High End Closed Loop Liquid Cooling! What's my best bet!?

[the4thgengamer]

Hi! Currently I am running an AMD FX 9590, and my goodness it gets HOT, currently I can't even get it up to its base speed of 4.7 GHz because its so fast. Currently I'm running a Seidon 120V to cool it, which has impressed me so far. Once I get past the 4.4 GHz mark, my PC locks up after 20-30 minutes of full load. I'm looking to not only get the speed up to its base 4.7 GHz, however I want to overclock it too! What's the point of upgrading my cooling for a small .3 GHz? That is a waste.

 

 

I've been shopping around for a closed loop, no maintenance system; I'm aware that I could make something custom, however I'm not interested in that at the moment. Currently, I don't have many restrictions. Size does NOT matter, as I'm looking to get a new case, and price isn't much of an issue either, as long as its not too much over the $200 mark. I looked at the Thermaltake Water 3.0 Ultimate, however I'm considering some other options like  Corsair's H100i GTX Extreme. Honestly, I just need a second opinion, what is my BEST option?? To sum it up -

 

- Size of the cooler DOES NOT matter

- Price is NOT much of an issue (Not too much more than $200)

- Performance is KEY

- Closed loop, no maintenance (after installation of course)

 

 

Thanks for all feedback!

[Enderman]

You would get better performance AND lower temps by switching to intel and getting rid of that horrible FX

[SageC]

Check out the Swiftech H240X.

[the4thgengamer]

You would get better performance AND lower temps by switching to intel and getting rid of that horrible FX

Understandable, doesn't answer my question... Regardless, when I built the system I was in the market for an AMD, Intel was way too pricey. Next build Intel will be the smart buy for sure. Thanks for the reply.

[the4thgengamer]

Check out the Swiftech H240X.

Thanks!! Looks great, definitely looks like a possibility. 

[Enderman]

Check out the Swiftech H240X.

lots of issues with that cooler, definitely not recommended

 

either buy a proper WC kit from EK or XSPC, or buy a fully sealed AiO

[Octavialicious]

lots of issues with that cooler, definitely not recommended

 

either buy a proper WC kit from EK or XSPC, or buy a fully sealed AiO

+1

 

NZXT Kraken X61 gets my vote.

[Enderman]

+1

 

NZXT Kraken X61 gets my vote.

H110iGT is good too, but its new so kinda hard to find in stores

[SageC]

lots of issues with that cooler, definitely not recommended

 

either buy a proper WC kit from EK or XSPC, or buy a fully sealed AiO

 

Really, links? I looked for issues but couldn't find any.

[Enderman]

Really, links? I looked for issues but couldn't find any.

http://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/2zumpm/crack_oh_snap/

 

also saw another person on this forum have a leak

 

and several people complaining about it being noisy (because that small pump makes a lot of noise, especially when its got no dampening)

plus multiple (less than 10 that I have seen here) reports of pump failures

[SageC]

http://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/2zumpm/crack_oh_snap/

 

also saw another person on this forum have a leak

 

and several people complaining about it being noisy (because that small pump makes a lot of noise, especially when its got no dampening)

plus multiple (less than 10 that I have seen here) reports of pump failures

 

Ah, thanks. I wouldn't totally write it off as a decent option because as with anything the people with problems will always be louder than people that are happy. And I'm sure there are hundreds of people that have this cooler and like it. But I do appreciate the information.

[Enderman]

Ah, thanks. I wouldn't totally write it off as a decent option because as with anything the people with problems will always be louder than people that are happy. And I'm sure there are hundreds of people that have this cooler and like it. But I do appreciate the information.

well its a fact that mounting a pump to a piece of metal with no vibration dampening will be loud

this is why people building proper custom loops use foam tape or velcro between the pump and case, which you cannot do with the 200x cooler because its mounted in one piece to the rad

 

also the MCP350 is loud imo

but you wouldnt really notice it if you run your fans at 100%

 

my point is that its an expensive cooler that does not perform better than other AiOs

the only reason someone would buy this is if they plan to expand, BUT if you do plan to expand you should not buy this because the quality of the parts is much lower than a proper WC kit from EK or XSPC

[brandishwar]

Understandable, doesn't answer my question... Regardless, when I built the system I was in the market for an AMD, Intel was way too pricey. Next build Intel will be the smart buy for sure. Thanks for the reply.

 

Gotta love how as soon as someone mentions they're running AMD one of the first things said is "switch to Intel". But his point about getting lower temperatures shouldn't be ignored. With that said, whatever solution you go with, definitely recommend going with an after-market thermal compound. I'd recommend IC Diamond as it's a great compound, but you'll need something very high performance as that chip can run a bit hotter than an FX-8350.

 

On the closed-loop AIO side of things, then, I'd actually say to go with the ThermalTake Water 3.0 Ultimate if you can afford it and your case can support it. It has a 360mm radiator. Only thing I don't like about it is how you need to replace the mounting bracket with custom hardware. The H100 or H110 by Corsair would be great options as well, mainly since mounting those on an AM3+ doesn't require anything special -- there's a hold-down bracket that fits right onto the standard AM3+ mounting bracket. Plus they have hold-down hardware for Intel platforms for when you want to switch.

[SageC]

well its a fact that mounting a pump to a piece of metal with no vibration dampening will be loud

this is why people building proper custom loops use foam tape or velcro between the pump and case, which you cannot do with the 200x cooler because its mounted in one piece to the rad

 

also the MCP350 is loud imo

but you wouldnt really notice it if you run your fans at 100%

 

All true, hopefully when they revise the design they fix that as I think it strikes a nice middle ground in between AIOs and custom loops.

[Enderman]

All true, hopefully when they revise the design they fix that as I think it strikes a nice middle ground in between AIOs and custom loops.

the fact that its middle ground means it doesnt really have a place

 

either spend a bit more money to get high quality parts, or spend a bit less money to get a maintenance-free sealed loop with less points of failure...

[SageC]

the fact that its middle ground means it doesnt really have a place

 

either spend a bit more money to get high quality parts, or spend a bit less money to get a maintenance-free sealed loop with less points of failure...

 

I don't know, I like the idea of being able to expand or leave it stock. A full custom loop will always out perform it but it will also be more time consuming and expensive, and a sealed-loop will be cheaper and more reliable but it will be way more limiting and in most cases wont perform as well.

[Enderman]

I don't know, I like the idea of being able to expand or leave it stock. A full custom loop will always out perform it but it will also be more time consuming and expensive, and a sealed-loop will be cheaper and more reliable but it will be way more limiting and in most cases wont perform as well.

performance only relies on the size, thickness, and fin density of the radiator, nothing else

 

the H240x will not perform any better than a 280mm AiO with the same thickness and fin density radiator

it will also not perform any worse than a 280mm custom loop

 

what matters is that swiftec is using the cheapest possible parts in the H220x/240x to make it less than $200 while still technically being a custom loop

 

yes the custom watercooling kits from EK and XSPC cost over $200 but they use much higher quality parts which I would feel comfortable using to build a larger loop

[SageC]

performance only relies on the size, thickness, and fin density of the radiator, nothing else

 

the H240x will not perform any better than a 280mm AiO with the same thickness and fin density radiator

it will also not perform any worse than a 280mm custom loop

 

what matters is that swiftec is using the cheapest possible parts in the H220x/240x to make it less than $200 while still technically being a custom loop

 

yes the custom watercooling kits from EK and XSPC cost over $200 but they use much higher quality parts which I would feel comfortable using to build a larger loop

 

Pump quality matters a bit too, if you watch Linus's review review of the H220X you can see on the benchmarks that it has a slight edge on other 240mm AIO coolers presumably due to the better pump.

 

I don't know what to tell you man, yes it has it's downfalls and it's definitely not for everyone but I feel like this is a good for the enthusiast builder that doesn't have the money or isn't comfortable with a fool custom loop at the time but doesn't want to limit themselves. For example if I had bought a H220X instead of a H100i (they didn't exist yet so I couldn't of but for the sake of example let's ignore that) it would have been a much better option. For one I wouldn't have my current ghetto triple AIO set up because I could just expand the loop to include the graphics cards instead of set up totally separate loops for them. And I also wouldn't need to scrap all my current coolers when I went fool custom as I would have the ability to slowly add parts to the loop and eventually get rid of the whole cooler except for the CPU block.

 

I see your points but I don't think you'll be able to convince me that this thing doesn't deserve some small, weird place in the cooling landscape. 

[Enderman]

Pump quality matters a bit too, if you watch Linus's review review of the H220X you can see on the benchmarks that it has a slight edge on other 240mm AIO coolers presumably due to the better pump.

 

I don't know what to tell you man, yes it has it's downfalls and it's definitely not for everyone but I feel like this is a good for the enthusiast builder that doesn't have the money or isn't comfortable with a fool custom loop at the time but doesn't want to limit themselves. For example if I had bought a H220X instead of a H100i (they didn't exist yet so I couldn't of but for the sake of example let's ignore that) it would have been a much better option. For one I wouldn't have my current ghetto triple AIO set up because I could just expand the loop to include the graphics cards instead of set up totally separate loops for them. And I also wouldn't need to scrap all my current coolers when I went fool custom as I would have the ability to slowly add parts to the loop and eventually get rid of the whole cooler except for the CPU block.

 

I see your points but I don't think you'll be able to convince me that this thing doesn't deserve some small, weird place in the cooling landscape. 

First of all the H220x performed better because it used a thicker radiator

the H100i has a 27mm radiator

 

Also if someone plans to do a custom loop theyre going to need to save up a lot of money anyway, so they could just get a 212 evo or cheaper AiO in the meantime, then sell it once they upgrade to full custom loop and make at least half the money back