Corsair H50 Water Cooling system question ?????????

[bizzmeister]

Hey guys, Im picking up the Corsair H50 Water Cooling system next week for my build. I've heard nothing but great things about it. But what is bugging me right now is that fact that the video on youtube ( directly from them showing how to install it ) shows that it comes with cured thermal paste already on it.

I currently have a 120mm Zalman 9900ALED cpu fan on there. Obviously my CPU / Heatsink have thermal paste on it. Im going to have to clean it off when I remove the Zalman. Should I be adding more thermal paste to the H50 when I install it or what?


Here is the video for reference directly from Corsair:

See video @ 1:18 seconds . Should I add more on top of that ? Or leave it the way it is.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUxoFiFuS_g



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My Build for reference:

HAF 932 Full Tower
Gigabyte EX58A-UD5
i7 920 @ 3.6ghz
Zalman 120mm 9900ALED CPU Fan
12gig Crucial Ballastix ddr3 Ram @ 1333mhz 8-8-8-24
XFX Radeon 5970 Black Edition
Antec 1200 watt PSU
Windows 7 x64

 

[Shadow703793]

Should I be adding more thermal paste to the H50 when I install it or what?

No. Clean off the paste from BOTH the H50 AND the CPU. Then apply some IC Diamond, ShinEtsu, Artcic Silver 5 or other thermal paste.

Usually, the manufactures apply too much paste.

Note: The H50 does about the same as a "big" air cooler. Also note, the H50 is NOT a true water cooling set up.

 

[bizzmeister]

Thanks, ya I will definitely look into it. Ive been reading some reviews for right now.

 

[Conumdrum]

The stck paste on the H50 is really good stuff. You could just use it. Of course you have to clean the paste off the CPU when you remove the old cooler.... Duuuu.

 

[rofl_my_waffle]

My friend is using an H50 and it is quite impressive. As far as temperatures go, it is similar to big air coolers and nothing near water. But it is quiet and looks better than a hulking heatsink.

From a pure performance perspective, the H50 is a bit expensive. My friend got it at bestbuy for $60 so I say he got a goo deal.

 

[Shadow703793]

But it is quiet and looks better than a hulking heatsink.

I beg to differ. The H50 is just too plan and doesn't have enough "metal" feeling to it :lol:

 

[RJR]

You may also want to consider two high CFM fans with an OCed i7. The stock single fan won't cut it temp wise.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

The H50 will not match the performance of the top end air coolers and some have reported increased case temps....resulting in higher GPU temps.

 

[leon2006]

I have h50 for over a month now. I replaced my zalman 9700 with H50. Go for it. The best thing about it is the level of noise is alot lower than high end air coolers. Now i can hear my drives.

Just follow the installation instruction and it should work.

All temp is based on 100% CPU using prime95

SUMMARY(Actual reading from my PC):

Using Core 0 as a reference (Q6600 core with the highest temperature), with the Q6600
OC to 3.02GHZ @ 100%CPU for all Cores.
1. Using H50 the average temperature is lower by ~ 8C(from 54C- to 46C)
2. The H50 Highest temperature is lower by ~ 7C(from 56C- to 49C)
3. The noise level of the H50 is significantly less compare to the ZALMAN9700
cooler(Fan Speed set at 80% or Higher at Q6600 OC condition)

Its not the best water cooler solution in the market. But for all practical purposes it work and you can OC your CPU. Get lower temperature and operates at significantly less noise.

The other think is its very light on the motherboard. It reduce the stress on the motherboard from the big air coolers. You gain more access to your PC with all the free-up space.

 

[RJR]

I have h50 for over a month now. I replaced my zalman 9700 with H50. Go for it.

Massive difference in heat output between your Q6600 and an i7 920

 

[Shadow703793]

^ +1. Exactly what I was going to say.

 

[tweakbz]

Clean your CPU as you normally would, but don't remove what's on the H50. It's ShinEtsu if I recall...

I have an H50, and I used it to replace a Sunbeamtech Core-Contact Freezer 120mm... It kills it, by 8-10 celcius under load & idle.

EDIT:

Also, set it up in a Push-Pull configuration.. It doesn't nessecarily have to be mounted to the rear-exhaust of the case with the fan INTAKING... I put mine at the top of my case with both fans exhausting (Push/Pull) air from within the case... But I have a COSMOS S and a large fan on the side intaking cold air to begin with.

Additional info...
It's sealed, closed-loop, and extremely portable. The tubes are incredibly strong and have an extremely low chance of leaking. When I bought mine I did some research about it and only one person on Corsair's forums mentioned anything about a leak. He RMA'ed the product, Corsair verified the leak, and they replaced all his damaged components.

 

[leon2006]

tweakbz....8-10C temp reduction on your Core I7-920?

 

[tweakbz]

tweakbz....8-10C temp reduction on your Core I7-920?

Yes. But I also moved my case in the room from under a desk to a more open area with better airflow. Pretty sure that helps, a bit. Either way, the H50 killed the Sunbeam. Not sure how it'd stack against something like a Megahalems, but whatever. I'm very happy with it, at least for now.

I'm looking at building a 3x120rad system in a few months.