Closing the Loop II: New Liquid Coolers from Corsair and Swiftech
by Dustin Sklavos on February 1, 2013 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Corsair
- radiator
- Swiftech
Conclusions, Part 1
As before, drawing conclusions on these products is less about simply crowning one the victor than it is about figuring out just what they offer on balance against each other, whether or not they hit the right price points, and what they're competing with. So while NZXT's Kraken X60 and Corsair H110 both dominate the charts, that doesn't make them the best choices for everyone. It's easier to fit a 120mm Corsair H80i into most cases than a 280mm Asetek radiator.
The Corsair H90
I've been a pretty big advocate of Corsair's products for some time now. Their RAM has largely been synonymous with "guaranteed to run right the first time" in my group, I still use and adore the K90 keyboard on my main workstation (and the M60 mouse on my Alienware M17x), and Corsair Link is a product with a lot of potential. That's why the H90 and H110 are such a disappointment.
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Outside of the mounting bracket, what you see here with the H90 is pretty much what you get. The H90 and H110 are barebones packages that are uncharacteristically devoid of any of the care and polish you typically expect with Corsair kit. Beyond that, using a different fan doesn't really make up for the fact that the Asetek 140mm radiator is a bit of a dud. Corsair really should've included two fans to differentiate themselves from the NZXT Kraken X40; as it stands, NZXT's package offers more features and better connectivity at the exact same price, making the H90 a non-starter.
The Corsair H110
If the lack of trimmings on the H90 was essentially fatal, on the H110 it's at most crippling. Not including any allowances of any kind for the fact that the H110 has two PWM fans to run is borderline unacceptable, but the H110 does have at least two advantages against the NZXT Kraken X60: price and fan quality.
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Build quality and performance are almost identical between the two products. The 280mm radiator does allow Corsair's fans to stretch their legs, though, and while at low speeds there's very little difference between the X60 and H110, at high speeds the H110 is able to produce comparable performance at lower noise levels. The fans NZXT uses on the X40 and X60 really only have two noise profiles: quiet at their lowest setting, and then unpleasantly loud at almost any other setting. Corsair's enjoy a more gradual ramp.
There's also the fact that despite its lackluster presentation (or maybe because of it), the H110 is ten bucks cheaper than the NZXT Kraken X60. If you're willing to make the sacrifices needed, the H110 at least makes a case for itself, and Corsair does offer a superior five year warranty on its products compared to the two year warranties on the Krakens.
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Beenthere - Saturday, February 2, 2013 - link
How many times can reviewers be duped by CLC hype and PR? Either the reviewers are technically challenged or ethically challenged... Being here to stay does not equate to be a rational choice.Dustin Sklavos - Saturday, February 2, 2013 - link
It's not hype. It's the fact that these products are growing both in number and popularity. More and more vendors are entering the race, so saying they're here to stay is technically correct, at least for the next couple of years. They're popular.I'm not sure what your beef with them is, either. Boutiques tend to prefer them over heavy air coolers and if the reliability was a serious issue, those boutiques would be less likely to run them.
iamezza - Saturday, February 2, 2013 - link
Beenthere is just a forum troll with no life.Every single comment he makes is deliberately inflammatory.
Treckin - Saturday, February 2, 2013 - link
Why aren't the Antec closed loop coolers ever mentioned/tested on Anandtech?HisDivineOrder - Saturday, February 2, 2013 - link
The check didn't clear?Dustin Sklavos - Saturday, February 2, 2013 - link
Cute! Honestly, they haven't been volunteered and Antec is in a weird transitional period. If you guys want to see the Antec stuff tested I'd be happy to, but it does look like more of the same Asetek kit.Dustin Sklavos - Saturday, February 2, 2013 - link
Well, check that. The H2O 920 has a fatter radiator than any of the other units I've tested. I may just have to get a couple of these monsters in for review after all.Treckin - Sunday, February 3, 2013 - link
It is, however they ship different fans, and use a different waterblock. Additionally, they featured the software controlled fans and pump monitoring as well as an onboard decibel meter (who knows how accurate...).Also, the tubing is different between the other asetec units.
I would certainly like to see those numbers if you could :)
resiroth - Sunday, February 3, 2013 - link
I have a mini itx computer so the thermals should if anything be worse, and I idle at 25C and load at 55C. Room temp is somewhere around 22C I guess. So basically the deltas are 3C idle 33C load. It's an i5 750 overclocked to 3.8ghz.Pros:
Cheaper
No risk of a pump leaking (however small that might be)
~ Equal performance
Much quieter in db
Much nicer noise signature (a fan has a hum, more pleasant then a pump)
Top down cpu coolers may have auxillary cooling effect on motherboard components
Cons:
Harder to install?
Still interested in seeing these get better and better, but for now it seems like a worse air cooler which has no real benefits. I guess if you're upping the voltage loads just to get an extra 10% (and risk an early death of your chip at such extreme voltage increases) it could be useful, but why not take a 10% performance hit for fairly significant improvements in noise, stability, durability, price?
Death666Angel - Sunday, February 3, 2013 - link
Maybe I missed it (I have been known to be blind at times), but you didn't mention what you are cooling with, did you?Also, you cannot compared your temps to any mentioned in this article, as you seem to do. :)