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Air Cooling

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Ozz1

Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2016
thinkin this would be my choice for air cooling, whether its in your case if it can fit it, or to bench with, it covers all your hardware and covers most platforms, bit of self ingenuity could fix that tho for all, dunno what you guys think but to me its a cracker even i see its discontinued now, many good coolers have been discontinued, even tho its not a direct touch heat pipe cooler, if i was gong to buy a air cooler now id have a crack at this for sure
the vid isnt much chop but it does show what it covers for cooling, all the major necessaries as i see it
thought id ask your opinions on it
 
If you can find one absolutely grab it. As you know Rodney has one and swears by it. I honestly don't know how it compares to some of the modern coolers but would be nice to know.
 
If you can find one absolutely grab it. As you know Rodney has one and swears by it. I honestly don't know how it compares to some of the modern coolers but would be nice to know.

yeah thats where i saw it in the first place, dunno why its discontinued now tho, but im lookin, with that sort of

design and set up id say it would be up there with the tops of air coolers, but the discontuation from scythe has me a bit baffled, i havent really looked , maybe theres a newer version of it
 
Here's an old comparison with the Susanoo and some other top coolers from that era. The Susanoo didn't finish at the top but this comparison factored in cost and noise as factors. For benching we don't really care about noise and cost is relative since you'll likely pay out the nose for one today. As cool as these are to look at (pun intended) you're probably still better off picking up a new NH-D15. JMO
 
Here's an old comparison with the Susanoo and some other top coolers from that era. The Susanoo didn't finish at the top but this comparison factored in cost and noise as factors. For benching we don't really care about noise and cost is relative since you'll likely pay out the nose for one today. As cool as these are to look at (pun intended) you're probably still better off picking up a new NH-D15. JMO

thx blay, very interesting, the (bllng ) doesnt mean a thing at the end of the day
 
Current top air coolers are by Thermalright, like the Silver Arrow SB-E and IB-E coolers or the Archon coolers. They can be tricky to get now and are also very expensive. I was lucky enough to get a TRUE Spirit 140 Power when it was introduced, and it was cheap but easily beats the Noctua NH-D14 and D15.

The main drawback with these air coolers is their size vs performance. I recently picked up a good ol' TRUE Rev. C and IMHO it's still one of the best air coolers for benching. Hook it up to a 5000rpm fan and it'll beat the pants off most (if not all) other air coolers.
 
Current top air coolers are by Thermalright, like the Silver Arrow SB-E and IB-E coolers or the Archon coolers. They can be tricky to get now and are also very expensive. I was lucky enough to get a TRUE Spirit 140 Power when it was introduced, and it was cheap but easily beats the Noctua NH-D14 and D15.

The main drawback with these air coolers is their size vs performance. I recently picked up a good ol' TRUE Rev. C and IMHO it's still one of the best air coolers for benching. Hook it up to a 5000rpm fan and it'll beat the pants off most (if not all) other air coolers.

But you've got to compare apples with apples. Put 5000 RPM fans on some of the other top coolers and then test. That is the problem with all these cooler reviews. The variables aren't usually well controlled.
 
But you've got to compare apples with apples. Put 5000 RPM fans on some of the other top coolers and then test. That is the problem with all these cooler reviews. The variables aren't usually well controlled.

Would love to see a D15 with 2x/3x 140mm (150mm technically) 5000rpm fans...
 
I think most sites do a pretty good job of testing what's out of the box. That is how most people would use it, really. You don't see roundups where they take say 6-12 air coolers and strap different fans on them.
 
I think most sites do a pretty good job of testing what's out of the box. That is how most people would use it, really. You don't see roundups where they take say 6-12 air coolers and strap different fans on them.

I believe Linus tech tips does this, testing with the out of the box configuration and then again with the fans they decided on as a standard to have easy comparisons.
 
I think most sites do a pretty good job of testing what's out of the box. That is how most people would use it, really. You don't see roundups where they take say 6-12 air coolers and strap different fans on them.

I've seen quite a few of them over the years. But even so, a TRUE with a 5000 rpm fans may not best a Noctua D14 with 5000 rpm fans and I doubt it would. I know the TRUE with stock fans would not beat the D14-15s with stock fans. I've had both at different times.

Thermalright makes some great coolers but the reviews I've seen don't rate them at the top. The reviewer I put the most stock in is Frostytech. They use uniform testing methods and strap the cooler to a hotplate with controlled watts rather than test in a computer case. Frostytech measures the actual ability of the cooler to absorb measured amounts of heat and all other variables remain constant, except maybe TIM application variables.
 
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trents said:
Put 5000 RPM fans on some of the other top coolers and then test.

I have done that, and the TRUE is at the top. I've also compared air coolers with stock and readily available low rpm fans (both 120mm and 140mm) and my findings are that Thermalright are ahead of all other manufacturers with their TS140P and also the Silver Arrow series coolers. I even got a loan of an NH-D14 from a friend so I could directly compare it with Thermalright coolers, because I got fed up of all the fanbois and cheerleaders saying that nothing would ever beat it. Themalright did.

Something that really frustrates me about the vast majority of cooler reviews is that they don't distinguish between stock fan speeds, so there's little surprise when a cooler with 2000rpm fans beats a cooler with 1000rpm fans. FrostyTech rate the Xigmatek Dark Knight SD1283 higher than both the Noctua NH-D14 and the Phanteks PH-TC14PE... I don't know where on earth they pull these results from, but it's gotta be a joke. I used to own the SD1283 some years ago and whilst it was a lot better than the Intel stock heatsink, it couldn't handle the overclock on my i7 920, so I ended up getting a TRUE. Problem solved.

As Earthdog says, out-of-box performance is what most people will base a purchase on, but with so many coolers available and so many different fan speeds to choose from, it makes it very difficult to ascertain something so fundamental as which cooler is best. I do my own tests and am much happier that way, because I control the variables myself.
 
Just wanted to add to this. Is it just me or does it seem that AIO liquid coolers are killing air coolers? I have a TRUE Copper and think the thing looks bad ***. Its currently not in use but will be again....soon.


Ignore my pc specs, they're outdated. I haven't been on this forum in years.
 
Just wanted to add to this. Is it just me or does it seem that AIO liquid coolers are killing air coolers?

Not really no, vast majority of people i see here will settle for a 212 EVO/D14/D15 because their not pulling ridiculous overclocks for 24/7, most that buy an AIO as 1st option do it because the shop clerk told them to or came with the setup. Air is still the best "set and forget" option (and the quietest for the most part) :thup:
 
Not really no, vast majority of people i see here will settle for a 212 EVO/D14/D15 because their not pulling ridiculous overclocks for 24/7, most that buy an AIO as 1st option do it because the shop clerk told them to or came with the setup. Air is still the best "set and forget" option (and the quietest for the most part) :thup:
I totally agree I use to use extravagant coolers it was a waste, now I just use a Hyper 212 for the last 5 years.
 
Not really no, vast majority of people i see here will settle for a 212 EVO/D14/D15 because their not pulling ridiculous overclocks for 24/7, most that buy an AIO as 1st option do it because the shop clerk told them to or came with the setup. Air is still the best "set and forget" option (and the quietest for the most part) :thup:

I agree with the latter part but my own experience on other forums is that people buy AIO for a number of reasons, principally to open up the CPU socket area and because it looks more tidy and stylish than air cooling. Another thing I've noticed is the growing trend in small form factor cases which are not suitable for tower style air coolers, and that's why AIO tends to be the de facto choice for builders of such systems.

I had an NZXT Kraken X61 recently (for benching only) and aside from the far superior performance, AIO can be extremely quiet and also look very nice. But I'm firmly in the air cooling camp because I'm always about value for money and I prefer the "set and forget" approach of air, especially after all the horror stories I read about leaky AIOs.

Gotta admit this is sexy :D (and this is without cable management... I was just snapping a quick shot of the cooler installed)

pmfGCbKjj
 
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