Closed loop advice! H100i or KRAKEN X61?

claypigeon101

claypigeon101

claypigeon101

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Hi guys. Just getting my rattling H80 RMA'd and when I get a replacement I'll stick it on the 'bay for a double rad solution.

My current burning question is this:

Which AIO double rad cooler should I get for my i7? It's gonna clock about 4.4GHz.

Corsair H100i
or
NZXT Kraken X61

Both of these look great and fit in my case (albeit only in push, or at least for the 280mm I think, possibly both; would prefer pull)

But has anyone had experience of both?

I love the idea of the two 140mm fans in the NZXT and it looks soooo good with the hue LED lighting. But it's ~25% more expensive than the H100i and I want to know is it really worth it.

Any thoughts?
 
I agree the Kraken is WAY overpriced for what it is. I considered it myself but couldn't justify that silly price. The LED is nice, but ultimately a gimmick. Obviously does nothing to keep your CPU cooler lol! Have you looked at the Nepton 240M. I have it myself and it's great. Totally silent and does a great job keeping my OC'd 5820k cool.
 
Why are you choosing between a 240mm and a 280mm AIO? What about the upcoming H110i GT maybe? I have one scheduled for delivery tomorrow and I am eager to see how it fares.

I was impressed by the x41 because of the good performing 140mm stock fan thanks to which it came close to the H100i, and I imagine that the x61 will thus also beat out the H100i performance wise.
 
Unless it was light years better than the X61, or £30 cheaper, I don't think I'd choose the H110i GT at all just due to its looks... what is up with that pump? Two-tone grey? But chances are it's gonna be within £10 of the Kraken, no?

Sorry vsg why do you ask why I'm choosing between the sizes?
I can accommodate 280mm rad in my case so thought I'd go with the biggest I could get. Or were you referring to the fact I could have a H80i or similar with a single rad size.
 
Right, hence why I was wondering why bother with the H100i at all. Amongst the 280mm rad AIOs, the Swiftech H240-X is king still. But if that isn't an option and you don't like the H110i aesthetics (it also is RGB), then it's pretty much down to the x61 isn't it?
 
I've not seen any reviews of the H110i... that's what it would come down to for me. The Swiftech is king yes, but at a price that's somewhat prohibitive for most, and you have to import it from Europe which is far from ideal. The Nepton 240M is a VERY well reviewed AIO, more than suitable and a good price at £80. I'm not sure the H110i will justify its higher price, but I look forward to seeing how it fares.
 
Well I have the H110i GT arriving in a few hours, but it will be a few days of testing before I can reliably say how it performance. I imagine others would have reviews sooner.
 
vsg28 said:
Well I have the H110i GT arriving in a few hours, but it will be a few days of testing before I can reliably say how it performance. I imagine others would have reviews sooner.
Click to expand...

Any thoughts so far m8? Looking at getting this if it performs a touch better than the H110 :)

Finding it slightly odd that stock is available before product reviews tbh
 
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JediFragger said:
Any thoughts so far m8? Looking at getting this if it performs a touch better than the H110 :)

Finding it slightly odd that stock is available before product reviews tbh
Click to expand...

I don't have the H110 but these fans on the H110i GT are something else entirely. Now they are loud at 100% and the TIM I used is better than most of the stock tube provided ones (I can't use the stock TIM with AIOs since I do over 30 different thermal tests), but with everything at 100% it beat out thermally every other CPU cooler I have tested so far including the amazing Swiftech H220-X. But it did so with the fans resulting in more noise too. I will have a detailed review up on Tuesday when the NDA expires.

Aa far as why stock is available before reviews, with CES and other events they had both the review sample stock and retail stock come in together. So they didn't want to delay stock availability since the review NDA was coming up very soon anyway. I never had to sign the NDA since I really am a nobody at this point as far online traffic goes but I will still respect it enough to wait for the date.

r22snapper said:
What is the noise like on the X41?
Click to expand...

I will make a thread here soon for the x41 but in the meantime: http://thermalbench.com/2015/01/10/nzxt-kraken-x41-aio-cooler/
 
Thanks very much vsg, appreciate your thoughts! Tempted to order this for Tuesday but tbh I won't be able to install it til a week tomorrow anyway so I may as well wait for other retailers to drive the price down by a few quid :D
 
So the H110i is loud?

Any further thoughts on my original question? I'm still wondering whether to spend the £25 extra on the X61...

EDIT: Now the 110i GT is priced directly between the H100i and X61... damn
 
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claypigeon101 said:
So the H110i is loud?

Any further thoughts on my original question? I'm still wondering whether to spend the £25 extra on the X61...

EDIT: Now the 110i GT is priced directly between the H100i and X61... damn
Click to expand...
It seems to be loud when you ramp it up, but how often that will happen I don't know. Any cooler can be loud if you make it so. Have you seen the Fractal S36? It's a 360mm rad, but if your case can take it, it's definitely worth considering. Reviews are excellent, and it is quieter. Check out the chart comparing it to the H110i below, and second link is review of the S36;

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cases_cooling/corsair_h110i_gt_review/8
http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cases_cooling/fractal_design_kelvin_s36_review/1
 
Legend said:
It seems to be loud when you ramp it up, but how often that will happen I don't know. Any cooler can be loud if you make it so. Have you seen the Fractal S36? It's a 360mm rad, but if your case can take it, it's definitely worth considering.
Click to expand...

Haha, thanks for that but my compact little S340 can't take it! And it's way out of my price range.

Something tells me the H100i is enough for me, but I want the bigger better X61. I was hoping someone could just tell me what to do ;) remove the pain of decision making!

NB in this case noise makes all the difference so if the X61 was notably quieter on quiet profile, which I'm currently searching to find out, it's sold.
 
claypigeon101 said:
Haha, thanks for that but my compact little S340 can't take it! And it's way out of my price range.

Something tells me the H100i is enough for me, but I want the bigger better X61. I was hoping someone could just tell me what to do ;) remove the pain of decision making!

NB in this case noise makes all the difference so if the X61 was notably quieter on quiet profile, which I'm currently searching to find out, it's sold.
Click to expand...
I'm confused, the X61 is £120... H110i and S36 are CHEAPER lol! :confused:
 
Legend said:
I'm confused, the X61 is £120... H110i and S36 are CHEAPER lol! :confused:
Click to expand...

Yeah the NZXT has a premium. I was wondering why this is? Apart from the fact that the block looks better and the stock fans are decent...

The S36 is £170 ish last time I checked.

I'm just wondering if I'll see a ~£25 difference between the H100i and the X61. Or should I go bang in the middle of both with the 110i now?!
 
I am getting the X61 in the next few days, my X60 pump had some grinding noise after 1.5 years and NZXT US has shipped out a new X61 to me to the UK - excellent service (I know Corsair has it, too).

I will see how the fan noise is on the X61, the X60 at full speed was too much.
From what I read on vsg28's full review (excellent review btw! :D ), maybe part of the better performance of the H110i are the loud, high rpm fans.

When I got the X60, I replaced the stock turbines with 2x Akasa Viper (yellow, I know, I know), but they had good static pressure and were MUCH quieter. I still have the original X60 fans here. Maybe I will do a test of X60 vs X61 on my 4790K, 4.8, 1.31v when I receive the X61.

If the H110i is only better because it's loud, and the X61 is reasonably quieter than the X60, then I be happy. I like my PC to be quiet and as I have it now, it really is set to only ramp up the fans, a little at a time, when needed.
I see no point in getting 2C cooler with a hairdrier next to me. And I doubt the H110i rad+pump only, fans aside, is much better than H110,X60,X61 (which should all pretty much have the same rad and pump I suppose, even X61 is prob just the same pump with some more electronics, no?)

k
 
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I have a h100i and can't even tell its pumping, to the point were I've actually questioned its working.

If not I have the worlds coolest running i7 :D Plus I can feel the water being pumped through the pipes.
 
quick update

I got the X61. I find the fans are much quieter than with the X60 at full rpm. It seems like I am getting roughly the same temps, but I have not done any major testing.
I am currently talking to NZXT support since the X61 they provided suffers from pump noise, despite the pump being connected correctly and in UEFI cpu fan controls are disabled (many have noise if UEFI controls the fan => pump speed). Will see what NZXT says.
Right now, the X61's pump is much more noisy than the X60's when it was new.

Corsair's H110i seems to have a partial recall because some leak during shipping in negative temperatures. Not really that promising either.

Probably this is my last AIO.
 
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