AIO 240 mm (2x 120mm) Recommendations

[Sasqui]

Gettting close to computer season, the days are short and getting shorter here in the Northeast.

I have a brand new case waiting to be populated with what's in my current case (see specs), and it's got room for a 240mm rad and fans at the top. I'd like to go back to water-cooling, but this time just with an AIO. It'd only be used to cool my OC'd 4970k CPU, it's been good up to 4.7 Ghz.

I'm looking at this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019EXSSBG/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_6?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1 "CORSAIR Hydro Series H100i v2 AIO Liquid CPU Cooler, 240mm Radiator, Dual 120mm PWM Fans, Advanced RGB Lighting and Fan Software Control"

It's been as low as $89.99

What else should I be considering?

 

[Durvelle27]

For performance the Corsair H100 seems like the best for the price

 

[John Naylor]

When we buld for other users, we offer the following options:

a) Air coolers
b) Custom loops (flexible or custom acrylic) tubing
c) OLC Type AIOs

We do not offer builds with CLC type liquid cooling for the following reasons:

1. Violates 1st rule of water cooling; never mix metals. CLCs use aluminum rads and copper blocks thereby creating a galvanic corrosion cell. See the explanation and pics here... https://martinsliquidlab.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/corrosion-explored/
2. Being 'closed loop', there is no way to augment corrosion inhibitors that have a useful life of 18-24 months.
3. Weak Pumps... H100i has been measured at 0.11 gpm, about 10% of what is considered adequate for proper cooling.
4. Aluminum has poor transfer efficiency, generally requiring the use of high speed fans which create excessive noise. Personally, can't stand noise, At 55% CPU load, I'd find myself looking for 30' KB, mouse and monitor cables so PC could be located in another room.

Once we drop the aluminum rads, everything changes (OC Stats at 17:10):

1. As we can see, the H100i is almost 12 times as loud to even get close to the Noctua Air cooler in thermal performance where it trails by Noctua Air cooler by 2C
2. The Swiftech all copper unit delivers an extra 3C in performance and even to get that close, the H100i has to be 5.3 times as loud.
3. The Swiftech AIO is comprised of standard custom loop water cooling components and one of which may be replaced individually.
4. You can add colored coolant to match you aesthetic theme and also replace coolant or add corrosion inhibitors after they reach the end of useful life. Much less important here due to the all copper / brass construction.

If cost is an issue, then the $45 Scythe Fuma or $37 Mugen Max Air coolers are hard to walk away from as it outperforms most AIOs at far lower noise levels. But as you have used water cooling before, you may have expectations that will most likely not be realized.

1. CLCs only are capable of outperforming much cheaper air coolers thermally when high speed fans are used. Give that 100i video above a listen before deciding. Noise may not be an issue for you for example if you wear headphones.
2. Recognize that galvanic corrosion begins on day 1. Additives will slow it down but these additives have a useful life of 18 - 24 months. The greater the electrical potential between dissimilar metals, the greater the rate of corrosion. Electrons leaving the aluminum radiator will eat away at the rad, and those electrons will form compounds that collect on you copper block reducing performance over time.
3. With OLC type units like the Swiftech and models from EK, you can purchase a water block for your GFX card or grab something like the MSI Seahawk EK and add water cooling to your GFX card in 20 minutes.

https://www.swiftech.com/drivex3aio.aspx

If you do decide to stick with the H100i, be sure to follow Corsair's prointed instructions and install with fans blowing air into the case.

 

[Tallencor]

I just put 2 120 corsair mag lev's on my h100i seems to be fine for my 4.8 7700k.
58c game load.

 

[Sasqui]

Aluminum has poor transfer efficiency, generally requiring the use of high speed fans which create excessive noise. Personally, can't stand noise, At 55% CPU load, I'd find myself looking for 30' KB, mouse and monitor cables so PC could be located in another room.

Does the H100i have an aluminium radiator? I honestly didn't even look. There are some nasty looking corrosion pics on Amazon reviews.

I currently have two Swiftech H140-X still BNIB and a supplemental 140 rad. http://www.swiftech.com/H140-X.aspx I could not find the case I wanted that would accommodate a one or 2x 140mm rad, so I planned to sell the H140-X's and go with a 240 (2x120mm). Originally I was going to mod the case to fit the 140's, but I've got other priorities.

I just put 2 120 corsair mag lev's on my h100i seems to be fine for my 4.8 7700k.
58c game load.

That's respectable. I'm looking for quick and dirty mostly.

 

[StrayKAT]

Does the H100i have an aluminium radiator? I honestly didn't even look. There are some nasty looking corrosion pics on Amazon reviews.

I currently have two Swiftech H140-X still BNIB and a supplemental 140 rad. http://www.swiftech.com/H140-X.aspx I could not find the case I wanted that would accommodate a one or 2x 140mm rad, so I planned to sell the H140-X's and go with a 240 (2x120mm). Originally I was going to mod the case to fit the 140's, but I've got other priorities.



That's respectable. I'm looking for quick and dirty mostly.

Pretty sure it's aluminum.. but I can't be sure. It's on the light side (I have an h100i and one of the newer 100i rgbs.. but they seem the same here). I don't exactly plan on using it for a long time though.

 

[sneekypeet]

All Asetek built AIOs have aluminum radiators. TBH most of all CLC coolers have an aluminum radiator. I would say all, but there may be one or two out there that are not.

 

[StrayKAT]

All Asetek built AIOs have aluminum radiators. TBH most of all CLC coolers have an aluminum radiator. I would say all, but there may be one or two out there that are not.

Were the CoolIT radiators steel? I had one of those once too, and it felt like it. Now I wish I didn't give it away.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

When we buld for other users, we offer the following options:

a) Air coolers
b) Custom loops (flexible or custom acrylic) tubing
c) OLC Type AIOs

We do not offer builds with CLC type liquid cooling for the following reasons:

1. Violates 1st rule of water cooling; never mix metals. CLCs use aluminum rads and copper blocks thereby creating a galvanic corrosion cell. See the explanation and pics here... https://martinsliquidlab.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/corrosion-explored/
2. Being 'closed loop', there is no way to augment corrosion inhibitors that have a useful life of 18-24 months.
3. Weak Pumps... H100i has been measured at 0.11 gpm, about 10% of what is considered adequate for proper cooling.
4. Aluminum has poor transfer efficiency, generally requiring the use of high speed fans which create excessive noise. Personally, can't stand noise, At 55% CPU load, I'd find myself looking for 30' KB, mouse and monitor cables so PC could be located in another room.

Once we drop the aluminum rads, everything changes (OC Stats at 17:10):

1. As we can see, the H100i is almost 12 times as loud to even get close to the Noctua Air cooler in thermal performance where it trails by Noctua Air cooler by 2C
2. The Swiftech all copper unit delivers an extra 3C in performance and even to get that close, the H100i has to be 5.3 times as loud.
3. The Swiftech AIO is comprised of standard custom loop water cooling components and one of which may be replaced individually.
4. You can add colored coolant to match you aesthetic theme and also replace coolant or add corrosion inhibitors after they reach the end of useful life. Much less important here due to the all copper / brass construction.

If cost is an issue, then the $45 Scythe Fuma or $37 Mugen Max Air coolers are hard to walk away from as it outperforms most AIOs at far lower noise levels. But as you have used water cooling before, you may have expectations that will most likely not be realized.

1. CLCs only are capable of outperforming much cheaper air coolers thermally when high speed fans are used. Give that 100i video above a listen before deciding. Noise may not be an issue for you for example if you wear headphones.
2. Recognize that galvanic corrosion begins on day 1. Additives will slow it down but these additives have a useful life of 18 - 24 months. The greater the electrical potential between dissimilar metals, the greater the rate of corrosion. Electrons leaving the aluminum radiator will eat away at the rad, and those electrons will form compounds that collect on you copper block reducing performance over time.
3. With OLC type units like the Swiftech and models from EK, you can purchase a water block for your GFX card or grab something like the MSI Seahawk EK and add water cooling to your GFX card in 20 minutes.

https://www.swiftech.com/drivex3aio.aspx

If you do decide to stick with the H100i, be sure to follow Corsair's prointed instructions and install with fans blowing air into the case.

Thanks for posting.

Your post does make me worry about the remaining life of my H105 cooler. I think ive had it running at least 4-5years now. Temps still seem very very normal. 31'c idle on my 8600k and 61-65'c when loaded.

My previous X79 with 3930k was running the same temps with the H105 mind you.


Ive considered going back to aircooling but i have sausage fingers and hate fumbling with mountings.

 

[Sasqui]

Pretty sure it's aluminum.. but I can't be sure.

Found this on the Corsair website:

 

[Norton]

If you want a copper rad in your AIO then you're pretty much limited to Swiftech or AlphaCool

 

[sneekypeet]

Were the CoolIT radiators steel? I had one of those once too, and it felt like it. Now I wish I didn't give it away.

CoolIT were/are aluminum as well. To cover the rest, the Chinese knockoffs from Apletek(SP?) and others are aluminum as well.

 

[Sasqui]

If you want a copper rad in your AIO then you're pretty much limited to Swiftech or AlphaCool

Ironically, I have two of these still sitting in boxes. They won't fit in the case I picked out... at least not without modding the case.

It has a "brass and copper" radiator:

http://www.swiftech.com/H140-X.aspx

 

[sneekypeet]

Ironically, I have two of these still sitting in boxes. They won't fit in the case I picked out... at least not without modding the case.

It has a "brass and copper" radiator:

http://www.swiftech.com/H140-X.aspx

Sell it and put it towards a model that will fit

 

[John Naylor]

Just general response to last few posts ....

-Yes, all Corsairs are a mix of copper and aluminum.

-Just about every CLC (mostly Asetek / Cool-It) is copper block / aluminum rad.

-OLC type AIOs for the most part are all aluminum or all copper / brass and are expandable.

-It's not so much that aluminum is bad .... copper and copper / brass is good .... aluminum and aluminum is fine if not as efficient in thermal transfter.... mixing the 2 is very bad thing. Mixing the two and providing no means to add / replace corrosion inhibitors = component suicide.

-EK makes both all aluminum and all copper OLC type AIOs

https://www.ekwb.com/news/ek-mlc-phoenix/

Aluminum Design (For AMD / Intel CPU)
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAC8W5SB2261

Aluminum Design for Intel or AMD CPU / nVidia GPU
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAC8W5SB2259

More EK Options
https://www.ekwb.com/shop/kits

 

[Sasqui]

Sell it and put it towards a model that will fit

With the shift towards less (or none) 5.25" external bays, I can't find anything I can live with, that will house two 140mm top fans and has 3 or 4 external drive bays. I need a min of 3... 2 for an external hot swap HDD drive cage and 1 for a DVD writer.

This is what I got months ago https://m.newegg.com/products/N82E16811147232

 

[Caring1]

Found this on the Corsair website:

View attachment 107854

Just a thought, it shows it having a copper cold plate.
If that is like air coolers, the rest of the block should be aluminium, with only the contact surface being copper.

 

[Liquid Cool]

Do you have to use any type of software with these current AIO's? Sasqui is looking for a 240mm and that is the only size that will fit in my Thermaltake P1. If I could find one that is cheap, dead quiet, and didn't use any software...it'd look pretty nifty.

Sasqui...please let us know which unit you end up selecting.

Kind of hard holding on to the "Liquid Cool" handle for the last 18 years...especially when I stopped liquid cooling pc's in 2007.

,

Liquid Cool

 

[Caring1]

Do you have to use any type of software with these current AIO's?
,

Liquid Cool

The software is optional

 

[Liquid Cool]

The software is optional

Thanks Caring1...that's been a real concern of mine.

Best,

Liquid Cool

 

[Sasqui]

Sasqui...please let us know which unit you end up selecting

It's looking more and more like I'll be modding my case to fit the H140-x + an additional 140 rad I have. I still have a bunch of custom WC fittings and tubing, so most of the work will be cutting and drilling sheet metal.

When all is said and done, I'll likely have the spare H140x on BST here

 

[Gasaraki]

When we buld for other users, we offer the following options:

a) Air coolers
b) Custom loops (flexible or custom acrylic) tubing
c) OLC Type AIOs

We do not offer builds with CLC type liquid cooling for the following reasons:

1. Violates 1st rule of water cooling; never mix metals. CLCs use aluminum rads and copper blocks thereby creating a galvanic corrosion cell. See the explanation and pics here... https://martinsliquidlab.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/corrosion-explored/
2. Being 'closed loop', there is no way to augment corrosion inhibitors that have a useful life of 18-24 months.
3. Weak Pumps... H100i has been measured at 0.11 gpm, about 10% of what is considered adequate for proper cooling.
4. Aluminum has poor transfer efficiency, generally requiring the use of high speed fans which create excessive noise. Personally, can't stand noise, At 55% CPU load, I'd find myself looking for 30' KB, mouse and monitor cables so PC could be located in another room.

Once we drop the aluminum rads, everything changes (OC Stats at 17:10):

1. As we can see, the H100i is almost 12 times as loud to even get close to the Noctua Air cooler in thermal performance where it trails by Noctua Air cooler by 2C
2. The Swiftech all copper unit delivers an extra 3C in performance and even to get that close, the H100i has to be 5.3 times as loud.
3. The Swiftech AIO is comprised of standard custom loop water cooling components and one of which may be replaced individually.
4. You can add colored coolant to match you aesthetic theme and also replace coolant or add corrosion inhibitors after they reach the end of useful life. Much less important here due to the all copper / brass construction.

If cost is an issue, then the $45 Scythe Fuma or $37 Mugen Max Air coolers are hard to walk away from as it outperforms most AIOs at far lower noise levels. But as you have used water cooling before, you may have expectations that will most likely not be realized.

1. CLCs only are capable of outperforming much cheaper air coolers thermally when high speed fans are used. Give that 100i video above a listen before deciding. Noise may not be an issue for you for example if you wear headphones.
2. Recognize that galvanic corrosion begins on day 1. Additives will slow it down but these additives have a useful life of 18 - 24 months. The greater the electrical potential between dissimilar metals, the greater the rate of corrosion. Electrons leaving the aluminum radiator will eat away at the rad, and those electrons will form compounds that collect on you copper block reducing performance over time.
3. With OLC type units like the Swiftech and models from EK, you can purchase a water block for your GFX card or grab something like the MSI Seahawk EK and add water cooling to your GFX card in 20 minutes.

https://www.swiftech.com/drivex3aio.aspx

If you do decide to stick with the H100i, be sure to follow Corsair's prointed instructions and install with fans blowing air into the case.

Umm, ok... I had an Antec closed loop cooler from maybe 5 years ago and it still works fine.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Do you have to use any type of software with these current AIO's? Sasqui is looking for a 240mm and that is the only size that will fit in my Thermaltake P1. If I could find one that is cheap, dead quiet, and didn't use any software...it'd look pretty nifty.

Sasqui...please let us know which unit you end up selecting.

Kind of hard holding on to the "Liquid Cool" handle for the last 18 years...especially when I stopped liquid cooling pc's in 2007.

,

Liquid Cool

I have a Coolermaster Seidon 240mm, it is supposed to be just mid ranged but for the price it is outstanding, no software, really really quiet, cannot hear it and it manages to cool a 4.6gig i7 6700 @ 1.33V in the 60's even on IBT stress tests.

 

[Gasaraki]

Pretty sure it's aluminum.. but I can't be sure. It's on the light side (I have an h100i and one of the newer 100i rgbs.. but they seem the same here). I don't exactly plan on using it for a long time though.

No. The Aluminum radiator AIOs are a lot cheaper and surprisingly a lot lighter. I've installed the Corsair 100iV2 and I have an unopened Coolermaster AIO "lite" 240. The whole Coolermaster box is lighter than Corsair's AIO cooler.

 

[mak1skav]

I bought the Liquid Freezer 240 from ARCTIC cause of it's price. It's cheap and has 4 fans included for a push/pull config, no RGB shenanigans on it (this is count as a plus for me) but it does a good job at cooling my old and hot i7 930 @ 4.1GHz. I have it in my system for over a year without any problems either with noise or temperatures.