NZXT Kraken G10 vs Corsair HG10

[dizmo]

I'm in the process of piecing together a new budget build, and I'll be running 2 AMD 290's.

I'd like to water cool them, as I'll likely be picking up some reference cards.

I'm stuck between these two options. I've read that the chips cooled by the fans can get quite hot.

 

The NZXT uses its own fan, which I might be able to switch out for something else from Noctua.

 

The Corsair unit uses the stock AMD fan, and their reasoning is that it's the only fan that works with AMD's cooling software.

 

Which way should I go? Aesthetically I like the NZXT design more, as it seems to drop lower and has a nicer coolant tube guide.

 

I have no interest in doing a custom loop. Period.

[DarrenP]

Why not do a custom loop? 

[dizmo]

Why not do a custom loop? 

Costs more, more parts, more maintenance, greater chance of failure.

I'll amend the OP, thanks!

[SpyRosL]

I like the nzxt and if you buy it,make sure to add some vram heatsinks since the fan only is not enough.

[Jodomcfrodo]

With a closed loop it wont matter what you get. The brackets will all perform the same. (To my knowledge) 

 

custom loop cough cough (I read the OP)

[lufihengr]

Is there any reviews on the HG10 yet? If the VRM cooling is better on it then I'd get that.

[VSG]

My vote goes to the Corsair offering, the stock blower fan need only be around 20% or so where it is way quieter given that it need not cool the core anymore and the heatsink has much better contact with the VRAM/VRMs.

[Enderman]

With a closed loop it wont matter what you get. The brackets will all perform the same. (To my knowledge) 

 

custom loop cough cough (I read the OP)

Nope. The HG10 uses an aluminum unisink over all the VRMs and power delivery to cool them down. The G10 has nothing except a fan blowing on them, which is why so many people have instability issues with using the G10 until they add some heat spreaders. Then the problem is that most heat sinks will not fit under the fan. I would personally wait for the HG10, Corsair's engineering and design is superior to NZXT. Hopefully linus can get some review samples and we can compare them both

[dizmo]

I like the nzxt and if you buy it,make sure to add some vram heatsinks since the fan only is not enough.

Where would I get those?

 

Nope. The HG10 uses an aluminum unisink over all the VRMs and power delivery to cool them down. The G10 has nothing except a fan blowing on them, which is why so many people have instability issues with using the G10 until they add some heat spreaders. Then the problem is that most heat sinks will not fit under the fan. I would personally wait for the HG10, Corsair's engineering and design is superior to NZXT. Hopefully linus can get some review samples and we can compare them both

Awesome! Just what I wanted to know, thanks.

Hopefully they perform just as well as the NZXT, though I don't know how it could possibly do worse.

[Enderman]

Where would I get those?

 

Awesome! Just what I wanted to know, thanks.

Hopefully they perform just as well as the NZXT, though I don't know how it could possibly do worse.

Yeah, if anything it will perform better

[dingoman]

I got these for the vrm cooling on my msi r9 290 on cf.

http://www.feppaspot.com/servlet/the-897/GELID-Solutions-Icy-Vision/Detail?gclid=CjgKEAjwnfGbBRDlxoHrl6uikyESJAD-nzCF48x45sZxE_8wMzM-WscKDwOLSnVztkICPriV2YpykfD_BwE

My temps are good. 63c playing bf4 but that's with my ac on,ac off around 69c. Temps where 94c 1st card 8xc 2nd, with stock msi twinf cooler even with ac on .

 

[JDS]

My experience with the G10 has been pretty mediocre, here's why:

 

- Granted, core temp was lower, but VRAM and VRM temps suffer, and still limit OC'ing abilities. I installed heatsinks for my VRAM and VRM and still had way too high of temps for me to be comfortable with, let alone my card.

- Having to buy heatsinks for something I already paid to do that same job is a sign of a pretty mediocre product. 

- Installation isn't terrible, but it won't look near as clean as the pictures make it look.  The foam blocks set the card and bracket in a non-parallel stance. 

- Also, I am a much bigger fan of the aesthetics of a reference blower style cooler than this.

 

My next plan is to add my GPU to a custom loop, so since that seems to not be an option for you, my experience may differ from yours.  Maybe I'm being too critical, considering it's a piece of metal with a fan, but it doesn't do the job it was designed to do, which is cool the ENTIRE card.  I don't like having to make modifications to something that I purchased to do the job that the modification is now doing.  Anyway, take my experience as you will, and make the decision you feel is best.  I am hopeful that the HG10 does a better job of uniformly cooling the card, and is compatible with non-Corsair AiO's, which I think it will be.

[dizmo]

@dingoman @JDS

 

Thanks guys, seems people really do have pretty mixed reactions and experiences with it.

JDS, what vram coolers were you using, if you don't mind me asking?

 

dingoman, always love the inside of that case. Hopefully my budget build looks that clean!

[JDS]

@dingoman @JDS

Thanks guys, seems people really do have pretty mixed reactions and experiences with it.

JDS, what vram coolers were you using, if you don't mind me asking?

dingoman, always love the inside of that case. Hopefully my budget build looks that clean!

I used Zalman VGA heatsinks. Like $10 on eBay.

[frustratedrocka]

By what definition is crossfire 290s a budget build?

[mattias1172]

By what definition is crossfire 290s a budget build?

unless your budget consists of spending almost $1000 on gpus alone, I'm going to say no.  

[dingoman]

Was going to say something but nvm.

[dizmo]

By what definition is crossfire 290s a budget build?

 

unless your budget consists of spending almost $1000 on gpus alone, I'm going to say no.  

 

The build as a whole is on a budget. I picked up a Z87 Sabertooth board new for $100, 16gb of new RAM for $80, etc.

You can get R9 290's pretty cheap now. They're ~$200 - $300 on the used market.

 

My last computer was over $3k. So this is very budget.

[frustratedrocka]

The build as a whole is on a budget. I picked up a Z87 Sabertooth board new for $100, 16gb of new RAM for $80, etc.

You can get R9 290's pretty cheap now. They're ~$200 - $300 on the used market.

 

My last computer was over $3k. So this is very budget.

How in the hell did you pull that off?

[dizmo]

How in the hell did you pull that off?

Waiting, and watching Craigslist.