Best Options for a 120 or 240 Rad AIO Cooler?

[IAmBecomeLinus]

Hello LinusTechTip-ians, I'm currently working on a build (well planning one) and I've come to a cross roads as far as my CPU cooling solution goes. I'll be building this rig in the Corsair 380t Mini-Itx Case. Originally I had the Kraken x41, but I decided to go with a 200mm fan in the front of the case with a h100i mounted on the side bars. Now, from what I've read, the H100i isn't all that great of a cooler, hell the 140mm Kraken x41 beat it out, let alone the x61.

 

So I want to know if there are any 120mm thick-rad AIO cooling solutions. This was I can Have the 200mm intake on the front, the Rad doing exhaust and 2 side-mounted fans also doing exhaust.

 

Here's my build list in-case it helps.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($304.82 @ Micro Center) 

CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: Asus Z97I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($159.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($164.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($112.98 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($102.99 @ B&H) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card  ($355.91 @ Newegg) 

Case: Corsair 380T Mini ITX Tower Case  ($155.98 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Plus 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($80.98 @ Newegg) 

Case Fan: BitFenix Spectre Pro LED 148.7 CFM 200mm  Fan  ($20.99 @ Newegg) 

Case Fan: Xigmatek XAF-F1251 75.3 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($12.99 @ Newegg) 

Case Fan: BitFenix BFF-SPRO-P12025KK-RP 70.5 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($14.13 @ OutletPC) 

Case Fan: BitFenix BFF-SPRO-P12025KK-RP 70.5 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($14.13 @ OutletPC) 

Other: Rubber Washers (Anti-Vibration Mounts) - Home Depo ($7.00)

Total: $1607.87

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-24 14:56 EDT-0400

[Scouten]

h220-x nuff said dropped my temps by 5 at idle and around  20 under load that was coming from the H80 cooler though.

 

if you can fit this i would seriously consider it

[Mclegendary]

I'll give you two options. I don't think 120mm watercoolers should even be considered as a traditional heat sink will give you better performance for less money. I would recommend the raijintek triton as cheaper solution as it is extremely cost effective. If you have a bit more money I'd go with a swiftech h220-x, which is basically a pre built custom loop. However there could be issues with mounting it in your case as the pump and res are attached to the radiator.

[JJR10]

I have the Enermax Liqtech 120X in my old rig and have been very happy with it. It is a 43mm thick rad that comes with two 120mm PWM fans (full push/pull configuration). The rad has rubber padding along the fan mounting for noise and vibration reduction. The fans also have 3 range settings with the highest having a range of 2300rpm. However, this setting at full speed is rather loud. I have it on the medium setting (2000 max rpm). The highest speed I've seen the fans at are 1250'ish rpm under full load (OCCT stress test for 8 hours) and found them relatively quiet. Temps during that stress test never exceeded 55c with an ambient range of 23-24c for an older Phenom X4 955 CPU overclocked with 1.425v.

 

The review I've seen had it slightly edge out the Dark Rock Pro 3 which is why I went with it. It was going into an Antec 900 and the larger air cooled heat sinks required some modification to the side panel so I was looking for other options. The rig will be going to a relative overseas and he wanted an AIO. All in all, I would recommend this for those looking at AIO's with 120mm rads.

[OverachievingSnowfall]

I like that setup with the case you've got.  The H-220x is an excellent cooler, but with the way the 380T mounts work for a 240mm rad, idk if it would make much sense. I guess it would work fine, and leave open the opportunity to WC the Strix 970 if anyone ever comes out with a block for it.  If you're not intending to WC the 970, then save the ~50$ and go with the h100i, it's a good cooler too.  If you go with the h100i, you will want to run the fans off a pwm splitter though, just to avoid using CorsairLink.

[IAmBecomeLinus]

h220-x nuff said dropped my temps by 5 at idle and around  20 under load that was coming from the H80 cooler though.

 

if you can fit this i would seriously consider it

 

 

I'll give you two options. I don't think 120mm watercoolers should even be considered as a traditional heat sink will give you better performance for less money. I would recommend the raijintek triton as cheaper solution as it is extremely cost effective. If you have a bit more money I'd go with a swiftech h220-x, which is basically a pre built custom loop. However there could be issues with mounting it in your case as the pump and res are attached to the radiator.

 

 

I like that setup with the case you've got.  The H-220x is an excellent cooler, but with the way the 380T mounts work for a 240mm rad, idk if it would make much sense. I guess it would work fine, and leave open the opportunity to WC the Strix 970 if anyone ever comes out with a block for it.  If you're not intending to WC the 970, then save the ~50$ and go with the h100i, it's a good cooler too.  If you go with the h100i, you will want to run the fans off a pwm splitter though, just to avoid using CorsairLink.

I'll try and see if the h220x fits in there, it'd be awesome if it does with all of these positive reviews on it.

 

@Letsrace567, what's wrong with corsair link?

[MarvinKMooney]

im pretty sure Kraken X60/X61 still beats out all AIO'S but swift does have the advantage of Expanding.

[IAmBecomeLinus]

im pretty sure Kraken X60/X61 still beats out all AIO'S but swift does have the advantage of Expanding.

The Kraken is the best out there, but, unfortunately, I can't fit the 280mm rad anywhere in the case and the 140mm X41 (which still cools better than the h100i) would need to take the place of my front 200mm intake. I wish the rear fan mount was 140mm instead of just 120 .

[IAmBecomeLinus]

This just makes me wonder, why are there no 200mm rad aio coolers?