AIO Recommendations: NZXT Kraken x61 vs Corsair H100i

[Shark With A Laser]

Hello friends,

 

I am looking into an AIO water cooler unit for my rig. After a few hours of Googling and perusing through various forums it seems most people recommend one of these two AIOs:

• NZXT Kraken x61
• Corsair H100i

My current set-up is an i7 4790K, on an ASUS ROG Maximus VII Hero motherboard, nestled inside of a Corsair 760T case. There's a $30 aftermarket CPU cooler I bought off at Fry's and it...seems okay for now, but I'm considering overclocking the 4790K later on.

 

I've read on some Newegg/Amazon reviews that some people were having issues with Corsair AIOs not always being fully seated on ASUS mobos? I think it may have been with the H100s not the H100is, and in any case sounds more like an installation error than an issue with the hardware itself, but if anyone has some opinions or experiences they'd like to share with me it would be appreciated.

 

Also as a secondary question: I have the aftermarket CPU cooler and a AF140 fan mounted to the top of my case as an exhaust. If I were to install one of these AIOs would I end up replacing those two fans with the two fans on the AIO only?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Edit: I should add that I'm willing to look at other AIO units besides these two — they just seem to be the most frequently recommended ones.

[Sam Z Man]

Kracken x61

[AyBuild]

All I've heard on the H100i is that it can be known to leak, also some Kraken's are noisy. Not sure about any others though I'd go with the Kraken.

[ImBleu]

I'd go for the H105. It's got a better pump and thicker radiator than the H100i, and at the same price. Plus the colour-swap rings are really nice

 

(I've had a H100i leak on me before, it KO'd my i5-4690k and 2x GTX770s)

[Shark With A Laser]

I'd go for the H105. It's got a better pump and thicker radiator than the H100i, and at the same price. Plus the colour-swap rings are really nice

 

(I've had a H100i leak on me before, it KO'd my i5-4690k and 2x GTX770s)

 

Wow, that's terrible. Does the H100i warranty cover this type of defect or is it kind of...install and use at your own risk?

[ImBleu]

Wow, that's terrible. Does the H100i warranty cover this type of defect or is it kind of...install and use at your own risk?

Corsair gave me a H105 and refunded me MSRP for all parts of my computer that it thought were damaged (CPU, Motherboard, Ram, 2x GPU and my Power Supply) plus a $50 "sorry". All took about 2 weeks from sending it to getting my Cheque. 

[Deli]

Kraken X61 is OEM from Asetek, while H100i is from CoolIT. Newer H100i GTX is also from Asetek.

 

Don't know if Asetek has improved its QC with the newer models. But I had 2 H90s with rattling pump noise. And a H105 dead pump after 6 months. I got RMA replacements. Still, it's a bit hit or miss with pumps of AIOs.

[Sam Z Man]

Honestly I would go with high performance air coolers.