Aio cooler for 2950x

southy1978 · 17 Sep 2018 at 14:00

I’ve just pulled the trigger on a major upgrade for my pc, got a threadripper 2950x along with the gigabyte X399 Aorus extreme.
My current rig has an ancient NZXT kraken x60 cooler which has served me well but won’t fit the tr4 socket.
So I’m after an Aio cooler that offers full coverage of the tr4 IHS, so far I can only see 1 brand that fits the bill (Enermax). Are there any of the other major aio manufacturers out there that will be offering full coverage or am I just best off getting the Enermax LiqTech 280mm?
TIA

orbitalwalsh · 17 Sep 2018 at 15:13

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x be quiet! Silent Loop Superior Liquid CPU Cooler - 360mm= £149.99
1 x be quiet TR4 Cooler Bracket= £2.99
1 x Alphacool Eisbaer LT360 CPU AIO Water Cooling Unit - 240mm (11446)= £99.95

Total: £263.43 (includes shipping: £10.50)

both units are made by Alphacool and are AIO not CLC like 90% of them on the market. their pump are based off less powerful DDC units and have copper plates and radiator so no mixing of metals along with compression fittings. their tubing has about 40% larger ID then most as well

lots of reviews for TR do use enermax uni do to it being designed to 100% cover the chip and they do feature powerful fans! and is classed as a Close Loop Circuit

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Enermax LiqTech II TR4 360 RGB CPU Water Cooler - 360mm= £159.95

Total: £168.65 (includes shipping: £8.70)

Eisbaer is 26mm thick, Copper
LiqTech is 28mm Aluminum
Silent loop is 30mm Cooper

southy1978 · 17 Sep 2018 at 15:16

I've just realised this in in the wrong section, It should be in watercooling. Would a kind MOD move it for me please?

I'm not sure a 360 will fit in my case with the E-ATX motherboard, I have a Corsair Air 540, I would prefer a 360 IF it all fits!

orbitalwalsh · 17 Sep 2018 at 15:37

southy1978 said:
I've just realised this in in the wrong section, It should be in watercooling. Would a kind MOD move it for me please?

I'm not sure a 360 will fit in my case with the E-ATX motherboard, I have a Corsair Air 540, I would prefer a 360 IF it all fits!

you can install a 360 in the front or 280 in the top, but depends on your GPU length i believe

should help

https://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/corsair_carbide_air_540_review,8.html

southy1978 · 17 Sep 2018 at 15:44

GPU wise i have 2 x gigabyte gtx1080 g1 gaming cards. I'll take a peek at that link when i get home from work. My worry was beacuse E-ATX is a bit bigger i wouldn't fit a 360 rad at the front with fans on.
Thanks for your advise, It's been a while since i last did a major upgrade, the outgoing gear is z97 & an i7 4770k!

doyll · 17 Sep 2018 at 18:14

Enermax has been having lots of problems with Liqtech TR4 .. and their customer support has be quite bad in handling these problems.

southy1978 · 17 Sep 2018 at 19:06

doyll said:
Enermax has been having lots of problems with Liqtech TR4 .. and their customer support has be quite bad in handling these problems.

Ah that’s not good news! Maybe I should just go with a Noctua nh-d14 then until tr4 cooling has matured a bit!

doyll · 17 Sep 2018 at 20:32

southy1978 said:
Ah that’s not good news! Maybe I should just go with a Noctua nh-d15 then until tr4 cooling has matured a bit!

There are a few other good air coolers for Threadripper like Silver Arrow TR4 and NH-U14S.

Troezar · 17 Sep 2018 at 21:16

doyll said:
Enermax has been having lots of problems with Liqtech TR4 .. and their customer support has be quite bad in handling these problems.

I'm guessing that is why they have a version 2. I'll give that a go as there doesn't seem to be anyone else close in AIOs. Either a lack of IHS coverage or very low flow rates.

southy1978 · 17 Sep 2018 at 21:54

Troezar said:
I'm guessing that is why they have a version 2. I'll give that a go as there doesn't seem to be anyone else close in AIOs. Either a lack of IHS coverage or very low flow rates.

I did see the version 2 of the enermax gear, unfortunately it's not out for 2-3 weeks. I was hoping to get the computer built by the weekend, you know what it's like having new toys and not being able to play with them

Rensin · 18 Sep 2018 at 02:48

I had the 280mm Enermax AIO and only lasted a couple of months, I used it with 1950x, temps increased 15-20 degrees. Excellent work by Bailey and was refunded within a few days.

Can also recommend the NH U14s TR4 SP3, keeps a stock 1950x under 65 degrees C

Currently using a EK MLC Phoenix 360mm and temps have yet to exceed 60 degrees C, I also have it installed in the front of my Corsair 540 case (soon to be Evolv X) you just need to bend 1 of the hard drive brackets slightly at the bottom of the case plus you loose 1 of the fan slots at the top of the case.

Troezar · 18 Sep 2018 at 06:53

Rensin said:
I had the 280mm Enermax AIO and only lasted a couple of months, I used it with 1950x, temps increased 15-20 degrees. Excellent work by Bailey and was refunded within a few days.

Can also recommend the NH U14s TR4 SP3, keeps a stock 1950x under 65 degrees C

Currently using a EK MLC Phoenix 360mm and temps have yet to exceed 60 degrees C, I also have it installed in the front of my Corsair 540 case (soon to be Evolv X) you just need to bend 1 of the hard drive brackets slightly at the bottom of the case plus you loose 1 of the fan slots at the top of the case.

The EK-MLC does look interesting. TR4 block available too. I don't think I've seen one tested on Threadripper yet.

orbitalwalsh · 18 Sep 2018 at 09:29

Troezar said:
I'm guessing that is why they have a version 2. I'll give that a go as there doesn't seem to be anyone else close in AIOs. Either a lack of IHS coverage or very low flow rates.

alpha and ek's are just fine . EK got a bad rep for their block due to fin stack size, not the coverage of the cold plate.

Both would be fine on their , specially as water has more heat transfer cap then using air coolers etc and then needing every bit of surface area to capture heat transfer, set alpha pump to 100% and your away .
If the coverage wasn't good enough they would have changed the design, unlike EK and other CLC vendors they actually own the majority of the factory in china that produces their parts

alphacool rep is on here, might be able to ask for some data etc etc

Rensin · 18 Sep 2018 at 11:22

Troezar said:
The EK-MLC does look interesting. TR4 block available too. I don't think I've seen one tested on Threadripper yet.

Here are my temps after 90 minutes of rendering (CPU avg 90%, Ambient temps around 25°C)

Radiator fans speed is around 70% ... CPU is at 3.8Ghz on all cores with stock voltage, 1.1v SOC.

ZXSpectrum · 18 Sep 2018 at 11:55

is that with PBO enabled?

I was worried firstly about the temps but after updating my software it showed the correct temps. On a H100i V2 I get max of 80Degrees with fans on custom profile. That is with the 2990WX just going to be testing my 2950X now. This is with PBO enabled.

Rensin · 18 Sep 2018 at 13:19

ZXSpectrum said:
is that with PBO enabled?

I was worried firstly about the temps but after updating my software it showed the correct temps. On a H100i V2 I get max of 80Degrees with fans on custom profile. That is with the 2990WX just going to be testing my 2950X now. This is with PBO enabled.

No PBO,

Here is with PBO enabled (default values) boosted to 4.1Ghz although mostly avg 3.4Ghz while running IBT

orbitalwalsh · 18 Sep 2018 at 13:35

might be able to grab an AIO off bequiet and see how it fits over Thread ripper at EGX Thursday, believe they are on the OCUK stand

southy1978 · 18 Sep 2018 at 13:44

orbitalwalsh said:
might be able to grab an AIO off bequiet and see how it fits over Thread ripper at EGX Thursday, believe they are on the OCUK stand

That would be very kind of you! I’ve just been reading up about the modular EK setup, looks pretty good that you can add extra loops at a later date!

orbitalwalsh · 18 Sep 2018 at 13:56

southy1978 said:
That would be very kind of you! I’ve just been reading up about the modular EK setup, looks pretty good that you can add extra loops at a later date!

alphacool and EK are true AIO since they can be expanded etc . both bore sizes are a lot bigger in ID then CLC like asetek .

pumps are a lot stronger as well as using lower RPM and sound . EK just have to through off the enigma of their first AIO attempt which leaked, quite a bit

doyll · 18 Sep 2018 at 15:13

I didn't mention be quiet! Silent Loop because it does not have Threadripper IHS size base. Silent Loop base is 55.87x55.88mm in size with i30.35x30.4mm internal 'pin' area. The be quiet! Silent Loop is a very nice AIO (not a CLC) that cools well and quietly. I'm using Silent Loop 280mm on one of my systems and like it a lot. While be quiet! Silent Loop AIO is made by Alphacool the bequiet pump is not the same as Alphacool uses in other AIOs. While Alphacool does not have good customer support be quiet! is known to have very good customer support, and it is be quiet! you would talk to if you ever had a problem with a Silent Loop, not Alphacool.

My 280mm Silent Loop has been in use for well over a year now and other than topping up coolant once (wasn't really low) and blowing dust off of fans & radiator I've done nothing .. that said I do plan to servisign it with a good flush and new coolant soon just to be sure coolant inhibitors are working as intended.

Anyone who reads many of my posts knows I hate CLCs (which are a sub group of AIO) because of their poor quality, low performance and noise. I have tried / tested a fair number of CLCs (again, CLCs are a sub-group of AIO) and removed them all as soon as I finished testing them. The be quiet! Silent Loop is the only one I have continued to use because it cools very well and is very quiet. If be quiet! Silent Loop was not good I would be using one of my many top tier air coolers instead.