Have AIOs killed custom loops?

[lexluthermiester]

Why are you guys talking about brake fluids? (worried voice)

We're just talking about an alternative to loop fluid, something that would not go amiss.

Air coolers are not meant to weight 1.5 kilos! Heavier = worse, not better.

That's an assumption.

Who said that?

No one..

 

[BoggledBeagle]

Who said that?

You did:

Air coolers and cases have gotten better

When you say better without any specification, you mean better in performance. And performance for an air cooler means bulk and weight.

Elementary, my dear Watson!

 

[95Viper]

Stick to the topic.
And, stop your jabs/insults!

 

[67Elco]

Well, I didn't let the AIO's bite me...teaser

 

[ShiBDiB]

A good air cooler is more than enough for majority of users. AIO's just add more points of possible failure and seem to be an upsell tactic more than anything when it comes to prebuilts.

Custom loops are niche, always have been and always will be. The cons far outweigh the pros for a vast majority of users.

 

[67Elco]

I don't think it has ever been about the cooling really. Those that choose water cooling normally have their case's internals exposed and like to showcase the interiors. There are some like myself that care little about the actual loop(s) and take advantage of the space that would otherwise be consumed/overwhelmed by a air cooler 3/4 the size of the motherboard. I don't place cases on the floor...they are right in my face on the desk top. If there is anything I can do to mitigate some of the noise I'm all for it...not to mention there is nothing sexy looking about a NH-D15 no matter how you dress it lol.

I'm convinced now that I have my first back side connector motherboard I will never build another pc with cables sprouting out the front. I hate the thought of even sticking a janky video card into one of these clean cases. I'll be water cooling a big brother to the one pictured below soon and I know it will irk me when it comes time to install the video card...but it will be a dedicated gamer so no choice there.



Ironically, this is what it will be sporting to begin with lol...

 

[BoggledBeagle]

Having a very large case with a lot of unused space is an invitation for problems...

I even drew this picture. I want to keep optical drives, and I could only fit 240 and 360 rads comfortably. The bulk of cooling would be done in the upper 240 rad and the final cooling with cool air from the outside in the 360 rad. With the water already pre cooled it would not introduce too much heat in the case. Very simple loop with soft tubes and short runs.



Edit: I wonder, if the loop with the tubing from the heat producing parts running upwards could establish some natural slow coolant movement in case the pump failed.

EDIT 2: I started seriously thinking about building something and the cost is not good at all. The cost of fittings is a huge ripoff. The cost without a GPU block is something around $400, and even if I used two slim 280 rads with current case fans (without buying new fans), the cost would not decrease too much.

The loop in the picture would probably function really well though. And I would have a lot of fun building it ...

 

[ShrimpBrime]

Lighten up...here is a picture of one of my brake fluid reservoirs. Yeah, it's overclocked a bit.

View attachment 332016

I miss my mine so much. Should have never sold it, but was rotted pretty badly. The body needed new quarters all the way around.

Small block 350, edlebrock intake, 600 vacuum secondaries with upgraded jets. Turbo 350 trans and welded 4:10 diff after it exploded on me one day. Max speed 85. sliders in the rear. Ate up a lot of ricers with that car around town.

Sry for off topic, but love your El camino!!

 

[Dragam1337]

Having a very large case with a lot of unused space is an invitation for problems...

On the contrary - the larger the case, the easier it is to keep the ambient temp inside the case low.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

I meant problems connected with spending money to fill the empty space.

And BTW not every large case is ideal for air flow, Define 7 XL is geared more towards silence than maximising airflow.

 

[T-Cat]

My experience with anything liquid custom or not is it is bound to leak eventually. Though I will say that custom loops if done truly custom can outlast the computer it was originally meant for (and maybe even outlast yourself depending on how good the piping and motor is).

AIOs are nice if you are an idiot like me who wants that extra performance without too much hassle but I would not trust it to last very long (under 5 years probably). That being said people like air-cooled stuff because there are very few people that are willing to maintain their computers religiously. Even someone like me who turns on the air conditioning to prioritize my PC over me would still prefer air cooling because if a leak occurs, that's lost time and money right there compared to air cooling which offers similar performance even if its a marginally smaller one).

Though again if you spend the money and get quality parts that custom cooling solution can last decades or even outlive yourself and a few of your ancestors but again its going to end up leaking one day as entropy is destiny.

Though if I ever did a cooling solution I would probably go for a robust copper cooling build system that can easily swap the motherboard and motor. However price of copper piping aside, working with copper is a different beast in of itself much less a system that can make the motherboard and motor removable if somthing breaks (because it will one day).

There is one particular build that I still remember today that was freaking awesome which ill post a link to but its quite overkill for what I would do:

https://www.reddit.com/r/watercooling/comments/8s0zq3

(the reddit post)

(the video of this glorious machine)

 

[BoggledBeagle]

My experience with anything liquid custom or not is it is bound to leak eventually. ...

Though if I ever did a cooling solution I would probably go for a robust copper cooling build ...

I think that nobody cares if a plastic tube of an AIO is going to break off after 10 years, because the AIO will be long in the landfill after so many years. These will not be used in any sort of medical machines with long life.

Copper tubing is rigid and transfers mechanical stress to parts. You pick up the case, deforming it slightly, and without knowing you are e.g. stressing output port of a pump.

See through soft tubes are the best solution.

 

[Dragam1337]

I think that nobody cares if a plastic tube of an AIO is going to break off after 10 years, because the AIO will be long in the landfill after so many years. These will not be used in any sort of medical machines with long life.

Copper tubing is rigid and transfers mechanical stress to parts. You pick up the case, deforming it slightly, and without knowing you are e.g. stressing output port of a pump.

See through soft tubes are the best solution.

I used the original corsair h110 for 8 years before the pump died. They can last for a fair while, but you obviously get what you pay for with mechanical parts such as pumps.

 

[T-Cat]

I think that nobody cares if a plastic tube of an AIO is going to break off after 10 years, because the AIO will be long in the landfill after so many years. These will not be used in any sort of medical machines with long life.

Copper tubing is rigid and transfers mechanical stress to parts. You pick up the case, deforming it slightly, and without knowing you are e.g. stressing output port of a pump.

See through soft tubes are the best solution.

Good points but I mentioned copper purely because of the fact that it can absorb and release heat unlike those see-through tubes (and last longer if done right). I did not think about the medical reasons to use copper but I was more thinking about rust. Maybe galvanized steel would be the next best thing but that seems a bit overkill. Either way the bigger problem I have with those plastic tubes is that most are not designed to live as long as the PC since there are folks that will keep a PC for as long as 20 years which is a tad bit too long but I'm sure you have seen it.

Also... picking up up a PC case with copper piping is asking for back problems. Its not something you should be picking up once its set-up among other drawbacks. Plus the pump is moving water and its going to burn out eventually which is why I mentioned how it would be a good idea that it be in a easily replaceable location.

 

[Makaveli]

I think these two markets are separate and don't overlap.

I went corsair AIO as didn't see the need for custom on am4 with 8 cores.

This has been running 5 years now no issues.

 

[gurusmi]

I think these two markets are separate and don't overlap.

I went corsair AIO as didn't see the need for custom on am4 with 8 cores.

This has been running 5 years now no issues.

I'm running a 3800x with a custom loop since 4 years with not even one issue.

 

[Vya Domus]

Air coolers and cases have gotten better

More like they've gotten bigger and with more fans. A slab of metal is a slab of metal.

 

[freeagent]

More like they've gotten bigger and with more fans. A slab of metal is a slab of metal.

I didn't say all cases got better..

I can tell you that my Torrent Compact performs better than my Define R4.

Also, the masses demand visual stimulation over high performance at all costs.

 

[Vya Domus]

I didn't say all cases got better..

I meant mostly coolers. Air coolers have gotten better because they've become very large.

But the same applies to cases, the bigger and the more fans the better the cooling.

 

[Makaveli]

I'm running a 3800x with a custom loop since 4 years with not even one issue.

i've had 3800X - 5800X and now 5800X3D and I don't find any of them generates enough heat to warrant the cost.

With the amount of power current highend gpu's are using been looking at an AIO for the GPU but so expensive.

 

[lexluthermiester]

i've had 3800X - 5800X and now 5800X3D and I don't find any of them generates enough heat to warrant the cost.

With the amount of power current highend gpu's are using been looking at an AIO for the GPU but so expensive.

They really don't. Those are not CPU's that warrant an AIO... Even when OC'd.

 

[Makaveli]

They really don't. Those are not CPU's that warrant an AIO...

This is true I have a AIO on my cpu and its clearly overkill for a 5800X3D a custom loop would be money down the drain. This AIO cost the same as a highend air cooler, but lacks the noise, weight and looks better.

 

[Dragam1337]

i've had 3800X - 5800X and now 5800X3D and I don't find any of them generates enough heat to warrant the cost.

With the amount of power current highend gpu's are using been looking at an AIO for the GPU but so expensive.

Not needed at all with gpu's, as long as you get a model with a good cooler, and undervolt - then they run fine temps and are super quiet.

 

[Makaveli]

Not needed at all with gpu's, as long as you get a model with a good cooler, and undervolt - then they run fine temps and are super quiet.

Not for an AIB model.

However for a reference model it would be done to reduce noise as you get the same quiet as a custom loop with a GPU block minus the cost.

My plan is to side mount the GPU with an AIO on it. Just haven't pulled the trigger as Alphacool AIO for GPU's are still very expensive.

 

[Dragam1337]

Not for an AIB model.

However for a reference model it would be done to reduce noise as you get the same quiet as a custom loop with a GPU block minus the cost.

When you say reference model, what do you mean ?