I am building a new rig consisting of an i5 3570K, Gene V and a Silverstone TJ08-E. The CPU will receive a mild overclock to 4GHz (maybe 4.2GHz at most) and I am looking for a cooler. However, I have been too busy with work & family to keep up with which is the best to get. There are so many available now that I am looking for some guidance on which is the best to get for my build, taking into account performance, reliability, noise and fit in my case. Anyone have any useful information or suggestions as to which one to get? I'll consider air or hydro coolers but no full blown water-cooling.
Assuming a 3570K at 4.2GHz isn't any hotter then a 2500K at 4.5GHz, I can heartily recommend the Corsair H55 for around £55. I've never hit 50 degrees on a core in game, plus you can add another decent SP fan to it for additional power if you need it. But if you want more flexibility then look at the H80i or the H100i because AFAIK the fans can be controlled from within Windows. Doesn't bother me as my fan is hooked up to a Bitfenix Recon for full control. If you prefer air then the Thermalright Archon SB-E X2 is the new king of the crop, but it's a bit of a minger.
The problem is that there are the following hydro coolers to choose from: 2 Antec's 1 Cooler Master 5 Corsair's (excluding double rad models) 2 NZXT's 2 Thermaltake's I think I would prefer a Corsair given the excellent warranty service I have had from them in the past. What is the difference in the radiators between the H55, H60, H70, H90 and H80i?
They are all much of a muchness, I chose Corsair for the reasons you have stated above, plus they are more likely to help you out if your cooler craps out a load of coolant over your components. H55: Single 120mm rad, single 1700RPM fan H60: As H55 but with 2000RPM SP120 fan & different pump H70: Old stock now, thicker rad with 2 fans as standard H80i: 120mm rad, dual SP120 fans, uprated pump, compatible with Corsair Link H90: 140mm version of the old H80, thinner rad, single non-retail fan, no Corsair Link compatibility AFAIK the rads on the 55, 60 and 80 are largely the same, the 70 is fatter and the 90 is thinner but 2cm wider/taller.
IGNORE - didnt see the double rad bit my bad! But the software comes with the h80i aswell. I have a H100i and the software is outstanding. The fans are controlled from in windows on different profiles. Very impressive. Im currently at 4.5Ghz on quiet profile which is 2 fans at around 800rpm (very quiet) and its keeps my cores at around 28 - 30 with one core always a couple of degrees hotter than the rest :/ but think thats to do with my chip rather than the cooler. Its a dual 120mm rad though so need to make sure it can fit for case. If it fits I highly recommend it for cooling and noise. Im sure if you look in the bargains thread in the market place they were talking about a corsair cooler that was on offer, could be worth a look.
With the tj08e it is probably worth noting that a h80i with 2 fans sticks out enough to benefit from the cpu cooler support arm, so puts far less strain on your case!
I have been running the 2013 model of the H60 for around 6 weeks now on my i7 920 @ 3.8. It easily tames that topping out at around 65 under load. But I did invest in a couple of SP120 fans in push pull but that only makes a small difference. I would go for a corsair based on the build quality and easy installation.
Having the H100i, I would thoroughly recommend the H80i specifically for the Corsair Link support & the thicker tubes / improved fans - they make a real difference to temperatures & you can run the fans very low whilst keeping temperatures low too
Whilst I would heartily love an H80i or H100i, for me it would be nothing more than an exercise in extending my electric penis. No offence to those who use one of course, you had your reasons, here are mine. I think unless you are planning to tame a seriously overvolted chip (or a moderately overclocked 2011 one) they are awesomely engineered overkill. I always agree that lower temps are better, but I tried a mate's spare H100i soon after I bought my H55 and the delta T was ~5°C lower on the H100i with the fans in performance mode. Worth the 100% price premium? Not for me. I don't doubt that the H55 would struggle with a top end chip by comparison, but those are out of my range anyway. This would be a good reference for you Fingers, because that setup will likely reflect your heatkilling requirements quite well (my testing results were almost identical to these for the H55 and H100i with my 2500k @ 4.5GHz). Of course the ability to control the fan from Windows on the H80i and H100i is a boon, but because my fans are all hooked up to my Recon I didn't need the functionality.
the phanteks PH-TC12DX looks nice and performs well if you're looking at closed loop coolers just make sure the one you buy is not designed by CoolIT look into asetek designed units, they're listed here: http://www.asetek.com/customers/do-it-yourself.html
Out of curiosity what have you against the models designed by CoolIT? And how can you tell which models are made by who?
Go for the h40 as that's the cheapest in the range. I have one for testing purposes and it managed to cool a sandy at 1.5v. As i doubt you would be putting that much voltage through your chip that cooler will be enough
CoolIT has had too many quality control issues in the past their first gen all in one coolers (domino) tended to fall apart later ones like the h60/80/100 had widespread problems with the pump making noise and leakage isn't uncommon asetek OTOH has had pretty much a golden reputation for quality these are asetek: http://www.asetek.com/liquid-cpu-cooling.html these are coolit: http://www.coolitsystems.com/index.php/products/retail.html cooler master and swiftech's coolers are their own design
Well I guess time will tell as my H60 is the newer model made by CoolIT. However it was a replacement for a H50 which was made by asetek and started leaking!!!!!! ***EDIT*** I think the technology and design behind these coolers has come a long way over the 4 years when we first started seeing them appear on the market. Which ever brand you go with I think the failure rate is going to be pretty equal.
I wouldn't worry too much Pookie, they are both trying to outdo each other all the time and the QC from both companies has increased dramatically in the past year or so. Besides, Corsair give you a 5 year warranty and pay compensation to replaced damaged components - which is nice.
I can vouch for the compensation offer. Luckily I spotted the leak early and no damage was done and Corsair RMA process is painless and effective
Hey was wondering, the h80i, good enough for a slightly over clocked 3570k? Really don't want it running too hot, also is it possible to use it as an exhaust instead of intake with the screws they provide? I don't really want an intake on the back of my case, using the zalman z11, so it already has 3 intake and 2 exhaust
