Best video card(s) with a great price to performance ratio?

[BiG StroOnZ]

Not personally (my Water 2.0 is still working... for now), but I personally know three friends who had CLCs break. 

 

A guy with an H100i had the pump fail after a year, was RMA'd for another H100i which had the Corsair Link function stop working after two months.

Another guy had a Seidon 120M that leaked at the joints on the block, causing damage to his graphics card. Luckily EVGA covered that under warranty.

 

These are really isolated incidents, and they just had bad luck.

 

My brother's Corsair H90 has been going strong for almost two years now.

 

My friends Corsair H80i that I got him is going strong for two years now. He put it in his Dad's rig and got himself a Corsair H100i. That's been going strong for a year now.

 

My original H100 is going strong for 3 years now.  

 

So it's really subjective to claim that these units suffer from numerous leak problems or pump failures. If this was common place these products from Corsair wouldn't have 4 or 5 star reviews on Newegg for practically every CLC they make. I can't really comment on other manufacturers' units because I don't have experience with them, so I don't know their reliability. But from Corsair, it's very, very rare that you have a pump failure or leak from one of their AIO units. They are quality products that work very well 99.9% of the time. I would never make any build that requires an aftermarket cooler without one of them at this point because how well they work, how easy they are to install and remove, along with how nicely they perform.

 

So if you have a few bad apples you can't chop down the whole apple tree. Sometimes random products have defects, but to penalize all of them because of a few bad experiences you know just doesn't seem fair to the people who have had great experiences with them.

[Aniallation]

These are really isolated incidents, and they just had bad luck.

 

So if you have a few bad apples you can't chop down the whole apple tree. Sometimes random products have defects, but to penalize all of them because of a few bad experiences you know just doesn't seem fair to the people who have had great experiences with them.

The point is the risk you're taking. I suggested an air cooler because then you're not taking the risk of things like this and if something like the fan does break it's a simple cheap and quick fix. If the OP wants to go for a CLC, then that's his choice.

[BiG StroOnZ]

The point is the risk you're taking. I suggested an air cooler because then you're not taking the risk of things like this and if something like the fan does break it's a simple cheap and quick fix. If the OP wants to go for a CLC, then that's his choice.

 

I wouldn't really call it a risk. I can say with certainty that it is very unlikely that you purchase a Corsair AIO Unit and it has a pump failure or has some sort of leak. Granted, with an Air Cooler, it's true this is something that you would not have to worry about at all. But realistically, you really don't have to worry about it from purchasing a Corsair AIO unit either because it's not really going to happen. Can it happen? Sure. Will it happen, most likely not.

 

The only reason why I'm interjecting here is the OP seemed like he had his mind made up on a AIO unit and you dissuaded him from getting one because of your personal experiences with them from people you know. But anyone can do their research to find that these units very rarely have problems, at least from Corsair. If they did have problems, like I said, they wouldn't have 4 or 5 stars on Newegg and there would be many, many forums complaining about them on a daily basis; because they sell thousands of units.

[Aniallation]

The only reason why I'm interjecting here is the OP seemed like he had his mind made up on a AIO unit and you dissuaded him from getting one because of your personal experiences with them from people you know. 

Huh? He just asked if it was worth it, presumably because something like an H100i costs more then a Cryorig R1. He never said he had his mind set on it.

 

 I'm thinking of getting the Cooler Master cooler with the build in closed loop water cooler thing. Worth it?

[BiG StroOnZ]

Huh? He just asked if it was worth it, presumably because something like an H100i costs more then a Cryorig R1. He never said he had his mind set on it.

 

He says he was thinking about getting one. Which would mean that he was thinking about getting one.... Meaning he made a choice about getting one. But he said "worth it" because obviously he wasn't sure being a newbie most likely. You jumped in and said, "Nah" it's not worth it because they suffer from leaks and pump failures. Which means if he was thinking about getting one, now he's definitely not because you scared him. You also recommended a Cryorig R1, which costs about $90. Corsair H100i is may be a little more expensive but it does perform better:

 

[Aniallation]

You also recommended a Cryorig R1, which costs about $90. Corsair H100i is may be a little more expensive but it does perform better:

I like how that review doesn't cover noise levels in comparison to the other coolers like many other sites that do reviews have done. The H100i stock fans are noticeably louder then the ones that come with the Cryorig, which has led to lots of people (including many on this forum) to look for other static pressure fans to replace them, so might as well add that into the cost of OP wants a quiet PC.

 

http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/corsair_hydro_series_h100i_review,9.html

[BiG StroOnZ]

I like how that review doesn't cover noise levels in comparison to the other coolers like many other sites that do reviews have done. The H100i stock fans are noticeably louder then the ones that come with the Cryorig, which has led to lots of people (including many on this forum) to look for other static pressure fans to replace them, so might as well add that into the cost of OP wants a quiet PC.

 

http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/corsair_hydro_series_h100i_review,9.html

 

Noise is subjective as even stated in this review:

 

Quiet Mode: 1100RPM – Low noise and relatively unnoticeable.

Maximum Mode: 2500RPM – Much more noticeable compared to quiet mode but not as disruptive as other 2500RPM fans.

 

But even in Quiet mode as you can see from the above benchmark the H100i still significantly outperformed the Cryorig unit. So that's that.

 

Anyway, If noise is really that much of a concern for someone, then you go with an H110 which has 140MM fans that spin at much lower RPM than 120MM fans. However because of the larger surface area on both the radiator and on the fans, the unit will perform a decent amount better than an H100i. It also will be much quieter. On top of that the H110 is cheaper than an H100i plus you don't have to deal with Corsair Link. 

[bomerr]

Well best price to performance ratio is the GTX 970 but IMO if you get a 1440p panel  then you should get a 980.

 

I use a QNIX monitor with a 980 and It's barely enough to satisfy me.