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

[BrightCandle]

Umm please stop calling the premade water loops "closed". Almost all custom water loops are closed, an open water loop is one where the water is not recycled, ie where water is sourced directly from mains, used once and then removed. Custom verse premade, sealed verses unsealed are all terms you can use, but closed verses open is one that watercoolers already use.

Also very surprised by the results, especially since they differ so wildly from results on Anandtech and other review sites.

 

[codyleemanofaction]

Besides the fact that the Noctua performed very well... I'm curious why we never see the real Big Air contenders: Phanteks PH-TC14PE. It's been out over a year, and it has yet to be reviewed here at Toms. Granted, it's been reviewed everywhere else and it has out performed Noctua 4/5 times. It's in a similar price bracket as some of the LCL's, but is clearly the top performer.
At the same time... the NEW Zalman ZM-CNPS14X costs ~$50, and pulls beats Noctua's best offerings as well.

Don't get me wrong, I see the benefits of LCL's when it comes to the sheer force we put on mobos with huge Air Coolers, but picking the "creme de la creme" would probably show a better Value/Performance comparison.

 

[Guest]

Yup, CLC has its uses, but they are far and few in-between.

Big Air Wins out yet again, and honestly, how often do peeps move their machines that it is a worry!

If you want water, custom is the only way at the moment.

Why dont they make a CLC with larger pump and thicker diameter pipes and improved channels for the extra flow on the Block? This will surely beat out the Big Air then!

 

[JamesSneed]

But, as also said, they don't carry much of a performance increase over a solid dual tower heatsink (NH-D14, silver arrow, tc14pe). They're also more expensive, often louder, and in the case of 240mm radiators like the H100, even more difficult to fit into a case.

Sorry, I just don't see it. It's half assed water cooling without any of the real advantages water cooling offers.

The case to be made is when you don't have space for a large air cooler or a real water cooling setup. These closed loop coolers are great in small form factor cases. With that said I don't see why anyone would use a closed loop cooler in a regular ATX sized case.

 

[cmcghee358]

[citation][nom]Crashman[/nom]That could have been a useful suggestion if not for the fact that it was already the approximate method used.[/citation]

Oh I must have missed that in the explanation at the beginning. My apologies

 

[10tacle]

As an NH-D14 owner that seriously considered moving to a closed loop build, I'm glad I stayed with the air nearly two years ago in my last Sandy build. Sure, it's a big hoss and barely fits in my Antec 900 (and the horrendous color of the fans and fan cowlings leave a lot to be desired). But I don't travel with it anywhere; it sits parked under my desk where it's sat ever since minus installing a new SSD. If I did travel with it or need to ship it somewhere, it would take all but about 2 minutes to remove teh cooler for transport and another 2 minutes to put it back in. I'm perfectly fine with 4.83GHz @ 55C load and see no need to go any higher than that, especially considering the games I play are more GPU limited than CPU limited when running a 2560x1600 resolution.

 

[JamesSneed]

Would loved to have seen the e NZXT Kraken X40 & X60 in this roundup. I know they came out late but could you guys add them into mix?

 

[tirvon]

Good article. Thanks Toms.

 

[skaz]

Look at the fan speeds for the closed loops. 2k can be ridiculously loud. Air cooling is still the way to go in my opinion.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]codyleemanofaction[/nom]Besides the fact that the Noctua performed very well... I'm curious why we never see the real Big Air contenders: Phanteks PH-TC14PE.[/citation]We did:
[nom]cmcghee358[/nom]Oh]http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/LGA-2011-i7-3960X-Air-Overclocking,3130-11.html[citation][nom]cmcghee358[/nom]Oh I must have missed that in the explanation at the beginning. My apologies[/citation]No need to apologize, the article probably didn't give a full description. The system is started and loaded for about an hour, but using a clock rather than a timer so it's sometimes a few minutes longer than an hour.[citation][nom]JamesSneed[/nom]Would loved to have seen the e NZXT Kraken X40 & X60 in this roundup. I know they came out late but could you guys add them into mix?[/citation]I thought about adding a 1-page addendum, but decided to spend Christmas with the family instead.

 

[the great randini]

now this is a very helpful review that all gamers who bought an aftermarket cooler want to see!

 

[f-14]

Sometimes I'd experiment with water-cooling in my high-end SBM submission, and that was equally problematic when it came to shipping.

Fortunately, a more user-friendly form of cooling is available. 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.

today it is 8ºF
22º below freezing. transport any liquid cooler with out keeping it heated would be disastorous.
the over night is supposed to be -24ºF .

at -36º below freezing when i am out ice fishing on a lake makes atleast an inch of ice every hour.

imagine your new liquid cooled pc in an automobile that is not running and heating your auto's cabin or in the back of a freight trailer being shipped to you from newegg crossing any point in north america above 40º Lattitude in those temps!

 

[g-unit1111]

I'm definitely not the first to recommend closed block liquid loops but after reading the reviews here and at Anandtech I'm heavily intrigued by what Corsair's iLink technology can do, it's very promising stuff.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]f-14[/nom]today it is 8ºF 22º below freezing. transport any liquid cooler with out keeping it heated would be disastorous.the over night is supposed to be -24ºF .at -36º below freezing when i am out ice fishing on a lake makes atleast an inch of ice every hour.imagine your new liquid cooled pc in an automobile that is not running and heating your auto's cabin or in the back of a freight trailer being shipped to you from newegg crossing any point in north america above 40º Lattitude in those temps![/citation]These are liquid coolers, not water coolers. The coolant has a lower freezing point than water.

 

[Karadjgne]

Is it just me, or does the Zalman look identical to Corsair H-55, same brackets, same ring clip, even same looking pump? And if they are identical, does that mean the H-55 will perform similarly against the other coolers, including its big brother, the H-100i?

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]Karadjgne[/nom]Is it just me, or does the Zalman look identical to Corsair H-55, same brackets, same ring clip, even same looking pump?[/citation]H55 has a thinner radiator. Fan speed might also be different.

 

[omarccx]

[citation][nom]hero1[/nom]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.[/citation]
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2012/12/05/corsair-h100i-review/2

Not quite.

 

[Marcus52]

Thanks Tomshardware and Thomas, good reviews showing that these closed-loop liquid coolers are indeed the real deal. No surprise, the Corsair H100 comes out on top, as it has on other review sites.

One thing I would caution Enermax about, and any manufacturer planning on jumping into an apparently lucrative market, is that your name is on the line with every one of your products, and if you make something that's less than what people have come to expect, people will lower their opinion of you.

I expect the best from Enermax; I expect your coolers to be among the best available, period. Frankly though, I think I'm seeing a philosophy shift toward profit and not making the absolute best, and that troubles me. I've gone down that road with other name brands - and let me tell you there is nothing in my mind that sours me more than to buy a product from a company, pay a premium price, and find the product wanting.

 

[Marcus52]

To be clear about my previous post - I have yet to buy a product from Enermax that I didn't think was worth the price (I have 2 of their PSUs and one of their cases), I just don't want to see them go down the road of cutting corners to make more money.

 

[falchard]

Honestly, the results look poor compared to air cooling. Might be the air-cooler was just too good, but I would like to see better results out of a liquid cooled system.

 

[codyleemanofaction]

[citation][nom]Crashman[/nom]We did:http://www.tomshardware.com/review [/citation]

Ooops! I used the search bar to look for the PH-TC14PE, and it returned no "Review" results. Being that I had read the article you linked when it came out... I'm even more embarassed.

I wonder why it was lackluster in your testing configuration, but several other "similar" testbeds at other sites show it wielding much better results? Guess I'll just buy both, run my own tests in my personal setup, and go from there!

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]codyleemanofaction[/nom]Ooops! I used the search bar to look for the PH-TC14PE, and it returned no "Review" results. Being that I had read the article you linked when it came out... I'm even more embarassed. I wonder why it was lackluster in your testing configuration, but several other "similar" testbeds at other sites show it wielding much better results? Guess I'll just buy both, run my own tests in my personal setup, and go from there![/citation]Hey, I just install them, run the test and record the results. My job is easy.

 

[photonboy]

3-pin vs 4-pin:

Just a WARNING. Make sure your motherboard can control the fan speed. My older Gigabyte board could use PWM and VOLTAGE and my NH-D14 fan speed was variable.

My new Asus Sabertooth Z77 has PWM only. I have to find a way to replace my NH-D14 fans with 4-pin PWM models.

 

[stickmansam]

Hmm I wonder how my H60 would stack up against the 212 EVO. I actually got the H60 for $30 (same as the 212EVO and I was thinking the H60 was going to be better, liquid > air but I dunno anymore.

 

[deeptoot]

I have a 2500k overclocked to 5.1 Ghz using a CoolIt Freezone originally intended for a Socket 775. It idles at 36C and rarely gets over 65C even when under full load. My PC runs around the clock and is absolutely rock solid, no crashes at all. TECs are absolutely the best! Quiet and incredibly effective, like it better than the Lightspeed refrigeration unit that cools my old Socket 775 system to -42C. The Freezone doesn't need the complicated insulation setup that the Lightspeed does and is obviously much quieter than the compressor-utilizing Lightspeed. Too bad CoolIt stopped making TEC coolers and went liquid only when bought out by Corsair.