More questions on the Corsair H50

[one30eight]

I have read the reviews, the threads here and elsewhere and have a few more questions. I am almost finished with a whole system upgrade. One the last hold outs is my Xigmatech heat sink. I have been seriously looking at the H50 and after reading the reviews this is my thinking.

Cools as well or nearly as well as the best air coolers. Much smaller footprint on the motherboard (I have big hands) so easier to work around. Right now I can get it for 67 dollars shipped, so around the same as an equal air cooler.

As an air alternative at 67 dollars, what is the plus of going with another air cooler? If I wanted to step up to the next level in a real watercooling setup, what would I be looking at? Here is my setup:

Lancool PC-K62
Socket AM3 with a 1055t

The only thing I would be cooling as of now is the 1055t. One plus for a real water cooling setup would be adding a loop later.

 

[Yellowbeard]

From what I have seen recommended here and other places, IIRC, to get a decent pump, block, tubing, res etc and not have cheap stuff, you are looking at spending appr $150 minimum. Other more experienced WC guys correct me if I am wrong. However, if you spend much less than that you will be seriously compromising on the block and pump which you don't want to do if you want to truly get the benefits of a DIY WC setup.

 

[Nurn]

I think your temps using an H50 versus say a Prolimatech megahalem will be hotter by apx 3 to 5 degrees celsius. A lot depends on how good the airflow is in your case, though.

 

[MagickMan]

I'd say closer to $200 for decent quality gear, and then I'd probably want a GPU block, and then NB... and then I'd probably wish I'd gotten a good 360mm rad instead of a 240. I'm seriously thinking about going full water, but I just don't have the $400 right now.

 

[one30eight]

So I read quite a bit last night and ended up ordering the H50 for 67 shipped. Here is the major points from what I read...

With 2 fans in a push/pull configuration the H50 equals or betters a lot of the higher end air coolers.

A decent water cooling setup is going to cost over 200 dollars most of the time

The H50 is slightly better that the coolit ECO

I see the word quiet being thrown around in ads and posts, but by most real world accounts the H50 is not that quiet, especially adding the extra fan.

I hope to have everything set up next week and will have pics and more info

 

[Yellowbeard]

The trick is finding an nice balance of performance vs noise with 2 fans that move enough air to do what you want. You can fine tune them of course with a fan controller or via your MOBO BIOS is you have enough fan headers and your BIOS has fan control. I'm not overly concerned with noise myself so I don't have any fan recommendations but I'm sure some of the people here do.

 

[MagickMan]

So I read quite a bit last night and ended up ordering the H50 for 67 shipped. Here is the major points from what I read...

With 2 fans in a push/pull configuration the H50 equals or betters a lot of the higher end air coolers.

A decent water cooling setup is going to cost over 200 dollars most of the time

The H50 is slightly better that the coolit ECO

I see the word quiet being thrown around in ads and posts, but by most real world accounts the H50 is not that quiet, especially adding the extra fan.

I hope to have everything set up next week and will have pics and more info

That's all correct, except the noise with 2 fans. It adds to the expense, but if you go with two Scythe Gentle Typhoons, and run them below 1200 RPMs, they're amazing. They have almost unparalleled static pressure and they don't need to spin as fast as most other fans. I have a pair of the 1450 RPMs on my H50 and run them off a fan controller and the cooling and sound levels are fantastic.

 

[EarthwormJim]

I'd say closer to $200 for decent quality gear, and then I'd probably want a GPU block, and then NB... and then I'd probably wish I'd gotten a good 360mm rad instead of a 240. I'm seriously thinking about going full water, but I just don't have the $400 right now.

There's tons of used gear floating around though. There's almost no moving parts, and as long as the loop wasn't abused, radiators and reservoirs and blocks should not deteriorate. The only thing I'd buy new is a pump.

I picked up a used Swiftech MCR320 radiator for $20 myself and a used MCR220 for $20. A reservoir was $5 on ebay.

People also go through waterblocks fast. You can pick up last year's or the last 6 month's top performer for cheap that will still be within a few degrees of the newest blocks.

NB blocks are just for show really, they don't make a big difference in potential. It's the GPU and CPU that really matter.

 

[billyb0b]

i'm doing a push/pull setup with my h50 cooling an i7. for the price and simplicity, and quiet sound the h50 is a good buy.

 

[aigomorla]

From what I have seen recommended here and other places, IIRC, to get a decent pump, block, tubing, res etc and not have cheap stuff, you are looking at spending appr $150 minimum. Other more experienced WC guys correct me if I am wrong. However, if you spend much less than that you will be seriously compromising on the block and pump which you don't want to do if you want to truly get the benefits of a DIY WC setup.

no you hit the nail on this one yellowbeard.

The trick is finding an nice balance of performance vs noise with 2 fans that move enough air to do what you want.

Again another correct statement.

The rad you guys paird on the H5O is in the same class as the HWLabs GTS class radiator.
These have a very high FPI.. (fins per inch) and are meant for a more powerful and high static fan.

When given the fan it needs, these rads are great performers, but stock fan is a bit too weak for the rad setup.

This is why you will hear a lot of people say put 2 fans on that radiator and cheat the static pressure component.

Static is not CFM also, its a different messurement of fan raiting.
You can have a high CFM but have very small static.

So make sure you do your research well when getting fans for this rad.

 

[Yellowbeard]

So make sure you do your research well when getting fans for this rad.

I have not taken the time to study fan options as there are just too many and other duties take up my time. What would you recommend for:

1. Noise is not a concern, MAXIMUM cooling wanted.

2. Noise is the debbil, I want QUIET performance.

3. The best combination of both?

 

[Russwinters]

What case do you have?


I have done mucho research on the H50, and I have found that the BEST setup is (if you have a case that can support this)

Mount the Rad on the 5.25 inch bay (the inner part) and do push pull, with a case fan on the front of the 5.25 inch bays using something like the scythe kama bay.


This way you don't disrupt the natural airflow of the case, while feeding the rad cool air, yes you can argue that you are then expelling hot air into the case, but you would be doing that anyways if you followed corsairs instructions, except you would be disrupting your cases airflow design.

you can find some examples of this across the net, people are seeing good figure doing this, make sure you make some custom fan shrouds as well using cheap/old 120 mm fans as this will help as well.

 

[aigomorla]

I have not taken the time to study fan options as there are just too many and other duties take up my time. What would you recommend for:

1. Noise is not a concern, MAXIMUM cooling wanted.

2. Noise is the debbil, I want QUIET performance.

3. The best combination of both?

lol... Yate loon can sub in for all 3. And there cheap as well. I usually just tell people to throw a second fan on the rad. Meaning keep the stock on one side, and throw in another on the other side.

The stock fan you guys have isnt a bad fan, its just a little underpowered, because i think you guys wanted to keep the silence factor. A lower FPI radiator would of been a better solution, however i can see it being a material cost issue, because they are a bit more expensive. (they are also a bit thicker)

I like GT's, u will get good numbers with them and there quiet, but they cost about 3-4x a yate loon would cost.

Sflex's are also great fans.

Any 38mm fan will probably give you good numbers as well, but some 38mm fans are obnoxiously loud.

But a push / pull config, is the best config you can have for this style of radiator.

Another recomendation would be using a shroud since the fan hold plate is so close so lessen the dead zone in the middle. When the fan is that close to the core, your gonna have big dead spots in the middle.

 

[one30eight]

What about setup in the lancool pc k62? It has one front 240mm fan, 1 rear 120mm fan and 2 240mm fans up top. I was thinking of using the stock 120mm fan that came with the case (not sure which brand) and the fan that comes with the H50 for a push pull setup. I could order 1 or 2 different 120mm if it would make a big difference. If I did this I could use 1 of the 120mm as another front intake. Any recommendations on set up?

 

[deimos3428]

I have the K58, which is identical to the K62 minus the interior paint and top fans. I've added a couple of 140mm Noctuas up top, so in all a similar setup to what you've got.

I use the stock Corsair fan and a 120mm Noctua P12 in push-pull exhaust config. (I then chopped up the stock Lian Li exhaust fan for a shroud, as it's nothing particularly special.)

You don't need more intake if your exhaust fans are creating negative pressure in the case. The existing 140mm should be sufficient to cool the drives.

 

[Bad Dude]

Any one with the H50 with the ticking sounds of the pump?

 

[CVSiN]

nope cant even hear my pump at all it's so quiet.