[Q] 360mm AIO or Start Custom Loop with 360mm Kit?

[Joshndroid]

Alright question time.

 

I am stuck at the moment deciding whether it would be in my best interests to purchase a 360mm AIO kit (deep cool, thermtake, etc) or should i go all out and grab a EK L360 water cooling kit?

At the moment i am unsure of whether the price difference, approximately twice the amount for the EK K360mm kit is going to be worth it?

I have been looking for a while and parts alone, I probably would be spending more on a loop than just buying the kit with everything in it. I know the EK kit has fairly decent parts but i would be immediately supplementing the included tubing for primochill (only due to some reports that the included tubing is so/so).

 

Prices so far - All AUS$

EK L360 - $349 + 35 for primochill tubing

Deep Cool AIO 360mm - $149

EK Predator (wont fit in my case the way i want anyway) - $379

Thermaltake 3.0 360mm - $185

 

I already have a 240mm corsair AIO that will be re purposed with the corsair attachment to my 970, either way i go to cut costs. I was thinking more going either route to be able to push my cpu a little harder and potentially start my custom loop adventure with the next generation video cards are released

 

Thanks for your thoughts.

[Sam Z Man]

When spending +200$ on cooling you really start to suffer from diminishing returns, keep your current AIO a upgrade like that won't help much.

[JebKerman]

I'd take either EK offering. One (the kit) gives you a bit more freedom, the other (the Predator) is simpler initially, but harder to expand from, due to the tiny reservoir. they even have the same pump.

[Joshndroid]

When spending +200$ on cooling you really start to suffer from diminishing returns, keep your current AIO a upgrade like that won't help much.

 

I dont really think i have hit my limit in terms of ability to overclock my cpu but do notice a bit of a spike in temps when pushing up to 4.8Ghz.

 

At the moment i am seeing under full load temps reaching 80-82 degrees C (when the room is warmed during the day) and usually seem to fluctuate around 72-75 degrees C with overclock of 4.6Ghz. Surely the much larger volume of water in the 360mm loop compared to the 240mm AIO would produce temp reduction around 5 degrees ++ over what i have now?

 

I have coolermaster jet flo's on my rad at the moment in push and pull and have a quite aggressive fan profile (max rpm at i think 75 degrees C). It hits full load probably for sustained period maybe for 5 hours or so (android building) 3 - 4 times a week with some intermittent full loads sustained at various other times. I know realistically i should be buying a better processor for what I use it for but costing that is far out of my league at the moment.

[QBtech]

When spending +200$ on cooling you really start to suffer from diminishing returns, keep your current AIO a upgrade like that won't help much.

 

I tend to agree. Unless you go custom. Buying a kit was the best thing I ever did. It gives you a great starter point to build upon in the future. But beware, you are never done with watercooling and you will keep spending money on your loop till you drop dead

[Benji_w]

If you go custom for your first time get 2nd hand parts and do a proper job of it, the stuff in kits tends to be a mix of good and bad to turn a profit. I got my D5 pump and res half the price of a new one on ebay and it was brand new! Only things you should buy new however is tubing and coolant lol.

[Joshndroid]

so i went with the 360mm thermaltake and realistically glad i did, its about half the price and i am currently seeing about 5 degrees C less than what i was seeing which is good, awaiting the GPU bracket for my 970 so i can hybrid cool that with my remaining corsair 240mm, which i have remounted

[Deli]

so i went with the 360mm thermaltake and realistically glad i did, its about half the price and i am currently seeing about 5 degrees C less than what i was seeing which is good, awaiting the GPU bracket for my 970 so i can hybrid cool that with my remaining corsair 240mm, which i have remounted

Good to know that. Some reviews show there is only 2-3*C improvement from 240 to 360 rad. So it seems your Thermaltake AIO performances is a win win. I recently also expand my loop from 240 to 480, and got also 5*C improvement.

[Joshndroid]

Good to know that. Some reviews show there is only 2-3*C improvement from 240 to 360 rad. So it seems your Thermaltake AIO performances is a win win. I recently also expand my loop from 240 to 480, and got also 5*C improvement.

 

yeah it is a little about that on peak but peak isnt too realistic, with sustained i am getting better with mostly sitting around mid 60's dipping down to 50's with the odd fluctuation just a tad over 70 which is good. whereas i would normally be easily at about 75 with fluctuations up to 80... so the cooling is there (it is a little cooler this evening) but with the thermal paste settling hopefully see it drop a tad more with sustained load

[QBtech]

hahaah Its really as simple as 33% more rad 33% lower temps. Its all down to inefficiencies in the loop

[Joshndroid]

hahaah Its really as simple as 33% more rad 33% lower temps. Its all down to inefficiencies in the loop

 

yes and no, looking at alot of the reviews some are better than others regarding contact surface, core type, tubing diameter, tubing types, rad (type, fin density, etc), pump. Thermaltake 360mm has some half decent reviews so luckily this paid off.

[Deli]

hahaah Its really as simple as 33% more rad 33% lower temps. Its all down to inefficiencies in the loop

I wish it's as simple as that. The best you can do is to reduce the water temp in the loop as close to the ambient temp. That doesn't mean the CPU will run any where near the ambient temp. When you increase the cooling surface area a lot. Heat transfer from CPU core to IHS to the waterblock becomes a major bottleneck. That's why sometimes by deliding a CPU helps to reduce temp by 10*C or more.

[Joshndroid]

I wish it's as simple as that. The best you can do is to reduce the water temp in the loop as close to the ambient temp. That doesn't mean the CPU will run any where near the ambient temp. When you increase the cooling surface area a lot. Heat transfer from CPU core to IHS to the waterblock becomes a major bottleneck. That's why sometimes by deliding a CPU helps to reduce temp by 10*C or more.

 

while i have come a long way recently in the hardware space i dont think i could delid my cpu, think thats a line i just wont cross lol.

[Deli]

while i have come a long way recently in the hardware space i dont think i could delid my cpu, think thats a line i just wont cross lol.

Me neither. I know it's cool to overclock the CPU to the max without worrying too much about the temp. But the last 0.1-0.2GHz usually result a big jump in temp. 4.6GHz isn't that much slower than 4.8GHz in actual work flow. However, it'll run nice, cool and quiet, while still keep the warranty.

[Joshndroid]

Me neither. I know it's cool to overclock the CPU to the max without worrying too much about the temp. But the last 0.1-0.2GHz usually result a big jump in temp. 4.6GHz isn't that much slower than 4.8GHz in actual work flow. However, it'll run nice, cool and quiet.

 

definitely a large spike in temp from what i have seen. I was more stable at 4.8 though than 4.7, weird but true. I backed it back to 4.6 due to this reason, the temps where just why i couldnt sit at 4.8

[QBtech]

I wish it's as simple as that. The best you can do is to reduce the water temp in the loop as close to the ambient temp. That doesn't mean the CPU will run any where near the ambient temp. When you increase the cooling surface area a lot. Heat transfer from CPU core to IHS to the waterblock becomes a major bottleneck. That's why sometimes by deliding a CPU helps to reduce temp by 10*C or more.

 

Kind of what I was saying. Lets look at a hypothetical case. Lets say all water coming in the cpu block is room temperature. Does that mean ur cpu will end up at room temp at all times? no, it will be warmer. There is no way that the water can take up all the heat and there is some inefficiency between the actual die and the block anyway.

 

 

@Joshndroid Congrats on ur new AIO btw!