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Corsair H60 or Antec Kuhler 620?

N

Neutralman

Member
Looking at one of these closed-loop liquid cooling systems for my next build. I was wondering if anyone knew which one is a better choice? Online reviews for both look good.

Anyone have experience with either? Ease of installation? Also, is there a high chance these things will leak and destroy everything?

I'm mainly doing this because I can't stand the big heatsinks of the top air-cooling units. If you know a better closed-loop liquid cooling unit please advise! Budget isn't an issue. Let me know thanks.

Corsair H60 vs Antec Kuhler 620
 
I'm with the H60 and the installation is certainly easy. If the stock fan bugs you there are lots of options for 120mm fans and it's not problematic to switch to another (or two) if you want to go the extra effort/expense.
 
I'm considering these two coolers as well. I do have a question, though. I've already got a Xigmatek RS-1283 mounted to my board using a bolt-thru kit. It is safe to assume that if I buy either of these coolers, I can just reuse the screws from my Xigmatek to secure them to the board? Their screws might work as well; what I want to avoid is having to remove the board in order to install their backplate. I'm thinking I should be able to use the existing Xigmatek backplate since the holes are standard. Is my thinking wrong?
 
620 Man here.

Push/Pull - very happy with performance.
4.7 2500k with max loads at 68-70.


(Have a shitty case, that has bad airflow but airflow nonetheless).
 
they are both generally the same thing.

personally if i have to go enclosed i like the one from coolit vantage with a cool LCD screen.

and no im not kidding.
 
Neutralman said:
Looking at one of these closed-loop liquid cooling systems for my next build. I was wondering if anyone knew which one is a better choice? Online reviews for both look good.

Anyone have experience with either? Ease of installation? Also, is there a high chance these things will leak and destroy everything?

I'm mainly doing this because I can't stand the big heatsinks of the top air-cooling units. If you know a better closed-loop liquid cooling unit please advise! Budget isn't an issue. Let me know thanks.

Corsair H60 vs Antec Kuhler 620
Click to expand...

Don't hear much of a lot of leaks with the Corsair product. I'm guessing when these units do fail its more of a pump failure than a leak. Basically just slows down and doesn't perform (cools) as it should or stops working altogether. I imagine its the same with the Antec Kuhler product.
 
I'd say go with the Corsair, because they're a bit more established. However, can't see how you can go wrong, if that's the type of product you are looking for. Just don't get the older H50/H70 because those are pretty noisy.

aigomorla said:
personally if i have to go enclosed i like the one from coolit vantage with a cool LCD screen.
Click to expand...

I bet you like the backlit screen. :awe:
 
I have the H60 in my Antec 900 now. After installing it, I noticed my temps were a bit high and after intensive investigating, I realized the heatsink/pump was resting on some caps on my motherboard and NOT the CPU. Be careful about that. Also, I could never tell that it was running because it is THAT quiet so that made it a little harder to troubleshoot at first. The only way I could tell was if I felt the vibration on the hosing from the liquids being pushed.

I set ALL of my fans in my case to go low (except for the H60 fan of course) and I can hardly hear my computer which is sitting right on my desk next to me. I have a Q9550 OC'ed to 3.65ghz and have really no need to add another fan for push pull (maxes ouit at around 58C).
 
Zap said:
I bet you like the backlit screen. :awe:
Click to expand...

Hey!

if your going to go Toy class Enclosed!
You might as well get the full bling no?

:biggrin:

imageview.php

imageview.php
 
I don't know which is better. However over the weekend, I bought the H60. I was extremely tempted to go for the Antec, but I could pick up the H60 at Best Buy (where I had $20 gift card) plus I have Corsair case, PSU, and RAM. So I went with the Corsair.

Now...I have the H60 setup with only the single fan. Initially I set it up to exhaust and I was not getting great temps. Running stock, no OC, on a 2500k, the OCCT auto test gave me a high of 65.

I ended up switching the H60 (still with just one fan) to intake at the rear of my case; put a single fan on top of my case to exhaust and reseated the pump on the CPU. When I took it off I did find that it wasn't evenly making contact. Once I did all this, I ran OCCT again and my max temp was 50c.

Now that my temps are under control, I do plan to start trying to OC.

Sandy&


I do think the tubes are pretty stiff and I think that contributed to the uneven seating. When I took the pump off to reseat, the contact was not as good on the side opposite where the tubes connect. So when I re-attached it, I made sure to firmly tighten down the screws on the left before doing the screws on the right (side with the tubes).
 
@texasnightowl

Do you think it would work if you mounted the rad at the top right of your pic, at the top of your case, as an intake? Then you could mount a 2nd 120mm fan where the rad is now, as an exhaust.
 
I did consider that...but fan + rad = @ 2 inches thick and would obstruct the 2 x 4-pin CPU fan headers at the top of the board. And the top left (where I ended up putting a fan for exhaust) would obstruct the 8pin power. It's possible it might not obstruct it as much as I thought it would?

Anyway, I did put in a fan at the top left, right above the rad, for exhaust and so far so good.

My main concern about switching it to intake actually was no fan filter. I need to find a metal fan filter or something to put over the back and then it won't bother me.
 
I do think the tubes are pretty stiff and I think that contributed to the uneven seating.
Click to expand...

Yeah on my Asus I have the h60 rotated 90degrees counter-clockwise because that way the tubes were extended more and not stressed.

Also I do have the fans pulling air in. I bought a fan filter and simply taped it on the back with electrical tape. You cant really mount the filter witrh screws because the fans and radiator would need to be removed when you wanted to clean the filter. Pictures here:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=31975084&postcount=266

Dave
 
I'm definitely going to pick up a fan filter because I do plan to leave the H60 pulling air in. I just ran Intel Burn Test for first time ever which seems to have the rep for causing the highest temps and the H60 held my max temp at 56c. Yes, basically stock, 3.4, but I'm still happy with that.
 
The thermal compound that is on there is supposedly very good...Shin Etsu I think. I did start off with that but since I had to reseat it, I ended up using MX4.
 
I ran a comparison test on the H60 cooler with a 2600K @ 4.8Ghz for a 20 minute Prime95 stress test in both fan configurations (exhaust vs intake). If you use the stock H60 with no added fans, you must mount the H60 with the fan pushing into the radiator to get optimal cooling. This means Corsair logo facing radiator. This results in higher static air pressure through the radiator (denser air = more thermo transfer), and cooler air pulled from outside the case. The problem, I think, is the Corsair directions in the box don't address fan configuration, so one could assume it is semi-optional and/or may not make more than a few degrees difference. I also read a review at legitreviews on the H60 that claimed only 3 degrees difference, but this was with a 4.0Ghz i7 930, which I have no idea compares to a 4.8Ghz 2600K. Personally, I chose the exhaust pull config since that is traditionally what I do.


In fact, in my setup it makes 13C difference! After researching what Corsair says about the H60 fan, it is designed specifically for high static pressure, so that tells me they intend you to mount the fan so. Reading a lot of threads here and elsewhere, I see a mix, and this explains why some people see better performance with HSF than the H60. (Though even in optimal config, the H60 won't beat the very best HSF, but comes pretty close).


I'm using a Corsair Graphite 600T case, which pushes out the top, so it is perfect for pulling in the back. Here are the numbers with pull/exhaust vs push/intake mounting. If formatting isn't clear below, the 1st temp column is exhaust and second temp column is intake and the third column is the temp diff. End result at 15 minutes of load, max temps of 94C and 82C respectively with exhaust vs intake. The latter is relatively good for 4.8Ghz and well worth the price, given the small size and low noise it provides. I'd still like to test the Antec Kuhler 620 to see how it compares on my system.



Code: 
2600K @ 4.8Ghz - Prime95 Large FFT 4 threads
Time CPU Temp CPU Temp Differential
(Exhaust/Pull) (Intake/Push)
1 min 77C 74C -3C
2 min 81C 77C -4C
3 min 85C 79C -6C
4 min 88C 80C -8C
5 min 90C 80C -10C
6 min 91C 80C -11C
7 min 92C 80C -12C
8 min 92C 81C -11C
9 min 93C 81C -12C
10 min 92C 81C -11C
11 min 93C 82C -11C
12 min 94C 81C -13C
13 min NA 82C NA
14 min NA 81C NA
15 min NA 81C NA
20 min NA 81C NA


*NA = I shut the first test off before I fried my 2600K ()🙂


Bumping to 4.9Ghz I got 20 minutes Prime95 max temp at 85C. I only tested that speed in intake config. 🙂


I have new respect for the H60, but it is also clear that 4.9-5.0 is about where the H60 gets off. It seems, based on reviews, that the Antec Kuhler 620 is a few degrees cooler, but I don't own one to test. I can verify that the review I read nowhere near matches my findings. A 2600K @ 4.8 can overload the cooler, and it is more than just 3 degrees under load.
 
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