think somebody gets paid to write such nonsense.

 

[shin0bi272]

I just had a thought... What if we hooked a peltier cooler up to the radiator portion of these sealed units? Then the fans could take care of any condensation and the peltier cooler would cool the water thats circulating through the radiator via conduction and improve the performance of the cooler overall.

I mean look at the antec's software temp read out ...43deg C? thats about 110deg F! Cause remember where the radiator fans are getting their air from... inside the case... that will mean temps creeping higher and possibly hardware damage over long periods of time. Like say 15 hours of skyrim...

Just an idea.

 

[g-unit1111]

[citation][nom]compton[/nom]You would have a hard time convincing me that my Noctua NH-U12P SE2 was anything but quiet and effective, but I know that many prefer sealed water solutions. My opinion is that for 1155 SB processors, even overclocked ones, you're better off with a high end air cooler.[/citation]

I'm actually going to disagree with this and sort of play devil's advocate. I have a relatively high end air cooler (Thermalright's Silver Arrow) and when I installed my new AM3 motherboard this week, getting the thing clamped down properly while making sure all the connectors were hooked up properly proved to be quite a challenge given the limited height clearance between the top fan in my case and where the heat sink ends. What should have been an hour long project proved to be a nearly 3 hour long project.

 

[g-unit1111]

I also wanted to say that having a liquid cooler with a small low profile block would have saved nearly an hour and a half getting this board installed and working properly. I still don't have one of the fans connected properly and my computer is making loud noises as a result.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]g-unit1111[/nom]I also wanted to say that having a liquid cooler with a small low profile block would have saved nearly an hour and a half getting this board installed and working properly. I still don't have one of the fans connected properly and my computer is making loud noises as a result.[/citation]Personally, I would never spend the extra money for small liquid. But I'm cheap. And now that I have a couple of the coolers I will use them for the reasons you described, which are also mentioned in the article

 

[g-unit1111]

[citation][nom]Crashman[/nom]Personally, I would never spend the extra money for small liquid. But I'm cheap. And now that I have a couple of the coolers I will use them for the reasons you described, which are also mentioned in the article[/citation]

I have also not been getting good reads with any of the air coolers I've listed but I'm not sure what's going on. Now what's interesting is that I have two systems. One has the Silver Arrow (the AM3 system) and the other has the Intel i3-2100. The i3-2100 uses a Cooler Master Hyper 212 which I installed. The temperatures on the i3 system range anywhere between 20'C at idle, anywhere from 23'C to 25'C on full use.

Now the AM3 system I'm using runs at 30'C idle, 38'C on full use. I'm not sure if that's relating to the airflow on my case or what. But if I get any Newegg gift cards between now and the end of the year, you can bet they're going toward an H100.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]g-unit1111[/nom]I have also not been getting good reads with any of the air coolers I've listed but I'm not sure what's going on. Now what's interesting is that I have two systems. One has the Silver Arrow (the AM3 system) and the other has the Intel i3-2100. The i3-2100 uses a Cooler Master Hyper 212 which I installed. The temperatures on the i3 system range anywhere between 20'C at idle, anywhere from 23'C to 25'C on full use.Now the AM3 system I'm using runs at 30'C idle, 38'C on full use. I'm not sure if that's relating to the airflow on my case or what. But if I get any Newegg gift cards between now and the end of the year, you can bet they're going toward an H100.[/citation]
I think you're getting false readings. 20C is impossible for an air cooler unless your room is like, 10C. That is, unless you're speaking of temperature delta (temperature over ambient) which is what's listed in the review.

Your i3 should be running around 50-55C full load and 28C idle in a 21C room with almost-perfect case airflow.

 

[Guest]

My i7-2600 runs fine on stock cooler and is very quiet, 30 idle 75 max

 

[youssef 2010]

[citation][nom]compton[/nom]You would have a hard time convincing me that my Noctua NH-U12P SE2 was anything but quiet and effective, but I know that many prefer sealed water solutions. My opinion is that for 1155 SB processors, even overclocked ones, you're better off with a high end air cooler.[/citation]

or the NH-D14 for that matter

 

[youssef 2010]

I'll say it again, if one of these things springs a leak, your Computer will be done for. Until they invent a liquid coolant that doesn't conduct electricity, I'm sticking with air coolers.

If what I'm saying is wrong, please correct it as I want to learn more about Liquid cooling in general.

 

[NightLight]

i consider myself an enthousiast, and the h80 makes my 2600k run cool even under high loads, even when in the minimum setting... and the only thing i hear in my (corsair) case is my videocard....
i would recommend this one.

 

[jonyah]

Another reason to go with the closed loop water coolers is just aesthetics and size constraints. I was looking at some of the better air cooled systems but they stuck our far enough to limit me from using all of my ram (high profile heat sinks on them). Going with the H60 (same as H80 minus a fan) left plenty of room and looks awesome. There isn't much difference in overall cooling from a better air cooler and the price wasn't much more either. when you spend $200+ on just a power supply, what's another 60 on cooler?

 

[jonyah]

[citation][nom]aaronstyle[/nom]Great article. Plenty of useful information, however it says the test system is an i7 2600k, but on the page with temps above ambient, it says i7 870. I think that using a closed loop system is nice because, it's got a great form factor, and looks sharp. To me, I'd rather save the space, at the expense of an arguable couple of degrees versus high end air coolers. I enjoy my h60, it does what it says it does, so I can't complain. Even with a modest overclock on my phenom II, I never see core temps over 43-45C even after gaming for several hours.[/citation]
They were all on sale around Black Friday/Cyber Monday. You could get the H60 for 49.99 as well.

 

[enkichild]

Feels so good to have this site pick all the same things I did : )

 

[andywork78]

I have H80 and H100 for both of my pc.

I am still research the Level control.

60% gaming 40% work and movie.

Which level control set is correct for me?

You guy know that there are 3 level on controller.

I try level 2 all the time - bit noise but stay cool very well.

Fan noise are can not pass it away.

Level 3.. no... too much.. i saw my heavy case pc fly little bit... lol

Level 1 yeah very quite but it gets hotter...

Level 1 is fine for what i am doing or stay with level 2 ??

I wish there are auto control for this....

 

[starcore]

I just bought a FX-8150, Ive been using the stock cooler for a week now, i just purchased a Antec 620 from newegg. I am hoping i will see a considerable difference. I am wishing now i was not so cheap and i bought a H80 or H100.

Hopefully i will receive better temps. with the Antec 620, when it comes today ill repost and let you know

 

[starcore]

One thing i wish they did was use a top of the line thermal paste before and after with these. That would give another view at the coolers

 

[misry]

Microcenter has the Antec 620 @ $50. If it's local to you it's a no brainer. The low profile, above average cooling and low noise make it easily an excellent buy at that price.

 

[A Bad Day]

I've always wondered if it's possible to use a heatpipe design. Replace water tubes with vacuum tubes and add a little bit of liquid to carry the heat when vaporized.

 

[carnage0651]

Pretty Happy with my closed loop system. I wish it was built in a way that i could incorperate it into a full blown liquid cooling system without jumping through a bunch of hoops. The article was a good read none the less.

 

[t53186]

With my new antec 280 and a corsair h80 (which fits nicely) I'm running only one fan on the radiator and do not exceed 54C when rendering using a i7 920 with all threads at 100% usage. Four other scythe quiet fans running at ~800rpm to keep the other guts cool.

 

[sempifi99]

I just got a H80 from newegg after purchasing a NH-D14 that delivered less than stellar performance. With the H80 after 30 minutes p95 I am getting 54c max fan and 64c low fan. Previously I was getting 67c with NH-D14 and 78c with the stock intel cooler in performance mode and 82c in silent mode.

Just FYI I have a i7-970 @ 4.0GHz Overclock using 1.21v. I may be raising the overclock now since I have new found thermal room.

 

[Guest]

Currently running an fx8150 with kuhler 920. I'm new to water cooling, but there is a 5-10 degree difference between the cpu temp (temp1) and the liquid temp monitor, which suggests that the water isn't moving quickly. The fans react to the liquid temp and not the cpu temp, so this must be set that much lower. I can't complain since it's a more flexible system than my all copper cooler, and doesn't go over 55 C in prime95 (8 cores...!)

 

[sempifi99]

Currently running an fx8150 with kuhler 920. I'm new to water cooling, but there is a 5-10 degree difference between the cpu temp (temp1) and the liquid temp monitor, which suggests that the water isn't moving quickly. The fans react to the liquid temp and not the cpu temp, so this must be set that much lower. I can't complain since it's a more flexible system than my all copper cooler, and doesn't go over 55 C in prime95 (8 cores...!)

That sounds about normal. There are a couble of things to keep in mind tho too. There is always going to be a large delta T between the core temp and the water temp. This is becaause heat has to pass through a layer of coper, then nickle, then copper, and only then it can be transfered to the water. So the silicon will always be warmer than the water by a T difference. I am not 100% familiar with the 920 or the FX 8150, but the temps seem more than ok to me.

Also keep in mind that the CPU temp sensors are not calibrated. So there could be less of a delta T than is shown, though also there could be more of a delta T too.

 

[plekter]

Can anyone comment Thermaltake BigWater A80?