Great closed loop liquid cooler

[steven37]

wanting a good cpu cooler to help keep my cpu nice and cool while i do my stuff on it. im looking for the best one i can find for around $100

 

[QuestionableUsername]

I personally like the Corsair H100i, I've heard many good reviews and it's one of the best for around $100.
It's currently $99 but will probably lower in a few days for Black Friday.

Amazon link here.

 

[frag06]

For $100, the H100i is about the best you can do for a CLC.

 

[Karadjgne]

You'll need to add some further information. What cpu, what case, what OC if any, and in what circumstances . For instance, the Corsair h-55 is a great little aio for stock to mild OC, the h-80i is terrific for mid OC, and h-100i for high oc, h-105/110 for extreme OC. But of course this assumes the pc is in an air-conditioned room, not in an open air bedroom in India, where ambient temps are so high, ppl use a h-100i just to cool a stock i5-4690k, and also a 240/280mm radiator may or may not be supported by your particular case.

 

[TechyInAZ]

H100i is a great all rounder CPU liquid cooler.

 

[steven37]

You'll need to add some further information. What cpu, what OC if any, and in what circumstances . For instance, the Corsair h-55 is a great little aio for stock to mild OC, the h-80i is terrific for mid OC, and h-100i for high oc, h-105/110 for extreme OC. But of course this assumes the pc is in an air-conditioned room, not in an open air bedroom in India, where ambient temps are so high, ppl use a h-100i just to cool a stock i5-4690k.

cpu will mostly be the i5- 4690k, i do not have the pc built yet
and maybe some light OC but not much

 

[Karadjgne]

Well if you prefer to keep it simple a h-80i or nzxt x41 is great, both being single radiators. If your case is 240mm capable you could opt for the h-100i, or if 280mm capable the h-105.
Any of these will handle a mild OC on that cpu, upto decent, quite easily. I'd suggest you get your case first, then fit components to it, not the other way around.

 

[steven37]

Well if you prefer to keep it simple a h-80i or nzxt x41 is great, both being single radiators. If your case is 240mm capable you could opt for the h-100i, or if 280mm capable the h-105.
Any of these will handle a mild OC on that cpu, upto decent, quite easily. I'd suggest you get your case first, then fit components to it, not the other way around.

actually i did have a pc put together on pcpartpicker http://pcpartpicker.com/p/BCV3dC
i just don't have it physically built and a majority said h100i so i just added that but its not official yet

 

[Karadjgne]

Very nice case, no worries at all with fitting a 100i there, but you can save some $ on the psu. For a 970 with good OC on that cpu, you'll still only need a quality 520w-620w psu, and those can be got for $50 give or take, a 750w is overkill on a single gpu that only draws 150w to begin with.

 

[steven37]

Very nice case, no worries at all with fitting a 100i there, but you can save some $ on the psu. For a 970 with good OC on that cpu, you'll still only need a quality 520w-620w psu, and those can be got for $50 give or take, a 750w is overkill on a single gpu that only draws 150w to begin with.

What do you think about the Rosewill Photon-650?
http://www.rosewill.com/products/2824/ProductDetail_Specifications.htm

 

[Karadjgne]

I've not seen or heard anything about the Photon series, but with Rosewill, the Capstone series is their best built/quality.

 

[frag06]

You can get an EVGA B2 750W or 850W for $69 right now. You don't need that much power, but $69 is a great price for these PSU's. If you plan to go SLI at any point, 750W or more would be ideal.

The Rosewill Capstone 750 (non modular) is on-sale for just $39, which is a good deal.

 

[steven37]

okay i have been searching and i bump up my price range and found a few other cpu coolers. which of these do you think is the best?; Corsair H110, Swiftech H220x, NZXT Kraken x61
http://www.corsair.com/en-us/hydro-series-h110-280mm-extreme-performance-liquid-cpu-cooler

http://www.swiftech.com/H220-X.aspx

http://www.nzxt.com/product/detail/147-kraken-x61-liquid-cooler.html

 

[steven37]

I've not seen or heard anything about the Photon series, but with Rosewill, the Capstone series is their best built/quality.

i have the hive psu on my current rig. and thanks! i added the capstone to my buid

 

[frag06]

The H240X since we're comparing two 280mm coolers against one 240mm. It's only $10 more than the H220X.

The H220X and H240X are the best AIO's on the market. They beat every CLC in their respective sizes.

 

[steven37]

The H240X since we're comparing two 280mm coolers against one 240mm. It's only $10 more than the H220X.

The H220X and H240X are the best AIO's on the market. They beat every CLC in their respective sizes.

i read that it comes pre filled already but when it runs low you can add more.. when it gets low what do i add more of? thats where im kinda lost

 

[frag06]

It shouldn't get low (at least not to the point it needs filled) for at least three years according to Swiftech.

If it needs filled, you should be able to just top it off with some distilled water.

 

[Karadjgne]

I'M fan of the nzxt clc's. For a single radiator, the x41 has amazing performance, equaling that of the dual size h-100i, and quieter too. It's larger brother, is a step above, equaling or beating the performance of the h-110, and will hang with the h240x, only loosing benchmarks by 1-2°.

The thing to remember with those big coolers however, is that they will perform exactly the same as a smaller cooler, you will only see temps at idle a few °C above ambient. According to just how hot you run the cpu, how much OC, will determine just how much cooling potential you really need. For instance, imagine putting a h-100i on a 4690k at stock speeds, and a hyper212 on the same cpu. You'll see the same temps at 100% cpu usage, and idle, since the cooling potential is far above what the cpu is actually running at. If you only ever plan on stock speeds, maybe a mild OC, those huge coolers are a waste of money, you'll get the same performance and temps from a cheaper smaller cooler.

If you look at my signature you'll see that at 4.4GHz, on a 3570k, running a Corsair h-55 single fan, I'm pushing only 70°C under prime95. That's a good mid range OC for that cpu, paired with the smallest clc Corsair makes. Granted I'd see better temps with a bigger cooler, but that's only because I have reached the cooling potential limits of that cooler.