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Air Cooling or Corsair Hydro?

post #1 of 32
Thread Starter 
Soo..i've never used water cooling. But I know a lot of people have the Corsair H50/60/70/100. My question is how advance or hard is it to use one of these coolers? maintenance? risk? expense?

I don't do crazy OC'in..just the standard safe amount..but if all I need to do is hook up the Corsair Hydro cooler, just as I would an Air Cooler....hmmm.....I might consider it. If it is more of a hassle than that...forget it, i'll stick with the Corsair A70.

Sorry, I have no idea about water cooling. Any guidance would be appreciated.
Edited by malikq86 - 4/30/12 at 6:51pm
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post #2 of 32
The hydro series are pretty easy to install. Basically if you've ever installed an after-market cooler, you should be fine. As for prices, they are slightly more expensive than good heat sinks + fans.

Shouldn't have much risk, 0 maintenance.

A great benefit is that they take up less space overall and make your build look neater.
 
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post #3 of 32
I would suggest the H-series 100%. I have the H80 and I just can't say enough about it.

As far as installing it is a breeze. In fact I find myself moving it around all the time to see if I can lower my temps just a bit further. It's just like mounting a case fan, just bigger and heavier. But not difficult by any means.

As far as maintenance goes, you have nothing to worry about. The only thing I would suggest is if you use it on an intake fan, you might want to give the radiator a good dusting every now and then. Other than that it's set it and forget it.

Risk? None whatsoever. I've had my Phenom II 965 OC'd from 3.4 GHz to 4.1 and my temps only get up to like 48-ish. They usually Idle between 28-30.

A few tips I would suggest (but are by no means necessary) are:
1. if you care more about noise level than performance, get some different fans. The ones Corsair includes with the product are rather loud. However they do give great cooling.
2. Get a fan controller for whatever fans you use. That way when you're not gaming or anything you can turn them way down and keep your rig silent. Then when it's time to game just crank 'em up.

Definitely get an H-series cooler .thumb.gif
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post #4 of 32
Thread Starter 
^ Thanks guys. if I was to go with the Hydro series...how much cooler can I expect temps to be vs. the A70? Any idea?

EDIT: Is it just me for does A70 actually cooler better than Hydro Series H50: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1389/6/

Perhaps I should look at H100 for improvements.
Edited by malikq86 - 4/30/12 at 6:11pm
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post #5 of 32
Well, I don't wanna give you any false information or anything. So all I can really provide is my own personal experience. Like I said, OC'd from 3.4 to 4.1 with idle temps under 30C. Max load temps never went over 55C. If I had to make a guess I would say you'll for sure get lower temps with the H-series over the A-series.
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post #6 of 32
I have an H100 and it's great. I haven't used any of the 120mm kits, but I've heard great things about the H80. As for the H100, it's great if you have a place to put a 240mm radiator close enough to the block. My temps were a hell out of a lot better than the CM 212+ I was using before. As for risk, Corsair is great with warranty if the kit leaks and usually replaces whatever the cooler happens to ruin. I've had mine since January and have no issues. Even though this barely gives you a taste of real water cooling, because it's about as good as a very high end air cooler, using it has convinced me to never go back to air cooling for my main rig. You have the benefit of good cooling but you don't need a five pound chunk of metal hanging off your motherboard.
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post #7 of 32
The only thing you have to worry about is when the pump will actually stop working. When it stops working you wouldn't be able to notice it until your CPU is burnt to a crisp.

Unless it has an indicator, then I might be wrong :?
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post #8 of 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by funkdoobiesteve View Post

The only thing you have to worry about is when the pump will actually stop working. When it stops working you wouldn't be able to notice it until your CPU is burnt to a crisp.
Unless it has an indicator, then I might be wrong :?

Most motherboards can let you set an emergency temp that will force a power down.
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post #9 of 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by malikq86 View Post

^ Thanks guys. if I was to go with the Hydro series...how much cooler can I expect temps to be vs. the A70? Any idea?
EDIT: Is it just me for does A70 actually cooler better than Hydro Series H50: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1389/6/
Perhaps I should look at H100 for improvements.

None of the H-series coolers really perform better than the top-end air coolers, even the H100 is neck and neck with Noctua's top cooler. I'd personally pass on the H-series, unless you lack the clearance to go with a large air cooler, which with an A70 I don't think that's an issue. The H100 will likely cool better than your current cooler, but the Noctua NH-D14 costs less and I believe is actually quieter as well. The H-series lack the large performance benefit of a custom water cooling solution, with the upside of essentially no maintenance.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Xylene View Post

Most motherboards can let you set an emergency temp that will force a power down.

Or emergency shutdown when the cpu fan rpm's drop too low, which is the pump rpm in the case of the H-series.
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post #10 of 32
I've actually been thinking of picking up one of the smaller coolers...what is the likely ness that the pump fails?
 
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