Cryorig H5 Ultimate, is the NZXT Kraken X41 just as Good?

[handymanshandle]

So this is sort of a topic that could fit in either sub-forum, but at the advise of a mod it's fine in either sub-forum so here I go.

 

I want to do a build with an Intel i5 6600K later this year when I hopefully have the money. But looking at the potential starting price of the EVGA ACX 3.0 GTX 1070, I might want to try to save some money somewhere, and I want the aesthetics of an Closed Loop AiO water cooler but also have the cost effectiveness and performance of something like the Cryrorig H5 Ultimate.

 

While I know this is the Air Cooling sub-forum, I'm not sure if any of you will end up saying just go with the Cyrorig H5 just because it's cheaper and it quieter and less chance of failing, and understandably so. But that's not my question. I'm curious as to if the Kraken X41 can do just as good of a job as the H5 Ultimate or if the X61 is fairer to compare to the H5 Ultimate. I know liquid coolers are generally better at getting heat away from a CPU than say an Air cooler, but I'm not sure if that's still applicable with a 140mm rad, which sounds like the X41 is better than most 140mm AiO coolers but I'm not sure if it's comparable to the 280mm Kraken X61 or even a pretty well respected Air cooler.

 

[Enderman]

single rad AIOs are not worth it

[stconquest]

I would just look up some temperatures on sites.  Someone has to have them benched.

 

I had a 120mm rad cooling a Phenom II X6 with 1.45v running through it for years.  I was hovering around 60* Celcius in the worst of general use cases.  The Phenom was a bigger CPU and probably dissipated heat easier than a 14nm Skylake, but IDK.

 

A 120mm won't do a terrible job, just pricey for what it is.

[handymanshandle]

1 hour ago, Enderman said:

single rad AIOs are not worth it

Are you talking about something like the 140mm Kraken X41 or any AiOs like them?

[stconquest]

3 minutes ago, wcreek said:

Are you talking about something like the 140mm Kraken X41 or any AiOs like them?

It will do a good job.

 

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cases_cooling/nzxt_kraken_x41_review/6

[Energycore]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/zalman-reserator-3-max-dual-nzxt-kraken-x61-noctua-nh-d15,4000-5.html

 

The Kraken X61 scored 8 degrees cooler than the Noctua D15 which is comparable or better than the cyrorig.

 

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2014/08/07/nzxt_kraken_x41_aio_liquid_cpu_cooler_review/3

 

On the other hand the X41 looks to perform on par with the aforementioned Noctua fin tower.

 

The air cooler I've been liking to recommend these days is the Dark Rock Slim.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/product/Zr2kcf/be-quiet-cpu-cooler-bk010

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/be-quiet-shadow-rock-slim-cpu-cooler,4452.html

[Enderman]

26 minutes ago, wcreek said:

Are you talking about something like the 140mm Kraken X41 or any AiOs like them?

all single rad AiOs are not worth the money because you can get air coolers that perform better for the same amount of money

 

19 minutes ago, Energycore said:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/zalman-reserator-3-max-dual-nzxt-kraken-x61-noctua-nh-d15,4000-5.html

 

The Kraken X61 scored 8 degrees higher than the Noctua D15 which is comparable or better than the cyrorig.

did you men "cooler"?

because the X61 is far better than a NH-D15

[Energycore]

1 minute ago, Enderman said:

all single rad AiOs are not worth the money because you can get air coolers that perform better for the same amount of money

 

did you men "cooler"?

because the X61 is far better than a NH-D15

I did. Solved.

[handymanshandle]

1 hour ago, Enderman said:

all single rad AiOs are not worth the money because you can get air coolers that perform better for the same amount of money

Or even less. I know. But for me it's a matter of aesthetics though performance does play a key role. 

[Enderman]

2 minutes ago, wcreek said:

Or even less. I know. But for me it's a matter of aesthetics though performance does play a key role. 

can you not fit a dual rad?

i would save up for a H100i, H115, or X61

[handymanshandle]

1 hour ago, Enderman said:

can you not fit a dual rad?

i would save up for a H100i, H115, or X61

No I should be able to, as I do plan on using an H440. But it's a matter of costs. The X41 is a little cheaper.

[handymanshandle]

1 hour ago, wcreek said:

No I should be able to, as I do plan on using an H440. But it's a matter of costs. The X41 is a little cheaper.

See with out the GPU my planned build costs $1603.10 (http://pcpartpicker.com/list/fh9H9W) If the EVGA ACX 3.0 SC GTX 1070 costs about $400 that brings my price to a little more than what I was hoping to spend. Though I suppose $100 to $200 over the most I wanted to spend isn't a huge deal. Technically if it was I could just drop the Hue+ and the White cables or just the Hue+ or the White cables but Idk... I kinda want both of them.

[aisle9]

24 minutes ago, wcreek said:

No I should be able to, as I do plan on using an H440. But it's a matter of costs. The X41 is a little cheaper.

I'd keep my H5 Ultimate over the X41 any day. The performance bump isn't worth the added cost and additional failure points.

 

I'd sell my H5 Ultimate (and possibly my soul) for a Kraken X61.

[Enderman]

39 minutes ago, wcreek said:

No I should be able to, as I do plan on using an H440. But it's a matter of costs. The X41 is a little cheaper.

then either save up for a X61 or buy a cheap air cooler like a 212 evo until you have enough money

if you buy the 41 then you will have sucky performance and you will be out a lot of money, putting the upgrade to a 61 off even further

[Energycore]

If all you're looking for in your cooler is price/performance, get a Gammaxx 400.

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/deepcool-gammaxx-400-slim-tower-cpu-cooler,4460-2.html

http://pcpartpicker.com/product/hJFPxr/deepcool-cpu-cooler-gammaxx400

[handymanshandle]

10 hours ago, Enderman said:

 

 

10 hours ago, stconquest said:

 

 

10 hours ago, Energycore said:

 

 

9 hours ago, aisle9 said:

 

 I'm on mobile so doing the @ tag  is a bit of extra work so I'll just quote you all so I can get a response.

So here I go.

 

Yeah I know an air cooler has far less points of failure but doesnt look as good and takes up a lot of space. 

 

Anyways, I'll just stick with either the X61 or H5 Ultimate since the H5 ultimate is probably one of the best looking air coolers for its price. Be Quiet! Dark Rock 3 and Dark Rock Pro 3 look nice too but they cost quite a bit more.

[IcEWoLF]

12 hours ago, Enderman said:

single rad AIOs are not worth it

This, I tried a single rad AIO on my previous build, what a mistake! They don't cool well and they are not as good as top tier air cooling solutions such as Be Quiet

If you go AIO you want at least 240MM, thats what I have and temps idle around 20c and under full load and Overclocked it gets around 45-50c max.

If you have space you might want to check out a 280MM AIO.

[handymanshandle]

1 hour ago, IcEWoLF said:

 

._. I was either looking at a 140mm rad (X41) or 280mm rad (X61) or H5 ultimate... I figured I'll either go with the X61 or H5 ultimate.