Is a dual radiator really neccesarry for a cpu liquid cooling solution.

[phillipskid32]

I recently bought a corsair h50 liquid cpu cooler, and noticed that my temperatures rarely reach above 46C (with 2500k oc'd to 3.9Ghz) that's down from the 70C that it would hover around with the stock cooler and voltage. The h50 is a single fan single radiator component, are the benefits that big with a dual radiator system?

 

[DarkSable]

Ahh, I missed that he was working with videos - in that case the i7 might be a decent idea, if he's doing a lot of it. (As for overclocking, they're just isolating the multiplier from the BLCK - you don't actually overclock any better or easier; it's marketing hype. However, it'll be more power-efficient than ivy bridge, so the cooling probably won't be needed.)

As for reliability, it's arguable - I see people with issues with all-in-ones all the time. I'm not sure why you say it should only be done in extreme cases, but that's fine ; we've both made our points, and the OP can read them and decide where he or she stands.

(As for the half-case, it was an older one which I stole the sides and front of to mod with.)

 

[phillipskid32]

Thanks for the help guys. For the time being I'm going to stick with what I've got. But I'll be upgrading in the future. Possibly to just an ivy bridge i7(maybe the 3930k will be cheaper when haswell launches.)

 

[DarkSable]

A Haswell i7 is probably going to be your best bet for the money - the upgrade to ivy bridge won't be huge, and the 3930k is going to remain expensive and on a specialized platform. Just my two cents.

 

[edogawa]

Sounds like a plan Philip. 😀

 

[bryonhowley]

You can easily go up to 4.5GHz with that chip and that cooler - as long as you're below 65 on 100% load, then you're JUST fine.

Like edo said, there's no point upgrading your cooler when yours is sufficient, when you get infinitely more benefit from upgrades elsewhere.

If you DO upgrade your cooling, going to another 'Fisher-Price' cooler is about the worst thing you could possibly do. Save up and get a real water-cooling loop, and you'll actually get performance, along with reliability and the option to expand.

I actually highly disagree with getting a real water-cooling loop unless you're doing an extreme system with very heavy overclocking and 3-4 graphics cards. 4.7-5.0.

Custom water cooling is becoming less relevant every year, hardware is getting more power efficient, and better. An all in will do 4.5ghz easily and stay cool. As cool as a custom loop is, it's unnecessary unless you're into for the look and fun of it.

Agree with just the CPU being cooled the H100i in my i5 system cools just as good as my custom loop in my other rig. With both my idles are around 27c and the price was alot less with the H100i.

 

[edogawa]

@bryonhowley

Interesting. What about load temperatures?

 

[manofchalk]

Idle temps are dictated by ambient temperature more than anything, load temps is where the difference is.

Also whats in the loop might be useful to say if you compare CLC's against a custom. If your running a slim 120mm rad against a H100i, I would expect the H100i to eke out similar if not better performance.