How are these AIO coolers?

Discussion in 'General Hardware' started by topcat77, Apr 27, 2020.

  1. topcat77

    topcat77 Master Guru

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    Hi everyone, I'm thinking about getting a AIO cooler to cool this 9900k. I currently have the mugen 5 (air cooler). The fan went oout last week and I had a spare fan (not the same kind as the original) its a faster fan (maybe 200rpm) than the original. Here is the situation. I am playing some newer games that are much more cpu demanding so my temps are higher (85c-87c) than the past. So I thought about a aio cooler. I have been looking at 3 coolers and have questions and need some expert advise on them.

    1st, is the artic freezer (liquid freezer 2 360mm aio). I have read some reviews and for the most part they are fairly good. It has some pros and cons.
    https://www2.arctic.ac/liquidfreezer2/

    Pros, cheap price $99.00
    long tubes
    thick rad.
    cons, the fan wires are embedded into the tubes for a nicer look, but I guess if a fan were to go out I could not replace it and would have to RMA it.
    2nd is a corsair aio. Looking at the 240, 280 and 360.
    https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categories/Products/Liquid-Cooling/c/Cor_Products_Cooling

    pros, name brand thats been around. quality.
    cons, Not cheap. tubes a little shorter.

    3rd EK aio. Saw the review in the news section. As far as the pros and cons , its a mixed bag. Saw some reviews where they said EK tried the aio coolers in the past, but had issues like leaks and bad pumps.

    So what do you guys think? Do you have a aio thats not listed thats a better choice?

    On the corsair coolers some use icu software. Could I use it on my MB header instead?
    I usually use artic silver thermal paste, but have read there is better.
     
  2. metagamer

    metagamer Ancient Guru

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    They're good. I think there's a review of the 280 on here, have a look
     
  3. Death_LV

    Death_LV Master Guru

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    i have tested liquid freezer 280 version for my i9 9900kf and better AIO i never used :) before i have used nzxt x62 corsair u.t.t
     
  4. topcat77

    topcat77 Master Guru

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    What kind of temps do you have? My 9900k runs between 4.8 and 5.0 ghz full load. Also where did you install you rad, top, front.
     

  5. -Tj-

    -Tj- Ancient Guru

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    I have older H115i Pro rgb version and I have to say im impressed.
    2k pump (3k has some noise issues) and fans 700-800rpm. Even max fan speed 1100rpm and it's somewhat silent.

    I never see it above 65C, I used to have older H90 140mm rad and by that I could see 72-74C in worst case.

    That Arctic you mentioned is good, but there are better for tiny bit more money.


    check h115i and 150 models
    https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/9418/fractal-celsius-plus-s28-prisma-liquid-cpu-cooler/index6.html


    Otherwise this old Fractal 360 model is pretty good too
    https://geizhals.eu/fractal-design-....html?hloc=at&hloc=de&hloc=eu&hloc=pl&hloc=uk
    But on pump it needs to be set to pwm temp, so it works properly - more efficient.

    or this new 360 enermax, has a fancy pump (chamber)
    https://geizhals.eu/enermax-aquafus....html?hloc=at&hloc=de&hloc=eu&hloc=pl&hloc=uk
     
    Last edited: Apr 28, 2020
  6. sykozis

    sykozis Ancient Guru

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    Where are the better ones? That chart over at TweakTown shows the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280 outperforming all but the Thermaltake 360mm AIOs....outside of running the fans at max speed on the H80i..... There's really nothing better than the Liquid Freezer II 280 right now. Even GamersNexus conceded that it's among the best AIO liquid coolers they've tested. Biggest pro for it, is that it's not just another rebranded Asetek AIO....lol

    I wouldn't worry too much about the fans failing. I've been using Arctic Cooling fans for around 20 years and haven't had one of their fans fail yet.
     
  7. sverek

    sverek Guest

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    AIO coolers are pretty much toys to mess with. Like people installing turbo into their cars. 10% more performance, 100% more problems.
    AIO coolers got many things that can go wrong. Pump, water, etc...
    My previous AIO pump died and it failed to circulate water, causing temperature to sky rocket and making PC unusable. And I couldn't do anything, beside buying air cooler.

    Pump is basically a ticking bomb in AIO coolers. No idea when it will die, only hope warranty is long enough to cover it.

    Air cooler is just safer option if you don't want to spend more money than needed.
    Even if air cooler fan dies, the heatsink of air cooler will dispense the hot air from CPU, making it usable. So it is basically fool proof. And replacing fan on air heatsink is much cheaper than replacing whole AIO.

    I'd highly suggest to get solid air cooler like Noctua and it will perform as good as AIO toys.
     
    Last edited: Apr 28, 2020
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  8. Amaze

    Amaze Ancient Guru

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    The main thing that made me pull the trigger on an x62 was the 6 year warranty on not just the cooler, but also on any damage to components caused by a leak.
    But I use it on my GPU. CPU AIO watercooling doesn't seem to yield that much over a good air cooler.
     
  9. Amaze

    Amaze Ancient Guru

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    Me? About 40c under load on silent mode.
     
  10. antonyfrn

    antonyfrn Maha Guru

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    EK im weary of there AIO after the predator i took it out my system for safety, if they have truly fixed all the issues that they had in the past i would go with them. My other option would be corsair as they have been extremely good with warranty and support.
     

  11. topcat77

    topcat77 Master Guru

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    Thought I would update this with my new aio cooler. First off thank you all for the help.After looking at dozens of aio coolers, and reading/youtube reviews and many not in stock I got one. I chose the EVGA 3600mm clc. I got it for $120is after rebate. It is cooling my 9900k@5ghz under load all cores below 65c. If was at 80 c-85c. Quality is good. Most reviews say the fans are loud but I have not seen this. Setup was different as I needed to use a usb terminal. My biggest issue was I downloaded the wrong software. On EVGA page under coolers it has a precision x1 dl. Once I found the correct software EVGA flow control everything fell into place. It showed to have the fan push air though the rad, but my case made that awkward. So instead use the fans to pull air. If anyone is looking far a aio cooled check out the EVGA 360mm one.
     
  12. Gripen90

    Gripen90 Guest

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    I use an Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360mm Rev. 2 on my Ryzen 9 3950X and it's fandamntastic. It's so silent it's insane.
     
  13. Rich_Guy

    Rich_Guy Ancient Guru

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    Im using the H100i RGB Platinum (240mm), have the fans set to quiet, and the pump to balanced, and its very quiet, temps are great, my 3700X idles around 32/33, and underload, its about 43/44.
     
  14. metagamer

    metagamer Ancient Guru

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    Those are pretty solid temps. Under load you mean gaming and general Windows 10 scenario? Or benching?
     
  15. Rich_Guy

    Rich_Guy Ancient Guru

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    Yeah when gaming :)
     

  16. insp1re2600

    insp1re2600 Ancient Guru

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    i quite like alphacool aio's you can expand them very easily and replace parts cheaply. plus full copper rads.
     
  17. metagamer

    metagamer Ancient Guru

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    That's awesome Rich!
     
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  18. Rich_Guy

    Rich_Guy Ancient Guru

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    Yeah temps are great :D
     

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