Are Asetek-based AIO units really that unreliable.

Moleyman

Moleyman

Moleyman

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Joined
29 Mar 2015
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Norwich, Norfolk
Hi everyone,

i am trying to decide between either a Kraken X62 or Noctua D15 for my next build.

I like the idea of AIO as they are neater, offer good peformance and are less likely to fall off the motherboard :-)

I like the idea of the Noctua as it will be so quiet, offer good performance and won't leak.

There seems to be a lot of posts on various forums though that state that the Asetek-based AIO units are pretty unreliable and suffer from early pump failure.

Does anyone have any first hand experience of Asetek-based AIO failing or even going the long haul?

Many thanks,

Moley
 
The X62 has got a 6 year warranty. Useful to have a spare air cooler if you do need to RMA it though.

I had a pump fail on an H115i after about a year.
 
Newer Corsair units are gen6 Asetek pumps which in theory should last longer as the impeller is a different design. Better coldplate too so slightly better thermals. X62 is gen 4.5 or 5 (can't remember now)
 
They have a shelf life; over time the pumps wear out, the fluid evaporates reducing cooling efficiency. Early units - like to ones on Waterforce graphics cards - were particularly poor. There are some good videos on YouTube of people swapping out the pipes on AIO and refilling with fluid with some success.

For CPU, I can't really see the big attraction of water cooling; the gains aren't that great any more and CPU are so damn fast that the slightly improved overclocking won't make a huge difference over good air-cooling.

For GPU, on the other hand, the gains are enormous mostly in that the cards can be run much more quietly. I believe that the most recent models - 20xx - may be different but I don't have one so can't comment on those. For my Maxwell cards, water cooling on GPU is huge and I've had considerable success with second-hand AIO and Kraken G10/G12 adaptors.
 
The price and reliability means that big air always wins over and AIO. There is no pump to fail or water to leak.

I have never come across a case of a big air cooler damaging a motherboard due to weight.
 
Hi guys,

Just wanted to catch up with this :)
So, as for leaks go, it's not going to happen, unless you mis-treat the system. We don't get any cases of leaks.
You're probably more likely to see a unicorn than a leak on an AIO ;)

As for the pumps, back in the day there was some issues. Today all pumps are rated for a minimum life-span of 5 years. Now I'm not going to flat out say that i cannot fail, because of course it can. But I can tell you, that our RMA percentage around 0.1%

I'll happily discuss further or weigh in with more information :)
 
Hi,

Thank you all for taking the time to reply.

It certainly gives me some food for thought :-)

All the best,

Moley
 
I have an X62 and I hate it with a passion, thinking of changing it out for something better
 
Last edited:
lurkio said:
I have an X62 and I hate it with a passion, thiking of changing it out for something better
Click to expand...
What exactly do you hate about the X62?
I've just installed one and it seems to work very well
I was a bit dubious at first having read about it phoning home all the time, but experimentation shows me that once set up there's no need to run the software and I've now stopped it loading at startup and my settings appear to be holding, even when running under OS X
 
Spyware phoning home (people have reported insane amount of data eg 22Gig per month)
If you power off the PC (turn off at wall socket) the settings will not hold
Fans are a bit rattely sounding
 
lurkio said:
Spyware phoning home (people have reported insane amount of data eg 22Gig per month)
If you power off the PC (turn off at wall socket) the settings will not hold
Fans are a bit rattely sounding
Click to expand...

I thought the data collecting was toned down when people complained? I don't have any settings I just keep it on performance mode, I also have EKWB fans.
 
AIO - normally copper rad and cold plate

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £374.47 (includes shipping: £10.50)
​

can be broken apart and modified

CLC- normally aluminum rad and copper cold plate

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £290.48 (includes shipping: £10.50)


alphacool now making 280 AIO with D5 pump and Silent Wing 3 fans in it lol​
 
If I were to move away from custom loops I’d just go air these days. You’ve got tubes to contend with, rad mounting positions, extra software etc for very little difference. A decent lump of metal will last forever, and will just need the fans changed every millenia or so.
 
I've had a Corsair H100i five and a half years. Served me well (did have to change the noisy fans though) but now something is starting to whine a bit for a while on startups. Could be something other than the pump but it's reminded me the warranty is over and best to change. Decided on air this time - Noctua NH-D15S. Already have two NF-A15 PWM fans so didn't need the full-fat NH-D15 nor do I want all the memory sticks covered anyway (which ruled out BeQuiet and some others). Was a toss-up between D15S or Thermalright's Le Grand Macho RT but Noctua's excellent support, including mailing any adapters for new sockets, won me over.
 
Liking the look of the new Alphacool Eisbaer Extreme 280 with Silentwings 3 fitted the pump is a D5 separate from the block and housed in the rad enclosure with the res. Everything is interchangeable too !
 
The biggest problem with that Eisbaer Extreme would seem to be the size of the thing. Not just length, but width. That is because the casing extends beyond the width of the 140mm fans. I don't think it would fit in the top of my case for example (Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX), maybe not in the front either.
 
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