Cooling Choices

[Pic0o]

I am officially starting my efforts on building a new PC. So far I have a new Power Supply otw and picked up a Corsair H60 Hydro CPU Cooler. I will be installing this after lunch and will compare it with my current air-cooled solution.

 

The Combatants:

Thermalright HR-01-775 (air-cooled) -vs- Corsair H60 Hydro cooling kit

 

As I am looking to build an Intel i5-2500K config, I will test cooling performance on my current Core 2 Duo E6400. The Air-cooled Heatsink is a Thermalright HR-01-775. My temps have actually been very good with the thermalright, but since I was able to get the Corsair H60 Kit local for $60 bucks and would need another cooler when I do the i5 build, I figure now is a great time to see how it fairs against the air-cooled solution.

 

Most desirable of all for me with water-cooling is a blend between more steady temperatures, less noise and less fans / dust blowing around. Since running a main rig on air, my PC looks like Pigpen from peanuts.

 

Specs and a Street Fighter Benchmark are attached. This is the Core 2 Duo setup I am testing with. This rig has 4GB of RAM, with 2x2GB sticks installed.

 

I am about to get started on this test. I will add pictures and more detailed info as I work on this. Shutting down and getting to work, will update from other PC as I progress.

[Pic0o]

Thermalright HR-01-775

 

Air-cooled with pictures below on my initial testing. You could say the heatsink is Fanless, but with a 120 inlet in front of the case and with the 2 120mm exhaust fans by the heatsink, I'd consider them close enough to count as being mounted to that beastly heatsink.

 

I have been running this setup with modified clips for about 5 months. The stock plastic ones didn't hold up over the years, so I replaced them with some screws and washers from the old AMD XP waterblock configs. As noted below, the temperatures did me some justice. I was using Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound.

 

Each test was done over about a 2 hour span. I ran a few 3DMark tests, Street Fighter 4 Benchmark and did a Video Encode with Super encoder.

 

Temperature rundown:

Idle / Lows

Core 0: 84.2 °F (29 °C)

Core 1: 80.6 °F (27 °C)

CPU Die: 87.8 °F (31 °C)

 

Full Load

Core 0: 109.4 °F (43 °C)

Core 1: 107.6 °F (42 °C)

CPU Die: 109.4 °F (43 °C)

 

I'm going to give a large hand to the Antec 3 Speed 120mm fan that was on the rear of the case. I have since removed this, for when I installed the Corsair H60 kit. Burn-in tests to start for that shortly.

[Pic0o]

Corsair H60 - Initial (FAIL) Miss Test

 

Default Thermal pad and the lack of Antec Fan have lead to worse temps. Doing a multi-stage tweak process to improve results. This was due to the cooler not being secured all the way down. Also, I was using the default thermal pad / adhesive on this test.

 

Once I saw the un-flush mounting, I went ahead and applied Antec Reference thermal compound. I ran out of Arctic Silver a few months back.

 

Default config, dual low flow fans

Idle / Lows

Core 0: 89.6 °F (32 °C)

Core 1: 86 °F (30 °C)

CPU Die: 98.6 °F (36 °C)

 

Full Load

Core 0: 145.4 °F (63 °C)

Core 1: 136.4 °F (58 °C)

CPU Die: 138.2 °F (59 °C)

 

That is shitty. Shutdown and the tweak process ensues. Replacing top fan with high-flow that was previously in case is next step.

I was able to see that the bad temps were in part due to the cooler not making full contact with the CPU. Pictures of this below.

 

 

I did another full load test after putting some old Antec Reference Silver Compound in place of the thermal tape and shaved 10 °F off the max temp. I'm going to tinker around some more tonight on layout. I'll confirm the back plate is fully flush if I still find heavy variance in max load temps.

 

Either way, it does appear that a beastly heatsink beats out the Corsair H60 kit by a good bit. I'll continue testing to see how close I can make that spread. ;)

 

This was a miss-test. I found the CPU Cooler wasn't properly seated, as pictured. Fixed results in next post.

Edited February 19, 2012 by Pic0o

[Pic0o]

Corsair H60 Cooling Results (PASS)

 

Fixed Temperatures quite a bit for the cooler. After the re-goop, I put a Scythe 0.26A fan in place of the included 0.2A Corsair 120mm. Prior to re-gooping I also had the included fan in a pull from the radiator flow. The main fault from the 1st testing is pictured above, as the cooler wasn't making good contact.

 

I changed the airflow to push from behind the reservoir, with the Antec 120mm blowing air upward out the top of the case. Temperatures as follows:

 

Reseated Cooler:

Also applied thermal compound (instead of default paste), replaced Corsair 120mm, had proper clamping on CPU, Changed Fans to rear inward, upper exhaust

- I switched fans to a rear pull before knowing CPU mount wasn't flush

 

Radiator with Scythe 0.26A fan

Idle / Lows

Core 0: 80.6 °F (27 °C)

Core 1: 77 °F (25 °C)

CPU Die: 87.8 °F (31 °C)

 

Full Load

Core 0: 118.4 °F (48 °C)

Core 1: 113 °F (45 °C)

CPU Die: 114.8 °F (46 °C)

 

Much better a result here. While Air cooling with the Thermalright does outperform the Corsair H60, installation is far easier and more reliable. As I mentioned with the Thermalright, I had to employ a custom mounting solution, for the plastic clips it shipped with were a little inadequate for secure mounting. LAN travels also had me checking the original mount often.

 

- For the hell of it, I replaced the Corsair 120mm Fan to blow in place of the Scythe. The difference pretty negligible, as listed below:

 

Radiator with Corsair 0.2A fan

Idle / Lows

Core 0: 82.4 °F (28 °C)

Core 1: 77 °F (25 °C)

CPU Die: 87.8 °F (31 °C)

 

Full Load

Core 0: 120.2 °F (49 °C)

Core 1: 114.8 °F (46 °C)

CPU Die: 118.4 °F (48 °C)

 

I do not have a stock option to compare against for the Core 2 Duo CPU, but I'm willing to bet the Corsair H60 would be a vast improvement from an OEM cooler. Considering my Thermalright is as tall as my Server case is deep, I feel the H60 performs pretty well, and gives a good return for $60 bucks. I also get a chuckle at how empty the inside of my case now looks. :P

 

Corsair H60 (Liquid) to Thermalright HR-01-775 (Air) temp differences

 

Idle / Lows

Core 0: 80.6 °F (27 °C) -vs- Core 0: 84.2 °F (29 °C)

Core 1: 77 °F (25 °C) -vs- Core 1: 80.6 °F (27 °C)

CPU Die: 87.8 °F (31 °C) -vs- CPU Die: 87.8 °F (31 °C)

 

Full Load

Core 0: 118.4 °F (48 °C) -vs- Core 0: 109.4 °F (43 °C)

Core 1: 113 °F (45 °C) -vs- Core 1: 107.6 °F (42 °C)

CPU Die: 114.8 °F (46 °C) -vs- CPU Die: 109.4 °F (43 °C)

 

As the color breakdown shows, the Corsair kit beats out for idle temperatures, but the Thermalright wins by a few degrees on full loads. With the numbers side by side, it's a pretty close battle.

 

I used the H60 temps from the Scythe + Antec fan combo for 2 reasons. One, it was the same fan setup I had with air cooling, just with the Antec on the rear instead of top. Second, I can rheostat the Scythe fan, so I'm a fan of that too.

 

Corsair Installation

The Cooler was a quite easy install, you just want to make very sure to tighten down the bolts until they are done turning. Since I am on an Intel build, I made use of the backplate to mount the cooler on. This unit comes with AMD and Intel compatible mounts for (Intel) LGA775, LGA1155, LGA1156, LGA1366 or (AMD) AM2 and AM3.

 

Fan + Radiator mounting was quite a breeze and fit fantastic in my Antec P180 Case. You should have similar results, so long as your case has a rear 120mm hole with some space around the fan.

 

Also in respect to the Corsair H60 kit, it is a closed loop system. The Liquid is sealed internally as the tubing connections are heat-shrinked closed. The fluid used and tubing makes for next-to-zero evaporation. No filling or maintenance required on your part.

 

If you want to try your hand with water-cooling, but do not want to build your own closed loop system (nor spend $70 alone, on a current-gen Danger Den or like Waterblock), the Corsair Kit offers a nice trade off for the total cost. If you are also interested in cooling without a gigantic dust magnet in your case, I think the Corsair H60 kit might be up your alley.

Edited February 19, 2012 by Pic0o
GG Temp Shootout

[Pic0o]

I moved this cooler onto my i5-2500K build. Same case, just less messy. :)

Idle / Browser usage

20C - Case temp

28C/30C - Chipset temps

 

Gotta basement burn in for the whole RAM fiasco. I think just one is bunk, on 2 sticks 4GB for time being. Time for Benchies and Gaaammmmeeeeesss. :frl:

[J0k3r]

Using the Cosair water cooling setup also adds a new option to your PC! Now you can cook a 3 course breakfast off you CPU and not even have to turn on a stove!

 

 

j/k...

 

 

All joking aside tho... The price point Pic0o mentioned does make this a good option. I will say though, for around the same price you could score an incredible air cooler that will actually run nicely. IMO I'm struggling with getting behind any pre-built water cooling solution. Again the price point is its saving grace as you can not build a proper water cooling system for $60 so yea, ima just enjoy sitting on the fence on this one.

[Pic0o]

My Cooler recently kicked into making loud noises from the pump on the H60 unit.

 

If you would like more info on the 'Buzzing' or 'grinding' noise problem from the unit's pump, Check this Thread on the corsair support forums.

 

I read around and saw mention of this on the older kits, so I placed an RMA. Pretty much confirmed what I thought and RMA was turned around quite swiftly. I just got to put stock cooler on, while awaiting the repair to come back. I can already see my Full Load temperatures on stock are @ 84 C / 183 F.

 

I look forward to being back sub-60 C / 140 F load temps. RMA may you be swift. :)

Edited January 15, 2013 by Pic0o

[Pic0o]

Replacement cooler is at home waiting for me to un-box and install it. Should be back in business tonight, stock cooling clear.

 

For perspective cooler buyers, I was reading a nice shootout of CPU coolers on Guru3D. My link jumps to page 8 where the Idle and Load temps are logged. On a self assuring note, review shows my initial theory of the H60 keeping up with higher end air cooled solution is legit.

 

/random. Stock voltage on a Sandy Gen i5 2500k is 1.2v? I know my chip is about 1.35 running 4.3 GHz.

 

I put my H60 back one Tuesday and have enjoyed a return of lower CPU load temps. I believe my current high was 62 C since reinstalling the replacement cooler.

 

Sadly I did not get invited to a free H60i upgrade. Luckily the replacement is doing quite well so far. I'm running some Prime95 tests now and currently am seeing 56 C as my high temp. I have some other benchmarks and tests to run tonight, so I'll update if I see anything beyond low 60 C for load temps.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Pic0o
H60 reinstalled