Fractal Design Celsius S24 Cooler Review

[Roger Wilco]

Ahhh, but the question and test I don't see listed, will it be efficient enough for the cooling of a Flux Capacitor? I'm in the market..

 

[Olle P]

Check out the H240 X2 review, and look at the values for the X61 vs the H240 X2. The X61 clearly outperforms the H240 X2 in terms of noise levels at a given temperature, but due to the way the numbers are crunched, they conclude that the H240 X2 has better acoustic efficiency.

The table clearly shows that the written statement is wrong, so the math while somewhat flawed does work. It's Thomas' interpretation of it that seems most off.
The again there might be a quality aspect of the noise that doesn't show in the graph. Fan noise can be tonal, squeaky or generally unpleasant making the noise from a physically quieter fan seem less bearable than a smooth woosh from a slightly "noisier" fan.

The X61 is decidedly better with the fans at low speed (same temperature but only 1/4 of the SPL) and doesn't get quite the credit it deserves for it.
With the fans at full speed the H240 is actually a little better than the X61, since it's only three degrees warmer at half the SPL.

 

[John_561]

My next cooler. Swap out those fans for noctuas and get those temps to best for the bucks. I had a horrible customer support experience with Swiftech after they were sold and will never buy from them again...and I likewise advise other enthusiasts to avoid them. I'm eagerly waiting to plug this intp the top of my crystal 570! FU Swiftech.

 

[decko9999]

I just got the s24 and my experience so far is that when the fans are at 100%, it's very loud. I can't compare to other AIOs since this is my first, but my old system which used a 120mm NFP12 Noctua was virtually silent at 100%. I know that's not exactly apples to apples, but still this thing is quite loud when at 100%. It also spins up and down a lot and the noise when doing that is pretty loud and noticeable too. The other issue with it is that since it uses it's own fan controller, I can't tell if the readout I'm getting in BIOS is for the pump speed or fan speed. I think it's for the pump since it'll read out 2800 and the fans are only 2000 rpms.

 

[Crashman]

I just got the s24 and my experience so far is that when the fans are at 100%, it's very loud. I can't compare to other AIOs since this is my first, but my old system which used a 120mm NFP12 Noctua was virtually silent at 100%. I know that's not exactly apples to apples, but still this thing is quite loud when at 100%. It also spins up and down a lot and the noise when doing that is pretty loud and noticeable too. The other issue with it is that since it uses it's own fan controller, I can't tell if the readout I'm getting in BIOS is for the pump speed or fan speed. I think it's for the pump since it'll read out 2800 and the fans are only 2000 rpms.

Switch it to PWM control as long as your motherboard supports it.

 

[decko9999]

I just got the s24 and my experience so far is that when the fans are at 100%, it's very loud. I can't compare to other AIOs since this is my first, but my old system which used a 120mm NFP12 Noctua was virtually silent at 100%. I know that's not exactly apples to apples, but still this thing is quite loud when at 100%. It also spins up and down a lot and the noise when doing that is pretty loud and noticeable too. The other issue with it is that since it uses it's own fan controller, I can't tell if the readout I'm getting in BIOS is for the pump speed or fan speed. I think it's for the pump since it'll read out 2800 and the fans are only 2000 rpms.

Switch it to PWM control as long as your motherboard supports it.

I was using PWM, but anyway I retract my comment about the noise. I changed the positioning of the fans and radiator and it's much quieter now. I had the fans mounted to the case and then attached to the radiator. Turns out that small amount of space from the case was causing a bunch of noise. Now I mounted the fans directly on the radiator and it's super quiet even at 100%. Very happy now.

Still can't see the fan speed though due to the integrated fan controller.

 

[Crashman]

I just got the s24 and my experience so far is that when the fans are at 100%, it's very loud. I can't compare to other AIOs since this is my first, but my old system which used a 120mm NFP12 Noctua was virtually silent at 100%. I know that's not exactly apples to apples, but still this thing is quite loud when at 100%. It also spins up and down a lot and the noise when doing that is pretty loud and noticeable too. The other issue with it is that since it uses it's own fan controller, I can't tell if the readout I'm getting in BIOS is for the pump speed or fan speed. I think it's for the pump since it'll read out 2800 and the fans are only 2000 rpms.

Switch it to PWM control as long as your motherboard supports it.

I was using PWM, but anyway I retract my comment about the noise. I changed the positioning of the fans and radiator and it's much quieter now. I had the fans mounted to the case and then attached to the radiator. Turns out that small amount of space from the case was causing a bunch of noise. Now I mounted the fans directly on the radiator and it's super quiet even at 100%. Very happy now.

Still can't see the fan speed though due to the integrated fan controller.

Yes, I try to cover this in "how to" articles, the intake side of the fan should never be next to grill holes because the air at the edge of the blade will make a tiny whizzing noise as the blade passes each hole.

 

[law records]

I'm building a new machine with a Phantek Evolv ATX case and the Celcius S24 cooler for the CPU. My GFX card is an air cooled Asus STRIX 1080 Ti. What is the best location of the radiator in that case, given that setup? I read somewhere that having the radiator at the top will be sub-optimal due to heat rising from the GFX card. Not sure if that's true. But regardless, where do you think will be best to minimize noise (want it as quiet as possible) for decent cooling?

 

[the nerd 389]

I'm building a new machine with a Phantek Evolv ATX case and the Celcius S24 cooler for the CPU. My GFX card is an air cooled Asus STRIX 1080 Ti. What is the best location of the radiator in that case, given that setup? I read somewhere that having the radiator at the top will be sub-optimal due to heat rising from the GFX card. Not sure if that's true. But regardless, where do you think will be best to minimize noise (want it as quiet as possible) for decent cooling?

There are two distinct ways of looking at this issue. The first is in terms of CPU temp. In this view, putting the radiator in as a front intake is ideal, but there are problems that this method overlooks. This is where the second method comes in.

The second method looks at thermal headroom across all components, but the GPU is usually the main component of interest. The idea is to design the cooling setup to prevent any single component from throttling. The GPU (specifically the VRMs on the GPU) tends to operate much closer to it's thermal ceiling than the CPU will. As such, you want to optimize the airflow to keep the GPU cool. This means that you do not want to dump the CPU heat into the case, as any increase in intake temperature translates into a direct increase in temperature for any components that use that air to stay cool. This includes the GPU.

In summary, if all you care about is the CPU temp for an aggressive OC, use the radiator as a front intake.

If all you care about is system-level gaming performance, use the radiator as a top exhaust. If you want to OC as well, make sure there's an exhaust fan on the back of the case to get rid of some GPU heat before it reaches the radiator. Combined with a slight positive net fan flow, this will evacuate a sizable portion of the GPU heat before it can reach the radiator.

 

[Crashman]

I'm building a new machine with a Phantek Evolv ATX case and the Celcius S24 cooler for the CPU. My GFX card is an air cooled Asus STRIX 1080 Ti. What is the best location of the radiator in that case, given that setup? I read somewhere that having the radiator at the top will be sub-optimal due to heat rising from the GFX card. Not sure if that's true. But regardless, where do you think will be best to minimize noise (want it as quiet as possible) for decent cooling?

There are two distinct ways of looking at this issue. The first is in terms of CPU temp. In this view, putting the radiator in as a front intake is ideal, but there are problems that this method overlooks. This is where the second method comes in.

The second method looks at thermal headroom across all components, but the GPU is usually the main component of interest. The idea is to design the cooling setup to prevent any single component from throttling. The GPU (specifically the VRMs on the GPU) tends to operate much closer to it's thermal ceiling than the CPU will. As such, you want to optimize the airflow to keep the GPU cool. This means that you do not want to dump the CPU heat into the case, as any increase in intake temperature translates into a direct increase in temperature for any components that use that air to stay cool. This includes the GPU.

In summary, if all you care about is the CPU temp for an aggressive OC, use the radiator as a front intake.

If all you care about is system-level gaming performance, use the radiator as a top exhaust. If you want to OC as well, make sure there's an exhaust fan on the back of the case to get rid of some GPU heat before it reaches the radiator. Combined with a slight positive net fan flow, this will evacuate a sizable portion of the GPU heat before it can reach the radiator.

That's darned close to a perfect answer.