Buget AIO Vs expensive coolers

[josweet]

Im building my son his first gaming PC and i have got to the stage of looking at coolers. Now i know the easy answer is just buy a Corsair AIO @ £80, but are you also paying because of the name? Has anyone bought one of the cheaper £30 AIO & if so what was your opinion.
EG> DId it last, was it noisy, did it leak, what were the temps ect..
It doesn't need to be water cooled either, any budget AIR coolers recommendations ?

Example > http://www.ebuyer.com/749340-deepcool-maelstrom-120t-cpu-red-maelstrom-120t-red

 

[Tech Tweaker]

What size radiator are you looking at? 120MM, 240MM, 280MM, 360MM?

As far as air coolers are concerned, I personally like the Noctua NH-D14 the best at the moment (Of the one's I've tried). Don't know where you are at, but I'm guessing somewhere in the UK, as I think that's the Pound symbol you used above. Here used/pre-owned NH-D14's can often be found for $25-55 USD. The NH-U14S and NH-U12S look like nice coolers as well.

Someone will likely mention the Cooler Master Hyper 212X or Hyper 212 Evo as well, while that cooler is not bad, it's personally not one of my favorites (due to lower performance and somewhat low mounting pressure in my testing of them). It's sort of the defacto entry-level cheap heatsink.

I've personally owned a lot of AIO coolers, and had pretty good luck with most of them.

Corsair H60 (The old V1 H60, not the newer one.) (Had to be RMA'd, pump started making a buzzing noise but still worked fine. (Air bubbles caught in the loop as far as I could tell.) Used the replacement for somewhere around two years if I remember correctly.), Corsair H80 (Still being used in backup rig, have had it for probably four years now and never had any problems.), Corsair H80i (Pump failed, had to be RMA'd. Replacement works fine though.), Corsair H100 (RMA'd due to malfunctioning fan controller.), Corsair H100i (Used it for four years, still works.), Corsair H105 (Just got a few months ago, still works well. Wish it had Link functionality to read pump speed and/or fan speeds though.)

Despite the issues with the one's I've had to RMA I still like the products and the brand overall. Probably because I've had no issues with having RMA requests responded to and/or fulfilled when I've had an issue with one of their products.

Cooler Master Nepton 280L (Don't recommend it. Has weird non-standard fan spacing, so difficult to find cases that can fit it if planning to use 120mm fans (it can fit 120mm or 140mm fans, comes stock with 140mm fans though.) This cooler is/was outperformed by my H100i on the same CPU, so it should outperform a 240mm cooler, but for some reason doesn't. Also, tubing is VERY stiff, which makes it difficult to mount in basically any system/case combo. One of the stock fans has been out of balance and making a rattling sound since the day I started using it. Had this unit for probably close to four years now, but have only had it in use for probably two of those years cooling multiple systems that I put in my HAF X case for benchmarking and overclocking. Some sort of quality control issue I would guess.)

 

[Helgaiden]

Have a look at the Arctic Liquid Freezer series. They are a great value for what you get.

 

[josweet]

@Tech Tweaker, I am in the UK & im looking for something that would be considered good value for money. Like yourself, my corsair H60 had to be RMA'd due to pump failure but tbh, im not sure if that was due to the fact i was using it on a fan header for a while & not the "EXT" header on the M/B. Corsair did however exchange it hassle free
My son is only 14, its his first gaming PC & not going to be thrashing it hard, spending the likes of £80 ($100) will be OTT imo at the early stage.

The CPU is a Skylake i5 3.2Gb & GPU will be a GTX1060. The CPU is OEM, so no cooler, & the case is a standard desktop MIDI.
The "Deepcool Maelstrom" at ebuyer is a good price, but i have never heard them them & if im honest, & once built.... i want it to be hassle free

The Deadpool coolers come over as good value for money, this one especially> http://www.ebuyer.com/730201-deepcool-maelstrom-120t-liquid-cpu-cooler-maelstrom-120t I probably wont go Corsair again as one pump failure is one to many, & by what i can tell is a very common fault.

@Helgaiden Ill check out the Arctic Liquid Freezer over the weekend to see what's available Anyone one in particular you would recommend ?

 

[Joe88]

I would avoid deepcool stuff, I see alot of complaints due to quality, leaking and just general poor qc.

For cpu use get at least a 240mm or a thick rad 120mm (like the corsair h80i v2).

 

[JrClocker]

I run the H80i v2 for my overclocked 5820 K.

I run 2 Corsair ML120 fans in push/pull at 60 % speed with the pump in performance mode.

Keeps the CPU cool, and it's pretty quiet.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

I would avoid deepcool stuff, I see alot of complaints due to quality, leaking and just general poor qc.

+1 This. I was just about to say that.

I'd either stick with Corsair or NZXT for AIOs. Both are great tbh. If you want, spoil him a bit with the new NZXT Kraken RGB AIOs.

A lot of the mistakes most users do in general is, they vertically position the radiator with the tubes up top instead of the bottom of the rad. The reason why I say this is because air is eventually being circulated in the loop instead of sitting at the top of the rad, which will increase the pump audibles and lessen the pumps longevity. I think positioning might have caused some pumps to falter as well as just a pump going bad in general.

 

[Helgaiden]

I've installed two Deepcool Captain 240EX AIOs over the past year. Zero issues and the mounting mechanism is even easier than the Corsair/Asetek method which is cool.

As far as the Arctic Liquid Freezer series, the 240mm unit is worth it if you can fit it. Should be $90 or less. Otherwise the 120mm will suffice, especially since they are thicker than your average radiator and come with a push-pull setup out of the box. Also the fans are easy to wire due to their PWM sharing feature.

 

[mackerel]

The CPU is a Skylake i5 3.2Gb & GPU will be a GTX1060. The CPU is OEM, so no cooler, & the case is a standard desktop MIDI.

Assuming you meant it is some Skylake i5 at 3.2 GHz, that is NOT the 6600k, I assume overclocking isn't planned. I'd keep things simple. Of coolers I have experience of, I'd rate the Cooler Master 212 as adequate in this application. For something nicer but more expensive, the Noctua U14S is plenty, it if fits in the case. Double check dimensions. Unless you want it for looks there isn't a need to go for the dual version. Similarly, I don't think AIOs would add value here unless you're in a particularly awkward space or you just want it for the looks. I'd rate them as more trouble than they're worth.

 

[Woomack]

I've installed two Deepcool Captain 240EX AIOs over the past year. Zero issues and the mounting mechanism is even easier than the Corsair/Asetek method which is cool.

As far as the Arctic Liquid Freezer series, the 240mm unit is worth it if you can fit it. Should be $90 or less. Otherwise the 120mm will suffice, especially since they are thicker than your average radiator and come with a push-pull setup out of the box. Also the fans are easy to wire due to their PWM sharing feature.

I had one Deepcool Captain 240EX which I was testing on 6700K and later it was working on RX480 for 3 months or some longer. I had no issues, it was performing like some other AIO with 280 rads and it was really quiet while not all AIO are so quiet.

Right now I'm testing Alphacool Eisbaer which is really quiet and works great. I've also built one ITX PC based on Alphacool Eisbaer and Eiswolf. No issues at all.




Back to main topic, if there is no need of better cooling for graphics card then I would just stick to good air cooler for CPU.

 

[Helgaiden]

I had one Deepcool Captain 240EX which I was testing on 6700K and later it was working on RX480 for 3 months or some longer. I had no issues, it was performing like some other AIO with 280 rads and it was really quiet while not all AIO are so quiet.

Right now I'm testing Alphacool Eisbaer which is really quiet and works great. I've also built one ITX PC based on Alphacool Eisbaer and Eiswolf. No issues at all.

View attachment 191293


Back to main topic, if there is no need of better cooling for graphics card then I would just stick to good air cooler for CPU.

Awesome! I've been looking at that Alphacool for a sort of budget custom loop, cool to see you checking it out. I see you've added a GPU into that loop too, what size rad? How do you rate its performance compared to a more traditional custom loop?

 

[Woomack]

All is based on Alphacool Eisbaer and Eiswolf AIO. It's great that they have modular build and you can replace everything you wish without losing warranty.
Alphacool Eiswolf is available for most graphics cards. It includes block+pump and has quick release tubes. There is also backplate added to the package. Nearly all other brands make you pay for that $30+. Also because it includes pump then you can use it without CPU cooler or make 2 separated loops for CPU and GPU.
I've replaced tubes with "standard" compression fittings + 10/16 hose. The Eiswolf (gfx) and Eisbaer (cpu) kits are pre-filled so if you wish to build cpu+gpu watercooling then all you have to do is to connect both kits and that's all. Also if you compare whole kit price then is hard to find anything cheaper.

This is what I've used:
Alphacool NexXxos Eiswolf / Eisbaer Ready ST30 Full Copper 240mm radiator
https://www.alphacool.com/shop/radi...ready-st30-full-copper-240mm-radiator?c=21228

Alphacool Eiswolf GPX Pro - Nvidia Geforce GTX 1080 / 1070 M01 - incl. backplate
https://www.alphacool.com/shop/-new...rce-gtx-1080-/-1070-m01-mit-backplate?c=21225

Alphacool Eisbaer (Solo) - 2600rpm - black
https://www.alphacool.com/shop/cpu-.../alphacool-eisbaer-solo-2600rpm-black?c=21228

CPU block/pump was in Eisbaer 120 kit but I replaced radiator, tubes and fittings. Case is too small for quick-release tubes which are in all these AIO. At the end there are 2 pumps in my water cooling but both are low power and are really quiet. You can't hear any bubbles or motor.

I had no chance to compare it to my custom loop on ryzen but I was comparing the Eisbaer on 7700K and it performs about the same as custom loop ( +/- 2°C ).

 

[JrClocker]

Hey Woomack...thanks for the links.

Are these "really" expandable? For instance, could I do:

360 mm AIO for CPU
2 x 240 mm prefilled radiators
2 x Titan X Pascal prefilled blocks

And connect all to have 7 x 120 cooling in this "modular" AIO?

I did some Google work on the Internet, and nobody went that far.

I've been tossing around trading in my 3 AIO setup (1 for each GPU and 1 for CPU) and doing a custom loop. However...I have to drop about $1000. This is a far lower cost option and would be similar performance...

 

[Joe88]

you should afaik each block has its own pump so you would have 3 pumps, now to how good it would look is another issue as you are gonna have a bunch of qdc everywhere, also the ribbed tubbing looks terrible imo
evga has aio with qdc but to your card I dont know if they make a block pre filled for it
ek has their pre filled predator kit and they have gpu blocks for pretty much everything https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-fc-titan-x-pascal-nickel

Is the performance ok for each component right now?

 

[Helgaiden]

I wouldn't call that Eisbaer Solo an AIO after expanding it. Its basically a DC-LT pump+Res+Block combo. Maybe "AIO" still does fit, but in the "All in one" sense that it has multiple custom loop components all in one for simplification and cost savings. You can buy the Eisbaer Solo all by itself and build a custom loop around it, though you want to check at the flow rate and head pressure to make sure you don't put too much restriction in your loop for what it can handle. I think its good for probably most any size rad + itself on the CPU + and a GPU block. I wouldn't count on it for adding more unless you go multi-pump.

 

[Woomack]

Hey Woomack...thanks for the links.

Are these "really" expandable? For instance, could I do:

360 mm AIO for CPU
2 x 240 mm prefilled radiators
2 x Titan X Pascal prefilled blocks

And connect all to have 7 x 120 cooling in this "modular" AIO?

I did some Google work on the Internet, and nobody went that far.

I've been tossing around trading in my 3 AIO setup (1 for each GPU and 1 for CPU) and doing a custom loop. However...I have to drop about $1000. This is a far lower cost option and would be similar performance...

It's fully expandable, just connect red to blue quick release connectors and that's all. However as it was mentioned, each Eaisbaer and Eiswolf has it's own pump. Also in larger setup tubes and quick release connectors will take a lot of space so probably better would be to at least replace fittings and tubes or just buy everything separately.
One Eisbaer pump should handle 360 rad without issues. I have no idea how it looks like with 3 rads but 2-3 these small pumps should handle it and that you will get if you decide on 2x gpu +1 cpu block (with pump).

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Yeah. I think these "AIOs" are just budged for those on budgets that can't justify or afford real custom loops with premium pumps. I would say, the performance will NOT be the same. Much higher deltas and weaker pumps but I think it's great for those that can only spend at the most, a couple hundred.