Closed Loop vs Custom Water Cooling

[legend8887]

Okay, the custom water cooling has gotten me. It just looks so cool. Which one should I do, closed loop (H100i) or custom water cooling? (Hint: Custom Water Cooling) :D

[AlwaysFSX]

Depends on how much you want to spend, effort you're willing to put in, and if you're just cooling your cpu it's not exactly all that work it unless you have say a 9590.

[Jogostar]

depends on how much you want to spend

@AlwaysFSX Ninja'd me, even the exact same sentence.

[_ASSASSIN_]

I don't understand this, if you like to do it than just do a custom loop, there's really no point in asking us unless you want the pros and cons of each

[Bluethulhu]

Well a custom loop will destroy the H100i in performance but the H100i will destroy the custom loop in price. What's the rest of your system?

[AlwaysFSX]

depends on how much you want to spend

@AlwaysFSX Ninja'd me, even the exact same sentence.

[legend8887]

Well a custom loop will destroy the H100i in performance but the H100i will destroy the custom loop in price. What's the rest of your system?

Don't have it yet this will be a new build... but I plan on the CPU being a 4770K

[helping]

Don't have it yet this will be a new build... but I plan on the CPU being a 4770K

it's pointless unless you're going to do the GPU too. 

[EpicGeekonFire]

Don't have it yet this will be a new build... but I plan on the CPU being a 4770K

You don't need that a nice air cooler will be good try the Bequiet DarkRock it's so nice looking,

[Constantine]

I say AIOs for the cheap and easy, build a custom loop if you want to go balls wild with an adventure.

[nokturrduk84]

I'd say go for closed loop. Custom loop needs more care & forget air coolers, they are ugly & loud

[CM Nic]

Well a custom loop will destroy the H100i in performance but the H100i will destroy the custom loop in price. What's the rest of your system?

 

Alternatively, you could take a step in between closed loops and custom loops by opting for our Glacer 240L. It was born out of our partnership with Swiftech and it's semi-DIY in the sense that it comes factory filled and sealed for zero maintenance while you still have the option to break the seal and add to your loop as needed. It's also competitively priced against high-end closed loop solutions while performing better than them in most situations. The pump was given plenty of headroom to support a full custom loop later on down the road while the parts themselves support standard G 1/4 fittings. It also uses a copper waterblock with a copper/brass radiator.

 

Product Page

http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=10101&product_name=Glacer%20240L

 

Reviews

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/6011/cooler-master-glacer-240l-aio-liquid-cpu-cooler-review/index10.html

http://www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/cooling/liquid/37574-cm-glacer240l?showall=&start=3

[Swegly]

Alternatively, you could take a step in between closed loops and custom loops by opting for our Glacer 240L. It was born out of our partnership with Swiftech and it's semi-DIY in the sense that it comes factory filled and sealed for zero maintenance while you still have the option to break the seal and add to your loop as needed. It's also competitively priced against high-end closed loop solutions while performing better than them in most situations. The pump was given plenty of headroom to support a full custom loop later on down the road while the parts themselves support standard G 1/4 fittings. It also uses a copper waterblock with a copper/brass radiator.

 

Product Page

http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=10101&product_name=Glacer%20240L

 

Reviews

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/6011/cooler-master-glacer-240l-aio-liquid-cpu-cooler-review/index10.html

http://www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/cooling/liquid/37574-cm-glacer240l?showall=&start=3

Sorry but the newegg reviews dont look to promising on this product

[TheProfosist]

Sorry but the newegg reviews dont look to promising on this product

Ive had good luch with the swifttech H220 and H320 which are essentially the same. What are they saying is bad about it?

[Swegly]

Ive had good luch with the swifttech H220 and H320 which are essentially the same. What are they saying is bad about it?

Based on all of the reviews I just read from verified customers on newegg their experience with the cooler has been awful and the failure rate is high. On the other hand the h220 is looked upon as amazing so im kinda confused

[TheProfosist]

Based on all of the reviews I just read from verified customers on newegg their experience with the cooler has been awful and the failure rate is high. On the other hand the h220 is looked upon as amazing so im kinda confused

No clue man its basically a better version of the H220 many of those seemed to be people not mounting right or possibly a straight up defective unit. The H220 is the best AIO 240mm available, this has a faster pump and better more pressure optimised fans.

[Swegly]

No clue man its basically a better version of the H220 many of those seemed to be people not mounting right or possibly a straight up defective unit. The H220 is the best AIO 240mm available, this has a faster pump and better more pressure optimised fans.

oh ok i have just got into the whole water cooling thing anyway and I will do a custom loop on my next build which wont be for a while but to start out I just ordered my h100i  with nf-f12s because I havent heard anything bad about it!

[skline00]

A few months ago I built my first custom water loop for my 3930k rig. I have had experience with Corsair H60, H100, Thermaltake Performer, Pro and Extreme 2 AIO water coolers. They are good and easy but when you really push a high heat outpu component the custom loop shines, BUT at a price.

 

I have a Swiftech 655b pump, 2 XSPC 360 rads (RX + EX) a Swiftech Apogee HD cpu block, 2 GTX 680 water blocks, XSPC Acrylic D5 reservoir combo and 6 Corsair SP120 fans for the rads. You can tie up serious $$. However, my 3930k at 4.5 Ghz never exceeds 62c even in Prime 95 or Intel Burn Test etc in the same loop as my dual EVGA GTX670 FTWs which are OC'd. They never exceed 52 C (one is in the low 40s and one in the low 50s due to different water blocks). Try to match those temps with a AIO and even a custom Cooling GPU.

 

The 4770k throws some heat but not like the 3930k. I think your biggest noticeable drop would be in your GPU if water cooled. How much? Exclusive of a gpu water block you are going to spend a MINIMUM of $200. More like $300 to 600 depending upon the gpu block.

 

I like it because of the result. As cpus get cooler and total TDP drops custom cooling wanes. If you do go the custom water loop cool your gpu with a water block also. I think you'll really notice the difference.

[TheMissxu]

XSPC has some cheap watercooling kits (for a CPU; like the XSPC Raystorm 750 EX240; ~150$); when looking at temp performance, it's on par with some AIO watercoolers, but it's noise production is far lower.

As you can see the SilverArrow SB-E (a $90 air-cooler) beats out both watercoolers by at least 2C! Does that mean you should go for the air-cooler?

Well, the answer is maybe not... The H100i ($100) has a redeeming factor over the SilverArrow SB-E -- it's 9 decibels quieter; but it's also $10 more and performs 9C hotter. Now the XSPC Raystorm 750 EX240 Kit, although it uses a slim 240 radiator (which is cheaper and performs slightly worse than the AX, which is normal thickness), still comes with in 2C of the intrepid SilverArrow Extreame. But that performance doesn't exchange any sound for temps, it beats the air-cooler by 11 dB and the AIO watercooler by 2 dB (we mustn't forget the 7C temperature delta also).

 

There is, no doubt, an added value to a custom loop, because it's just that -- custom. I'm soon to add a GPU to my loop, which I couldn't have done with the air-cooler or OEM AIO watercooler (I could have with the CM semi-DIY loop, though). So was it worth the extra $50? Well, I think so...

 

Obviously that little rant-ish thing was talking about a beginners, cheap/low-end custom liquid cooler; but you can already reap the benefits of custom liquid cooling at that "low-end" price point (as I suppose if you mess up, also the cons, like leaks ect.).

[warmmilk]

watercooling is only worth the money if you're looking for a really really quiet system.  otherwise you're really just doing it more or less for the hell of it

 

 

Well a custom loop will destroy the H100i in performance but the H100i will destroy the custom loop in price. What's the rest of your system?

 

Just to clear this up for the OP, a custom loop will destroy the H100i in cooling performance, actual cpu performance won't see much of a difference even if you're able to get a better overclock with the custom loop

[AHaskin14]

Does your build need it (overclocked cpu)? do you have room in your case? Do you have the money?

[warmmilk]

^I doubt anyone ever actually "needs" watercooling...  only thing I can see is some sort of really extreme professional application thats gonna run the cpu at or near 100% load for most of the day.  Even then, not really needed, just could be useful for lower temps to prolong the life a little bit...

[EchoRomeoCharlie]

^I doubt anyone ever actually "needs" watercooling...  only thing I can see is some sort of really extreme professional application thats gonna run the cpu at or near 100% load for most of the day.  Even then, not really needed, just could be useful for lower temps to prolong the life a little bit...

 

On that note, nobody really actually 'needs' a computer...we would survive without them.

 

I say go custom or go home!

 

That said, I'm probably going with an H105

[warmmilk]

On that note, nobody really actually 'needs' a computer...we would survive without them.

 

I say go custom or go home!

 

That said, I'm probably going with an H105

 

not really.  a gaming pc will get 90% of performance on a decent air cooling of a watercooled pc.  And thats just graphics card, most modern cpu's don't see any increase in FPS in most games from overclocking...

 

my point is if you're building a gaming or a general use pc, watercooling is either for a very quiet system or just for fun.  as far as actual performance increase its pretty much the worst value for money computer product out there

[CM Nic]

not really.  a gaming pc will get 90% of performance on a decent air cooling of a watercooled pc.  And thats just graphics card, most modern cpu's don't see any increase in FPS in most games from overclocking...

 

my point is if you're building a gaming or a general use pc, watercooling is either for a very quiet system or just for fun.  as far as actual performance increase its pretty much the worst value for money computer product out there

I'd say that you should be careful in how you characterize the benefits without hard data. If air cooling was able to achieve 90% of the performance as a watercooled PC, you wouldn't have people pushing the limits day after day showing cooling data that vastly improves their ability to overclock. If only an extra 10% were possible, these numbers would not be worth pouring marketing dollars into and outright hiring people to overclock for you with your performance parts.

 

In general, the more effective the thermal dissipation, the more you can release the potential of a given part. What that percentage might be is highly variable based on each individual CPU, GPU, or other part. Of course, there are limits to how effective these methods can be and how far the part itself will go.

 

In terms of pecking order:

High-end Heatsink Fan coolers will often meet or exceed the cooling of a traditional closed loop (AIO) cooler (By how much and any sacrifices to noise levels is based on which specific comparison)

Custom loops should always beat either of the above options assuming the parts selected are adequate for the system

 

You can compare the Top 5 Heatsink and Top 5 Liquid Cooling list based on performance and noise at FrostyTech (Like JonnyGuru, but for coolers)

Top 5 Liquid Coolers - http://www.frostytech.com/top5_liquid_heatsinks.cfm

Top 5 Heatsinks - http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm