H100i or high end air cooler?

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ANPeck

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Jan 10, 2014
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At first, I was considering on buying an H100i for my core i7 4770k processor, but they are 150$ in Australia on Pccasegear but is it worth it, especially if I only overclock to 4Ghz from 3.9. What air cooler would you recommend that would be stable for that speed and what fans would be sufficient but very quiet for this?

Thanks in advance
 
Solution
geofelt
I do not much like all in one liquid coolers when a good air cooler can do the job.
A liquid cooler will be expensive, noisy, less reliable, and will not cool any better
in a well ventilated case.
Liquid cooling is really air cooling, it just puts the heat exchange in a different place.
The orientation of the radiator will cause a problem.
If you orient it to take in cool air from the outside, you will cool the cpu better, but the hot air then circulates inside the case heating up the graphics card and motherboard.
If you orient it to exhaust(which I think is better) , then your cpu cooling will be less effective because it uses pre heated case air.
And... I have read too many tales of woe when a liquid cooler leaks.
google "H100...
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geofelt

geofelt

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I do not much like all in one liquid coolers when a good air cooler can do the job.
A liquid cooler will be expensive, noisy, less reliable, and will not cool any better
in a well ventilated case.
Liquid cooling is really air cooling, it just puts the heat exchange in a different place.
The orientation of the radiator will cause a problem.
If you orient it to take in cool air from the outside, you will cool the cpu better, but the hot air then circulates inside the case heating up the graphics card and motherboard.
If you orient it to exhaust(which I think is better) , then your cpu cooling will be less effective because it uses pre heated case air.
And... I have read too many tales of woe when a liquid cooler leaks.
google "H100 leak"

The stock cooler would allow you the oc you listed.
But, it can get noisy under load.

A simple tower type cooler with a slow turning 120mm fan would cost $30 in the US. cm hyper212 or Xigmatek would be 2.

For the very best look for noctua or phanteks with 140mm fans.
 
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MauveCloud

MauveCloud

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A more expensive air cooler will give somewhat better performance, but rarely enough to justify the extra cost. However, that case has a maximum cpu cooler height of 155mm, so a hyper 212x won't fit, and neither will one of those noctua/phanteks coolers with 140mm fans. The Zalman CNPS9900MAX, however, will fit with a height of 152mm:
http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/zalman-cpu-cooler-cnps9900maxb
It's a bit expensive, but I'm not sure there's anything cheaper available in Australia that will fit and be better than the stock cooler.
 
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geofelt

geofelt

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I found several images of the case with taller coolers installed, here is one:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Thermaltake+Chaser+A-21&rls=com.microsoft:en-US:IE-ContextMenu&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=NtvtUqzMCIqq2wWF4oDIDA&ved=0CEEQsAQ&biw=1259&bih=897&dpr=1.56#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=2J8eLhff8XUhGM%253A%3BPgb4DS59at6DqM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fi4.minus.com%252FjHnwxxPXJavTO.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.overclockear.com%252Fforo%252Fshowthread.php%252F11451-Thermaltake-anuncia-su-nuevo-gabinete-Chaser-A21%3B743%3B478

I think the 155mm limit is if you install an optional side fan.

For a conservative oc, like to 4.0-4.2 the hyper212 will do the job.
You might be leaving 2 additional multipliers on the table without top end cooling.
Liquid or noctua/phantecks top end coolers are comparable in performance.
 
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MauveCloud

MauveCloud

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If the 155mm limit only applied with the side fan installed, why didn't Thermaltake indicate that, like Cooler Master does for the HAF XB and the top fan? Also, looking at the pictures (http://www.thermaltake.com/products-model_gallery.aspx?id=C_00002125), the top of the side fan mount lines up with the second expansion slot, so how could it interfere with the cpu cooler height? There's a small window above it that lines up with the cpu cooler, not a fan mount.
However, those pictures also conflict with the claimed 155mm limit, because two of them look like they have this cooler installed: http://www.thermaltake.com/products-model.aspx?id=C_00001824 which is 159.5mm. Now I'm confused.

Anyway, a good low profile cooler will work, though 155mm would allow what I call a "medium profile" cooler, such as the Zalman CNPS9900MAX or most tower-style coolers that use 92mm fans instead of 120mm.
 
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geofelt

geofelt

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ANY cooler should allow 4.0.
How well you can OC haswell is determined by your luck in the bin lottery.

Low profile coolers are not as efficient as tower coolers that direct the hot air towards the exit in the back of the case.
There are tower type coolers that use 92mm fans, but they tend to get noisy.
You could wait and measure the room available before you install an aftermarket cooler.
I really suspect that there is room for more than 155mm.
Or, buy a Noctua NH-U9B SE2 92mm SSO CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608016
It is only 125mm tall. The two fans can be slowed down with included low noise adapters.
I have used this before, and it is easy to install and quite effective.
 
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ANPeck

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I measured my case, there is exactly 170mm in between the motherboard tray and the side panel without the motherboard installed.
I have done a bit of looking around and a Noctua NH-L12 Low Profile CPU Cooler is the one I think I will get.
 
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