thermaltake frio vs antec 620 khuler

hardkore · 6 Dec 2011 at 11:41

hey guys

currently using a frio to keep my i5 chilly and just wondered if the antec 620 or any other factory sealed units are as good? looking to spend around 40-70 pounds aslong as I can drop my current temps at load by 3-4c.

load temps at the minute are 65c after 8 runs with IBT.

sorry if this post is abit sketchy I'm on my phone

thanks

HaggisUK · 6 Dec 2011 at 13:00

Depending on whether you can fit it in your case you'd be better with something like the Silver Arrow or Noctua D14 air coolers to get the temps down a bit, you won't beat them with any of the kits other than say the H100 and even then there's so little between it and the Silver Arrow that it doesn't justify it's price unless you want it for the looks or to save space.

hardkore · 6 Dec 2011 at 13:30

my case is a 600t se. To be honest I just want to have something liquid cooled in my pc

The frio does a good job of keeping the temps down, both fans on it are always on low and very quiet. Aslong as one of these closed systems will fit in my case and isn't too loud I'm interested.

could I fit the h100 in the top of the 600t?

JaffAWood · 6 Dec 2011 at 14:19

I have the 620. Was playing @ OCing last night. Clocked @ 4GHz and after a couple of hours of prime 95 it maxed out at 44 degrees.

Bargin for 40quid.

hardkore · 6 Dec 2011 at 16:40

After much research in my bay at work ive narrowed it down to a 620 or 920.

One side is that for 40 quid the 620 is a steal but not sure if it'll improve my temps a lot. Other side is the 920 is better with 2 fans and a bigger rad (?) but nearly 80 quid.

Help?

hardkore · 6 Dec 2011 at 19:04

After all this reading up i've done i came across this

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2011/07/21/antec-k-hler-h2o-920/2

Seems like my frio is better than a kuhler 920 never mind a 620. Shame really as i really want one of those sealed units but pointless going backwards in performance.

Case solved

Davefran · 6 Dec 2011 at 19:18

Don't both with bit-tech, their reviews are useless.

Results Overclocked (In-depth analysis)

In the next comparison, we look at the default cooler performance as they come out of the box with their bundled fans.

Helios1234 · 6 Dec 2011 at 19:25

The Frio is better as above ^^.

hardkore · 6 Dec 2011 at 19:30

Cheers for the link, they deffo go into much more detail than bit tech do. Well from reading that it pretty much EXACTLY rivals my frio but the 920's fans need to be spinning like mad to get the same temps my frio gets at around 1250rpm.

So noise is a problem now then, now going to try and find decent quiet replacement fans. Starting to think is it even worth it? lol

Helios1234 · 6 Dec 2011 at 19:53

hardkore said:
Cheers for the link, they deffo go into much more detail than bit tech do. Well from reading that it pretty much EXACTLY rivals my frio but the 920's fans need to be spinning like mad to get the same temps my frio gets at around 1250rpm.

So noise is a problem now then, now going to try and find decent quiet replacement fans. Starting to think is it even worth it? lol

Your temps aren't bad at all as they are. If you really want lower temperatures without sacrifising noise then dual tower coolers are your best bet. Getting faster fans for the Frio would be no different to simply setting your stock fans to higher speeds. ALC units are not worth it at the price they are currently.

hardkore · 6 Dec 2011 at 19:57

Yeah i suppose they're not. I don't mind my temps tbh i just really want to do some tinkering. I'm holding out for the next gen graphics cards and getting impatient

Will stick with what i have then. Cheers fellas!

Davefran · 6 Dec 2011 at 20:04

hardkore said:
Well from reading that it pretty much EXACTLY rivals my frio but the 920's fans need to be spinning like mad to get the same temps my frio gets at around 1250rpm.

Antec KÜHLER H2O 920 Extreme 53.25
Thermaltake Frio 1290rpm 58

Not exactly rivals at those settings does it :rolleyes:

Helios1234 · 6 Dec 2011 at 20:26

Davefran said:
Antec KÜHLER H2O 920 Extreme 53.25
Thermaltake Frio 1290rpm 58

Not exactly rivals at those settings does it

To be fair, the 920's fans are at 2600RPM in that scenario so it's not really a level comparison. If both were to have the same fans, the Frio is only marginally behind but compare the prices. A much better investment is a dual tower cooler over an ALC unit.

hardkore · 6 Dec 2011 at 20:38

not sure the girlfriend would appreciate a concord keeping my 2500k chilled

Davefran · 6 Dec 2011 at 20:54

Helios1234 said:
To be fair, the 920's fans are at 2600RPM in that scenario so it's not really a level comparison. If both were to have the same fans, the Frio is only marginally behind but compare the prices. A much better investment is a dual tower cooler over an ALC unit.

Note the

I was replying to the Quote.

But they don't come with the same fans, you'd have to buy the cooler then buy extra fans.
The obvious choice is the Silver Arrow which can be a pain to fit depending on the case, but for the gains you'd get it's not really worth it.

Helios1234 · 6 Dec 2011 at 21:15

Davefran said:
Note the I was replying to the Quote.

But they don't come with the same fans, you'd have to buy the cooler then buy extra fans.
The obvious choice is the Silver Arrow which can be a pain to fit depending on the case, but for the gains you'd get it's not really worth it.

You're absolutely right but the Antec with those fans is not quiet which some people might prefer over sheer performance. In fact, in quiet mode the Antec fans were operating at nearly 2000 RPM and yielded results similar to the Frio with its fans at the same speed. So in real world scenarios where the low/mid fans speed will most likely to be used in daily use, the Frio is just as good as the 920 without the high cost. That's actually why I do so many tests in my reviews hehe.

But as always, my recommendation is always the Silver Arrow. It's not really worth it over the Frio but you can't underestimate its sheer cooling potential at very low noise levels thanks to the 140mm fans. Unfortunately, the Frio cannot match the likes of those dual tower coolers no matter what fans are attached to them whereas the SA still has scope for even better performance.