Worth it or not?

Is the corsair H50 worth it or not? Right now I'm running a TRUE, and at 4.3ghz at 1.375 Vcore my I7 860 gets to 90c max core temp....at 4.4ghz and 1.425 Vcore it hits 99c and throttles back.

I'm not looking to spend $200+ on a super duper watercooling setup, if I spend that much money I'm going DICE. Really looking to keep it under $100. Plus, I only have an Antec 200 so since it's a mid tower there isn't an abundance of room. So, my question is, is the corsair H50 that much better than good air cooling? I've also seen some mods done to the H50, like adding an extra reservoir for more capacity since the rad is a little on the small side, and also adding some redline water wetter.
But just how much better is the H50 over good air cooling? Will it be enough to keep my I7 cool at 4.4ghz? Or more?

I haven't personally tested the H5O, but from what I've read online it's not much, if any, better than high end air. I would upgrade the fans on the TRUE maybe, to something like some Panaflo L1BX in push-pull before buying the H5O, but that's just me.

well I'm running a coolermaster R4 which is 90cfm. The HSF doesn't get terribly hot.

Thanks for your opinion, I'm looking for any and all input so it is appreciated.

Thought about lapping the TRUE as well, as I'm sure it's not very flat....none of them are.

Your TRUE may be as good as a H50 ... if you really want better temp you need a real WC kit.

87dtna, how old is that TRUE? If it's older than a Rev. C, then it just might benefit quite a bit from lapping. I have 3 different models of the TRUE, the original, a Cu TRUE and a Rev. C and the original and Cu TRUE had bases that were mediocre and absolutely terrible respectively. However my Rev.C TRUE has a good finish job done to the base on it and it's shaped much like a bowed waterblock such as a GTZ. And you might try a few remounts too and see if you get a better mount. They can be a little tricky when mounting them at times, especially if you are doing it inside the case.

I should have the revC because it's only a couple months old. I bought the last one that Jab-tech had. I had another true that was MUCH rougher surface.

I did try remount, these temps are actually better than before LOL. The I7 is just a beast heat maker LOL. This same TRUE kept my I5 750 cooler at 4.3ghz which took 1.575 Vcore to get stable!

The H5O is not worth it. Stick with your TRUE or get a real WC loop.

Also, you do know that dice is not really a permanent cooling solution. You can't really compare air or water to dice or ln2.

atomic ferret said:

The H5O is not worth it. Stick with your TRUE or get a real WC loop.

Also, you do know that dice is not really a permanent cooling solution. You can't really compare air or water to dice or ln2.

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Oh I know, I meant just for benching. I'm perfectly fine with a 4.3ghz daily overclock on air. I'm just saying I'm not gonna put that kind of expense into a full water cooling loop solution that might net me 200-300 more mhz when I could get a DICE pot for the same price and run over 5ghz.