Air cool or H50 ?

46 the goat

46 the goat

46 the goat

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Hi everyone, some advice please. I'm a noobe and have just completed my first build, it has run OK for about 2 weeks so I thought I would see if it overclocked OK. I have an Asus motherboard with i3 processor, I took the easy route and used the Overclock utility option in the BIOS setting and according to CPUID I got a fraction over 4Ghz. I did not let it run for long as the temperature started to rise ( I have a stock cooler ).
I now want to change the cooler so that I can leave the OC on. Do I go for an air cooler or something like the H50? Do the large air coolers put a strain on the motherboard with their weight? Has anyone heard of an H50 leaking?
Also I want it as quiet as poss.
Thaks
46fan.
 
The big air coolers are fitted with a backplate that distribute the weight evenly over a large area and should therefore be considered quite safe.

The H50 is an elegant simple water cololing solution but can be noisy with the 1600rpm fan and pump. I don't think they leak though.

A big reaosnably priced air cooler with 4 or 6 heatpipes and a 120mm fan <1500rpm should be more than sufficient for a CPU with a TDP of 73W.
 
Differing reviews on the H50 compared to top end air coolers but they are close together for temps. If you can fit a big air cooler in your case they I would say air cooler, if you have a smaller case go for H50. I like having my H50 but if I could do it again I would probably go for air now as I think they are quieter than a H50.

I would have thought you could pick up either cooler second hand these days for quite bit cheaper than a new one if you are willing to do that.
 
Heatsinks can't leak, whereas the H50 probably wont. Heatsinks don't suffer from pump vibrations, the H50 is rather likely to. Performance is equivalent. Seems an easy choice if a large heatsink will fit, and it will do in an Antec 300.
 
Definitely get an air cooler. Something like a coolermaster 212 plus should cope with an i3 very well and costs less than £20. There's no need for massive coolers on there but saying that they are secure and will not damage motherboards.
 
Hmmmm thats quite strange. I must have a good H50 then. Because I swear down that the H50 brought my temps and kept it held down loads. When I had a Phenom 955 O.C'd, my temps would reach 65 but the H50 kept it held down tight at 50-52c. Even with it on my i7 920 now, with an O.C of 4.1ghz the max I see is in the upper 76-79, that is good right? Or am I chatting crap? Although I am dying to go watercooled because of noise, its only because of the case fans and the BTX 295 noise, definetly not the H50. Am quite suprised as ive seen a lot of people say that? Hmm I must have a good one then cuz even now when I am taking my pc apart, I find it quite hard to hear it unless I got the case open and put my ear next the H50 unless the CPU its burning at 100% CPU usage??
 
i3s overclock fine on air. You don't really need to think about an H50 unless you plan to move the setup to something as cramped as a mini-itx realm, whilst keeping your overclock. Just go with your budget, but I would not recommend dishing out more than £35 to cool an i3. :)
 
Thanks everyone for all your answers, looks like you have convinced me to go with air cooling. Next noobe question- can the coolers be mounted on the CPU so that the fan on them is blowing towards the top exhaust vent instead of the one at the rear ( it would suit me better if it would ) Motherboard is an Asus P7H55-M-USB, case is an Antec 300.
Thanks
46 fan.
 
46 the goat said:
Thanks everyone for all your answers, looks like you have convinced me to go with air cooling. Next noobe question- can the coolers be mounted on the CPU so that the fan on them is blowing towards the top exhaust vent instead of the one at the rear ( it would suit me better if it would ) Motherboard is an Asus P7H55-M-USB, case is an Antec 300.
Thanks
46 fan.
Click to expand...


Short answer - yes :)

Just try to eyeball the fixtures for any cooler that you are thinking of buying. Sometimes the manufactures website will feature a installation page that you can DL in PDF form.
 
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datalol-jack said:
i3s overclock fine on air. You don't really need to think about an H50 unless you plan to move the setup to something as cramped as a mini-itx realm, whilst keeping your overclock. Just go with your budget, but I would not recommend dishing out more than £35 to cool an i3. :)
Click to expand...


H50 is not a good solution for most mITX setups because of rad mounting and clearance in most small form factor cases... check out the small form factor section :)
 
Personally the H50 isnt that good for a exhaust configuration for a SilverStone FT02 WRI either.

I have had mine for about a week and im gonna change it back to an air cooler ... got a Zalman 9900 MAX coming today.

It really depends on the case and if you can get cool air blowing into the radiator the temps will be a lot lower.
 
JonJ678 said:
Heatsinks can't leak, whereas the H50 probably wont. Heatsinks don't suffer from pump vibrations, the H50 is rather likely to. Performance is equivalent. Seems an easy choice if a large heatsink will fit, and it will do in an Antec 300.
Click to expand...

And yet air cooling looks nowhere near as "cool" as the H50 :p
 
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