This is going to be my mini review between.
NZXT Kraken G10
Corsair HG10
EK FC block's
Before anyone says anything I know the custom block is a bit out of proportion and we all know its going to be better than the other two but the price difference is insane.
Equipment
All tests were done using the following equipment
Asus Z97 Pro Gamer
Intel 4790K @ Stock
Kingston 1 X 8GB 1600mhz RAM
Corsair CX850M
2 X Corsair AF 140 intake fans https://goo.gl/Nt3GHq
2 X Bitfenix 140mm Intake Fans https://goo.gl/5q7ngU
1 X 120mm Corsair AF120 Intake https://goo.gl/mkfsok
H100i on the CPU exhausting out the top in push
H55 on each GPU with 1 fan exhausting in push 1 in the too 1 in the back.
All radiators had Silverstone SST-FQ121 FQ https://goo.gl/BdbVab
Methodology
All tests were done with the CPU at stock speeds.
All the fans are on manual fan controllers on the front of my case and all fans were at 100% speed all the time to make sure that poor airflow was not a consideration.
“ Note on the EK full loop it only has 2 X 140 Bitfenix intakes through a 280mm RAD & 3 X silverstones exhausting at the top through a 360 RAD”
Tests have been done at Stock Speeds on gpu's & then at the highest stable overclock which was +60mVA, 1120mhz core 1500mhz memory.
Graphs
Results
Idle
As you can see from the benchmarks at idle temps there really isn't much in it. Most of the core temps are all withing 5C of each other. VRMS are all pretty much the same appart from the EK block which VRM 2 temp is down to 38 whereas the brackets are all in the 50's.
Firestrike
As you can see from the graphs the core temps are all very close. There is about a 10C temp difference between the EK & NZXT. The corsairs do perform a little better than the NZXT's.
VRM Temps are where the biggest differences are.
If we look at the overclock Speeds VRM1 on GPU1 has been the biggest problem for me
NZXT 82C
NZXT w/ Silverstone 92mm 71C
Corsair 70C
EK 48C
The corsair has a very nice improvement over the NZXT but the EK Full cover block knocks everything out of the water. The stock 92mm fan on the NZXT is very bad and a cheap (£6.95) fan from OCUK (https://goo.gl/2jDLqT) made a huge improvement, but the corsair still beat it and works out cheaper.
VRM2 was not as bad to cool
NZXT 69C
NZXT w/ Silverstone 92mm 62C
Corsair 65C
EK 38C
Again the corsair still worked better than the NZXT but the EK wiped the floor with everything (Remembering that the EK has less air intake as well).
Conclusion
As you can see from the results the Corsair performs best price per performance temps are all withing limits. On My stock reference coolers core temps were around 95C in firestrike and sounded like a jet taking off.
The NZXT once you add VRM heatsinks & upgrades the fan to something like a silverstone 92mm it performs near the corsair but the looks of the corsair are loads better.
Obviously we all knew that the EK blocks with a full custom loop would perform the best. But I never realized how low it would get the VRM temps.
Costs
Corsair £19.99 https://goo.gl/JPtYkN
NZXT £19.99 https://goo.gl/o13uaZ
Silverstone SST-FW91 FW £6.95
EK FC Blocks £79.99 https://goo.gl/LnxKFa
Corsair H55 £59.99 https://goo.gl/BTgFV1
The full custom loops set me back about 449.99 so when you add it up the corsair block is the best value but if your after high overclocks then nothing will beat a full custom loop. Just a note on the corsairs though you do need the reference R9 290X blower fan. I believe corsair will be stocking theses shortly though.
I must thank Greybeard for sending me 2 Corsair HG10's out to run this test.
NZXT Kraken G10
Corsair HG10
EK FC block's
Before anyone says anything I know the custom block is a bit out of proportion and we all know its going to be better than the other two but the price difference is insane.
Equipment
All tests were done using the following equipment
Asus Z97 Pro Gamer
Intel 4790K @ Stock
Kingston 1 X 8GB 1600mhz RAM
Corsair CX850M
2 X Corsair AF 140 intake fans https://goo.gl/Nt3GHq
2 X Bitfenix 140mm Intake Fans https://goo.gl/5q7ngU
1 X 120mm Corsair AF120 Intake https://goo.gl/mkfsok
H100i on the CPU exhausting out the top in push
H55 on each GPU with 1 fan exhausting in push 1 in the too 1 in the back.
All radiators had Silverstone SST-FQ121 FQ https://goo.gl/BdbVab
Methodology
All tests were done with the CPU at stock speeds.
All the fans are on manual fan controllers on the front of my case and all fans were at 100% speed all the time to make sure that poor airflow was not a consideration.
“ Note on the EK full loop it only has 2 X 140 Bitfenix intakes through a 280mm RAD & 3 X silverstones exhausting at the top through a 360 RAD”
Tests have been done at Stock Speeds on gpu's & then at the highest stable overclock which was +60mVA, 1120mhz core 1500mhz memory.
Graphs
Results
Idle
As you can see from the benchmarks at idle temps there really isn't much in it. Most of the core temps are all withing 5C of each other. VRMS are all pretty much the same appart from the EK block which VRM 2 temp is down to 38 whereas the brackets are all in the 50's.
Firestrike
As you can see from the graphs the core temps are all very close. There is about a 10C temp difference between the EK & NZXT. The corsairs do perform a little better than the NZXT's.
VRM Temps are where the biggest differences are.
If we look at the overclock Speeds VRM1 on GPU1 has been the biggest problem for me
NZXT 82C
NZXT w/ Silverstone 92mm 71C
Corsair 70C
EK 48C
The corsair has a very nice improvement over the NZXT but the EK Full cover block knocks everything out of the water. The stock 92mm fan on the NZXT is very bad and a cheap (£6.95) fan from OCUK (https://goo.gl/2jDLqT) made a huge improvement, but the corsair still beat it and works out cheaper.
VRM2 was not as bad to cool
NZXT 69C
NZXT w/ Silverstone 92mm 62C
Corsair 65C
EK 38C
Again the corsair still worked better than the NZXT but the EK wiped the floor with everything (Remembering that the EK has less air intake as well).
Conclusion
As you can see from the results the Corsair performs best price per performance temps are all withing limits. On My stock reference coolers core temps were around 95C in firestrike and sounded like a jet taking off.
The NZXT once you add VRM heatsinks & upgrades the fan to something like a silverstone 92mm it performs near the corsair but the looks of the corsair are loads better.
Obviously we all knew that the EK blocks with a full custom loop would perform the best. But I never realized how low it would get the VRM temps.
Costs
Corsair £19.99 https://goo.gl/JPtYkN
NZXT £19.99 https://goo.gl/o13uaZ
Silverstone SST-FW91 FW £6.95
EK FC Blocks £79.99 https://goo.gl/LnxKFa
Corsair H55 £59.99 https://goo.gl/BTgFV1
The full custom loops set me back about 449.99 so when you add it up the corsair block is the best value but if your after high overclocks then nothing will beat a full custom loop. Just a note on the corsairs though you do need the reference R9 290X blower fan. I believe corsair will be stocking theses shortly though.
I must thank Greybeard for sending me 2 Corsair HG10's out to run this test.
