Anyone use closed loop watercooling on their CPU? ie Corsair H50

[Ancalagon44]

So I'm going to buy a new PC at the end of this year, and I'm looking into what CPU cooler to buy, for whichever CPU I get (could be either BD or SB depending on benchmarks and price). The Antec 620 and Corsair H50 look quite attractive, I just wanted feedback from anyone who has them if they are worth using. I see that Corsair recommends that the H50 be used on an intake vent - anyone use it on an exhaust? I dont like the idea of the fan just behind the CPU pulling air in, I prefer it being an exhaust.

Do they perform any better than a decent HSF, like the Corsair A50? From what I've seen, results are mixed.

If anyone is curious, my case will more than likely be the Corsair 400R, PSU the Corsair HX650, and I'll get a 256GB Crucial m4 and a WD Caviar Black 1TB. Gfx probably a 6850. Maybe a 6950.

 

[tulx]

I do not have a water-cooler myself, but from the general consensus it seems that entry-level water coolers like the Corsair A50 do not outperform the best air coolers. I.e. - their advantage is not temperature, but smaller space requirements (at least inside the case).
To be frank - the best air coolers are very, very good and should suit any needs. Only if you do extreme overclocks you should use higher-end water coolers. Or maybe you just like water coolers and want to buy them for the sake of it, which is also perfectly fine. In that case, someone with more experience in water cooling should drop by.

 

[sb.0326]

tulx is right. I have a Corsair H60 with two fans in a push pull config. It does it's job well enough, though it certainly can't compete with a true water cooling setup. It is competitive with high end air coolers winning in some areas and losing in others.

 

[Ancalagon44]

Corsair A50 is an air cooler, H50 is the water cooler.

Cool, thanks, that seems to be the general opinion. They just look very... well tidy. Pity they arent actually much quieter.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

The closed loop system is more for looks then for performance.

 

[ensign_lee]

I have an H50, switched to it from a CoolerMaster Hyper 212.

Honestly, the difference is negligible in terms of cooling. It makes the inside of my case look much cleaner, so if that matters to you, then yes it's better, but in terms of actual cooling, it doesn't help.

In fact, it may have slightly made things *worse* for my poor crossfired 6970s. The fans in the 212 used to take the heat in the case and blow it towards the exhaust fan at the back, which I think helped to lower temps by about 10 celcius for my poor video cards who live at like 90 celcius with my H50(distributed computing) by lowering the ambient temps in the case. With the 212, they lived at closer to 80 celcius.

So no, I wouldn't say it was money well spent. I might even take out the H50 and replace it with my 212 again in the future.

 

[StrangerGuy]

tl;dr version:

Don't bother with them and just use air cooling. The latter has no risk of water leaks and performs better at similar pricing/noise levels.

 

[prtuc2]

One of the thing people don't mention is the build quality of the heatsink, heatsink like CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ get the job done however the build quality is quite bad. What I mean is if you apply extra pressure on the fins they will bend, something like Noctua or Thermalright on the hand their build quality are excellent.

From what I have gather the H50 is similar to what a CM Hyper 212+ will give you around 30 dollars on newegg. Unless you want to use tall ram or don't like big heatsink tower you don't get more cooling performance from them.

Noise is not better than air cooler due to the pump speed and the fan speed to attain certain performance.

 

[Ancalagon44]

Thanks guys, normal air cooling it is then.

 

[mrjoltcola]

I agree with the rest of the guys. I initially chose the low-end H60 for a clean setup, and to get decent, quiet cooling at moderate OC speed. I knew before I bought it that it wasn't the best cooler available, but I also overestimated it a bit (or underestimated the 2600K's potential). The H60 fits my original job description, it'll keep the CPU Temp at around the Intel TCase recommendation during indefinite Prime95 CPU load test @ 4.2Ghz, and as the clock climbs to 4.6, CPU load temps climb to 80C. @ 4.8Ghz, it hits 90C and still climbing after 10 minutes of Prime95, even though stable, and I shut the test down and ordered an H100.

Would I buy the C60 again for any application? Only for a low-noise, conservative overclock. For a max-stable overclock, it isn't enough. An H80 would be minimum. Though Newegg is selling a 4.6Ghz pre-tested 2600K kit, and it includes the H60. So I guess it is enough for them.

 

[Bill Brasky]

Noise is not better than air cooler due to the pump speed and the fan speed to attain certain performance.

This would be a deal breaker for me. Switching to a water cooling setup would have to more quiet than air.

 

[Ferzerp]

These threads usually devolve in to the following.

People who have read reviews that claim they're awful and noisy... These people will tell you they're a waste of money and to buy a HSF.

People who own them who claim they are sufficient and quiet... These people will tell you that they know they could get ever so slightly better cooling out of a giant HSF, but like the small block on the processor and can't figure out why in the world the first set of people claim they're noisy.

 

[sequoia464]

People who own them who claim they are sufficient and quiet... These people will tell you that they know they could get ever so slightly better cooling out of a giant HSF, but like the small block on the processor and can't figure out why in the world the first set of people claim they're noisy.

Pretty much hit it on the head. I have an H60 and ... what you said.

 

[mmaestro]

Also worth noting that the better closed loop coolers do do a comparible job to the best air coolers, and you can fit them in a smaller case. I couldn't fit a big Noctua in my case if I wanted to, but I can fit an H2O 920 in there no problem.

 

[blackened23]

tl;dr version:

Don't bother with them and just use air cooling. The latter has no risk of water leaks and performs better at similar pricing/noise levels.

The best closed loop systems have been shown to perform as well and better than the best air coolers, while taking up less space in the PC. There are multiple sites showing the best closed loop systems beating the noctua NH-D14. I haven't heard of any reliability incidents with the asetek systems. Looking at my antec, you'd really have to abuse the hell out of it and go out of your way with a knife to make it fail.

Also....whoever said 90C with an H60? Your unit was defective or not mounted properly. Period. I had an H50 before that wouldn't exceed 61C with a 4.7ghz overclock.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marx0r/4224079030/

I don't like having a jet engine insaide of my case that blocks my RAM and upper PCI-e retaining mechanism

\

 

[mrjoltcola]

Also....whoever said 90C with an H60? Your unit was defective or not mounted properly. Period. I had an H50 before that wouldn't exceed 61C with a 4.7ghz overclock.

That was me - 90C @ 4.8Ghz.

Maybe, but I don't think so. We'll find out tomorrow, I ordered a tube of thermal paste to try a reseat and get new numbers before the H100 goes in.

90C isn't so out of line with what I've seen with H60, including the graph you just posted. Mine runs about as cool at same speed as the H60 in the graph. At 4.7Ghz, your chip w/H50 was running 10C cooler at load than the chip in your graph at 4.15Ghz. It isn't hard to overwhelm the lower-end cooler.

Thanks for posting some factual info, btw.

 

[Ancalagon44]

How reliable are the pumps? I'd be worried about it failing.

 

[Sephire]

If only I have the time and money to spend on a proper watercooling setup.

 

[velis]

http://www.ekwaterblocks.com/shop/kits-cases/kits.html
^^ These guys make blocks for powercolr LCS radeons ^^

I have been using watercooling since 2009 and never had me a failed pump. Used Laing, EK and Eheim pumps.
Advantages:
- near silent operation, especially for gfx card
- you can move the heat (radiator) anywhere you want
- You can use a much smaller case since water will take the heat out of it

Disadvantages:
- messing around with tubing, liquids and stuff once a year: can actually be fun, not just a nuisance

I went water and I have no intention of going back to the loud hot crap that air "cooling" is. It's just too good. But you must buy something better than those crap CPU-only kits. They don't perform, but still give you all the disadvantages of WC.

 

[Gikaseixas]

I have two H50, see sig. They take less space, cool reasonably well and are quiet but they can't beat a top end air cooling setup. If you still wanna give it a try then i suggest H80 minimum or go H100

 

[zlejedi]

One of the thing people don't mention is the build quality of the heatsink, heatsink like CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ get the job done however the build quality is quite bad. What I mean is if you apply extra pressure on the fins they will bend, something like Noctua or Thermalright on the hand their build quality are excellent.

It doesn't really matter unless you are reinstalling it every other week And even then bend fin won't much much if at all impact on cooling anyway.

 

[Skott]

I have used the H50 in a few builds now and have yet experienced a pump fail or a water leak. I'd expect a pump failure more likely to happen than a water leak in these units.

 

[sangyup81]

The thing I like about the H50 is that the radiator and surrounding fans (I added a second) are pretty much on the exhaust vent on the back of the case. This means that the CPU does not add hot air to the inside of the case much. I have my GPUs doing that enough!

 

[Ancalagon44]

Okay I've decided to buy an Antec 620 with my next build. It got better reviews than the Corsair H50.

 

[QuantumPion]

Little nitpick here, but all water cooling systems are closed loop (unless you happen to be using a nearby river, lake, aquarium, etc)