Four Closed-Loop CPU Coolers Take On Noctua's NH-D14

[Crashman]

Closed-loop liquid coolers relieve stress from our motherboards, without the portability and maintenance issues of traditional open-loop kits. Are these the best devices for system builders who plan to move their machines and want to avoid damage?

Four Closed-Loop CPU Coolers Take On Noctua's NH-D14 : Read more

 

[austing]

I'm suprized to see a single 120mm rad can keep up with the h100i, bravo Zalman.

 

[EzioAs]

Love the title!

Nice review as well. Too bad you didn't test NZXT kraken cpu coolers.

If you ask me, I'd rather stick with the D14

 

[mayankleoboy1]

Keeping up and beating with all the Water coolers should earn the NH-D14 a "best of the best" award of its own. And its a ~2-3 year old product!

 

[mayankleoboy1]

Small nit : i would have liked to see similar test done with a 3770K and a high OC.

 

[sluggercz]

A possibly overlooked benefit of closed loop AIO systems are their ability to fit in SFF cases. While this certainly applies more to the single 120mm radiator designs, some cases (such as the Fractal Design Node 304) can accommodate 240mm radiators)

(Source: Using a Corsair H60 w/ 2 Noctua NF-F12's in push-pull config in my Lian-Li PC-Q08; such large air-coolers as the Noctua could not fit due to the limited vertical clearance above the CPU)

 

[hero1]

Awesome review. Keep it up. I remember commenting about how much better the closed loop CPU coolers have gotten and I got down voted but this just proved my point. I have very sensitive hearing and I can never hear my CoolIt R120(?) spin apart from the initial startup. And this is inside a CM Haf XM. I play games with CPU+GPU OCd to 4.5GHzby 1.2GHz and you can barely hear any noise. First I thought something was wrong then I got my friends and wife to listen whil I played with muted sound and they were impressed. Up next is water cooling my GPU when I add another one in a month in SLI mode. Gaming PCs FTW!

 

[tanjo]

No NZXT Kraken and Thermaltake Water 2.0 (which is 3rd gen Asetek iirc)?

 

[hero1]

BTW DH-14 still deserves an award alongside the H100i and Zalman. Not many, if any air coolers out there can keep up with top notch closed loop CPU coolers.

 

[hero1]

[citation][nom]tanjo[/nom]No NZXT Kraken and Thermaltake Water 2.0 (which is 3rd gen Asetek iirc)?[/citation]

Bit-tech.net has a review of Thermaltake water coolers and their top end 240mm took the crown. Better than H100i and the rest shown here.

 

[nukemaster]

With MB control the NH D14 can be very quiet

It is HUGE, but I got it for 50$ and to me that was a great value. It was also on for 50$ again at NCIX's boxing day sale.

Sure fills up an SSF system.
Not embedding the image because it may mess up the page.
http://imageshack.us/a/img39/1358/dsc0458s.jpg

 

[kensingtron]

I have the has even lower temps, quieter running, for a similar price and is 240g lighter!

 

[kensingtron]

I have read the NH "C"14 has even lower temps, quieter running, for a similar price and is 240g lighter!

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]austing[/nom]I'm suprized to see a single 120mm rad can keep up with the h100i, bravo Zalman.[/citation]Others are twice as wide, Zalman is twice as thick, if you're making that choice it should be determined by your case.[citation][nom]mayankleoboy1[/nom]Keeping up and beating with all the Water coolers should earn the NH-D14 a "best of the best" award of its own. And its a ~2-3 year old product![/citation]The NH-D14 already got a "best of the best" award.[citation][nom]tanjo[/nom]No NZXT Kraken and Thermaltake Water 2.0 (which is 3rd gen Asetek iirc)?[/citation]Kraken samples got delayed until Christmas Eve, far too late for this article. All five of the companies who sent samples (the four tested plus NZXT) had previously requested this review.

 

[cmcghee358]

I would've liked to see a timed trial. From my experience with an H50, H70 and NH-D14, the closed loop coolers will eventually increase in temperature overtime as they are unable to fully drop the fluid to ambient before it gets pushed back to the CPU and reheated. Heating it, and the CPU just a little bit more.

I recommend at least a 60 minute Prime95 test of each cooler to get an accurate delta over ambient

 

[rantoc]

H100i seems to end up poorly in about all tests, The H80i performs about as well. The only time the H100i perform as it should is with a push / pull config using a total of 4 fans. Could be just a firmware issue (Yes the H100i can be flashed)

 

[EzioAs]

I would've liked to see a timed trial. From my experience with an H50, H70 and NH-D14, the closed loop coolers will eventually increase in temperature overtime as they are unable to fully drop the fluid to ambient before it gets pushed back to the CPU and reheated. Heating it, and the CPU just a little bit more.

I recommend at least a 60 minute Prime95 test of each cooler to get an accurate delta over ambient

60mins? Somewhere around 20mins isn't enough for these CLCs to reach equilibrium?

 

[rantoc]

[citation][nom]EzioAs[/nom]60mins? Somewhere around 20mins isn't enough for these CLCs to reach equilibrium?[/citation]

For an lcs without any reservoir - 60 mins sounds excessive to have them maxed out, 20 min sound more than sufficient. Some home reviewers have claimed that it takes about 60 mins for a lcs without reservoir to max out but its been busted when its been shown the ambient room temperature have been the major change for the last 45 mins...

 

[Guest]

Yes, if you knock your PC over you'll probably break your motherboard, but with such a big cooler it's going to take a bit more force.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]cmcghee358[/nom]I would've liked to see a timed trial. From my experience with an H50, H70 and NH-D14, the closed loop coolers will eventually increase in temperature overtime as they are unable to fully drop the fluid to ambient before it gets pushed back to the CPU and reheated. Heating it, and the CPU just a little bit more.I recommend at least a 60 minute Prime95 test of each cooler to get an accurate delta over ambient[/citation]That could have been a useful suggestion if not for the fact that it was already the approximate method used.

 

[Novuake]

Is it just me or do Asetek coolers always eem to have little nitty gritty issues? Anyway. nice review. Loved it BUT I much prefer Silver Arrow SB-E extreme above the Noctua. But yes, its sad that not even the H100i outpaces the Noctua...

 

[amuffin]

Well, look at how much louder the CLC's have to be in order to either slightly outperform the NH-D14 or perform on par with it...

 

[jay_nar2012]

[citation][nom]BigMack70[/nom]Meh... I just don't see the point of closed loop coolers and this article doesn't do anything to convince me they're worthwhile. Either do water cooling right and build yourself a nice custom loop, or don't do it at all and stick to a nice dual tower air cooler like the NH-D14.[/citation]

Closed water coolers are easy options for water cooling, it even says why they are useful, "Closed-loop liquid coolers rarely leak, they have no fill ports from which to spill, there is no separate pump or reservoir to break loose, and the small water blocks place little stress on the motherboard. Although they aren't as configurable as conventional water-cooling kits, sealed coolers boast superior portability, transportability, and maintainability".

They are made for people who don't know how to do a custom water loop properly or for people who can't be bothered with custom coolers or can't afford the parts of custom coolers.

 

[de5_Roy]

i've been wondering about a few things.
if i want to cool an overclocked i5(4.2-4.4~ ghz) cpu with coolers like cm hyper 212 +/evo or thermaltake frio will it be better to get a corsair h80/100 instead?
i am worried about the weight of the tower coolers because the case will be moved around a bit. in clcs' case, their longevity and effective operation (e.g. gradual heat build up issue mentioned above).
how long these closed loop coolers last (the system may run at max load for 5-10 hrs every day)?
edit: i am asking this because after reading this nice article and re-reading the previous h80/100 review i've been wondering if i should invest in lcs and how useful it will be in the long term.

 

[Guest]

these closed loop coolers work perfectly on graphics cards too!

i have one on each of my gtx480's, with a 25% oc the temps never go above 60c

perfect!