So, you think water is better than air?

[ehume]

This is from a recent review of the I7 3960X at x-bit:

During our experiments we managed to get our Core i7-3960X and Core i7-3930K processors to work stably only at 4.5 GHz. To maintain system stability we had to increase the voltage to 1.38 V for Core i7-3930K and to 1.435 V for Core i7-3960X. . . . I have to stress that the above described overclocking was possible only due to highly efficient NZXT Havik 140 super-cooler. Unfortunately, Intel’s liquid-cooling RTS2011LC system didn’t cope with cooling our overclocked processors. The best we could do with this system was 4.3 GHz, and after that we have to give it up.

And the Intel system is an all-in-one rad from Asetek.

Just think of the difference with an NH-D14 or a Silver Arrow.

 

[Automata]

So, your statement is that water is worse than air is based off of their test that used a low end all-in-one water cooled unit? That sounds like a fair comparison.

A proper water cooling loop will dissipate more heat than any air heatsink. Water holds more heat than air, therefore using it instead is going to produce lower temperatures if you can cool it.

So to answer your thread title: Yes, of course.

 

[Diggrr]

That single rad w/lame Asetek pump on a questionable waterblock?
Most air cooling would beat it. Even stuff from older days probably would.
You really think Intel had overclocking in mind with it?....seriously?

Comparing grapefruits with grapes dude...laughable really that any reviewer would stack it up against anything and delude themselves into believing that it's conclusive of anything.
Says WAY more about x-bit than about watercooling.

 

[LennyRhys]

Proper water cooling is and always will be better than air cooling - simple physics.

Lame-*** closed loop hybrid coolers suck and always will suck.

 

[ehume]

Of course your true WC systems will beat this AIO unit all day long. I just posted this as a semi-joke. I guess I should have put in some humor flags.

OTOH, the advent of AIO units has not made heatsinks obsolete, as some would have it.

 

[SolidxSnake]

Of course your true WC systems will beat this AIO unit all day long. I just posted this as a semi-joke. I guess I should have put in some humor flags.

OTOH, the advent of AIO units has not made heatsinks obsolete, as some would have it.

Well, of course, a decent heatsink is still cheaper and easier to manage than a cheap watercooling loop.

Water will always be more powerful, but the performance benefits aren't nearly as good as they used to be before the advent of ginormous, heatpipe-based heatsinks. Now aircooling does plenty for a decent amount of heat (I bet I could get similar temps with some good sinks with my current rig at the same overclock). The difference is the silence you can get with WC with great performance.

 

[Conumdrum]

Yea, the first post was a bit off I guess. Got shot down pretty fast.

It's just this classic statement, "You get what you pay for" still works 2500 years later.

The Intel cooling setup is like a 3 legged donkey with a load of wet firewood for only 3 talents.

 

[ehume]

Well, of course, a decent heatsink is still cheaper and easier to manage than a cheap watercooling loop.

Water will always be more powerful, but the performance benefits aren't nearly as good as they used to be before the advent of ginormous, heatpipe-based heatsinks. Now aircooling does plenty for a decent amount of heat (I bet I could get similar temps with some good sinks with my current rig at the same overclock). The difference is the silence you can get with WC with great performance.

And ironically, it's the noise that is the downfall of the AIO rads when they try to cool with the big heatsinks.

 

[SolidxSnake]

And ironically, it's the noise that is the downfall of the AIO rads when they try to cool with the big heatsinks.

Gotta love saying "water" in the name and getting sales solely off of stigmas.

 

[muddocktor]

I haven't seen either the Intel "water" cooler or the AMD "water" cooler, but from the pics I've seen, it looks to basically be the same as a Corsair H70 system. A decent cooler, but which can be beaten with high end air. And the Havik 140 is a better cooler IMO than the Corsair H70. Now if we talk about an H80 or H100 and ignore the noise factor, we are talking a different ball game here. The pump/coldplate on the H80 is quite a bit more efficient than the Asetek pump/coldplate that was also used with the H70.

 

[RGE]

Actually the Liquid-Cooling System (RTS2011LC) is not even water cooling, since it does not use water at all. It uses propylene glycol (.147 W/M*K) which has 1/4 the thermal conductance of water (0.6 W/M*K) that alone makes a significant difference in temps, not to mention the viscosity of PPG which cuts the pump flow in half.

Skinneelabs has shown that 50% propylene glycol solution (50% distilled) causes 7C increase in cpu temps vs 100% distilled at his testing parameters/TDP, and this is a 100% PPG solution.

 

[Lyian]

I haven't seen either the Intel "water" cooler or the AMD "water" cooler, but from the pics I've seen, it looks to basically be the same as a Corsair H70 system. A decent cooler, but which can be beaten with high end air. And the Havik 140 is a better cooler IMO than the Corsair H70. Now if we talk about an H80 or H100 and ignore the noise factor, we are talking a different ball game here. The pump/coldplate on the H80 is quite a bit more efficient than the Asetek pump/coldplate that was also used with the H70.

What about the H100? Ive got that on my wishlist, but hope its worth it over the large heatblock i had picked before. Trying to keep the noise down where i can.

 

[NotNero]

Actually the Liquid-Cooling System (RTS2011LC) is not even water cooling, since it does not use water at all. It uses propylene glycol (.147 W/M*K) which has 1/4 the thermal conductance of water (0.6 W/M*K) that alone makes a significant difference in temps, not to mention the viscosity of PPG which cuts the pump flow in half.

In the simple interest of absolute clarity :

What kind of liquid is used inside the Hydro Series CPU coolers?

The liquid inside our Hydro Series CPU coolers is a mixture of distilled water with Propylene Glycol added to prevent corrosion and organic build-up.

From Corsair

 

[ziggo0]

My WC setup achieves high overclocks on my i7 and 6950, and is dead quiet. Can air do that?

 

[LennyRhys]

My WC setup achieves high overclocks on my i7 and 6950, and is dead quiet. Can air do that?

Yes my i7 920 is at 4GHz and the CPU fan is constantly at 800rpm and inaudible.

The best air cooling can be very quiet indeed, but it can't compete with the performance of quiet water cooling. However, for a highly overclocked WC loop to remain quiet you need bigger rads, more powerful and efficient pumps, bigger reservoirs, and more fans, which ultimately means crazy expense. I have one heatsink and one fan costing approx $50 total... can water do that?

A WC loop with a single 120 rad isn't going to break any records, certainly not in the noise department.

 

[SolidxSnake]

Yes my i7 920 is at 4GHz and the CPU fan is constantly at 800rpm and inaudible.

The best air cooling can be very quiet indeed, but it can't compete with the performance of quiet water cooling. However, for a highly overclocked WC loop to remain quiet you need bigger rads, more powerful and efficient pumps, bigger reservoirs, and more fans, which ultimately means crazy expense. I have one heatsink and one fan costing approx $50 total... can water do that?

A WC loop with a single 120 rad isn't going to break any records, certainly not in the noise department.

I refuse to believe there is any air solution that can handle the heat-load my rig puts out and remain silent. I don't mean conditionally inaudible, I mean silent.

There are probably solutions that are close, but nothing for pure silence. The most noise my rig makes at full-load is inductor whine from the PSU (only when FAHGPU is running).

 

[inVain]

water or metal . both need fans to chill everything....
I believe fans are where the noise coming from

wider dissipation area (more rads and wider fin gap on HSF) can take benefit from lower speed fan...

but I don't believe that a single 120mm rad, can beat Silver Arrow with 3 Deltas on it