Question Raising attention to the Ocypus Iota A62 "digital" air-cooler

[BonzaiDuck]

I suppose that's what I've always argued. Nobody tried to pressure me into switching to AiO. I've flirted with the idea for a good part of two decades! Then I'd research some comparison reviews, send my processors off to Silicon Lottery for re-lidding with the Grizzly, and never had the hassles people reported over the years -- malfunctioning pumps, leaks, the maintenance hassles.

My PCs are well-filtered. So I really don't have as much kruft building up between the cooler fins.

Ha! there was a time when we had five PCs running in this house, all with air filtration. We had a guy either from the gas company or the HVAC business come into the house and test our air. "Cleanest air I've seen in weeks!" he proclaimed.

 

[Pohemi]

Performance for the money, that Phantom Spirit Evo is hard to beat.

 

[Rigg]

I think I've pretty much tried all of the different Phantom Spirit and Peerless Assassin variants at this point. I currently use PS EVO heatsinks with Be Quiet! fans on both of my machines. I went with the Evo primarily because I think they look the best of all of the PS variants. I don't use the stock fans with either of my machines but I have used them on lots of builds for other people. The stock fans on the Evo are better build quality and look nicer than the fans from the lower tier variants. The standard fans are better than the Evo fans in terms of noise normalized performance while the Evo fans are more capable in overall performance. Neither one can hold a candle to premium fans, although you kind of destroy a lot of the value proposition of the Thermalright stuff once you put premium fans on them.

I think the variants of the PS around $35 are honestly a better choice for price/performance than the Evo for most people given the better low noise performance of the fans. That being said, the Evo is the best looking cooler they make IMO, and is still really nice for $45. I see no practical reason to even consider 240 and smaller AIO coolers. The Phantom Spirit and Peerless Assassin coolers work great up 225 watts or so.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Here's another product I discovered from comparison reviews. The trick to using multiple comparison reviews is in identifying a comparison cooler they have in common. The you can get a better idea of the relative performance of two other models -- the one of interest, and another in the comparisons.

ID-COOLING FROZN A720 Black - 6.4" Height Black Dual-Tower Air CPU Cooler, 7×Ф6mm Heatpipes, Dual 140x140x25mm FDB Fans, TDP 300W, Intel LGA1700/1851/1200/115X/20XX; AMD AM4/AM5 (163mm in Height)​

This leaves me a remaining uncertainty which I resolved with the NH-D15 and the Le Grand Macho coolers -- the clear plastic door for fan mounts on the driver-side side-panel. It's really nothing to dremel modifications in this type of plastic, or even with Lexan if you can manage it. I had to make some "cut-outs" in these doors so they would remain functional and still allow the heatpipe pipe-tips to fit with the plastic door.

OH! Maybe I forgot! Where did these "plastic doors" come from? I'm using CoolerMaster Stacker 832 cases from 2007. Other simple mods, perhaps with lexan plate, would allow me to remove the door permanently, but it has advantages worth keeping it in the case. You can scroll through a few pages of this TechPowerUp review from June of that year and find the photo with the ventilated metal side-panel removed to reveal the plastic door on easy-extraction hinges at the back of the case. As long as the structural integrity of the plastic door is preserved, it accommodates coolers that sit 160mm above CPU.

The ID Cooling A720 spec sheet shows 163mm from processor cap to the tips of the heat pipes.

I know you folks want me to buy a new case, but these CM 830's came with double-wheeled casters, and there are many ways to mount radiators, disk drives, drive hot-swap assemblies, and anything else. Prior projects had me seeing the usefulness of providing SATA III ports neatly installed in a "hand-hold" at top of the case with a foam-board construction, with the wiring exiting the back of the plastic recess for connection to motherboard ports. I don't think I need external SATA in front now, so my requirement for motherboard ports decreases by 2.

 

[VirtualLarry]

BD, don't focus on overclocking on these newer Intel chips, there really isn't much customer-accessable headroom. Best thing you can do is go overkill on the cooling, such that tje chip stays under throttle temp, and can turbo itzelf.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Performance for the money, that Phantom Spirit Evo is hard to beat.

QFT!

I'm amazed at how amazingly efficient and quiet this cheap cooler can be! I can only surmise I would have to spend in excess of $100 to get a comparable cooler from a more established brand.