[SOLVED] Deepcool Castle 360mm Rgb or Alpha Cool Eisbaer 360mm?

[Stuffz121]

Hi

I just wanted to hear about anyone’s experiences with either of these two AIO coolers. Is one brand a bit better than the other or anything specific I should be aware between these two models?

Deepcool Castle 360mm Rgb
Alpha Cool Eisbaer 360mm

I plan to use one of these these AIO liquid coolers with an overclocked I9 10900k 10c/20T 5.3 GHz.

I’ve been reading reviews on mainly both of these coolers and I feel most of them offer positive experiences but again I’d like to see more opinions if possible.

This would also be the first time for me to use liquid cooling and I am just very concerned about there being any leaks or faulty parts with these AIO. Has anyone ever had a faulty or bad experience with liquid cooling compared to air cooling?

just trying to cover all my bases here. Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

 

[Phaaze88]

Alphacool Eisbaer Aurora(not the regular Eisbaer, or LT model) 360 here. Been in use since the end of October. It's not the oldest one in use - that goes to the Fractal Design Celsius S36 mounted on a 1080Ti(Kraken G12) since June.
Those round frame fans on the Aurora aren't ideal - I replaced them with NF-F12s.
No issues with either cooler so far.

The Eisbaer line is one of the handful of hybrid coolers that's serviceable. That's the main thing it's got going for it. You may or may not care for that.
It's also expandable, but the pump strength is a bit lacking for that kind of configuration.

The Castle doesn't have anything remarkable that sets it apart from others. Well, maybe you like the Deepcool emblem...
It's more of the same ol', same ol'. There's nothing wrong with that per se, but... the hybrid cooler market has really stagnated.

Leaks: They can happen. Rare, but not impossible. More commonly caused by user error than a manufacturing defect these days.
It's a calculated risk people knowingly buy into with these coolers - or at least, I hope they do.
Take your time when handling them.

Attempted short summary of experience: Cpu hybrid cooling is overrated.
Sure, I couldn't push a 7820X as far on a NH-D15S, but it was a difference I would come to not miss over the 3 years of playing around with this cpu.
Temperatures? Pfft. With the frequencies that either cooler could handle, I found settings that kept both under 85C under Prime 95 and OCCT. Ultimately didn't matter because I set the same thermal limits when using both coolers.

My 2 cents.

 

[Stuffz121]

Alphacool Eisbaer Aurora(not the regular Eisbaer, or LT model) 360 here. Been in use since the end of October. It's not the oldest one in use - that goes to the Fractal Design Celsius S36 mounted on a 1080Ti(Kraken G12) since June.
Those round frame fans on the Aurora aren't ideal - I replaced them with NF-F12s.
No issues with either cooler so far.

The Eisbaer line is one of the handful of hybrid coolers that's serviceable. That's the main thing it's got going for it. You may or may not care for that.
It's also expandable, but the pump strength is a bit lacking for that kind of configuration.

The Castle doesn't have anything remarkable that sets it apart from others. Well, maybe you like the Deepcool emblem...
It's more of the same ol', same ol'. There's nothing wrong with that per se, but... the hybrid cooler market has really stagnated.

Leaks: They can happen. Rare, but not impossible. More commonly caused by user error than a manufacturing defect these days.
It's a calculated risk people knowingly buy into with these coolers - or at least, I hope they do.
Take your time when handling them.

Attempted short summary of experience: Cpu hybrid cooling is overrated.
Sure, I couldn't push a 7820X as far on a NH-D15S, but it was a difference I would come to not miss over the 3 years of playing around with this cpu.
Temperatures? Pfft. With the frequencies that either cooler could handle, I found settings that kept both under 85C under Prime 95 and OCCT. Ultimately didn't matter because I set the same thermal limits when using both coolers.

My 2 cents.

Thank you again for sharing. When you mean that the Eisbaer is serviceable, do you mean that the pump could be replaced for example? My main reason for going for liquid cooling is I constantly hear that it is a little more “consistent” in lowering CPU temperatures and doesn’t spike as wildly as air cooling for example. Is this true? Ultimately, I just hope that either of the two coolers I listed would work as intended and are maintenance free.

Again my knowledge regarding the differences between liquid and air cooling is fairly limited. Ideally I would like to do some heavy duty Noctua fan or something, but screw it I guess I may as well try liquid cooling at least once.

 

[Phaaze88]

When you mean that the Eisbaer is serviceable, do you mean that the pump could be replaced for example?

Yes. You have the option to replace the pump, flush and refill the loop. But as I said, you may/may not care about that.
Most other hybrids, you can't do any of this. They are the cheap and convenient alternative to custom liquid, minus the cooling performance and noise levels.

My main reason for going for liquid cooling is I constantly hear that it is a little more “consistent” in lowering CPU temperatures and doesn’t spike as wildly as air cooling for example. Is this true?

Again, this is my 2 cents, so don't take it as some kind of gospel or anything...
Fact, it's a little more consistent as liquid has a longer time to soak than air. Fact, a good air cooler isn't going to cool better than a good liquid cooler. That's not all there is though.
Bios settings, fan speeds, pump speeds, hardware config, power plan, chassis airflow & ambient thermals... all have an effect.

Consistently lower thermals? I've found safe operating parameters with either Eisbaer or D15. Whether the cpu idles at under 40C or hits 80C under load, neither is any more dangerous to the cpu than the other.
Whoop-de-do, I no longer care anymore. I'll check using hwinfo from time to time, and that'll be that. The whole consistently lower thing is over-blown.
Perhaps you live in a warmer climate like myself: Manual Vcore override and high performance power plans will see warmer room temps than letting the cpu clock up/down voltage and frequency as needed, though I still wouldn't leave it to auto voltage. Even a small, negative 0.01 Vcore offset, or use of Adaptive Mode would be better than leaving it at auto. The boards overvolt by default: We can, at least, do better here.

are maintenance free.

Well, that's the point of hybrid coolers - you'll still have to dust it out from time to time, just like with anything else.
I see that the Eisbaer being serviceable wouldn't be a strong point for you. As I mentioned earlier, it's optional. Most other units don't even give users the option.
It breaks, you keep the fans that work and toss the rest out. Easy peasy, though I'm sure environmentalists wouldn't care about 'em.

Ideally I would like to do some heavy duty Noctua fan or something, but screw it I guess I may as well try liquid cooling at least once.

Yeah, try it out and see how it goes. You'll either love it, hate it, or give it the 'meh' treatment.