Replacing Corsair AIO Radiator

Hi guys,

A few days ago I picked up a used Corsair H60 for $25. Wasn't even looking for new cooling just chanced upon it and thought why not. It was old and some of the fins were bent (easily fixed with thin tweezers), cleaned it out a bit and it looked real good. Pump is great, no noises or weird vibrations. However cooling performance was about on par with my D14, both sitting on Arctic MX4.

Now I've come across an Alphacool 560 that looks proper sick for $40. I'm not really interested in WC but at this price I'm curious if it would be possible to replace the H60 stock rad with this one somehow?

There's only one other example I've seen of this after a lengthy search http://www.overclock.net/t/1560700/the-clc-aio-radiator-upgrade-mod-guide

Is this somehow possible with an el cheapo H60? Will custom fitttings be required? Will the pump be strong enough? I doubt I'll be going for a custom loop at any rate seeing how an EK waterblock costs more than the abovementioned combined.

Put a signature together that includes your system specs so we'll be better able to figure out what you're cooling. That Alphacool is a lot of rad and knowing what case you plan on mounting it into will matter regarding advice.

Certainly you can mod the H60 but it may be retasked as is depending on your components.

Ah, sorry about that. The hot stuff in my Corsair C70 case are a [email protected] lidded (for now - its a really bad bin) and GTX770 although I have no plans to WC the latter. Airflow is 2x front, 2x bottom intake and 1x rear 2x top exhaust.

After some research I do realize the C70 is about half too small for this radiator. An external rad box would be a fun project but is probably asking too much out of the pump. I'm thinking we could mount it to the rear or top of the case using long bolts and nuts on the outside like I've done so with fans in the past. If the H60+560 mod works then mounting it shouldn't present too significant a challenge.

I'm sure you can modify it to accept a different rad. The trick is finding barbs that are the right size for the tubing. I would also look at adding either a res or a tee and fillport to make refilling it easier.

As for the pump it should handle the additions ok as rads tend to be fairly non restrictive. Exactly which alphacool rad are you looking to get? The st30, xt45, ut60, or monsta.

The AIO rad is aluminum...not sure if it's a good idea to mix aluminum, copper, brass, and nickel in the same loop...

JrClocker said:

The AIO rad is aluminum...not sure if it's a good idea to mix aluminum, copper, brass, and nickel in the same loop...

Click to expand...

I'm assuming he is planning on ditching the original rad in favor of the 560. Either way probably a good idea to run some sort of anti corrosive.

It's the XT45 full copper radiator and yes I'm thinking of replacing the stock 120 rad on the H60. A drainage and fill port sound like good ideas too (this could start adding up lol) but not sure about the reservoir as overloading the little pump is still a concern and I want to keep things as simple as possible. Reputable (but cheap) AIO, meet massive (but also cheap) rad.

You can use one of the extra ports on the rad as a way to attach a fill port to help reduce cost.

A reservoir will not impact your pump in any noticeable way as it offers basically no resistances to flow.

So the deal is done, I'm going to pick it up later today. Just to put my mind to rest can I get some information, any information about the pump used in the H60? The guide in the OP used a H105 pump with a Nemesis LS240. My pump is smaller (?) and trying to push through a radiator more than twice as large.

And fittings! The author of the above guide said he needed to fabricate some fittings and they were for sale but I couldn't find those. Are there other conventional barb fittings that the Corsair pipes would fit snugly over?

I would completely skip this idea, granted some love to mod but for a rad like this, a simple used DDC or D5 will do the job right. Those AIO pumps are very weak for a rad like that with the addition of distance, blocks, etc. It will at best become a trickling effect into the reservoir. I've seen it done a while back. At best a 6w pump vs. your standard 18w+ premium pump. Day n night difference. If you're looking to be very budgeted, you could still lurk around for used parts at a bargain price. This mod technically puts you in the "custom" category. Its not a permanent sealed loop no more.

I see. Are there any pump+waterblock units that you can recommend if such exists? Doesn't have to be a high performance part like DDC/D5 etc. Ideally I just want a drop-in replacement for the Corsair block instead of a separate pump (which I have to mount somewhere else) and a pretty expensive CPU block.