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Sealed LCLC - is it worth it?

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CmdrBond

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Jan 18, 2010
Are sealed low cost liquid cooling solutions worthwhile, or should I atick with high end air? I have seen several LCLC systems out there, but I can't seem to find any review that puts them side by side. The reviews I do find tends to put them at best 1-5 deg better than the TRUE's, Megalhelms(sp), Baram's, &c. of this world.

The ones I have found...

In a slightly different vein -

As I have said I have been digging round the net, and found reviews that put them up against air with varying results. But as yet I have not found a review that puts them up against each other.

The only difference in the items listed is the Freezone, as that has also been compared with a proper WC system.

I have seen quite a few H50's on here so I would be interested to know everyones views.
 
The only one I would get out of there is Swiftech H20 220...the Ultima version. Otherwise, they are mostly too expensive and perform on par or worse than air.

What do you want to cool with it?
 
Of those systems you have linked, I have tested the H2O 220 Compact configuration on a Q6600. It wasn't the actual kit, but rather all the parts of the kit that I had gotten together through purchases and a donation of the Apogee Drive unit. And it definitely cooled a little better than high end air. But it wasn't a gigantic difference either and I don't think it would have given me enough extra headroom to overclock that Q6600 much further than what I could have done with high end air either.

I would love to test the Corsair system against high end air on my present Q6600 testbed though. But I ain't going to fork up the cash for the Corsair unit either as I have already spent too much money on heatsinks already this year. :eek:
 
EarthDog said:
...

What do you want to cool with it?
Click to expand...

Well that my friend is the billion dollar question :confused:

At the moment I am running a P4D EE (Prescott) - I know I am unlikely to find anything that will fit that, and to be fair I have a ThermalRight XP-90c.

I am however looking to replace my aging system - It is either going to be a 965BE OR an i7, whichever I can get past the missus (most probably the 965 - as I can pretty much get the system for the same price as a high end i7 chip on its own :screwy:)

BTW, if anyone knows of any systems I missed out, please let me know.
 
You dont need a high end i7 to compete with the AMD 965 for hte record. The 920 will beat out the 965 is just about everything really. Also if you have a microcenter around you, they are either $199 or $229. Thats not to say the AMD isnt a great chip, it is, but its slower clock for clock than those i7's. ;)

Also, if you do go i7, I wouldnt want any of those cooling kits personally. An i7 for any decent overclocking and to beat air temps, will really need a triple radiator which I dont think any of those offer. For that matter, any quad should have AT LEAST a dual rad 2x120mm sized).

Your best bet is to save up and build a custom kit which will hand 99% of kits their radiator on a plate.
 
CmdrBond said:
Are sealed low cost liquid cooling solutions worthwhile, or should I atick with high end air? I have seen several LCLC systems out there, but I can't seem to find any review that puts them side by side. The reviews I do find tends to put them at best 1-5 deg better than the TRUE's, Megalhelms(sp), Baram's, &c. of this world.

I'll delete the ones I wouln't touch with a 10 foot pole for what you need. And the H50 is as good as a top air cooler, thats all. It's just okay, but works fine. Even the second one you listed is getting kinda old in the tooth. It depends on what your wanting to cool. It's not that good on a hot modern chip. BTW, no good ones are sealed. You have to build the loop, fill and bleed the system and do semi-annual and annual maintenance, otherwise bad things happen. My i7 965 stock loads at about 50C, and 55C in the summer when my room is at 83F. And is very quiet.

Something I do once a year to mine:
http://www.overclockers.com/annual-water-cooling-cleaning-rebuild-journal/


[*]Corsair H50 - http://www.corsair.com/products/h50/default.aspx


[*]Swiftech H2O 220 Compact - http://www.swiftnets.com/products/h20-220-compact.asp

There is a certian amount of heat you need to remove. Depending on your ambients and how quiet you want it determins the size of the radiator. Then there is few really quality parts and companies. If you want a loop to last long, not break, give great results then your down to just a few manufacturers.

Here is a link that has MANY very very good links of guides and tests.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/253958-29-watercooling-guide
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Thank you for your input guys. You seemed to have confirmed what I was thinking.

I'll stick with a decent AIR setup for now and save my pennies for a proper WC in the future.
 
Yeah, best decision for the time being. No sense is spending the xtra $$ for a LCLC setup that will not gain you much except less noise.

I would shoot for the upgrade path instead :)
 
of those systems listed the swiftech ones would be my first choice, but since they are not a sealed system, then it would not qualify for that list.

so removing the swiftech ones i would go for the h50. other then that i would stick with air.
 
One nice thing about the Swiftech H2O 220 Compact system is that you can simply upgrade the present parts and save some money down the road. The pump section of the Apogee Drive is the same as used on the MCP350/Laing DDC3.1 and can be taken off the waterblock part of the assembly and used with an aftermarket top or used with a Bayres 1, which makes for a nice and tidy pump/res combo. Doing this also let's you add whichever waterblock you want to the loop too and you can also add another radiator to your loop also if you want to cool both cpu and gpu. And there is a very simple solder mod you can do to the DDC3.1 to convert it to the DDC3.2 series too. I'm not saying this is the route you need to go, but if you can get a good deal on the H2O Compact system, don't pass it by.
 
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