Getting rid of my H80 for an air cooler...

[kmo_9000]

So as the title says I just ordered a Noctua D14 because I'm just sick of having an H80.

Basically, even with my AP-15's the H80 gets really noisy when I set it to high. And if I set it to low, it takes a pretty big performance hit. The other thing is I want something that will last years and not have to worry about the pump failing with age. At least compared to having a metal tower cooler that just sits there.

I might put the H80 back on my Q6600 and try overclocking in an open setup, but I'll probably end up selling it off for around $50. So not much of a question really, more of an experience I want to share about my H80.

These CLC coolers have come a long way but I think I would only consider them in the future for a smaller more portable Micro ATX or a Mini-ITX build, where you would not have the space for a large cooler like the Noctua D14 or something similar.

 

[ASUS ROG]

Nothing will last forever, the fan motor will eventually give up someday and you will have to replace new fan, or 6 to 8 month from now a much better air cooler come out and you will probably buy that cooler too.

 

[kmo_9000]

Nothing will last forever, the fan motor will eventually give up someday and you will have to replace new fan, or 6 to 8 month from now a much better air cooler come out and you will probably buy that cooler too.

Ya but replacing a fan on a air cooler is a lot simpler and cheaper than dealing with a pump failing and my CPU overheating due to the cooler not working, and then having to wait for a replacement cooler.

 

[doyll]

Ya but replacing a fan on a air cooler is a lot simpler and cheaper than dealing with a pump failing and my CPU overheating due to the cooler not working, and then having to wait for a replacement cooler.

I'm with you on this one. Air is quieter, cheaper, cools just as good as CLC, less chance of problems or failure, and if a fan fails on a two fan cooler it only changes temps by a degree or two.. and it's cheap and easy to replace.

Now full on custom water is definitely better cooling... but at a substantial price increase and increased maintenance.

I think we will see more of the Swiftech H220 AIO systems that can be expanded coming out instead of CLC. Cooler Master has their Eisberg 240L Prestige out now.

 

[kmo_9000]

Ya and from what I've seen, you would need an H100 to match the cooling of an D14.

But I have a friend who has a microATX computer that wouldn't fit most large air coolers, so we mounted a CoolITEco CLC in it with the rad mounted in the front fan slot of the case. Really the only instance these CLC's would really be ideal for.

 

[doyll]

And H100 or H100i are much louder too. D-14, K2, SA SB-E, TC14PE, etc. with high cfm/rpm fans will do as good or better than any CLC can.. provided the case is cooling properly. Most of the reviews don't do a good job of keeping hot exhaust air away from cool intake air on air cooled cases while mounting the CLC radiators in case and sucking cool air into them.. than rave about how CLC is 8c better cooler.. when air cooer is tryng to cool on 8-10c warmer air than CLC is using. There's a German review of H100, SA SB-E and SA SB-E Extreme. Extreme is 7c cooler at full speed than H100.. and only 1dBA louder.

jump in to 3:40 for results


I have seen a few cases where they were what was needed... I wouldn't use those cases for high performance systems. Bitfenix Prodigy is a really nice example of one that can hold a big cooler and top end GPU.

 

[kmo_9000]

I plan to take my AP-15's and put them in the two front 120mm fan slots of my Define R3, the static pressure should be good for getting air through the front fan filters. The rest of my fans are quiet 140mm fans. The loudest part in my case right now is the H80. So with the Noctua D14 it should be pretty quiet.

 

[doyll]

I modded my R2 to hold TY-140 fans. Quite easy to do. Remove stock filter/fan mount frames and cut a piece of plastic sheet the size of front to fit inside of front door frame/side vent plastic housing, drilled some 140mm holes in plastic sheet centered on opening in front metal case frame and drilled holes for 120mm mount spacing in corners of it and set it in place. In R2 I had to drill out pop rivets to remove HDD cage to fit the fans in, use long stock fan mount screws and job done. But when I put the HDD cage back in I found fans got louder.. so I slipped it back about 10mm and that made a big difference. I cut out the bottom vent grills and back grill too. All I have is 3 TY-140 intake fans hooked into a PWM splitter with molex power from PSU along with cooler fans and control them all with motherboard CPU_FAN PWM socket. At idle fans run 700-750rpm. Only reason I don't idle fans slower is NB runs hotter. A full load all cores 100% running 2 applications of rendering software at same time temps never peak over 50c @1050rpm. Right now the highest today is 47c @870rpm and room is 20.5c. Can't hear it running today setting a meter from it. If fans are 950-1000rpm I can just hear them.. enough to know they are there but not enough to mask leaves rustling or birds outside. I do have a duct from back of cooler to rear exhaust vent opening so no hot exhaust can mix with case or cooler intake air.. and boxed in the area under cooler with cutouts so all air blowing under cooler exits through the motherboard heatsinks. This lowered NB temp about 4c so now it runs 46-54c. It's our HTPC so no fancy high powered GPU in it. I have setup a few systems now using GPU PWM signal to control case fans feeding air to GPU. Not complicated but more work than using CPU fan socket as have to splice lead into the PWM signal lead and feed that into a PWM splitter with molex power. If interested I have wiring drawing of what it is.

Edit: See what happens when you say "R3" and mention good fans.

 

[kmo_9000]

Fractal makes great cases. I bought the R3 after seeing my friends R2 a while back. Now they release the R4 and it looks so nice.

 

[doyll]

I helped a mate build his new R4. Definitely a nice case! We changed the fans to TY-147 black/white with a Silver Arrow SB-E Extreme cooler on a 3570k and a VTX3D Radeon HD 7950 X-Edition V3. When it was together he couldn't believe how well it was cooling and how quiet it was.. except for the GPU.. Could hear it even at idle. I took a good look at it and the cooler was 90x240mm... humm.. he had a couple of Arctic F12 TC fans (ones with temp sensor speed control) so we pulled the GPU apart and removed fan shroud/fans and pull-tied the F12 TC fan on and slipped sensor between cooler and card for temporary fix/test while he ordered PWM fans to replace them with on splitter with GPU case fans... Their temp:rpm range is perfect! Temps were 70c now 50-60c, ultra settings, 60fps unless particularly detailed cut scenes.. and quiet unless playing full bore.. and then not loud but definitely audible.

I also raised my case so there's 50mm clearance for better airflow to bottom fan and PSU fan. Put it on a caster base. There are 4 of them rolling around now under R2,3 & 4 cases. Also helps quiet them down.

Might be getting a Nanoxia Deep Silence 1 for cheap with no fans.
http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/cases/1297912/nanoxia-deep-silence-1
http://www.silentpcreview.com/Nanoxia_Deep_Silence_1

I'm waiting for a delivery.. Can you tell...