The Alphacool NexXxoS Cool Answer 360 DDC/XT Liquid Cooling Kit Review
by E. Fylladitakis on October 24, 2016 9:30 AM ESTTesting Results, Low Fan Speed (7 Volts)
The performance of the NexXxoS Cool Answer 360 DDC/XT changes significantly when its fans have their speed reduced down to 740 RPM. Note that the pump cannot be controlled, at least not without modifications, therefore it is constantly operating at maximum speed during our testing. The NexXxoS Cool Answer 360 DDC/XT appears to be still leading most of the charts, with an average thermal resistance of 0.0826 °C/W. This figure however brings it very close to significantly smaller AIO coolers. Cooler Master’s Nepton 280L actually manages to surpass the NexXxoS Cool Answer 360 DDC/XT at higher thermal loads, but it makes use of much more powerful (and louder) fans.
Considering that the pump’s flow remains exactly as powerful as before and is much superior than that of the small pumps that AIO solutions are using, it is clear that the significant loss of performance is due to the low pressure of the fans. High flow fans such as those that Alphacool supplies have their pressure dropping dramatically as their speed decreases. With a radiator as thick as the XT45, it is a miracle that the NexXxoS Cool Answer 360 DDC/XT can perform this well with these fans rotating at just 740 RPM each.
| Core Temperature, Constant Thermal Load (Low Fan Speed) |
The Coolmove 2 fans are completely silent at this speed. Assuming that they will be connected on motherboard fan header(s) and depending on the user’s preferences and needs, a more aggressive thermal profile can be selected to enhance the performance of the kit. Our reading of 36.1 dB(A) however clearly indicates that the kit was not entirely silent during our testing, even though the fans were. The obvious answer is the only other moving part of the system, the pump. The Laing DDC-1T is a very powerful pump and makes a very distinct humming noise that is clearly audible from a meter away, even if other noise sources are present. In order to make the NexXxoS Cool Answer 360 DDC/XT run silently, an advanced user has no other option than to modify the pump’s wiring and create a custom control profile that would ensure the correct operation of the pump.
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Death666Angel - Tuesday, October 25, 2016 - link
That works for people hard of hearing, those willing to put up with abysmall thermals and/or loud noise or those like you who have enough space and willingness to put the source of the noise in another part of their dwelling.BrokenCrayons - Tuesday, October 25, 2016 - link
That's a lot of exaggeration. Stock coolers are ear-splitting monsters that let the chip run at unsafe temperatures. There are literally billions of PCs that have been shipped with OEM coolers over the years and while a few designs have been fatally flawed (I'm looking at you ECS GREEN320 laptop with your whiny hair dryer blower on a 1GHz VIA C3 processor) the vast majority of them provide years of problem-free service by keeping the CPU within manufacturer specified temperature limits without causing undue end user stress due to poor acoustic design.Keep it in perspective. I'd happily agree that temperatures might be lower and the computer might be quieter with a bit of attention paid to cooling, but the way you're putting things seems overly dramatic.
HollyDOL - Monday, October 24, 2016 - link
I moved to custom loop to get rid of "angry vacuum cleaner" (back in 8800GT days). My pump is sitting in a foam inside the case and radiator is external, passive and quite big. In combination with noise dampening case and semi-passive PSU it's silent at city night (I guess in significantly quieter environment you could hear a bit but not really much).galta - Monday, October 24, 2016 - link
Liquid cooling is for people for want/need extreme performance, generating tons of heat in the process. Heatsinks that come out of the box cannot handle it.There is also the question of noise, for cooling an OCed system on air produces - generally - more noise than on liquid.
Those, however, do not seem to be circumstances that apply to you, so you better stay on air.
JoeyJoJo123 - Monday, October 24, 2016 - link
I'd clarify the "generally" part as follows:If they're using an AIO, chances are the combined pump + fan noise is actually noisier than a dual stack tower heatsink. (2x 120mm or 140mm fan + pump noise VS 2x 120mm or 140mm fans and no pump).
If they've built a custom open loop, then chances are that they've over-engineered the solution (as the few who go this route have the cash to spend and are willing to go all the way) and are using a thick radiator, a large reservoir, a large but quiet pump, and fans that don't ever need to spin up to address increased heat on intensive tasks, and at this point, they might actually have a quieter solution.
galta - Monday, October 24, 2016 - link
Lots of chances involved, it seems. In the end, what makes sense - generally - is to understand your problem and look for the best way to solve it.For some, air will do; for others, not.
Check Corsair's H110iGT review @ Guru3d: it is as quiet as the venerable Noctua NHD15, but 9C cooler when overclocking an i7 4790k. Oh, and it also significantly lighter than 1.32kg.
But then there is our friend BrokenCrayons, mixing bunnies with pancakes...
fanofanand - Tuesday, October 25, 2016 - link
I thought his points were valid and reasonable, far from mixing bunnies with pancakes.BrokenCrayons - Monday, October 24, 2016 - link
To steal a certain internet meme, "Overclocking in 2016 makes about as much sense as a bunny with a pancake on its head."Aerodrifting - Monday, October 24, 2016 - link
What's the point of running X99 i7 if you don't overclock? So you can be content with stock 3.0 speed?BrokenCrayons - Tuesday, October 25, 2016 - link
What's the poinnt of overclocking it? The home user's typical workloads don't benefit from overclocking and if they do, the increase in performance is marginal and not worth the effort. Sure there's showboating to friends and emotional self-gratification, but those aren't tangible rewards. If emotional satisfaction is what you gain from that sort of thing, then knock yourself out, but in my opinion, it's wasteful, childish, and silly.