Any love for the Kelvin S36?

TheMorningStar · 20 Jul 2015 at 17:39

I've been looking at the Kelvin S36 from Fractal Design. I'm looking to pair it with Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX Mid Tower Case - Black

I like that it has white fans to match the ones supplied with the Enthoo Evolve and it's a modular AIO so I can potentially add to this system if I ever want to integrate GPU cooling etc.

Aesthetics are somewhat important to me, noise, performance and reliability more so. Low maintenance is a big thing so I'm thinking a custom loop isn't for me right now but the modular nature of these Fractal units leaves some possibilities open.

Any reason not to consider this or are there better alternatives? How do these AIO compare to traditional water cooling? Would love to hear from someone who actually has one especially if they have expanded the loop with anything.

Cheers,

TMS

MrMD · 20 Jul 2015 at 18:13

The fractal kelvins have a bad reputation for developing faults and/or leaking,and not something generally reccomended

AIO's dont really compare to custom watercooling at all,even the biggest(in rad space) AIO's are barely any better than the top end aircoolers,aswell as being more expensive and noiser.

Theirs also the Raijintek Triton,theres a thread on it here http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18625923

It has had a somewhat rocky launch,revisions have been made to fix the issues the launch batches suffered from.
Its advertised as expandable,but i would not recommend it if expandability is something your seriously interested in,its a budget unit,so its pump aint particularly great,plus it has aluminum rad which means if you do expand,you have ditch the standard rad and then your left with just a weak pump/res combo,at that point your already wasting money as you need to buy more rads for it ect

Their is also the Swifttech H240x/280x.This is also an expandable AIO,but is made of far higher quality parts,and performs far better than other AIO's.Its not actually available in the UK tho,and requires importing from Europe.They are excellent however,and easily the best closed loop cooler available.

If noise, performance and reliability are the most important factors i'd just get a Noctua DH15 in all honestly.

TheMorningStar · 20 Jul 2015 at 19:12

Cheers MrMD

I thought it would be too good to be true, I guess that's why Overclockers don't stock them. I'll have a look over the others you mentioned but I really fancied a 360 rad, a thick one if possible.

I'm looking for something whisper quiet in standard operation and pretty quiet in gaming but with the option of revving up when I'm benching and tinkering but I want simplicity at the same time, awkward I know

.

If you had to pick a Res/Pump combo, a fat 360 Rad and CPU block what would you go for? I may as well give the competition a look over I guess. Oh and I already have a DH14 (I think it is, been a while) so I'm not far from that kind of air performance.

TMS

MrMD · 20 Jul 2015 at 19:34

TheMorningStar said:
Cheers MrMD

I thought it would be too good to be true, I guess that's why Overclockers don't stock them. I'll have a look over the others you mentioned but I really fancied a 360 rad, a thick one if possible.

I'm looking for something whisper quiet in standard operation and pretty quiet in gaming but with the option of revving up when I'm benching and tinkering but I want simplicity at the same time, awkward I know .

If you had to pick a Res/Pump combo, a fat 360 Rad and CPU block what would you go for? I may as well give the competition a look over I guess. Oh and I already have a DH14 (I think it is, been a while) so I'm not far from that kind of air performance.

TMS

Yea Dh14>Dh15 or pretty much AIO would be a sidegrade in all honestly when it comes to performance/noise.Is it running the spec in your sig? A Dh-14 shouldn't really be taxed too much by that CPU at those clocks as far as im aware.

In this thread i just posted a basic spec for someone else,http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18682531

It would be similar for you except a bigger rad ofcourse.

Edit:Also you can post in the MM,could get most your setup from there at lower cost.

TheMorningStar · 20 Jul 2015 at 21:06

Yeah, DH14 runs fine for this build.. with the exception of summer, been having some crashing @3.6 with a vcore of 1.5125, not really a failing of the cooler, the case has poor airflow, she dates back to the AMD Athlon 64 days, or before for that matter and is limited to 2x80mm fans front and rear with nothing else save the PSU vent and a very low RPM 120mm bay fan I have in my HDD caddy.

I haven't used water since my passive/external Zelman days, I've been wanting to try these AIO coolers since their inception but have never been able to with the case restrictions, it's a stunning case and the Phantek is the first to make me wan't to change tbh.

I'm a bit surprised that even the 360 rad versions are so lackluster tbh, what's the issue , the pumps or coolant volume maybe?

On the Plus side this is for my Zen build next year (hopefully, if performance is at least comparable, otherwise it's an x99 or like I think) so I can re-evaluate the AIO if anything new pops up in the meantime.

Cheers again for the link I'll have a look through it.

MrMD · 20 Jul 2015 at 21:15

TheMorningStar said:
Yeah, DH14 runs fine for this build.. with the exception of summer, been having some crashing @3.6 with a vcore of 1.5125, not really a failing of the cooler, the case has poor airflow, she dates back to the AMD Athlon 64 days, or before for that matter and is limited to 2x80mm fans front and rear with nothing else save the PSU vent and a very low RPM 120mm bay fan I have in my HDD caddy.

I haven't used water since my passive/external Zelman days, I've been wanting to try these AIO coolers since their inception but have never been able to with the case restrictions, it's a stunning case and the Phantek is the first to make me wan't to change tbh.

I'm a bit surprised that even the 360 rad versions are so lackluster tbh, what's the issue , the pumps or coolant volume maybe?

On the Plus side this is for my Zen build next year (hopefully, if performance is at least comparable, otherwise it's an x99 or like I think) so I can re-evaluate the AIO if anything new pops up in the meantime.

Cheers again for the link I'll have a look through it.

The Kelvin is just not very well made unit/has poor QA. Most the branded AIO's arnt that unreliable,they just arnt much better than the top end air options either.

If your after aesthetics and a decent increase in performance over your DH14, the swifttech H240x is seriously worth looking into importing IMO.They are great pieces of kit.

TheMorningStar · 20 Jul 2015 at 23:00

I've just had a closer look at reviews etc, interestingly rather than a standard AIO design it looks more like a rad with a pump and res built in. Now I'm wondering if there is such a thing as a 360 copper rad (or even just a bracket) with mounting for a res/pump/combo underneath.

If there isn't there should be! I'm just thinking of the mechanics now, I could actually make that from a single piece of 2mm Aluminium sheet with a 90o lip and a selection of screw holes for mounting. Ha, I wonder if Swiftech like product recommendations