Cooler Master Seidon 240M and 12 More Coolers: The Retest and Mega-Roundup
by Dustin Sklavos on April 26, 2013 6:01 AM ESTAbsolute Performance
We've taken a look at the coolers at their lowest settings, now let's see how things turn around when we run them at the highest settings available. This is the point where the closed loop coolers are going to more aggressively dominate the quieter air coolers.
Sure enough, it's actually an even split. At full bore, the liquid coolers are at the top of the list while the air coolers, engineered primarily for silence, are at the bottom. The noise levels are much more telling.
Outside of the inefficient SilverStone HE-01, the air coolers are quietest under load. Again, though, the Swiftech H220 is worth mentioning. While its absolute thermal performance left something to be desired compared to the smaller and theoretically inferior NZXT Kraken X40, the Kraken X40 has to run its fans a lot harder to hit those thermals.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
62 Comments
View All Comments
disappointed1 - Sunday, April 28, 2013 - link
With all due respect, this testing methodology is now completely flawed:"For air coolers, I added a Noctua 140mm rear exhaust fan and used the ultra low noise adaptor to ensure it didn't affect acoustics in any meaningful way. This is in line with the usage cases air coolers are designed for, and should be representative of the kind of airflow most users will have from their exhaust fan."
You FUNDAMENTALLY can't compare coolers on the same charts with different testing conditions. The closed-loop coolers are just as much designed, and will be operated, with proper/equivalent case ventilation. Just test them under identical conditions and let the liquid coolers pay any penalty with higher idle noise readings.
epoon2 - Monday, April 29, 2013 - link
I tried the article again, couldn't find where Dustin mentioned his testing method for Water. On the page where he shows the Seidon, it's clearly installed inside the case. I do not believe there is a strong bias towards either air or water coolers in this test.disappointed1 - Tuesday, April 30, 2013 - link
"...I'm now using that exhaust fan for testing air coolers. Closed loop coolers continue to do without."He added an extra case fan for the air coolers, which was not present for the liquid coolers. This will have the effect of biasing the results and renders them void. This is readily apparent by the author's own admission that "the differences in performance were pronounced" and "now liquid coolers aren't the juggernauts they used to be" and cannot be compared with previous results.
Alvar - Monday, April 29, 2013 - link
Today we have something a little special on the table. If you have previously been reading our CPU Cooler reviews you probably saw our recent review for Silverstone. We reviewed the Silverstone Heligon Series – HEO1 CPU Cooler....more details:- http://tinyurl.com/c5czh4b
bobbozzo - Tuesday, April 30, 2013 - link
Spam link above goes to a site for a women's magazine, nothing about coolers.TheStranger81 - Tuesday, April 30, 2013 - link
It would be a review if it actually had any charts....WTF is going on ? Where are the charts ?Wwhat - Saturday, May 4, 2013 - link
Look at how this site does such things:http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/gehaeuse-und-ku...
(language is irrelevant for the subject of graphs)
You can deselect items in the list and when you select a line you can see the position and details as you move the mousepointer over it.
And in their bargraphs it uses mouseover to show the percentage and relative percentage.
Like shown here: http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/gehaeuse-und-ku...
PNG's for data are a bit.. outdated really aren't they? (But perhaps you need to dumb down again for tablets and phones these days?)
Death666Angel - Saturday, May 11, 2013 - link
Can you adjust the air and clc results so that the x-axis is the same unit length? That way it is easier to compare between the two cooler types. :)hooner - Tuesday, July 2, 2013 - link
Great review...thanks!I have a quick question...I am thinking of buying a cooler master N200 and is front or rear radiator cooling best? I am presuming the front fans are intakes, rear and top are out.
My thinking is rear takes heat straight out the back from CPU, where as front means air is drawn in, cooled and then blow back through case. Surely venting the heat straight away is better?
Cheers
SloppyFloppy - Wednesday, September 17, 2014 - link
You keep recommending the really well performing Swiftech H220, but after some research they appear to have server quality control issues with their pumps failing and/or making lots of noise as well as some of their fans being noisy.Now I don't know what cooler to buy that performs well without sounding like a lawn blower.