AIO thoughts

[fbplayer54]

I have a Thermaltake Dragon 240mm AIO that I've had for about a year and a half. I'm noticing recently that it's gotten louder and more gurgly as time has gone on. Very recently I've had performance issues with games stuttering and freezing for a couple seconds while the gurgling gets a lot louder. It almost sounds like it's trying to play catch up on cooling.

 

My question is do I refill this AIO (and how? I'm assuming through the port pictured in picture 2 but with what?), or should I buy a newer/name brand one? I've read that Thermaltake makes trashy AIOs

 

MOBO: NZXT Z690 AM4

CPU: 5800X

 

[filpo]

1 minute ago, fbplayer54 said:

Very recently I've had performance issues with games stuttering and freezing for a couple seconds while the gurgling gets a lot louder. It almost sounds like it's trying to play catch up on cooling.

It should still be in warranty, but buying a decent aio would be better

 

3 minutes ago, fbplayer54 said:

I've read that Thermaltake makes trashy AIOs

quite true, their psus aren’t bad but they’re AIOS aren’t good, not even for the money

 

1 minute ago, fbplayer54 said:

My question is do I refill this AIO (and how? I'm assuming through the port pictured in picture 2 but with what?),

You can refill it but it’ll be a difficult job and if you’re not experienced, just don’t do it

 

3 minutes ago, fbplayer54 said:

or should I buy a newer/name brand one

The Arctic lf3 is a great AIO, has 5 years of warranty and is quite cheap with the deals that are going on until May. If you can get one of those, you could also go through with warranty but then you’ll have to move to a different cooler 

 

an alternative is an air cooler. The thermalright Phantom spirit 120 SE is a great choice for only 35 bucks and if you don’t like the look of it the AK620 zero dark or digital isn’t much more. Air coolers are normally more reliable than AIOs too (but I’ve had no problems at all with my LF2 Rev 7 Arctic 280)

 

if I were you and I had the space, I’d get the thermalright PS120SE. But if you prefer the looks of an AIO then a white LF3 would be the next best thing

[fbplayer54]

21 minutes ago, filpo said:

It should still be in warranty, but buying a decent aio would be better

 

quite true, their psus aren’t bad but they’re AIOS aren’t good, not even for the money

 

You can refill it but it’ll be a difficult job and if you’re not experienced, just don’t do it

 

The Arctic lf3 is a great AIO, has 5 years of warranty and is quite cheap with the deals that are going on until May. If you can get one of those, you could also go through with warranty but then you’ll have to move to a different cooler 

 

an alternative is an air cooler. The thermalright Phantom spirit 120 SE is a great choice for only 35 bucks and if you don’t like the look of it the AK620 zero dark or digital isn’t much more. Air coolers are normally more reliable than AIOs too (but I’ve had no problems at all with my LF2 Rev 7 Arctic 280)

 

if I were you and I had the space, I’d get the thermalright PS120SE. But if you prefer the looks of an AIO then a white LF3 would be the next best thing

Thank you very much!!

[LIGISTX]

30 minutes ago, fbplayer54 said:

I have a Thermaltake Dragon 240mm AIO that I've had for about a year and a half. I'm noticing recently that it's gotten louder and more gurgly as time has gone on. Very recently I've had performance issues with games stuttering and freezing for a couple seconds while the gurgling gets a lot louder. It almost sounds like it's trying to play catch up on cooling.

 

My question is do I refill this AIO (and how? I'm assuming through the port pictured in picture 2 but with what?), or should I buy a newer/name brand one? I've read that Thermaltake makes trashy AIOs

 

MOBO: NZXT Z690 AM4

CPU: 5800X

 

How is it oriented? If you orient it so the pump is physically below the radiator, it’ll pretty much be fine even if it’s a little low on coolant. Basically, as long as the radiator is at the top of the case, it’ll be fine. Second best is a front mount with the tubes at the bottom. 
 

Front mount with tubes at the top is the worst option and can easily lead to gurgling noises as it starts to evaporate liquid.

[fbplayer54]

5 minutes ago, LIGISTX said:

How is it oriented? If you orient it so the pump is physically below the radiator, it’ll pretty much be fine even if it’s a little low on coolant. Basically, as long as the radiator is at the top of the case, it’ll be fine. Second best is a front mount with the tubes at the bottom. 
 

Front mount with tubes at the top is the worst option and can easily lead to gurgling noises as it starts to evaporate liquid.

I have it on the top of the my case. I did think about that when buying that AIO

[TPCEA]

17 hours ago, fbplayer54 said:

I have a Thermaltake Dragon 240mm AIO that I've had for about a year and a half. I'm noticing recently that it's gotten louder and more gurgly as time has gone on. Very recently I've had performance issues with games stuttering and freezing for a couple seconds while the gurgling gets a lot louder. It almost sounds like it's trying to play catch up on cooling.

 

My question is do I refill this AIO (and how? I'm assuming through the port pictured in picture 2 but with what?), or should I buy a newer/name brand one? I've read that Thermaltake makes trashy AIOs

 

MOBO: NZXT Z690 AM4

CPU: 5800X

 

If it was doing a good job before, try doing a flush and fill with the port on the rad. If you fuck it up, then buy something better.

[TPCEA]

16 hours ago, LIGISTX said:

Front mount with tubes at the top is the worst option and can easily lead to gurgling noises as it starts to evaporate liquid.

@NorKrisyou're up to bat.

[LIGISTX]

1 hour ago, RevGAM said:

If it was doing a good job before, try doing a flush and fill with the port on the rad. If you fuck it up, then buy something better.

If OP does this, just make sure to figure out if this loop has any mixed metals… if not, DI water plus some biocide is ideal. If it is mixed metals, I wouldn’t even bother trying to flush it, because refilling it would potentially be a massive headache. Could use car antifreeze as that’s usually designed for mixed metal application, but not always a guarantee. 

[TPCEA]

1 hour ago, LIGISTX said:

If OP does this, just make sure to figure out if this loop has any mixed metals… if not, DI water plus some biocide is ideal. If it is mixed metals, I wouldn’t even bother trying to flush it, because refilling it would potentially be a massive headache. Could use car antifreeze as that’s usually designed for mixed metal application, but not always a guarantee. 

I'm not experienced with doing it, but I've seen others discussing this. What's the big challenge with adding an anti- corrosive?

[NorKris]

2 hours ago, RevGAM said:

@NorKrisyou're up to bat.

Huh? 

[TPCEA]

8 minutes ago, NorKris said:

Huh? 

Lol! Look at the advice the other person gave...

[NorKris]

3 minutes ago, RevGAM said:

Lol! Look at the advice the other person gave...

Ooh.. 

@LIGISTX is almost correct... 

[LIGISTX]

4 hours ago, RevGAM said:

I'm not experienced with doing it, but I've seen others discussing this. What's the big challenge with adding an anti- corrosive?

You certainly can, but finding the correct and compatible glycol based coolant can be annoying. If everything is aluminum, or everything is copper, then DI water and biocide will be fine. If there is mixed metals, it just gets more complicated and annoying. 
 

3 hours ago, NorKris said:

Ooh.. 

@LIGISTX is almost correct... 

what am I not correct about? All AIO mounting is more or less fine, as long as at least a portion of the radiator is above the pump, and the feed tube to the pump will never have air enter it (so either tubes facing down with a top mount rad, or tubes at the bottom on a vertical mount rad). There isn’t much else to it…. It’s just physics. 

[NorKris]

9 hours ago, LIGISTX said:

what am I not correct about? All AIO mounting is more or less fine, as long as at least a portion of the radiator is above the pump, and the feed tube to the pump will never have air enter it (so either tubes facing down with a top mount rad, or tubes at the bottom on a vertical mount rad). There isn’t much else to it…. It’s just physics. 

when u say it like that its 100%  correct  

 

its just that i sounded like if u front mount ur always or very fast is going to lose the fluid in the loop