Closed loop cooling funky results

[hamsteyr]

Before I get started with this, I'll start by saying that this isn't so much as a call for help as much as it is a topic for more academic level understanding of perhaps what's going on. With that out of the way, let me begin with a story on how this came about.

 

About two years ago, I got a Thermaltake Water 2.0 Performer closed loop water cooler.

 

It worked well through all those years, albeit a bit noisy because of the fans, but earlier this year, it started to behave very strangely, with temps on idle even going up to the 50-60 ºC mark. I chucked it down to just a failing water cooling loop, and so I decided to get a new water cooling loop.

 

Enter the Cooler Master Nepton 120XL.

 

I will say first and foremost, that after installing it, I wasn't quite pleased with the results that I was getting with the cooler. Despite having a thicker radiator, temperatures were plus minus the same, and the cabling made it excessively difficult for it to be installed because it's so rigid. Also, Cooler Master lies because those fans don't really live up to their Silencio name. They are loud as, even on idle.

 

Anyhew, curiosity got the better of me, and so I actually decided to tear my Thermaltake AIO apart from the copper base block. After unscrewing all the screws and lifting it up, imagine my wonderful surprise when I saw this:

 

Which of course, was accompanied by this:

 

I don't have any pictures of it, but after seeing these two, I decided to clean it up by disassembling it even further, and flushing the liquid out, and in the midst of flushing the liquid out, there were some chunks that came out into my sink, that looked almost like little rocks and stones that crumbled when I pressed onto them.

 

After fully cleaning it out, and after reading up on it, I decided to replace the liquid in that closed loop with deionised/purified water as it's the cheapest to get with the best results, plus you can't see the liquid anyway in a closed loop.

 

Imagine my wonderful surprise when I tested it on my side system that has an AMD FX8320 @ 4.2GHz and on idle, the system actually dipped below 10 celcius as an extremely cool 8 celcius.

 

Long story short, I decided to do a test with both of these coolers now, the new Nepton 120XL vs the "fixed" Thermaltake Water 2.0 performer on my Core i5 3570k @ 4.5GHz using the same fan in a push configuration. The results are as follows.

 

Nepton 120XL after Prime 95 max heat and on idle

 

Flushed, Cleaned and redone Thermaltake Water 2.0 Performer after Prime 95 max heat and on idle. I've actually had the idle sitting on a low of 26 celcius when left running through the night.

 

Because of this I have gone back to using my Thermaltake Water 2.0 Performer, but this baffles me. Why on earth would the Water 2.0 with it's smaller water pump (i'm judging based on physical size alone) and smaller radiator have better temperatures than a stock Nepton 120XL, that should be free of any problems that I had of owning the Water 2.0 for 2 over years?

 

Anyone care to enlighten me on this one?

[Samfisher]

The Therma rad may have more FPI (fins per inch), which when combined with a good static pressure fan can provide better cooling.

[MrKickkiller]

Pump size should be irrelevant in an AIO, as far as temp results ofcourse.

 

Smaller radiators may feature higher fin density thus getting more dissapation.

[hamsteyr]

The Therma rad may have more FPI (fins per inch), which when combined with a good static pressure fan can provide better cooling.

Interesting. This could be something as I do notice that the gaps in the radiator fins for the CoolerMaster is noticeably larger than that of the Thermaltake. I assumed of course that due to the added thickness they would offset one another.

 

Pump size should be irrelevant in an AIO, as far as temp results ofcourse.

 

Smaller radiators may feature higher fin density thus getting more dissapation.

Given the massive thickness of the CPU block itself on the Nepton 120XL, I of course assumed that perhaps it had a stronger pump, as the damn thing is more than twice the thickness of my damn Water 2.0 (which made it impossible to install on the Corsair 450D)

 

In the end what is it worth though. A thicker radiator, a bigger block makes it harder to fit compatibility wise, and while I assumed this would result perhaps in better performance, the opposite couldn't be true-er :\

[MrKickkiller]

Interesting. This could be something as I do notice that the gaps in the radiator fins for the CoolerMaster is noticeably larger than that of the Thermaltake. I assumed of course that due to the added thickness they would offset one another.

 

Given the massive thickness of the CPU block itself on the Nepton 120XL, I of course assumed that perhaps it had a stronger pump, as the damn thing is more than twice the thickness of my damn Water 2.0 (which made it impossible to install on the Corsair 450D)

 

In the end what is it worth though. A thicker radiator, a bigger block makes it harder to fit compatibility wise, and while I assumed this would result perhaps in better performance, the opposite couldn't be true-er :\

 

 

I don't think double the rad size would require double the pump horse power.

Just as a heads-up: 

There does not flow any fluid trough the fins (the tiny fins). The fluid travels trough the 10 or so large channels that run from end to end.

The fins themselves pick up the thermal energy from those larger fluid channels I just described, before dissapating it.

[hamsteyr]

I don't think double the rad size would require double the pump horse power.

Just as a heads-up: 

There does not flow any fluid trough the fins (the tiny fins). The fluid travels trough the 10 or so large channels that run from end to end.

The fins themselves pick up the thermal energy from those larger fluid channels I just described, before dissapating it.

 

Thanks for the information. It helped satiate my understanding of what's going on a bit more haha

[DevinR]

this happened to me aswell but in my situation my antec h2o 620 the thin rad single fan version. out performed my h100i by a large margine

[hamsteyr]

Actually, while I'm at it, I thought I'd add something interesting. In all my years of using custom heat sinks for my CPUs, way back when I was on Air cooling as well, all the surfaces of the copper base have always had a near mirror like finish, or at least feel smooth to the touch.

 

The copper base on the CoolerMaster Nepton 120XL has actually got enough resistance on my fingers to be used as sandpaper, which was a massive shock to me. I could probably file down my nails on it with ease.

[Necrodead]

 

The copper base on the CoolerMaster Nepton 120XL has actually got enough resistance on my fingers to be used as sandpaper, which was a massive shock to me. I could probably file down my nails on it with ease.

Sounds like a defect to me, maybe try contacting Coolermaster and asking, since the surface should be mirror smooth.

[hamsteyr]

Sounds like a defect to me, maybe try contacting Coolermaster and asking, since the surface should be mirror smooth.

 

Unlikely, looking at pictures of the loop itself on review sites online, they look exactly the same.

[Necrodead]

Unlikely, looking at pictures of the loop itself on review sites online, they look exactly the same.

Not a great product in that case then. You can lap (flatten+smooth) the surface yourself with the right tools, although never done it myself. Some people do it for performance gains.