Kraken X31 vs H100i

[Rocket01666]

Hello Again Community

 

I have a question to ask of you 

 

My h100i is currently suffering and beginning to fail, Now before this post goes RMA crazy, I dont want to replace it with another h100i, I'm looking to changing it out for something completely new i was thinking about the kraken x31.

 

Now i know what your thinking "its only a 120mm" where as the h100i is a 240mm. but im very limited for space in my obsidian 250D.

 

I do have another post on the forum about water cooling the 250D but have run into a snag. parts are expensive and i recently purchased a wb for a gtx780ti reference from someone on the forum and i neglected to research the different positions of the Caps on the pcb so the ekwb will not fit unless i modify it but im too afraid to do that. SOOOOO

 

My question is will the kraken x31 be sufficient for i7 4770k OC'd to 4.4ghz. or should i find another 240mm aio that can take the place of the h100i. 

 

Specs: everyone likes specs

 

case obsidian 250D

mobo asus maximus vi impact (be mindful of the daughter board when suggesting Aio, rad thickness cannot exceed 27mm)

cpu i7 4770k OC'd 4.4 ghz

ram 2x4gb  g.skill ripjaws z 2400mhz

gpu just upgraded from reference asus gtx 780ti to an asus gtx 780ti direct cuii oc

psu bequiet dark power pro 10 650w 

the rest is irrelevant 

 

what do you think, let me know if the x31 is too much of a down grade

[Faceman]

I personally think that a 120/140mm AIO for a CPU is a job half done.  I do understand that you are low on space, so what I say might not apply to you.  For the price of a 120/140mm AIO, you can get an air tower heatsink that performs just as well, if not better, and maybe even less expensive depending on the deal.

 

I personally own an X31 that is used to cool my GPU through G10 Bracket.  I had some problems with it at first, mainly a really bad rattling noise in the pump, I eventually got it sorted out.  CAM Software is a joke, don't even both installing it and using it.  The "variable speed pump" is false advertising, you cannot control the pump speed through CAM.  You have to plug it into the motherboard and control it through DC Voltage, which is how I ended up getting the rattling noise to stop. So, its nothing new, you can do this with any AIO pump as long as it is plugged into the motherboard.  Another thing, the tubes are very long, 16 inches.  If you are working in a small case, this might be too much tubing for what you need.  Overall, it does a great job of cooling my GPU, I don't know how it would perform with a CPU.  It will be a massive downgrade from a 240mm to a 120mm.  You will have to run the fans much faster than you are used to which will be louder, and even then, it wont come close to the performance of a 240mm AIO.

 

A good alternative to the H100i, is an H105 or Cooler Master Seidon 240M. 

[Shaqo_Wyn]

Cooler Master Seidon 240M. 

 

@Rocket01666

 

The Seidon 240M is the go to AIO for people who have finally realized that the H100i isn't all it's made out to be.

[Rocket01666]

Thanks for the suggestions, I did look into the h105 the only problem is its too thick sittin at 38mm without fans i only have room for about 55-57mm with fans 

 

the seidon 240m looks like a very compelling option the rad is only 27mm thick and with my 25mm thick fans gives it the same dimensions of the h100i. i will take a look at some reviews to see how it stacks up against other aio

 

@Faceman   how do you like the g10, does it keep the vrm and vram cool, and what are your temps like, ive been looking into this as an alternative to a custom loop

[Faceman]

Thanks for the suggestions, I did look into the h105 the only problem is its too thick sittin at 38mm without fans i only have room for about 55-57mm with fans 

 

the seidon 240m looks like a very compelling option the rad is only 27mm thick and with my 25mm thick fans gives it the same dimensions of the h100i. i will take a look at some reviews to see how it stacks up against other aio

 

@Faceman   how do you like the g10, does it keep the vrm and vram cool, and what are your temps like, ive been looking into this as an alternative to a custom loop

I think the H105 is only 30mm thick, + 25mm fan, so total of 55mm.

 

The Seidon 240M is great.  I own one.  You can look at my personal review with statistics.

 

or check out some reputable reviews:

Guru3D Review

240M Review from Anadtech

 

I love my G10. Its not the VRAM you need to worry about, its the VRMs.  VRAM doesn't get very hot, even when overclocked.  I don't have a way of measuring the VRM and VRAM temperatures on my specific card, but on the G10 Owner's Club I asked people who can monitor those temperatures to give me some before and after results:

 

Asus GTX 780Ti w/ DCUII Cooler @ 1.200v, 1227Mhz Core and +300 Memory while running Furmark/Kombustor*:

Core hit a high of 86C and the VRMs would go as high as 104C

 

Asus GTX 780Ti w/ G10 + H55 @ 1.212v, 1279Mhz Core and +375 Memory while running Furmark/Kombustor:

With the G10 it dropped the core down to a high of 49C, and VRMs down to a high of 81C.  Thats just the G10's 92mm fan blowing on the VRMs, no heat sinks.

 

-Source: Post #1147

 

There was another person, I forget the post #, but they used an R9 290 and did the same tests, except they even added heat sinks.  The Heat sinks dropped an additional 12C off of the VRM temperatures.

 

*Never ever run Furmark or Kombustor, it is a card killer.  Have had it happen to me on a stock GTX 770 without overclocks or anything.

 

My temperatures for the EVGA GTX 780 SC are really good.  I have a G10 + X31(2 Fans in push/pull) + Heatsinks.  I have my pump running at 90%, and my fans running at 60%.  The highest I have ever seen it go is 49C during a 4 hours long battlefield4 session.  It is mostly in the low to mid 40s.  Extremely quiet, amazing temperatures, allows you to hit even higher overclocks.  I love it.

 

I water cooled both my CPU and GPU for under $200 Cooler Master Seidon cost me $56 new after MIR, and the G10 + X31 + Heatsinks cost me $115.  Neither my CPU or GPU exceeds 50C and this is at ~60% fan speeds, so nice and quiet.  I wanted to go custom loop, but I was kind of discouraged with the amount of work it would take to drain and bleed a loop just to change out a component or something small.  That and it costs almost 3 times as much as what I paid for my current AIO setup.

[Rocket01666]

WOW thats awesome  Faceman, the thing i like about Direct Cu ii cards is that they have heatsinks on the vrm.

 

Im really impressed with the temps i will be picking up kraken g10 brackets and a kraken x41 for my gpu and probably the coolermaster seidon 240m for my cpu 

 

oh by the way the h105 is 38mm without fans so its about 5mm too thick with the current motherboard im using. but thank you for the suggestion i appreciate all the information 

[Faceman]

WOW thats awesome  Faceman, the thing i like about Direct Cu ii cards is that they have heatsinks on the vrm.

 

Im really impressed with the temps i will be picking up kraken g10 brackets and a kraken x41 for my gpu and probably the coolermaster seidon 240m for my cpu 

 

oh by the way the h105 is 38mm without fans so its about 5mm too thick with the current motherboard im using. but thank you for the suggestion i appreciate all the information 

My bad, the H105 is 38mm thick, that is bigger than I thought, my mistake.

 

For the G10, don't buy an NZXT AIO unless you really need the longer tube length.

[ltguy]

@Rocket01666

 

The Seidon 240M is the go to AIO for people who have finally realized that the H100i isn't all it's made out to be.

Except for the fact that the h100i with square block and rgb corsair logo is the most elegant looking AIO to date. When corsair comes out with a thicker or 280mm "i" series hydro cooler i'll switch to that.

 

But i personally refuse to buy any cooler master water cooler till they finally release the glacer 360l. Wtf its been like 10 months since they announced it.

[Shaqo_Wyn]

Except for the fact that the h100i with square block and rgb corsair logo is the most elegant looking AIO to date.

 

IYO. IMO the Nepton 280L, 240M, Kraken X41/X61 and the underrated Tundra TD02 all look better than H100i. RGB lights aren't my cup of tea anyway. If you look at all the problems people have with the H100i, I don't intend to pick one up either. 

[Rocket01666]

i personally dont mind the asetek circular pumps plus im sick of my rattly corsair pump its extremely irritating. so  from all the options i have been suggested i think i will be going with the cooler master seidon 240m because its 27mm like the h100i so i know it will fit and for the gpu aio i will be using the kraken x41 because its 38mm and i can run a low rpm fan.

 

i should receive the coolers and bracket this week, my only concern now is how to mount the g10 bracket without removing asus's back plate. i may try to use some washers and the asus back plate instead of the one provided with the kit.

 

any suggestions on mounting the g10 with the asus back plate or any experience is appreciated. 

[Faceman]

i personally dont mind the asetek circular pumps plus im sick of my rattly corsair pump its extremely irritating. so  from all the options i have been suggested i think i will be going with the cooler master seidon 240m because its 27mm like the h100i so i know it will fit and for the gpu aio i will be using the kraken x41 because its 38mm and i can run a low rpm fan.

 

i should receive the coolers and bracket this week, my only concern now is how to mount the g10 bracket without removing asus's back plate. i may try to use some washers and the asus back plate instead of the one provided with the kit.

 

any suggestions on mounting the g10 with the asus back plate or any experience is appreciated. 

The OCN has a great G10 Owner's Club if you ever have any questions, some very helpful people there with your card.

 

In order to have your backplate fit, you will have to either shave down or completely remove the foam piece that comes pre-applied to the G10's small backplate.  Me personally, I shaved it down, other have removed it completely.  That little foam pad is the only thing you have to worry about when trying to get your backplate to fit.

[Rocket01666]

@ Faceman thanks for the link it was really helpful, there was someone using a gtx 770 dcuii and it seemed to work out for him, im dying to get started on this project the parts should be in tomorrow.

 

Ill post pics of the installation here on the forum i will also post a vid on youtube for anyone else who is interested in doing this on a card with a back plate.

 

Thanks again for all your help.

[Rocket01666]

So after hours of trouble shooting i final got all coolers and fans installed i got my pc to post.

[Rocket01666]

 

here's the gallery of the project I didnt have a camera man so i didnt end up making a video and i also didnt show detailed pics of the g10 back plate install but i do have a short description of the process on one of the pics.

 

i ran into trouble after i installed everything i was getting a debug code 76 and 77, to solve this i had to completely re do all my cable management pull my ram and both my drives. after tearing everything apart and starting over i so far have seemed to eliminate the problem but only time will tell, aslo im only using a 650w psu so i may need to upgrade to 750 or 850 if this problem persists

[Rocket01666]

So i have a late update, I replaced the cooler master fans with bequiet fans because i couldnt stand the rattling they were making, later i changed the nzxt fan (had a weird vibration even with the nzxt fan having isolating mounts.

 

Temps wise im a little disappointed.   going from the h100i to the cooler master seidon ive increased about 8C at idle but under load im not really breaking 55C. ( could be due to a bad mount so i may reapply thermal paste and give it another go)

 

The gpu on the other hand isnt as impressive as Faceman but still very good.  idle went from about 32C to 29C and under load went from 82C-85C to not breaking 60C. i played borderlands 2 maxed for a few hours and saw it hit 61C but sat around the 55-57C mark. 

[Faceman]

So i have a late update, I replaced the cooler master fans with bequiet fans because i couldnt stand the rattling they were making, later i changed the nzxt fan (had a weird vibration even with the nzxt fan having isolating mounts.

 

Temps wise im a little disappointed.   going from the h100i to the cooler master seidon ive increased about 8C at idle but under load im not really breaking 55C. ( could be due to a bad mount so i may reapply thermal paste and give it another go)

 

The gpu on the other hand isnt as impressive as Faceman but still very good.  idle went from about 32C to 29C and under load went from 82C-85C to not breaking 60C. i played borderlands 2 maxed for a few hours and saw it hit 61C but sat around the 55-57C mark. 

What were your H100i temps at load?

 

Load is what matters, so if the Seidon is doing better at load, then thats a massive improvement. Also, you need to keep in mind that you have a very, very tiny and cramped case.  I am using a full tower chassis with tons of airflow and in a climate controlled smart house with constant 75F/23.8C ambient.

[Rocket01666]

So now im having an issue, im hitting 100C on all cores, this never happened with the h100i, h100i usually would float around the 85C mark, dunno why i could go from not breaking 55C to hitting 100C, this may just be a fluke.

 

I dont really like running P95 i usually just launch a ton of cpu intensive apps and games like skyrim, and render something in AutoCAD simultaneously to get CPU usage up.

 

but honestly i dont usually run a ton of cpu stuff at once i usually stick to one demanding task at a time, if im rendering something in AutoCAD or REVIT, thats all im usually working on.

 

I have faith in BeQuiet products but as for using silent wings 2 fans with radiators i now believe i should switch to Noctua for the rad fans, they are a little louder but all fans get loud beyond 1000rpm 

 

I think the reason im getting higher temps now is due to using an air flow optimized fan on a more dense fin arranged rad, the cooler master must have a higher fpi than the h100i. 

 

the higher fpi of the cooler master rad with noctua nf-f12 should give me very good performance.

[Faceman]

So now im having an issue, im hitting 100C on all cores, this never happened with the h100i, h100i usually would float around the 85C mark, dunno why i could go from not breaking 55C to hitting 100C, this may just be a fluke.

 

I dont really like running P95 i usually just launch a ton of cpu intensive apps and games like skyrim, and render something in AutoCAD simultaneously to get CPU usage up.

 

but honestly i dont usually run a ton of cpu stuff at once i usually stick to one demanding task at a time, if im rendering something in AutoCAD or REVIT, thats all im usually working on.

 

I have faith in BeQuiet products but as for using silent wings 2 fans with radiators i now believe i should switch to Noctua for the rad fans, they are a little louder but all fans get loud beyond 1000rpm 

 

I think the reason im getting higher temps now is due to using an air flow optimized fan on a more dense fin arranged rad, the cooler master must have a higher fpi than the h100i. 

 

the higher fpi of the cooler master rad with noctua nf-f12 should give me very good performance.

Its likely a mounting problem.  The H100i is notorious for this and is why I never recommend it.  Also, just use the stock fans that come with it.  Noctua are seriously expensive and are more for silence than performance.

 

Here are some links regarding the H100i mounting problem.  Also, whenever you are using Prime95, or you know you will be loading the CPU to 100%, set your voltage to manual/constant/override.

 

 You will need to do a washer mod in order to get proper contact.

 

Here are some links:

http://www.overclock...t-fit-more-snug

http://forum.corsair...994&postcount=3