Do huge air coolers make sense?

[BonzaiDuck]

Here's a comparison review spotlighting the Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU cooler. I also did a search for the "Be Quiet!" unit, which someone mentioned, that is perhaps more compact.

http://www.legitreviews.com/phanteks-ph-tc14pe-cpu-cooler-review_1759/7

While I'd seen performance comparisons between my NH-D14 and the Corsair H100( and "i") which show more than 5C degrees difference, it is now abundantly clear that these reviews don't consider modding the units where convenient. In the case of the Noctua and probably others, I've shown in another thread on the Akasa Viber 140R fan that you can replace the limp, puke-colored Noctua fans with a single one and get a 4C improvement through thermal fan-control. The Akasa doesn't create a noise problem other than what you'd anticipate for exploring the full performance of the cooler itself.

In the "Legit Review," the H100 bests the Phanteks by about 5C. Would I count on the Phanteks to come bundled with limp fans? Probably.

If a water pump goes bad, I suspect your system would shut down immediately when the processor reaches throttling temperature. Are the risks greater? I can't say. But if all the fans on a heatpipe cooler die, the cooler still keeps working. Hence, another poster's idea that the heatpipe offers reliability.

The question we could ask is whether the heatpipe technology will dead-end or keep up with the AiO coolers. I might guess that both approaches will -- or even are currently -- approaching their limits.

If Intel produces a performance CPU with a die size rivaling the head of a pin, maybe Intel will build a cooler for it the size of a silver dollar.

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

I didn't want to mess with water. I bought a Noctua D14 - why? Because it's the best air cooler out there, or it was when I bought it. I think it's a thing of beauty, not ugly at all. The CM V8 GTS looks interesting from a design standpoint as well. But anyone who is worried about their cooler's aesthetics needs to check their head!

 

[Maximilian]

They may take up space, but heatpipes are -- technically -- "liquid" or water cooling. But there are no parts to fail.

Thats the logic that drove me to the phantecs cooler over an H100. Plus its not like im gonna be using the space above and around the CPU for anything else anyways.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Thats the logic that drove me to the phantecs cooler over an H100. Plus its not like im gonna be using the space above and around the CPU for anything else anyways.

We need a comparison review to see if these Phanteks, the "Be Quiet!" and any others best the Noctua. Maximum PC had a review, but they often exclude coolers that don't advertise in the magazine unless they're likely to rate less than one so advertised. Perhaps there are other reasons, but there's no comparison with the Noctua.

The fact that I could dump those limp Noctua fans, keep the noise at previous levels while increasing throughput with the Viper fan and drop my average LinX temperatures by 4C -- it means there may be other minor improvements. I'd already lapped the IHS and HSF base to copper.

This, of course, is the Sandy Bridge in my sig. Now I'm looking at people trying to get Haswells past 4.5. Direct die and maybe Ultra Pro or Liquid Ultra may get you so far -- that's a big improvement. But if you take those cores past 1.2-something volts on the way to higher clocks, you might want a water-cooler.

I could do it with an Ivy Bridge -E chip, or use the Haswell. I could go "retro" on this idea and still use a water-cooling system for the Ivy Bridge -- the goal being to build a great computer - not just the latest.

 

[coffeejunkee]

There are plenty of comparisons between the NH-D14 and similar dual tower coolers, problem is they all show different outcomes. Open testbed vs closed case vs other closed case vs cpu used vs non-optimal mount, it all produces different numbers.

Then there's the really suspicious results as well, like the NH-U12S beating the NH-D14 in the test here: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6916/...-12-more-coolers-the-retest-and-megaroundup/6, it just doesn't make sense that half of the D14 beats both halves.

All in all I'd say the top dual towers perform about the same, maybe 1-2 degree difference.

 

[fleshconsumed]

Meh... I use AIO closed loop to cool my videocard because despite the pump noise, it's the quietest solution at load. However, I would never bother with water for the CPU. The huge tower coolers do a really good job and with zero noise. I'm mostly using Scythe Ninja's on my CPUs and they're so good I actually run them "fanless". There are case fans close to the heatsink that pull the air through the heatsink, but the heatsink itself does not have any fans directly attached to it. The Scythe Ninja solution is cheaper, quieter, and a lot less hassle to deal with compared to water. Now, if one wanted to go for max overclock without any noise considerations, I suppose water cooling would win, but I'm not one of those people.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Meh... I use AIO closed loop to cool my videocard because despite the pump noise, it's the quietest solution at load. However, I would never bother with water for the CPU. The huge tower coolers do a really good job and with zero noise. I'm mostly using Scythe Ninja's on my CPUs and they're so good I actually run them "fanless". There are case fans close to the heatsink that pull the air through the heatsink, but the heatsink itself does not have any fans directly attached to it. The Scythe Ninja solution is cheaper, quieter, and a lot less hassle to deal with compared to water. Now, if one wanted to go for max overclock without any noise considerations, I suppose water cooling would win, but I'm not one of those people.

Ironic. Water-cooling had once been promoted as causing less noise. What probably happened: those were the 80mm fan days, and the earliest heatpipes were heavy copper blocks with a couple of stubby heatpipes.

It's part of an overall dilemma pitting practical use, overclocking desires and an anticipation of the future. Will you always be able to re-use your water-cooling investment? Will future processors have lower TDPs? [Yes, but there's less CPU area to conduct heat.]

It takes a serious water-cooling system to see a drop of 20C over an air-cooled equivalent alternative -- given the alternatives available these days. But the AiO units won't take you that far.

Here's an interesting item for over $1,000:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...Tower_Case_115V_-_Black_.html?tl=g49c583s1864

Now, the encouraging thing -- refrigerators have been known to last for 50 years. But you have to wonder how many weeks, months, years before the phase-change unit shows a parts failure. You can invest up to $100 in air-cooling; you can invest up to $400 or $500 in water-cooling. Do you want to invest $1,000 in phase-change?

I think this spawned a couple products we only saw briefly, something called the "Cool-It!" which stuck in the drive-bays and reduced interior case air temperatures.

LN2, full-bore phase-change and other aspects -- we don't need to run our computers for practical use at -5C. We just need to reduce the gap between room-ambient and load. If I chose to invest in something like the "Little Devil" or one of the other coolers offered at Frozen, I'd want to be sure that it would only kick in when CPU temperatures exceeded room-ambient by 5C or so.

And there's something else. Our old refrigerator's crisper-box -- where we keep fresh vegetables at maybe 40F degrees, sits next to the freezer compartment. And for certain reasons explained to me by my brother, the panel beside the crisper tray always has a three-inch frozen hockey-puck of ice from [Oh, no!! . . ] CON-DEN-SA-TION!!

 

[tolis626]

We need a comparison review to see if these Phanteks, the "Be Quiet!" and any others best the Noctua. Maximum PC had a review, but they often exclude coolers that don't advertise in the magazine unless they're likely to rate less than one so advertised. Perhaps there are other reasons, but there's no comparison with the Noctua.

The fact that I could dump those limp Noctua fans, keep the noise at previous levels while increasing throughput with the Viper fan and drop my average LinX temperatures by 4C -- it means there may be other minor improvements. I'd already lapped the IHS and HSF base to copper.

This, of course, is the Sandy Bridge in my sig. Now I'm looking at people trying to get Haswells past 4.5. Direct die and maybe Ultra Pro or Liquid Ultra may get you so far -- that's a big improvement. But if you take those cores past 1.2-something volts on the way to higher clocks, you might want a water-cooler.

I could do it with an Ivy Bridge -E chip, or use the Haswell. I could go "retro" on this idea and still use a water-cooling system for the Ivy Bridge -- the goal being to build a great computer - not just the latest.

Amen to that!

The big tower heatsinks are supposedly rated for over 200W of heat dissipation.If this is true,I don't think they would have any problems with handling an overclocked Haswell,even with kinda extreme clocks like over 4.5GHz.And anyway,since we are comparing them to water cooling,I don't think any small single-radiator AIO water cooler would fare better.I think heatsinks like CoolerMasters monstrous ones,the Noctua NH-D14,the Phanteks and the Be Quiet! ones would all do better for similar amounts of money.To me,the only real solution better than heatsinks is 240mm radiators or bigger.Going into the trouble to install a water cooler and then having similar or worse performance than with air would be pretty disappointing...

That said,what would be better alternatives to the Corsair H100i?I've seen some Antec Kuhler and CoolerMaster ones but I haven't seen any numbers around.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Amen to that!

The big tower heatsinks are supposedly rated for over 200W of heat dissipation.If this is true,I don't think they would have any problems with handling an overclocked Haswell,even with kinda extreme clocks like over 4.5GHz.And anyway,since we are comparing them to water cooling,I don't think any small single-radiator AIO water cooler would fare better.I think heatsinks like CoolerMasters monstrous ones,the Noctua NH-D14,the Phanteks and the Be Quiet! ones would all do better for similar amounts of money.To me,the only real solution better than heatsinks is 240mm radiators or bigger.Going into the trouble to install a water cooler and then having similar or worse performance than with air would be pretty disappointing...

That said,what would be better alternatives to the Corsair H100i?I've seen some Antec Kuhler and CoolerMaster ones but I haven't seen any numbers around.

My own short-range myopia amazes me. My attentions kept returning to water-cooling -- from P4-Northwood, to Conroe -- Kentsfield and Wolfdale -- to Sandy Bridge. My decisions stuck with heatpipe coolers, precisely because you could get better-than-"adequate" overclocks (even "stellar") with TRUE, Megahalem . . . . NH-D14.

I could probably transfer my NH-D14 toward an OC'ing project for an Ivy-Bridge "K" chip. Or -- how much mileage would I get from a D14 and a de-lidded IB or Haswell?

But that's not the real issue. I actually built a case from an old Compaq server-box that rivals the "Little Devil" case:

http://webpages.charter.net/psywar_sentinel/chrome%20window.jpg

Just because if its size, I gave it away to my brother across the county. I could've modded it to rearrange the ATX threaded holes, the PSU etc. and put a phase-changer in the bottom! But I can't just go "get it back."

Instead, I bought three CoolerMaster HAF midtowers, banking on 200mm fan-intake. Now I see that I'll need to mod the case to stick a Nepton 280 in there, and there are still some mods I'd make for a Corsair H100i.

Tsk. . . tsk. . . tsk. . . Hmmm . . .

I think I'm answering my own question. There's this:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...200mm_Radiator_-_Version_2_-_Full_Copper.html

or -- if it doesn't fit a 200mm fan, it can be made to fit. My only shortcoming with this HAF excursion: I would need to build my own water-loop equivalent to the AiO kits.

 

[tolis626]

My own short-range myopia amazes me. My attentions kept returning to water-cooling -- from P4-Northwood, to Conroe -- Kentsfield and Wolfdale -- to Sandy Bridge. My decisions stuck with heatpipe coolers, precisely because you could get better-than-"adequate" overclocks (even "stellar") with TRUE, Megahalem . . . . NH-D14.

I could probably transfer my NH-D14 toward an OC'ing project for an Ivy-Bridge "K" chip. Or -- how much mileage would I get from a D14 and a de-lidded IB or Haswell?

But that's not the real issue. I actually built a case from an old Compaq server-box that rivals the "Little Devil" case:

http://webpages.charter.net/psywar_sentinel/chrome%20window.jpg

Just because if its size, I gave it away to my brother across the county. I could've modded it to rearrange the ATX threaded holes, the PSU etc. and put a phase-changer in the bottom! But I can't just go "get it back."

Instead, I bought three CoolerMaster HAF midtowers, banking on 200mm fan-intake. Now I see that I'll need to mod the case to stick a Nepton 280 in there, and there are still some mods I'd make for a Corsair H100i.

Tsk. . . tsk. . . tsk. . . Hmmm . . .

I think I'm answering my own question. There's this:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...200mm_Radiator_-_Version_2_-_Full_Copper.html

or -- if it doesn't fit a 200mm fan, it can be made to fit. My only shortcoming with this HAF excursion: I would need to build my own water-loop equivalent to the AiO kits.

Having built one complete water loop for a friend with some help,I can say that I think it's not worth it and I certainly wouldn't spend money on one.It costs too much for what it's worth and the trouble it is to set up...Meh,not for me.It might offer the best cooling performance possible without exotic cooling systems,but I could live with a slower processor and GPU and save me the trouble.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Having built one complete water loop for a friend with some help,I can say that I think it's not worth it and I certainly wouldn't spend money on one.It costs too much for what it's worth and the trouble it is to set up...Meh,not for me.It might offer the best cooling performance possible without exotic cooling systems,but I could live with a slower processor and GPU and save me the trouble.

Sure . . . and we're pretty much clocked to the same frequency about that.

Of course, this is the "Cases & Cooling" forum. I'd expect a distribution of folks who visit here and visit there on "CPUs and Overclocking." There may be some in the distribution who don't visit there. But since temperature affects voltage, voltage affects clock-speed and so-on-so-forth, we may be headed toward a "crossroads" among the minions. Not all the minions -- just some of them.

That's why I've balked on jumping into Ivy Bridge -- and as the plot has unfolded, so to speak -- getting my feet wet with Haswell.

We are traveling . . . through a dimension of space and time . . . Maybe the landscape of facts and relationships begins to look more like the "Twilight Zone." There's a lot goin' on.

There's any number of paths forward or oblique and sideways. For instance, I could still decide to build a Sandy-Bridge "E" socket-2011 system -- 130W TDP. Air is going to send you quickly to a limit on your over-clocking efforts there. And that's not even IB-E or Haswell-E. But the direction is indicated by the IB and Haswell fabrication changes, the de-lidding experiments.

Me? My place in the distribution of priorities? I have enough older computers that my practical uses and needs are distributed or easily resumed with this or that hardware problem.

Sticking with the i7-2600K thus far has been a monumental achievement for me. This is real discipline!

But it's an itch I need to scratch. I can't HELP myself! Of all those choices among successors of Sandy Bridge, which one will I finally pick? Especially if I've ridden my "Zebra-68" build for 30 months? Next time, it may be "Ice Station Zebra." But I should be able to go 5 years on this system! It's only a question of will, and whether I will or whether I won't.

Of course, I could buy the new parts, put it together, test it and begin regular usage, then sell the old stuff -- together or separately.

If I can just keep talking about it and take my time, I can put it off for a while longer.

UPDATE: Anyway, it looks like Intel's own strategy is poised to change the mobile devices market. They're reducing power requirements, slowly pushing up the default speed, and leaving enthusiast heat-mitigation problems up to . . . enthusiasts . . .

 

[tolis626]

Sure . . . and we're pretty much clocked to the same frequency about that.

Of course, this is the "Cases & Cooling" forum. I'd expect a distribution of folks who visit here and visit there on "CPUs and Overclocking." There may be some in the distribution who don't visit there. But since temperature affects voltage, voltage affects clock-speed and so-on-so-forth, we may be headed toward a "crossroads" among the minions. Not all the minions -- just some of them.

That's why I've balked on jumping into Ivy Bridge -- and as the plot has unfolded, so to speak -- getting my feet wet with Haswell.

We are traveling . . . through a dimension of space and time . . . Maybe the landscape of facts and relationships begins to look more like the "Twilight Zone." There's a lot goin' on.

There's any number of paths forward or oblique and sideways. For instance, I could still decide to build a Sandy-Bridge "E" socket-2011 system -- 130W TDP. Air is going to send you quickly to a limit on your over-clocking efforts there. And that's not even IB-E or Haswell-E. But the direction is indicated by the IB and Haswell fabrication changes, the de-lidding experiments.

Me? My place in the distribution of priorities? I have enough older computers that my practical uses and needs are distributed or easily resumed with this or that hardware problem.

Sticking with the i7-2600K thus far has been a monumental achievement for me. This is real discipline!

But it's an itch I need to scratch. I can't HELP myself! Of all those choices among successors of Sandy Bridge, which one will I finally pick? Especially if I've ridden my "Zebra-68" build for 30 months? Next time, it may be "Ice Station Zebra." But I should be able to go 5 years on this system! It's only a question of will, and whether I will or whether I won't.

Of course, I could buy the new parts, put it together, test it and begin regular usage, then sell the old stuff -- together or separately.

If I can just keep talking about it and take my time, I can put it off for a while longer.

UPDATE: Anyway, it looks like Intel's own strategy is poised to change the mobile devices market. They're reducing power requirements, slowly pushing up the default speed, and leaving enthusiast heat-mitigation problems up to . . . enthusiasts . . .

I hear you bro.That "itch" you say?I've had it for about as long as I can remember myself fiddling around with computers.It's just that my budget is always limited to the point that I decide I won't do anything instead of doing some half-arsed almost-adequate build with an AMD APU.If you're gonna do something,do it right or don't do it at all.

Regarding Intel's strategy...Well,some of the people here may either need to adapt in the future and shift to lower TDP parts,or they're gonna end up with a tablet that has a radiator and water block attached to it,running at 4+GHz.I know I'll end up in the second category,but to each their own. 😛

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I hear you bro.That "itch" you say?I've had it for about as long as I can remember myself fiddling around with computers.It's just that my budget is always limited to the point that I decide I won't do anything instead of doing some half-arsed almost-adequate build with an AMD APU.If you're gonna do something,do it right or don't do it at all.

Regarding Intel's strategy...Well,some of the people here may either need to adapt in the future and shift to lower TDP parts,or they're gonna end up with a tablet that has a radiator and water block attached to it,running at 4+GHz.I know I'll end up in the second category,but to each their own. 😛

Yeah. this is the only refuge I have where I don't feel "19th century" for lacka-mobile . . . I should concentrate on getting a "Surface" -type computer this year.

. . . But sooner or later, HBO or SHO or TNT will air "The Right Stuff" or "The World's Fastest Indian" or "War Games" and I'll loose control . . .

 

[cytoSiN]

We need a comparison review to see if these Phanteks, the "Be Quiet!" and any others best the Noctua.

I'd especially like to see a comparison of the better low-profile coolers on the market, and then compare those to the better "huge air coolers." For example, the Noctua NH-L12 vs. the Be Quiet! Shadow Rock TOPFLOW. Of course, I can't find the Shadow Rock ANYWHERE in the US, and Be Quiet! has been ignoring my emails trying to get one here. 🙁

Here's a review of the NH-L12 that contains a terrific comparison of LOTS of different coolers of all kinds, including some "huge" and some low-profile air coolers, but looks like they couldn't get their hands on the Be Quiet! coolers either. Someone in Germany needs to call Be Quiet! and tell them they're missing out on sales opportunities in the USA!

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'd especially like to see a comparison of the better low-profile coolers on the market, and then compare those to the better "huge air coolers." For example, the Noctua NH-L12 vs. the Be Quiet! Shadow Rock TOPFLOW. Of course, I can't find the Shadow Rock ANYWHERE in the US, and Be Quiet! has been ignoring my emails trying to get one here. 🙁

Here's a review of the NH-L12 that contains a terrific comparison of LOTS of different coolers of all kinds, including some "huge" and some low-profile air coolers, but looks like they couldn't get their hands on the Be Quiet! coolers either. Someone in Germany needs to call Be Quiet! and tell them they're missing out on sales opportunities in the USA!

Some aspects of "markets" can seem a bit chaotic. I had noticed that Maximum PC would print a review of some six or seven coolers, pulling one with the data results to trump the others. Flip over the last page of the review article, and you'd find a one or two-page ad from the winner.

There was once a root of scandals called "payola." For instance, promoters for some record company or entertainer would pay a radio station to feature their song or record; "top-10" status or rating would be revealed as falsely obtained.

When I immersed myself in cooler comparison reviews beginning around 2005, I discovered occasional comparisons -- and sometimes just single reviews -- which used a near-absolute measure of performance excluding noise. The reviewer and his lab assistants would do their best to measure a cooler's thermal resistance. The lower the thermal resistance, the more effective the cooler.

But you still need some basis of comparison, or it would be your best guess as to what cooler had the lowest thermal resistance. It then turns out that similar reliable measures were possible with maybe a tad less precision. As long as you could either control air-flow or show how measures were influenced by airflow, you only needed to measure the difference between ambient temperature and load temperature, or even the difference between idle temperature and load. You would control the tests according to thermal paste used and any other factors in addition to airflow. A single column of these differences among many coolers would reveal the top performers.

If a review didn't contain your cooler of interest matched against those you also felt relevant to the comparison, you could find a second review (with luck) containing a cooler that was common to both. So you could apply the old transitivity axiom: "If X > Y and Y > Z, then X > Z."

 

[cytoSiN]

If a review didn't contain your cooler of interest matched against those you also felt relevant to the comparison, you could find a second review (with luck) containing a cooler that was common to both. So you could apply the old transitivity axiom: "If X > Y and Y > Z, then X > Z."

True, but that's complicated, and odds are the test systems would differ, sometimes wildly. That's why I love FrozenCPU's approach to comparing all coolers on the same reference systems for both Intel and AMD.

But I'm still bitter that BeQuiet! products don't seem to be available in the US. Maybe by my next build they'll figure it out.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

True, but that's complicated, and odds are the test systems would differ, sometimes wildly. That's why I love FrozenCPU's approach to comparing all coolers on the same reference systems for both Intel and AMD.

But I'm still bitter that BeQuiet! products don't seem to be available in the US. Maybe by my next build they'll figure it out.

Well, this topic still puts me at a crossroads. I found some reviews testing the Ivy Bridge "E" processor with Intel's own water cooler and the NH-D14. The D14 is "adequate" for a mild over-clocking, but falls short for just a Mhz or two more. The Intel water-cooler is way behind.

I can think about these things for almost the remainder of the year. And -- really -- this isn't about "needing" another system, either.

 

[tolis626]

Well, this topic still puts me at a crossroads. I found some reviews testing the Ivy Bridge "E" processor with Intel's own water cooler and the NH-D14. The D14 is "adequate" for a mild over-clocking, but falls short for just a Mhz or two more. The Intel water-cooler is way behind.

I can think about these things for almost the remainder of the year. And -- really -- this isn't about "needing" another system, either.

Is Intel's cooler really THAT bad?Not that they have any expertise in cooling,but still...

Anyway,I'm at a similar situation.I can keep thinking about what I will get for my computer almost indefinitely.Our difference is I need to buy something in the not so distant future,because my old PC is...Inadequate (Profanity isn't allowed in the forums,but I really wanted to say some bad stuff about it).

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Is Intel's cooler really THAT bad?Not that they have any expertise in cooling,but still...

Anyway,I'm at a similar situation.I can keep thinking about what I will get for my computer almost indefinitely.Our difference is I need to buy something in the not so distant future,because my old PC is...Inadequate (Profanity isn't allowed in the forums,but I really wanted to say some bad stuff about it).

There are more than one "cycles" in computer parts development, including the CPU -- the main focus of interest. Another could be the length of time it takes for a new motherboard BIOS to mature. So, given the varied usage of different computer users, their previous choices and other factors, they all come to the table at different times -- howsoever they may be served (or put off) by the latest cycle.

I'd call you motive more one of "need." I'm trying to control my "want." But if I'd built my last three major systems with overclocking in mind, and if I dismissed water-cooling as unnecessary for the kind of overclocking I wanted to do, it now looms again at a "crossroads." But I could probably go at least a couple more years before I get to the crossroads.

The problem with that: there will be more cycles of hardware evolution . . . zooming through the intersection.. . .

 

[4960X]

The NH-D14 is considered to be one of the best air coolers out there for a reason. It competes and beats some of the high end closed-liquid-coolers with little effort while still being quieter.


Here's two reviews I found on the NH-D14 handling the 3770K @ 4.6Ghz.


http://www.relaxedtech.com/reviews/noctua/nh-l9i-nh-d14/6
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/corsair_h110_review,13.html

 

[tolis626]

The NH-D14 is considered to be one of the best air coolers out there for a reason. It competes and beats some of the high end closed-liquid-coolers with little effort while still being quieter.


Here's two reviews I found on the NH-D14 handling the 3770K @ 4.6Ghz.


http://www.relaxedtech.com/reviews/noctua/nh-l9i-nh-d14/6
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/corsair_h110_review,13.html

As I said before,I want my next rig to finally be one that I will be proud to own,so looks do matter to me this time.And having a case with a side window in mind,the Noctuas are a no go.I like the cooling performance and reliability,but WTH with that color scheme?I would probably buy it with any other color scheme,except this one that reminds me of my toilet of all things.

Anyway...I'm seriously thinking about the CM Eisberg 240L Prestige.Firstly because it seems to perform excellent (Apart from the review at overclock3d,every other site seems to recommend it),and secondly because it's modular.Meaning I could expand it into a ghetto full water loop if I wanted.I probably won't trust the whole system to it,but still it's nice that the possibility is there.The price tag is a little hard to swallow,but it's nothing too extreme.

 

[4960X]

As I said before,I want my next rig to finally be one that I will be proud to own,so looks do matter to me this time.And having a case with a side window in mind,the Noctuas are a no go.I like the cooling performance and reliability,but WTH with that color scheme?I would probably buy it with any other color scheme,except this one that reminds me of my toilet of all things.

Anyway...I'm seriously thinking about the CM Eisberg 240L Prestige.Firstly because it seems to perform excellent (Apart from the review at overclock3d,every other site seems to recommend it),and secondly because it's modular.Meaning I could expand it into a ghetto full water loop if I wanted.I probably won't trust the whole system to it,but still it's nice that the possibility is there.The price tag is a little hard to swallow,but it's nothing too extreme.

Well, Noctua is releasing their fans in black color scheme. Have you seen this?

http://www.noctua.at/images/computex_2013/noctua_industrial_fans.jpg

 

[tolis626]

Well, Noctua is releasing their fans in black color scheme. Have you seen this?

http://www.noctua.at/images/computex_2013/noctua_industrial_fans.jpg

Nope,first time I lay eyes on them.They do look nice,I have to admit.But I just checked and aren't available here,neither in a cooler nor as standalone fans.Pity...

 

[4960X]

Nope,first time I lay eyes on them.They do look nice,I have to admit.But I just checked and aren't available here,neither in a cooler nor as standalone fans.Pity...

They aren't released yet. They will be released in Q2/Q3 2014. I agree with you that they look quite sexy.

 

[tolis626]

They aren't released yet. They will be released in Q2/Q3 2014. I agree with you that they look quite sexy.

Hmm...I'll probably go AIO water this time,but these may serve as a "cool and quiet" upgrade to whatever cooler I use.Nice find!Finally Noctua releases something that won't make me wanna look the other way.Yay! 😀