Corsair H80i/100i with SP120 or H90

[AaylaSecura]

Greetings! I'm preparing to build my first PC and in terms of cooling I decided to go with liquid cooling, so I keep the air flow in the case unobstructed and let the case fans do their job. I will go with the following configuration:

- AIO liquid cooler for the CPU placed at either top or rear top (depending on the case I choose) as exhaust (sucking air in from the case through the rad out)

- 1 ir 2 (depending on the case) intake fans on the front (and side) bottom

- overall positive pressure inside

I chose this, because I will only have one GPU that shouldn't produce too much heat and with enough cool air sucked in, the ambient temp inside the case should be cool enough so that I can install the rad fans as exhaust. Also, I don't plan to overclock my CPU, so it wouldn't need extreme cooling efficiency.

 

I would prefer to use a single fan in pull configuration (fan on the outside sucking air from inside the case through the rad), so that dust cleaning would be easier. But this means I need a pressure optimized fan. So H90 with its stock fans is not suitable (seems to me it needs to be in push/pull config for it to be efficient). The Corsair SP series all come as 120mm ones, so they would not fit H90.

On the other hand the H80i and H100i use 120mm and in fact are pressure optimized and suitable for pull configuration out of the box, but I read that they are extremely noisy, so I'm thinking of replacing the stock fan(s) with SP120.

Bottom line:

In terms of noise and efficiency (when used as exhaust under positive pressure configuration) which is better:

- H90 with stock fans in push/pull configuration

- H80i with one SP120 fan in pull configuration

- H100i with two SP120 fan in pull configuration

 

The hardware will be:

Intel Core i7 5930K

ASUS X99-PRO

nVidia GTX 970 or 980 (probably 970)

one SSD, one HDD

one or two optical drives

case will probably be full tower if needed.

[Recon97]

NONE! NONE! NONE! NEIN! Get kraken x61!

[AaylaSecura]

NONE! NONE! NONE! NEIN! Get kraken x61!

Thank you for your reply, but could you elaborate a bit on why?

[Faceman]

@AaylaSecura

 

Hello and welcome to the forum!  Please remember to follow your topics and when you reply to someone, make sure you quote or "@" them to let that person know you have replied.

 

May I ask what is the purpose of your build?

 

Could I also recommend you a case..

 

The Phanteks Enthoo Pro or Enthoo Luxe are absolutely unbeatable at their respected prices.  I think you will love to build and own either of these chassis.  Gives you excellent room to work in, strong build quality, a ton of features that no other case at their price points come with, and lots of water cooling freedom.

 

 

 

Speaking of water cooling.  When you water cool a CPU, especially one as powerful as the i7 5930K, you are going to need more than 120/140mm.  As a rule, 240mm is the minimum amount of radiator space for an AIO being used on a CPU.  Reason being is that 120/140mm AIOs often underperform compared to less expensive air tower coolers.  The minimum amount of radiator space you want is 240mm. I would also like to advise you against the H80i or H100i.  Both have a bad problem with mounting, and are not guaranteed to work out of the box without modifications.  They also have a very noisy pump, and buggy software.

 

Some other AIOs that are very good are:

 

Cooler Master Seidon 240M - $70.* This one sold out because of how popular it is.  I own this one myself and love it.  Very powerful, and a very quiet pump.

 

Corsair H105 - $85 *This one is also out of stock.  It is usually $120, so it being on sale for only $85, no wonder it sold out.  This is a very good AIO, it is thick, so it performs very well, just make sure it fits inside whatever case you select.  It will fit inside the cases I recommended.

 

Cooler Master Nepton 280L - $90 *Wow, another out of stock AIO..  A trend I sense as I keep looking for the popular ones for you...  This is another excellent AIO.  It is 280mm, so more surface area, it performs very well at medium fan speeds, so it won't be incredibly loud.

 

Cooler Master Nepton 240M - $115 *Out of Stock again.  This is the one I will recommend above all the others.  It is the most modern AIO, meaning it was newly released last month.  It has all new technology, so it performs as good as the bigger radiators, but it is only 240mm, and it is by far the most quiet of them all.  I would wait until this one is back in stock and purchase this one.  It is the best blend of performance, and low noise, it will also fit in the majority of chassis.

 

NZXT X61 - $125 * Not out of stock! This is often referred so as the go-to AIO because of how good it performs.  The problem is, in all the reviews I see, they test these AIOs at full fan speed, which is unrealistic because it is so loud.  When you turn the fans down to a more realistic 7v/1500rpm, this AIO actually falls to middle of the pack.  Also, it has a very loud pump.  I own the X31 variant of this AIO for my GPU, and the pump is very loud.  It performs great, but the pump is something I cannot get over.

 

Here is a review done by Anandtech. It doesn't include all of the AIOs I mentioned, but it has some of them.  Its a good read, and illustrates that different fan speeds, and different TDPs make an impact on the AIO you choose.  I also recommend that you check out some reviews of the Nepton 240M, they are glowing.  If you're someone who values performance and silence, I would look no further than the Nepton 240M.

 

I would also like to touch on water cooling your GPU.  It sounds like you are building one serious rig, so chances are you have the budget to water cool your GPU also, and now is the perfect time.  I'm not sure if you've ever heard of the NZXT G10 Bracket, but it essentially allows you to add an AIO cooler onto your GPU, lowering temperatures by a large amount.  Its more effective on Kepler and Hawaii GPUs, but still works on Maxwell.  Users who do the G10 mod to their 970s are reporting overclocks of 1,500Mhz, and temperatures in the high 40s.  This is a drop of about 20C, and an increase of 200Mhz over the stock air cooler that comes with the 970 GPU.  The reason I mention this is because the NZXT G10 is currently on sale for only $10, down from its original $30.  You can pair the G10 with an inexpensive AIO such as the Corsair H55($50) and you just water cooled your GPU.

 

Check out my: How to Water Cool a Single CPU + GPU For Under $200 USD Guide

[AaylaSecura]

@Faceman

 

Thank you so much for the detailed info! I will not be building the PC for another 3-4 months, since a) I don't have the money yet and b ) I will be moving to a different country and to avoid the transportation of the PC, I'll buy the parts and build it after I've moved. So I can't benefit from any sales right now. Those cases look amazing! I haven't spent time yet searching for a case, since there's time 'till I start building the system.

 

As for the purpose of my build - I'm not a gamer (hence only 1 GPU hahaha) and the only reason why I'm going for the GTX 970 is because its performance/cost is really tempting and I need a GPU that can handle full BluRay (including 3D). Apart from watching HD movies, my use of a PC comes down to lots of code compiling, so I went for a very powerful CPU. Another reason to go for such high end hardware is that I don't plan to upgrade (let alone completely replace) this PC for ~10 years. My current build is 7 years old with only the GPU having been replaced and it wasn't the most powerful thing even back in 2007, so I'm confident that the current setup I've chosen will be more than good for a decade.

 

As for the software included with a particular cooling - I'm not sure how relevant this is to me, since I use Linux and I have to rely on open source drivers for it (unless by some chance, the company provides proprietry drivers for Linux).

I do value performance and noise (and reliability) the most, so seems like Cooler Master Nepton 240M is right for me!

For now I don't plan to use water cooling for the GPU, but I MAY consider it (depending on the temperatures at summer and under load) in the future. I read about the Swiftech H220-X and that it allows for attaching another loop to the same radiator is that true? If so, I'd prefer to get it and if/when I decide to water cool the GPU, I would connect its loop to the same rad as the CPU's - what's your opinion on that?

[Faceman]

@AaylaSecura

 

Ok, I wasn't sure if you were gaming or not, because that is a massive overkill rig for just gaming.  Ok, with that out of the way, that processor should last you for a very long time without the need to upgrade, I still have a single core AMD 3200+ in a working computer, so a CPU like you're planning to use will surely last 10 years if not longer. The 970 is an excellent choice and will be able to do that and then some.  It might even be overkill for what you intend to use it for.  It is a very low heat and TDP card, so its very efficient, and if you do decide you want to play a game, its more than capable of playing anything out right now.

 

The Swiftech H220-X is expandable, meaning you could add your GPU into the loop if you want, but you will need to add more radiators into the build as 240mm is just enough for the CPU.  The nice thing about the cases I mentioned is that they are so big, and have plenty of room for additional radiators.  If you are interested in adding your GPU into the loop, I recommend going with a more custom AIO solution than an expandable AIO.  An Expandable AIO is perfectly fine, but if you're serious about it, might as well do it the way its truly meant to be done.  There are a lot of 240/360mm custom liquid cooling kits that cost about $150-$200.  If you do go with a full tower like I mentioned, I recommend going with a 360mm AIO and placing it in the top of your case, this way you make sure of all the space available to you in order to get the best performance.  The more radiator space, the better performance you will get.  I don't know as much about custom loop cooling as I do about AIOs, but I do know that more radiator space means lower temperatures.  There is nothing wrong with the H220X, I just think if you're serious about eventually adding your GPU into the loop, that it is better to start with high quality components.  The pump in the H220X is capable, but the pumps in the kits are generally much higher quality and allow you to add as much radiator space as you like without issue.

[AaylaSecura]

@Faceman

 

My original intention was to build a completely custom water cooling loop that includes the CPU adn the GPU, but since this is the very first time I'll be using liquid cooling at all, I am reluctant to experiment (especially on such expensive hardware). So I decided to go with an AIO and from your words I recon it'd be best to get the Nepton 240M and leave the GPU with its stock coolers. When I have the time and money I will sure try to build a custom loop and will definitely go for a custom one for my next build whenever that may be.

I think I got what I needed for now, thank you again for the help!