Intel Displays Self-Branded Water Cooling Solution for Sandy Bridge-E

[chihlidog]

I like it. I'm quite happy with my Kuhler 620. It's quiet, even with an external rad and push/pull, and it keeps my temps under control even with me running at 3.7. This intel is a very similar design, and as mentioned above, even though thermal performance is only on par with high-end air, it offers other advantages for space-saving and reducing clutter.

I like it enough that I dont ever see myself going back to air - a similar setup being bundled with the new CPUs is a big plus to me. I love it.

 

[drizek]

To clarify, this is not bundled, it will be sold separately.

 

[IndianScout]

this is why I never read reviews or listen to them, everyones numbers are all over the frickin place

 

[RussianSensation]

The antec kuhler 920 outperforms everything in that list and the noctua NH-D14, AFAIK. It is bracket compatible with the intel cooler.

I don't really think any of these models are supposed to be massively better than top air coolers, its not a true water cooling solution with a water block. For me the biggest draw is that you have MUCH more room to work with in your case, the clutter around the CPU is far smaller. As well, the Antech 620/920 are very, very, very quiet.

The bolded statements are false. The top 10 air coolers will easily outperform the Antec 920 at comparable noise levels.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1214-page8.html

"The Kühler H20 620/920, even though they have quieter pumps than the H50, are still handicapped by the additional noise source of the pump, making them impossible to succeed as super-quiet CPU coolers. When you consider the risk of leaking liquid into your system and the countless number of superior alternatives that don't have this potential liability, it only makes sense to use them in cases with limited CPU heatsink clearance."

With Havik 140 at $60, NH-D14 for $70-80, Silver Arrow for $70-80, Archon for $80, it's very difficult to justify a much louder, more expensive and worse performing $100 enclosed water cooling system, which on top of that creates a risk of a water leak!

I think these enclosed systems have a 'cool' factor for having a watercooling system, they provide a cleaner look inside the system, but in terms of performance and/or noise they have been sub-par, esp. considering their price.

this is why I never read reviews or listen to them, everyones numbers are all over the frickin place

What about that review? It shows that an H70 needs to work at very high fan speeds to match a top end air cooler with a quiet fan, or it falls significantly behind in performance at the same noise level. That's consistent with just about any other professional review out there.

 

[RussianSensation]

I have a H70 with two Scythe fans, push at 680rpms and pull at 1100rpms. Idles at 30 to 34 depending on ambient, games at 50, and runs Prime blend at 55 after 8 hrs. Works for me. 10 degrees cooler than my Noctua U12P at load. Idles the same.

Let's take the newer Corsair H80 since it replaced the H70 model.

$90+
Then as you said + 2x Scythe fans. That's $15 x 2 = $30

That's a $120 setup that at best matches a $70-80 air cooler.

I think most people are switching to these water cooling setups for the cool factor, and smaller space (in case you have a small case like Lian Li V354). You are paying a premium for that, not for performance or noise. Scythe Mugen 2 would provide you with same performance and quiet noise level for $35.

 

[blackened23]

The 920 doesn't perform subpar. Lets be clear here, none of these solutions are true water coolers. They use a radiator with fan, not a water block - i've tested both the NH-D14 and 920 in my system and the 920 produced better temperatures. I've seen other reviews showing the 920 outforming the noctua, I can't be bothered to dig it up.

Here's the thing: case airflow, and fan configuration play a big role in how the 920 performs. Also, the quality of fans and how you configure them on the radiator plays a big role as well.

Not to discredit the noctua D14. I just don't agree with your assessment that all of these solutions are sub-par. That is definitely not the case, I can find numerous reviews showing the antec 920 performing as well as the best air coolers, and other reviews where it doesn't. Again, how you configure them plays a big role. Whatever though, It is an excellent cooler. In my case though, i've found the antec to outperform it (noctua) while leaving a much smaller footprint inside my case (HAF-932 by coolermaster). Also, it is quiet.

Lastly, the price of both is comparable. As i'm typing this, the antec 920 is 89.99 on amazon.com, while the noctua NH-D14 is 84.99. They're pretty comparable. They're both excellent coolers....the Noctua is just too big for my taste and can clip the RAM on some motherboards.

 

[drizek]

It isn't just price/performance.

It is price/performance/noise.

Particularly for people who buy high end coolers for silence rather than suicide overclocks, the pumps in these things makes them inferior to large towers with large, slow fans.

Also, if your case is sound insulated like the Antec Solo, itis better to have a potentially loud fan inside the case rather than stuck to the outside of it where the insulation has no effect.

 

[blackened23]

It isn't just price/performance.

It is price/performance/noise.

Particularly for people who buy high end coolers for silence rather than suicide overclocks, the pumps in these things makes them inferior to large towers with large, slow fans.

Huh? The pump makes no noise, the only thing that makes noise are the 120MM fans. Do you realize this isn't a true water cooler with a water block? The pumps in all models are extremely weak and make zero noise. It has a radiator / 120mm fans, with the fans being the only factor to the noise produced.

Last I checked, pure air coolers use 120mm fans too. Your air cooler can be loud or silent depending on which fan its paired with. That applies to the antecs/corsair hybrids as well.

 

[drizek]

SPCR says the pumps make noise.

 

[blackened23]

SPCR says the pumps make noise.

Well thats interesting considering there's no water block for it to draw from. I think the only one claiming it makes noise is someone that hasn't used it.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Well thats interesting considering there's no water block for it to draw from. I think the only one claiming it makes noise is someone that hasn't used it.

"AMD is faster than SB! It's just because you didn't use AMD firsthand!"

Troll.

 

[drizek]

Well thats interesting considering there's no water block for it to draw from. I think the only one claiming it makes noise is someone that hasn't used it.

Did you plug yours in?

 

[blackened23]

Did you plug yours in?

With our test system idle and the Hydro H80 and Hydro H100 configured to run in Quiet mode, system noise is kept down to a bare minimum. In this scenario, both coolers are barely audible - though, not quite as quiet as the single-fan Hydro H60.

System noise directly correlates to the fans used in the products and the speed setting used....big surprise there.

If there's anything with the asetek products that produce excessive noise, it is the fans and fans alone, period. The pump only makes noise if it is defective -- I am aware of some users at the SRPC forums discussing this. From followup posts after RMA, their pumps did not make noise after replacement.

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2501&page=5

Strangerguy, see the system in my sig. My last 7 computers have been based on intel, I think i've used AMD once. I'm optimistic about the BD, nothing more, nothing less -- I'm going to wait and see for official benches before proclaiming it to be a dog. It could suck, or maybe not, but i'm going to wait for official benchmarks before making 13 threads about how much it sucks.

 

[Idontcare]

If there's anything with the acetek products that produce excessive noise, it is the fans and fans alone, period. The pump only makes noise if it is defective -- I am aware of some users at the SRPC forums discussing this. From followup posts after RMA, their pumps did not make noise after replacement.

Not sure of the pump is the same as the one for the H100, but the pump on my H100 is silent, I have no idea what it even sounds like because I've never heard it.

The stock fans on the other hand...had to replace those with some noizeblockers.

 

[RussianSensation]

All I am seeing from that Hexus Review is 55-60 Db sound levels. Do you know how loud that is????

Let's take a look at the H70:

The stock fans need to be spun at 1940 RPMs to match a Silver Arrow at 1270 RPMs

Now the noise:

54.9 vs. 40.6

Looking at the Decibal Chart, the H70/H80/H100 in stock forms at highest fan speeds are about 3.0-3.5x louder. The Antec Khuler 920 is even worse, 4x louder.

And now you can get the Havik 140 with 2x 140mm fans for $60. I can understand getting the H100 and swapping fans if you want the best performance without getting into a dedicated water setup, or if you have micro ATX case form factor where H50/H60 are perfect.

Thermalright is getting ready to obsolete the entire H50-H80 lineup of coolers in about 5 seconds when it drops the price of the nickel-plated Thermalright Archon by $20 with the introduction of the Ultra 140 CPU cooler. This even solves the argument that a big cooler obstructs the 1st memory DIMM.

Once Thermalright re-launches the Archon at $59.99 or below, you'd have to REALLY love the design of the closed water looped systems to pay more and get worse noise levels.

 

[blackened23]

So now we've established that fans and fans alone determines noise level in both pure air coolers and closed loop systems. We know that cooling performance is good, with multiple tests (I can link about 10 reviews proving this) that the closed loop systems can match the best air coolers.

So now we're left with the fan issue. We can go back and forth on this - There are some websites showing the 920 to be quieter than nearly every top air cooler. Such as this:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Antec-Kuhler-H2O-920-CPU-Cooler-Review/1314/6

This test shows the antec 920 at 41db load, while the noctua 14 is 49db load. The common theme here is that different review sites are getting varying results depending on which fan the manufacturer pairs with their product. Furthermore, the noctua is 53C at full load, while the antec is 49C.

Antec has used multiple fans in their design. Their most recent is quiet. But again, the fan you use and that alone is what determines your noise level. Having used a noctua, multiple corsairs and antecs , so far the antec 920 has been the quietest with the fan provided. Its all personal preference. If you like air coolers, thats fine. I personally like having the additional space, and its not just the RAM -- just, everything is way easier with the closed loop system, from removing/replacing the CPU (the asetec system has a very easy mechanism to remove the pump), changing the upper most pci-e slot card, I could go on. I've used air coolers that are so massive that they block stuff like RAM slots and the retention mechanism for the upper most PCI-e slot...not being able to easily remove a PCI-E vidcard because of an air cooler is annoying indeed.

Anyway, to get to the point, you can't make a broad generalization that closed loop systems are sub-par. I won't go on a google spree to bore you with results , but i've seen many, many reviews showing the top closed loop systems matching and beating the best air coolers. The noise issue depends entirely on what fan is bundled. The pump is silent.
In the end its all personal preference. I like having a system easily accessible for upgrades, and the closed loop system provides me with that at a competetive price. My system is also silent, the only noise I get is from my GPU...and i'm about to deal with that via the accelero VGA cooler paired with a GTX 580.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

My system is virtually silent, the only noise I get is from my GPU...and i'm about to deal with that via the accelero VGA cooler paired with a GTX 580.

Fixed. If you have any fans and/or HDD's (especially a WD Black) then your system isn't silent. Which is the problem in this discussion. The quietness of your PC is subjective and depends on quite a few variables like your case, ambient room noise, sense of hearing, fan speed, personal tolerance, ect. Which makes it very hard to get an accurate idea of what will work best for you.

Because of that and from the many reviews out there I agree that these closed loop systems are not subpar. Some are probably overpriced (especially if you have to replace the stock fans), but they have their place (even if it's just to make your case look neat).

And if future CPU's like Haswell are as energy-efficient as being claimed, cooling performance may one day become a moot point.

 

[blackened23]

Fixed. If you have any fans and/or HDD's (especially a WD Black) then your system isn't silent. Which is the problem in this discussion. The quietness of your PC is subjective and depends on quite a few variables like your case, ambient room noise, sense of hearing, fan speed, personal tolerance, ect. Which makes it very hard to get an accurate idea of what will work best for you.

Because of that and from the many reviews out there I agree that these closed loop systems are not subpar. Some are probably overpriced (especially if you have to replace the stock fans), but they have their place (even if it's just to make your case look neat).

And if future CPU's like Haswell are as energy-efficient as being claimed, cooling performance may one day become a moot point.

True, fair enough. But having a quiet system is fairly important to me, which is what compelled me to get a new video card setup (6970 loudddddd at load) and I definitely would not get any closed loop system if it were loud. The fan is the biggest contributor to noise, but that applies to both air and closed loop systems :sneaky:

 

[drizek]

Noise is subjective. I am tolerating slightly higher noise right now in the summer, but generally my system is set up to be literally inaudible at 1+ meters away. I don't think most people on the internet who say their computer is "silent" actually literally mean silent.

 

[Meghan54]

SPCR says the pumps make noise.

SPCR thinks gnat farts are loud. I take a lot of their "Thhis is loud!" conclusions with huge piles of salt.


On the other hand, given what IB motherboards are going to look like, with the RAM slots close to and on either side of the cpu socket, are the days of huge tower coolers numbered?

Consider this socket on an MSI X79 motherboard:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/lga-2011-idf_5.html (Go to the XBit site and click on the mb pics),


The RAM slots are much closer than they are on previous mb/chipset incarnations. So, given the tower coolers w/fans can and do block at least the first RAM slot on P67/Z68 motherboards, how will they fare blocking off one RAM slot on either side of the socket, which will drop you to dual channel RAM instead of the quad channel it should be.....and will the cooler block off the wrong slots, making using them impossible?

 

[blackened23]

Consider this socket on an MSI X79 motherboard:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/lga-2011-idf_5.html (Go to the XBit site and click on the mb pics),


The RAM slots are much closer than they are on previous mb/chipset incarnations. So, given the tower coolers w/fans can and do block at least the first RAM slot on P67/Z68 motherboards, how will they fare blocking off one RAM slot on either side of the socket, which will drop you to dual channel RAM instead of the quad channel it should be.....and will the cooler block off the wrong slots, making using them impossible?

Thats a good point. I don't think the old air coolers will work well given the RAM slot configuration on X79 boards....I guess thats why intel went with this cooling solution.

Thats one plus of having an asetek closed loop system. With a new mounting bracket, it will drop right in any x79 board. Hell, the intel mounting bracket will work with any asetek closed loop.... Thanks for pointing this out to me

 

[Patrick Wolf]

On the other hand, given what IB motherboards are going to look like, with the RAM slots close to and on either side of the cpu socket, are the days of huge tower coolers numbered?

Probably, but not because of that. Large tower coolers already exist that will clear memory. My Venomous + Ripjaw X is one example. They will become less relevant as CPU efficiency increases. At some point we may only need a small passive heatsink for even the highest performing chips.

 

[blackened23]

Probably, but not because of that. Large tower coolers already exist that will clear memory. My Venomous + Ripjaw X is one example. They will become less relevant as CPU efficiency increases. At some point we may only need a small passive heatsink for even the highest performing chips.

If that does happen it will be great, but heat output has steadily increased over the years. Presumably back during the 386/486 days, only a heatsink was required, it wasn't until the P55C that HSF really became prevelant. The P-60 was a monster when it was first released, creating much more heat than any cpu prior.

It would be great if this does happen, even if I have my doubts.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

If that does happen it will be great, but heat output has steadily increased over the years. Presumably back during the 386/486 days, only a heatsink was required, it wasn't until the P55C that HSF really became prevelant. The P-60 was a monster when it was first released, creating much more heat than any cpu prior.

It would be great if this does happen, even if I have my doubts.

True, but since Nehalem Intel has been steadily increasing efficiency. SB was the first major step, IB will improve upon it. Haswell will continue the trend with unprecedented levels of efficiency. Then Broadwell, Skylake, Skymont and so on that will likely continue the trend. Even now a highly overclocked 980X can be cooled passively with a large heatsink and adequate case airflow.