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120mm AIO Water Cooling System

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de_yogurt

Member
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Joined
Nov 24, 2006
Hello all,

I'm looking at getting an AIO water cooling system. I would like to go with a 120mm system, I have a CoolerMaster HAF 912 and have read that a lot of people have to modify the case to fit the H100 or H100i. What is my best option going to be? I've pretty much narrowed it down to either a CoolerMaster or Corsair. I'd like it be fairly quiet. I'm currently running an i5-3570k on an ASUS P8P67-M Pro. I have no intentions of overclocking. The CPU will be the only hardware I will water cool, so a custom loop doesn't seem to make sense to me. Thanks for your time and help! Have a good one!

Yogurt
 
It's not worth it to go with a 120mm AIO over a good air cooler.

You're paying the same amount or more for something that's louder and typically doesn't cool as well.
 
Well, I'm currently using the stock Intel cooler. I was also hoping to cut down on the heat that the machine is producing. It can get uncomfortably warm in this small room.
 
de_yogurt said:
Well, I'm currently using the stock Intel cooler. I was also hoping to cut down on the heat that the machine is producing. It can get uncomfortably warm in this small room.
Click to expand...

Lowering temperatures doesn't change the amount of heat outputted from the system.

Whether you lower the temperature or not it is going to pull the same amount of wattage.
 
That all makes sense. I suppose I just want to do it for the fun of it. Any suggestions?
 
de_yogurt said:
That all makes sense. I suppose I just want to do it for the fun of it. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Just for silence and lower temps, grab an NH-D14 or NH-D15.
Make sure it'll clear your RAM.

I don't know of any quieter heatsinks than those two, and they'll both fit in your 912.
The NH-D14 is consistently around $60-65 new these days, even lower used.
 
I've heard good things about those coolers. I don't think it will work though. I have a set of the Corsair Vengeance RAM. They sit a little higher than my stock Intel cooler.
 
NH-D14 Memory Compatibility
You're clear to 44mm on the NH-D14.


The NH-D15 is good with RAM up to 37mm tall if you move the front fan up a bit.
You could actually get away with just using the middle fan since you're running a stock 3570K though.
That would let you use up to 64mm tall RAM.
 
de_yogurt said:
I've heard good things about those coolers. I don't think it will work though. I have a set of the Corsair Vengeance RAM. They sit a little higher than my stock Intel cooler.
Click to expand...

Until very recently I was using a Noctua NH D14 with the Coolermaster HAF 912. Fit easily but you will want to remember to connect the Fan wires to the motherboard CPU fan header before you bolt the cooler down. If you don't you will really fight to get the connector on the header because there is not room for a hand between the cooler and the top panel of the case.

The D14 or D15 will give you better temps than any single 120mm fan AIO water cooler and eliminate all the potential problems inherent with water cooling such as pump failure and leaks. Very quiet, too.
 
trents said:
Until very recently I was using a Noctua NH D14 with the Coolermaster HAF 912. Fit easily but you will want to remember to connect the Fan wires to the motherboard CPU fan header before you bolt the cooler down. If you don't you will really fight to get the connector on the header because there is not room for a hand between the cooler and the top panel of the case.

The D14 or D15 will give you better temps than any single 120mm fan AIO water cooler and eliminate all the potential problems inherent with water cooling such as pump failure and leaks. Very quiet, too.
Click to expand...

Great tip. I didn't think I was going to be able to connect the fans on my cooler but finally did in my last try before taking it off again. I can't imagine trying to do that with a d14.
 
Nh-d15 will clear ram up to 64mm tall. It also outperforms MOST aio coolers. It's also cheaper than most decent aio coolers.

It's my next purchase after doing a lot of research on it :)

@trents -> needle nose pliers work great in those circumstances
 
That's a great air cooler those guys are recommending.

If you're still stuck with I just want to have a AIO cooler like everyone else than the H80i since its thicker than most 120mm single AIOs would be the one I advise unless you mod your case for a H100/H100i.
 
Worth noting: The H80i is ~10dB louder than either the NH-D14 or NH-D15.
 
Linus did a review, it included an h60, h80, h 100i and some high end air cooler (don't remember the model, but it was beneath the nh-d14...) the h100i BARELY beat the air cooler and was just as noisy.
 
bob4933 said:
@trents -> needle nose pliers work great in those circumstances
Click to expand...

Yep, they sure do and I've resorted them more than once after not following the advice I gave the OP. Even with needle nose, however, you're risking lacerated knuckles.
 
Another great air cooler that cools just as well as the Noctua D14 and D14 (or the Phanteks double tower series) is the Thermaltake Frio OCK and it's a little cheaper.
 
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