Best Cooling Solution?

InfernoUk

InfernoUk

InfernoUk

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Hey, im running a i7 920 originally oc'd at 4.0 however recently there has been more BSOD errors in everyday use so now ive downclocked to 3.5, Im cooling with an Asus Triton, it was a small choice when i7 was released. I have around £150 possibly £200 if needed, Is water worth it at this cost? and is it always better than air. I can provide any other info needed but i want to run 4.0 at good temps, 70's underload would be a good target.

Thanks for any help im a little lost with cooling.
 
airs cheaper than water and less hassle as to temps you would probably need to spend good money to have a justifiable difference ............. you are going to end up spending with delivery and 2 fans for push pull around 70 - 80 pound with the 2 solutions provided above ..... you would be spending considerably more on water cooling and I'm led to believe not really much better temps (though I could get shot down in flames for that comment).
In conclusion water cooling is better if you have the money and like a bit of a challenge, if money is an issue stick to air plus its a lot simpler to install with the penalty of a few oC ........... my 2p worth :)
 
may want to take a read of this reveiw, would be cheaper then a true, and well take a look at the I7 tests they did..

Edit:
Bleh forum won't let me link to a reveiw, anyways search for a reveiw on the Corsair Hydro Series H50 on google as this forum dos'nt seem to like the name of the place im trying to link to and won't even let me write its name *sigh*
 
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Good water walks all over good air. However it costs perhaps 5 to 10 times the price. Good air walks all over cheap water, a 50 quid air cooler is far better than a 50 quid watercooling set up.

If you buy second hand, water can be done properly for about 100 with some care. If buying new, cpu only loop will come in at around 200 quid.

Id recommend buying second hand on a budget of around 150 to 200, and you'll get quality. Water is excellent, but it does cost more.
 
InfernoUk said:
so air will be better than water? any more opinions on this.
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Air is cheaper, yields good results and is a lot easier. Water is expensive, has slightly better results some of the time and is a real hassle to set up.

Basically, the water takes the heat to somewhere that there is a fan and a heatsink. With air, the heat goes to the heatsink, then the fan, then the air.
 
i have a water cooling system and its great
if i was buying air cooling today i dont think you can go far wrong with this for £57 and it comes with 2 fans that cost £17 each

Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 CPU Cooler
 
from what ive heared the megahalem with 2 fans is THE best air cooling available at the moment, id like to hear how it compares to a £150 water setup but guess thatll be hard info to find.
 
Info on a 150 quid cooling set up isn't that hard to find. feser 240, laing ddc, ek supreme is roughly 150 quid. Q9550 at 3.6ish loaded at about 50 degrees under it. Two 7V fans.

System is down at present, but I can offer that a 7750BE under the same loop loads at about two degrees over ambient. With luck I'll have a quad core again shortly, and will be happy to report temperatures.

Its colder than my TRUE was. With a 120 radiator it was almost exactly the same as the TRUE.
 
I'd go with a Prolimatech Megahalems with 2 fans. I replaced my Titan Fenrir with it and load temps dropped by about 15c. Also you don't need to drown it in thermal paste like you do with the Fenrir!
 
InfernoUk said:
from what ive heared the megahalem with 2 fans is THE best air cooling available at the moment, id like to hear how it compares to a £150 water setup but guess thatll be hard info to find.
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I think the Noctua is better than the mega, but THE best air cooling still has to be the Coolermaster v10 ?
 
Gills said:
I think the Noctua is better than the mega, but THE best air cooling still has to be the Coolermaster v10 ?
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No the coolermaster v10 is not a particularly good cooler, the TEC it uses, produces 50W of heat itself, so the heatsink has to cope with the CPU +50W.

All of these coolers will outperform the v10 on an i7 @4GHz...

Titian Fenrir, the Prolimateh megahalems, the xigmatech Thor's hammer, Noctua NH-U12P SE1366, and the venerable (but still very competitive) Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme (TRUE).

Also when the TEC fails on the V10....
 
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HazardO said:
No the coolermaster v10 is not a particularly good cooler, the TEC it uses, produces 50W of heat itself, so the heatsink has to cope with the CPU +50W.

All of these coolers will outperform the v10 on an i7 @4GHz...

Titian Fenrir, the Prolimateh megahalems, the xigmatech Thor's hammer, Noctua NH-U12P SE1366, and the venerable (but still very competitive) Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme (TRUE).

Also when the TEC fails on the V10....
Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification, I left a question mark over the v10 as I wasn't 100% sure so thanks for the extra info. I think from the others you have mentioned there cant be much between them, but my own preference would still be the Noctua.
 
Still don't get it, so what is the best air cooling for the i7? the Noctua or the Prolimatech Megahalems w/2 noctua fans or something else? :rolleyes:
 
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