H70 vs. Venomous-X and the winner is?

[Rubycon]

The H70 comes out on top! It's a close match but stock TIM on the H70 has claimed victorious over VX! :thumbsup:

A pair of 1800RPM Gentle Typhoons were used on the VX.
The corsair kit is 100% stock with included fans, push pull sitting in the open. Both systems set up in the open with same ambient, etc. The fans running wide open on the H70 are not bad at all. I can see the silent PC crowd whining about it though. Compared to a single or (yike!) pair of 3600 RPM Deltas? Haha! Does a bear crap in the woods? D:

More information to come...

Still running here.

i7 980X at 4.2GHz with 1.4 volts for the record. Linpack (fully loaded) temps mid upper 70s H70, mid 80's VX. If I put the 1800RPM GTs on the H70 would it be closer? Probably. Definitely quieter. Time to play...er experiment.

p.s. This is definitely better than the H50. Honestly (I don't think my H50s (yes as in plural!) were bad!) if I was running an H50 I'd rip it off and throw it on the deck to replace with the H70.

 

[aigomorla]

Irony... how your trying to WC a AIO when your surrounded by water.

 

[CurseTheSky]

I'm tempted to buy an H70, cut the tubing, replace it with UV blue / red / etc. and add a reservoir.

Why?

Simply because I want to show off my machine to clients (for ohhs and ahhs) and don't have the space (FT01) or time to maintain a real WC loop anymore. Then again, if someone wants to donate their retired TJ07 to a good cause, I'll repent this blasphemous idea...

 

[Rubycon]

I don't know if I'd modify a sealed system.
At that point just buy the parts and make one!
Do they make "active blocks"? Something like H50/H70 where the pump and block are integrated? Just add tubing and water?

Some updated information!
I lost a couple of degrees by moving the radiator. It was sucking hot air from a pair of 480GTX cards!

Also a pair of 1800RPM GTs showed no temperature difference from the stock (noisier) 2000 RPM fans that are included in the kit.

Even better yet there's hardly any difference using a SINGLE 1900RPM PWM fan (it's a cooler master brand with wavy looking blades - I will get the part number later). I set up a fan profile in the BIOS that runs the fan at WOT if cpu temp is >70 and at 40% otherwise. Very nice temps and idle temps are about four degrees warmer. (makes no difference as idle temps are meaningless anyhow)

I'm leaning to think that the thicker radiator is only part of the story as to why the H70 outperforms the H50 so much - under HEAVY loads. Phenom and C2D users would probably see very little change between these coolers. Pour on the heat with 200+ TDP and that tune changes dramatically as expected.

Additionally push-pull does not seem to matter as much as you would think. If it does your fans are probably not good candidates for pushing air through a thick radiator in the first place. Push pull seems to work better on "fully open" design coolers such as TRUE/Mega/etc because the fan PULLING can get air from the SIDES. With a closed radiator this cannot happen! ALL the air MUST come from the other side of the radiator. If the fan PUSHING cannot keep up the fan pulling isn't going to matter. It's the same as stacking fans on top of one another.

 

[smackababy]

They do make rad / pump integrations. So, a set up with some nice bling and one of those wouldn't be hard to pull off in a tight space. Although, I do not know how good those combos are.

 

[nitromullet]

Are you running the H70 in your FT02 in an exhaust configuration?

 

[Rubycon]

Are you running the H70 in your FT02 in an exhaust configuration?

Actually no, this is out in the open.

I'm still debating on the fan configuration to use!

 

[CurseTheSky]

They do make rad / pump integrations. So, a set up with some nice bling and one of those wouldn't be hard to pull off in a tight space. Although, I do not know how good those combos are.

Can you name some or give me a link? I'd prefer not to chop up a perfectly good H70 if possible.

 

[Skott]

I don't regret buying my H50 and putting it in a SG03 case. I will of course seriously consider a H70 in my next build whenever that may be. Maybe next year. Its good to see corsair improving their design. Thanks for the info, Ruby.

 

[nitromullet]

Actually no, this is out in the open.

I'm still debating on the fan configuration to use!

It seems like exhaust would be the only reasonable configuration, or it would be working against the 180mm fans in the FT02.

That's how HardOCP went with it on their RV02: http://hardocp.com/article/2010/08/05/corsair_h70_cpu_cooler_first_install/

 

[Rubycon]

It seems like exhaust would be the only reasonable configuration, or it would be working against the 180mm fans in the FT02.

That's how HardOCP went with it on their RV02: http://hardocp.com/article/2010/08/05/corsair_h70_cpu_cooler_first_install/

Absolutely correct.

When I say fan configuration I'm debating single vs. double, type of fan, etc. I'm finding that a single fan PULLING air through the radiator is actually winning!

There is no reason to mount it drawing air in. If there is that much difference in temperature between air inside your case and outside you already have a problem and dumping the heat from the CPU is just going to make things much worse in a hurry!

The RV02/FT02 by far have the lowest internal temperatures of any case out of the box!

It's a straight shot for air drawn in the bottom to reach the H70 radiator with these cases.

I cannot believe how cool my 480s run even overclocked.

The AX1200 is also quite a performer but that's another story for another time...

 

[CitanUzuki]

Ruby, do you know what your stock temps Idle/load/ambient were for a single 480 in the fortress?

 

[Rubycon]

Ruby, do you know what your stock temps Idle/load/ambient were for a single 480 in the fortress?

The cards are factory OC. Idle runs in the upper 40s load (cuda processing) runs in the lower 60s. Full load (Furmark) hits 80C. When pancaked together in a typical chassis Furmark temps approach 100C before the cooler kicks in 100% and then temps settle around 90C. Ambient temp is always 22C.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Impressive. I'd like to see the H70 vs Arrow w/2x GT vs nh-d14 w/2x GT

 

[smackababy]

Can you name some or give me a link? I'd prefer not to chop up a perfectly good H70 if possible.

The Swiftech MCR220Drive and MCR320Drive are what I was talking about. However, these are fairly expensive, but offer much more performance over the H70 I'm sure.

 

[Boyo]

OP, thanks for the post. Good to know since I almost bought the Venomous-X! Very happy with the H70.

 

[RaistlinZ]

Isn't the preferred setup for the H50/70 with a fan blowing cool ambient air into the case across the radiator? It seems only a few cases are well suited for that.

I'd also like to see an H70 vs. Silver Arrow vs. Cooler Master V6 matchup.

 

[CurseTheSky]

The Swiftech MCR220Drive and MCR320Drive are what I was talking about. However, these are fairly expensive, but offer much more performance over the H70 I'm sure.

Ah, interesting. I know they were making combo res + rad setups for a while, but never knew they managed to integrate the pump as well.

Unfortunately I only have room for a single 120mm radiator, which kills the 2x120mm and 3x120mm setups for me. Again, I'm not looking for performance, just for looks.

 

[nyker96]

this cooler is indeed very impressive in terms of results and the space required is very little. If this closed loop water system can be further enhanced I can see myself getting one of its successors few years down the line. The only question in my mind is longevity, will it leak? will airs get in etc. because no matter how sealed the system is, air/water leaking can always occur at joints.

 

[Rubycon]

Isn't the preferred setup for the H50/70 with a fan blowing cool ambient air into the case across the radiator? It seems only a few cases are well suited for that.

I'd also like to see an H70 vs. Silver Arrow vs. Cooler Master V6 matchup.

Sure it's the preferred way to show the best CPU temperature (if all the reviewers do this without any regard to realistic thermal expectation than sure it will look better to the viewer!) but as I've said if your case is well engineered its internal temperature should closely approach that of ambient.

I guarantee if you have the fan drawing air IN over the radiator and pushing the CPU heat INTO the case internal case temperatures will most definitely move upward! If you have a pair of Bessemer - err Fermi cards then those will also see increased load temps...

 

[Triggaaar]

Thanks for doing the testing, very useful

Both systems set up in the open with same ambient, etc.

Some updated information!
I lost a couple of degrees by moving the radiator. It was sucking hot air from a pair of 480GTX cards!

Are you talikng about the Corsair or the Venom taking in air from the GC?

Did you get to any further conclusions following your tests?

Thanks

 

[Rubycon]

Because the radiator was sitting on a box that was close to the back of the motherboard it was "sucking in" air from the GTX480s.

Overall the performance is quite close with either solution.

The H70 appears to have a higher thermal capacity than the heatpipe based coolers I tested. It also appears to have a more gradual approach in capacity. What this means as load increases core temperatures don't suddenly ramp up as they do with heat pipe coolers when they are at the saturation point (where all liquid is in vapor state).

This would be true with any water solution, however.

 

[Zap]

Ah, interesting. I know they were making combo res + rad setups for a while, but never knew they managed to integrate the pump as well.

Unfortunately I only have room for a single 120mm radiator, which kills the 2x120mm and 3x120mm setups for me. Again, I'm not looking for performance, just for looks.

Swiftech H2O-120 Compact CPU Liquid Cool Kit

$140 for entire kit with pump integrated into the block and a single 120mm rad with integrated res. You can swap out the tubing for clear stuff. It only supports AMD and socket 775, unfortunately. Fortunately EVGA makes some socket 1156 boards with 775 mounts, and Asus makes a 1366 board with 775 mounts.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Swiftech H2O-120 Compact CPU Liquid Cool Kit

$140 for entire kit with pump integrated into the block and a single 120mm rad with integrated res. You can swap out the tubing for clear stuff. It only supports AMD and socket 775, unfortunately. Fortunately EVGA makes some socket 1156 boards with 775 mounts, and Asus makes a 1366 board with 775 mounts.

Ah, too bad about 775 only. I'll have to contact Swiftech to see if a 1156 adapter is possible.

Otherwise, that looks perfect. It saves me the space of having to mount the pump / res somewhere in the case, and it gives me the option to upgrade from 120mm to something bigger and better if I find a creative way to mount it.

Thanks.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

I've read some complaints about whining on the H70. Is this from the stock fans? Or from air moving through the radiator?