K2 vs H80i

dt97583

dt97583

dt97583

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937
Hi,

For anyone trying to decide between these two cooling solutions I thought it might be helpful to post my experiences. I originally had the K2 which hit temperatures of around 80c with a core voltage of 1.38v for 4.3Ghz.

Unfortunately after being damaged in transit back to Overclockers (to fix something else) they replaced it with a H80i. I'm now getting temps of 58c (hot day as well today!) with a core voltage of have 1.26v and 4.4Ghz (different CPU).

Not exactly perfect testing conditions I know but something to consider maybe.
 
davidmt83
K2 vs H80i
Hi,

For anyone trying to decide between these two cooling solutions I thought it might be helpful to post my experiences. I originally had the K2 which hit temperatures of around 80c with a core voltage of 1.38v for 4.3Ghz.

Unfortunately after being damaged in transit back to Overclockers (to fix something else) they replaced it with a H80i. I'm now getting temps of 58c (hot day as well today!) with a core voltage of have 1.26v and 4.4Ghz (different CPU).

Not exactly perfect testing conditions I know but something to consider maybe.
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I think you might find that the voltage difference between 1.38v and 1.26v will account for the lower temps, both coolers should be tested at the same CPU voltage and speed to give a fair comparison in temps.


it looks like you have a much better CPU voltage wise now!
 
Something Else said:
Out of the two I would go for the K2 everytime! Im not a fan (no pun intended) of the closed loop coolers personally.

Big air or custom water imo
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My machine had to go back a couple of times and both times the k2 was damaged in transit. It was as securely and safely packaged as I could make it but it had clearly had a rough journey. I was there the second time it was replaced and saw the bent bracket.
 
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davidmt83 said:
Can people explain why they think CLC units are garbage?!
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Don't understand it myself... Compared to custom water they're in a different league, but as an alternative to high-end air cooling they definitely have advantages. Primarily they take up very little space in the critical CPU area - unlike high-end air coolers there's very little chance of obstructing RAM etc.

The drawbacks would be increased vulnerability - if the pump dies then the cooling system dies, whereas with air cooling the only vulnerability is the fan.

It's important to remember that the liquid is only a transport mechanism for the heat - it allows the cooling to take place away from the source of heat, whereas air cooling requires the cooling to take place in direct contact with the CPU (mitigated somewhat by heatpipes).

I like the idea of closed-loop water cooling - it offers a nice easy middle-ground.
 
Pump failure is a major concern. And the clc units need high speed noisy fans to get the best out of them. Theyre good for ram clearance and the fans can be changed, (more cost) I wouldnt buy or use one myself tbh, but thats just me. I prefer the simple thing that cant go wrong, hence i got a k2.
 
setter said:
Pump failure is a major concern
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While I'm aware the pump has a finite life span I'm not sure how common or prevalent pump failure is. The Hydro coolers do come with a 5 year warranty though.

setter said:
And the clc units need high speed noisy fans to get the best out of them
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From actually testing one I've found this isn't the case. Running the stock fans at max rpm only decreased temps by around 2 - 4c over running them at their slowest speed of around 900rpm

setter said:
I prefer the simple thing that cant go wrong, hence i got a k2.
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I thought that originally until 2 were damaged in transit. Not an issue if you don't need to travel or if you remove the cooler beforehand. The K2 is such a heavy cooler I wasn't too surprised.
 
I'll always defend closed-loop coolers!

In my opinion, they look much, much cleaner inside a case and a decent one will provide better cooling at matching fan speeds than 90% of all air coolers. Add to that the advantage of not having a weighty chunk of metal hanging from your (somewhat delicate) motherboard and you'll have a job convincing me to go for an air cooler.

As for failures, OCUK have sold nearly 3000 H100's and have had less than 5% of them returned for being faulty. Bear in mind, you never see people making threads if their cooler is working flawlessly (like most of them are) so you mainly see complaints and horror stories. My H100 has been going for nearly 2 years now and hasn't put a foot wrong.
 
davidmt83 said:
While I'm aware the pump has a finite life span I'm not sure how common or prevalent pump failure is. The Hydro coolers do come with a 5 year warranty though.

From actually testing one I've found this isn't the case. Running the stock fans at max rpm only decreased temps by around 2 - 4c over running them at their slowest speed of around 900rpm

I thought that originally until 2 were damaged in transit. Not an issue if you don't need to travel or if you remove the cooler beforehand. The K2 is such a heavy cooler I wasn't too surprised.
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CLC systems have pumps much smaller and cheaper than custom h2o systems use so of course you can't expect them to last very long. And 5 year warranty doesn't keep make your computer usable when cooler pump dies. You either need a backup cooler or wait weeks for replacement.

Reason K2 was damaged in shipping is because it is not designed to be mounted on motherboard and have the box being shipped tossed around and/or dropped. Look at how they are boxed from factory.. way more support to hold towers in place. You won't damage it in normal move your system around carefully. Sometimes I think these parcel services have competitions to see who can throw the boxes the farthest. :D
 
The K2 comes with very weak brackets they can be bent by hand you know what a several hours on a pallet on the back of a big lorry will dow that's before the courier decides to roll it off the back of his van.

We've tried very hard to find ways to pack these big coolers because people are right the air coolers have less to go wrong in the long run :/

but sometimes we just don't have enough space in the case to pack them properly and sometimes even if we do the case can still have a rough journey.

I adopted a H50 when they first came out and it still runs today and I'm a CS:S player with several thousand hours of play time since 2010 So it's certainly had it's fair amount of useage.

I do however think the old H50 and 70 were made much better than the h60 and h80 V1's
 
@ TwsT
I do understand your problem at OcUK with building custom systems then having to post it to customer completely assembled because customer is unable to mount the cooler when it arrives. There is no simple solution.
 
doyll said:
@ TwsT
I do understand your problem at OcUK with building custom systems then having to post it to customer completely assembled because customer is unable to mount the cooler when it arrives. There is no simple solution.
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I'm the repair technician it saddens me having to repair new systems because coolers got damaged but it can and sometimes does happen (a lot less now than it used to though thanks to steps we are taking to ship systems better etc) We are getting new packaging (testing completed and we were all very happy with the results) and our high value bespoke systems will be shipped by a smaller more personal courier so that it doesn't get thrown about in the national sorting center.
 
doyll said:
CLC systems have pumps much smaller and cheaper than custom h2o systems use so of course you can't expect them to last very long. And 5 year warranty doesn't keep make your computer usable when cooler pump dies. You either need a backup cooler or wait weeks for replacement.

Reason K2 was damaged in shipping is because it is not designed to be mounted on motherboard and have the box being shipped tossed around and/or dropped. Look at how they are boxed from factory.. way more support to hold towers in place. You won't damage it in normal move your system around carefully. Sometimes I think these parcel services have competitions to see who can throw the boxes the farthest. :D
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Size is completely irrelevant. "oh it's bigger it'll last longer" is a complete fallacy.

I have to stop you right there.

1. Most people who buy aftermarket cooler will generally keep the stock cooler they replaced it with as a backup so they already have one

2. Weeks for replacement? Try 5 working days, including 2 international shipping journeys. (based on my personal experience)
 
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Resident said:
Size is completely irrelevant. "oh it's bigger it'll last longer" is a complete fallacy.

I have to stop you right there.

Most people who buy aftermarket cooler will generally keep the stock cooler they replaced it with as a backup so they already have one
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Smaller as in less powerful / moving less water than custom h2o systems. :rolleyes:
Simple truth is CLC pumps fail more often that custom h2o pumps do... and way more often than air coolers do. :D

Really? We are supposed have a stock cooler? I don't. I have lots of aftermarket coolers but no stock coolers.. and there are 5 systems in our home plus 4 notebooks.. and notebooks don't count. :D
Many of us buy just the CPU; no cooler is supplied. Why spend more on a CPU-cooler package when we are using a dependable air coolers that don't fail? .. not like CLCs that do have failures.
 
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doyll said:
Smaller as in less powerful / moving less water than custom h2o systems. :rolleyes:
Simple truth is CLC pumps fail more often that custom h2o pumps do... and way more often than air coolers do. :D
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Based on what evidence? And I insist on like-for-like figures, not failure rates with hugely differing sales numbers.

At the end of the day CLC works just as good as high-end air without the need for 1kg of metal hanging off the mainboard. There are also other practical benefits in regards to clearance issues

doyll said:
Really? We are supposed have a stock cooler? I don't. I have lots of aftermarket coolers but no stock coolers.. and there are 5 systems in our home plus 4 notebooks.. and notebooks don't count. :D
Many of us buy just the CPU; no cooler is supplied. Why spend more on a CPU-cooler package when we are using a dependable air coolers that don't fail? .. not like CLCs that do have failures.
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Where did I say you were supposed to have one? I simply stated that most people will because the average home builder will buy a retail boxed CPU which a cooler is included. Then when the switch to an aftermarket, their common sense will tell them to keep the stock one.

TBH My backup cooler is a Matternhorn, which was replaced by CLC, done for cosmetic preference. I still have the stock cooler too, though I kept that because when I decided to upgrade I'll most likely build another rig with that CPU/cooler, along with other spares and give it to a family member.
 
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