Isn't PC cooling the biggest scam ever?

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Phazoner

Phazoner

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The last week I received a really, really good offer to buy a new CPU. A real plum. So I decided to buy it, but my Mini-ITX PC and it's original cooler, not a really good looking one, was in real struggle when stress-testing it, even without overclocking nor in the warmest day (the last days here we were a little over 30ºC but the next days it will exceed 40ºC). So I started looking for little air coolers and single-fanned water coolers.

After days of research and calculations about how big could be a air cooler or AIO fits in, I just found a badass, little and cheap air cooler that will left me plenty of space around it and even allow me to add it a second fan while having a performance pretty similar (and even better) to the well-known CM Hyper 212 EVO with a price between 20€ and 30€. It is coming to my house for less than 25€, and if I had the chance to go to the store it would have costed me a little less than 20€.

So I am absolutely confused about cooler prices and real capabilities. I mean, the AIO water coolers with a sad single fan with positive reviews are all over 60€ but this ones aren't, by the tests, better or much better than good air coolers. For example, the ones (and popular) I found were just like 5ºC better than the tiny little daddy by three times the price.

I just don't want to say the brands because I don't want this text to look like underhand advertising. Just the 212 EVO because it's a popular reference (here it costs around 35€, for more references).

One more data: I just put the size of the 212 EVO vs the tiny and cheap cooler in an online calculator to get their volume. The tiny one is 710600 millimeters3 and the 212 EVO is 1526400 millimeters3, more than twice the size, being almost twice the price but giving the same performance.

What is this. Really. Magic? No. It's just that it's physically possible to develop great cooling with a tiny 92mm2 fan and an also tiny heatsink, but for some magic reason much bigger and expensive coolers, perform similarly or a very little better. I'm just like freaking with this. Are coolers rocket science and the tiny cooler creator was a genious that just died just after creating only this cooler or there is something really strange and that makes no sense here?
 
Solution
Eximo
I think a lot of what people see in the benchmark results don't tell the whole story either.

Usually Noise/Temperature/Cost. You see the results, but not the process, and what you'll commonly see is that air coolers offer great performance at mid-range temperatures (typical loads) but a water cooler has so much additional capacity. So while the temperatures in the tests look about the same, those water coolers have a lot more room to deal with more heat. The average CPU temperature won't change much until the maximum dissipation is reached for a given ambient temperature.

A lot of testing methodology is also done on open air benches, rather than inside cases. At least with some reviewer.

Many of the points ingtar33 make are closer to...
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Gam3r01

Gam3r01

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AIO coolers are always going to be more expensive due to their more intricate design. While they may not offer better performance, people buy them for a few reasons:
They can fit in small cases much easier
They look "cool"
They dont know any different, and really want a water cooler.

As for your air cooler, while it may deliver similar performance to the 212 EVO in a smaller package, it will almost certainly be louder due to the smaller fan.

Price/performance does not scale linearly, you pay a good deal more for marginally better temps, thats just how it works.
 
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jojesa

jojesa

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Size is not the only variable in the equation.
Just because a cooler has more mass does not automatically translate to cooling performance.
You need to take in consideration materials, build quality fins, fan, pipes, etc and the research that goes into delivering a couple degrees of performance.
There are many air coolers that outperform some AIO water coolers and the latter cost more because of the manufacturing process
There are also air coolers that cost more than AIO water coolers, and they could match water coolers performance.
Even CM T4 could be found $10 cheaper than CM 212 EVO and depending on the application (CPU) they might deliver similar performance.


 
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H

hotaru251

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TBH.... unless you are goign for extreme OC top of the line air coolers can (varies by person as not all parts and components are equal) give you cooler temps overall.

liquids tend to have better short use temps as liquids eventually will retain some heat where as air cooling is really good at getting rid of the heat constantly. (casue of the metals used in heatsinks)

I mean if i had to pick a cooler on the fly i'd go for noctura's massive beast just casue I know how good it is

also lots of price is in branding too. (i mean iirc corsair..might of been someone else... has 2 cpu coolers for 2 different prices and the cheaper oen actually beats the higher one)

 
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ingtar33

ingtar33

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The water cooling market is about a number of things.
1) the water cooler is essentially a heat exchanger, you're taking the heat from one place and moving it somewhere else. this allows for flexibility when space is an issue
2) water cooling can be nice "clean" looking
3) water cooling handles rapid temp fluxuations better then standard cpu coolers (this is not a huge factor unless you're dealing with huge TDP cpus)
4) water cooling handles huge TDP cpus better then air cooling (for the most part, due to the lack of limits on radiator size)
5) depending on the setup, water cooling can be quieter; again this DOES depend on the build and not a blanket comment.

As for the air cooling "racket" there are a lot of reasons for the different air coolers out there. most people avoid 92mm coolers like the plague due to their incredibly loud noise (often sounding akin to a hair dryer). however no one claims a 92mm fan can't move air. Bigger fans (and coolers) tend to be quieter, due to the lower speeds the fan can move at to accomplish the same cooling a smaller fan/cooler can manage. So if you have the space a large fan might be an attractive option to you.

I know when I built my computer I was going for a <20db build. In order to accomplish this I went with a $55 cpu cooler known as the Macho R2, which is a huge tower cooler that can almost cool a cpu "passively", then attached the quietists slowest spinning fan I could find onto it. I used a lot of tricks to get a silent pc build, and in the end accomplished my goal of a <20db computer. It's even moderately overclocked.

 
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jankerson

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Well the 212 EVO you are comparing that unknown cooler to isn't really all that great to begin with for one.

And neither are any of the 120mm AIO's for that matter.
 
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zebarjadi.raouf

zebarjadi.raouf

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I thought you had size problems. That's tall
What is this. Really. Magic? No.
Click to expand...
No, it's SCIENCE. ;) You have to consider many factors but let's just stick to one. heat output
Hyper 212 can handle about 150W of heat.
Cooler gigante (just any decent bigger cooler) can handle up to 250W. Like Macho Rev. B (50$ on amazon).

Lets say your CPU gives off x amount heat. The temp difference between H212 and a bigger cooler will be:
90W → 2-4c Core i7 @ Stock (max usage)
120W → 4-8c Core i7 @ Mild OC (max usage)
150W → 8-12c Core i7 @ Heavy OC (max usage)
150W+ → 12c+ Xeon, i9, i7X (OC max usage)
Note: this is just a rough comparison. I just know CRYORIG H7 and H212 had 6c difference with 120W heat.

Also, pricing doesn't scale linearly. A 1000$ gold plated phone isn't 10 times faster than a 100$ phone. But it's ten times shinier.
AIO water coolers
Click to expand...
They are harder to make. Easier to use, More popular, Cool better in summer, More risky. One leak, you get a toaster.
All of these make it more expensive.

But you're right. 120mm is for people with mini cases. People shouldn't consider anything below 240mm if they can.
 
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Eximo

Eximo

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I think a lot of what people see in the benchmark results don't tell the whole story either.

Usually Noise/Temperature/Cost. You see the results, but not the process, and what you'll commonly see is that air coolers offer great performance at mid-range temperatures (typical loads) but a water cooler has so much additional capacity. So while the temperatures in the tests look about the same, those water coolers have a lot more room to deal with more heat. The average CPU temperature won't change much until the maximum dissipation is reached for a given ambient temperature.

A lot of testing methodology is also done on open air benches, rather than inside cases. At least with some reviewer.

Many of the points ingtar33 make are closer to the truth.

An air cooler offers 'direct' cooling. But once saturated the metal is going to closer to the CPU temperature, meaning a lower Delta Temperature (difference). In a water cooler the liquid is used only as a transfer medium. The cooling takes place in the radiator. So effectively the water is always significantly cooler than the CPU. The delta between the radiator and ambient air is less, but the surface area is as big as you want to spend. So a smaller delta over a much larger area results in cooler water temps, and thus a better buffer for the CPU than the warm metal in an air cooler.

Heatpipes in a decent air cooler help a lot with a rapid phase change inside the liquid carrying heatpipes. But once the temperature exceeds the phase change potential in the fluid they act only as additional mass.
 
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Solution
Phazoner

Phazoner

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Thanks a lot to everyone, loved zebarjadi.raouf and Eximo information, very instructive.

I was going to use the Aidos (it's not too tall) but I finally got the chance to get a good AIO at a good price, the TD03-SLIM, but my PC is a prebuilt MSI with a custom mobo and kind of a custom bracket behind the CPU which holds the CPU plate and the original cooler so I can't remove it to use the AIO bracket and it's driving me nuts because it's holes for the screws are too thick. Bought some thinner, wish they fit xD.

 
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