AIO, worth it? Now with results

Devrij

Devrij

Devrij

Soldato
Joined
23 Jul 2009
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Bath
I have some money burning a hole in my pocket (£140 to be precise) after my birthday, and given that I'm pretty much sorted in every other respect of my build, I was thinking of using it to replace my ancient Thermaltake Frio (which I must say does admirably and keeps my 3770k at 4.5ghz in mid 70s on a warm day). This is part aesthetic and part future proofing to an extent.

So are they worth it? Was looking at a cryorig a80 or a kraken. I think I'll be going to zen eventually so the ability to directly air cool vrms with the cryorig did seem valuable, but it does look a bit pants.

Currently using a phantom 630 tower so can fit 240, 280 and 360 rads.

Thoughts?
 
I like the idea of my case being easier to work in, which is a big part of me wanting to go water instead of having a big lump handing off my mobo. If I can drop 5C off my load temps and provide better airflow for my gpu (the only noisy part of my build) then I'll be happy.

Idle pump noise I hadn't considered. Are they quite loud?
 
You guys aren't helping me spend this money :p

It sounds like it's a bit pointless if it's going to be mo quieter, no cooler, and introduce a slight risk of leaks/pump failure. All for the value of it being a bit easier to reach the clip on my pci-e bracket or my RAM slots and looking a bit nicer.
 
deFiniLoGy said:
It's not loud, but if you can notice it, it's certainly annoying especially in idle when you aren't expecting noise.

IMO your best choice would be to upgrade the air cooler to something like the NH-D15.
Click to expand...

Nah, you are right in that if I wanted a decent improvement in temps it'd be a good choice, but I was also hoping to try something new and declutter my case a bit at the same time. If all I can get out of it is the decluttered case then I may have to consider something else to throw my money at (maybe the start of a Ryzen build)
 
deFiniLoGy said:
Well. Not exactly... a 240 AIO will keep your 3770k down to around 60-65C probably while keeping your case looking clean and nice (Kraken x52) but whether that 10C is worth risking for a slight hum in idle that's your choice.

(I wouldn't bother since 75C is a fair temp tbh).
Click to expand...
Ah, now 10C I would be happy with. Especially if it looked nice! Given that the spend is pure gift money, I don't mind too much if it's not a massive improvement over my current heatsink (which is as old as the i5 750). I just want to buy something more exciting than a hard drive to consolidate my other drives.
 
Ah go on I'll get one then.

So what's the one to get (under 140 quid)? Kraken (280mm or 240mm?) or cryorig A80, or something else?
 
I ended up going with the cryorig because I couldn't see 40 quid in value in getting the kraken. Used the saving to get some thermal grizzly and will save the rest for games. Either way, I'll post my temps so hopefully we'll have a definitive answer
 
Update: Cryorig A80 installed.

Verdict: At full fan speed (which seems to be what my mobo profile decided was appropriate when I loaded prime95) it's loud. It is, however, 15C cooler than my thermaltake Frio (the original one). And is sitting in the high 50s at full load in a hot room after 2hrs of prime. Result! Just need to adjust the fan curve to max out later on (it looks like it ramps up at 50c which is a bit too aggressive) or else hook them up to my fan controller.

Pump noise is negligible compared to my existing case fans on a low speed setting so I think it's only a concern for very quiet rigs.
 
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How long did it take to saturate your kraken? An hour of prime at the lowest pwm curve 0.75%/1C and I sit nicely at 55C with my 3770k at 4.5ghz.

I imagine a 59xx cpu pumps out a fair bit more heat though.
 
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