How do all-in-one liquid coolers stack up against custom loop water cooling?

[thismafiaguy]

I've used an H80i for almost a year now to cool an FX-8350 and an i5-4670K, and I'm starting to look at better options due to interest in water cooling the GPU, and the fact that closed loop liquid coolers aren't really as effective as the "real" thing. I'm limited to using a single 120mm radiator, so how much cooling performance could I expect if I set up a 120mm x 80mm Alphacool radiator with a Swiftech Apogee Drive II block+pump, and a Swiftech MCRES V2 reservoir? And what makes closed loop liquid coolers inferior to custom loops? I won't add in a liquid cooled GPU until later, but for now the parts I need to set up my custom loop will cost at least $250, I need to know if it's really worth it. And as extra information, I have a Fractal Design Node 304 case and I'm running a 4670K.

 

[IInuyasha74]

Not my area of expertise, andI am sure someone will be along to tell you more, but from what I have heard the water coolers like the H80i you can buy already together is about on key with high end air coolers. Custom water coolers do way better job, so I would say expect a decent drop in temps.

 

[Som3one]

I am not a watercooling expert but I would say a custom loop with only a single 120 rad is not really worth it.
And I also doubt it will be able to handle a CPU AND a GPU.

 

[manofchalk]

In a word, poorly. CLC's use Ethelyne Glycol (Antifreeze) as coolant so their Aluminium low FPI radiators don't corrode, and use quite weak pumps.

However if your only working with 120mm of radiator space, I wouldn't bother, especially if you intend to add in a GPU down the line. Quite simply a 120mm cant handle that kind of heat.

 

[thismafiaguy]

Does the thickness of the single 120mm radiator not contribute to better performance? It's one of these:
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/16235/ex-rad-409/Alphacool_NexXxoS_Monsta_Single_120mm_Radiator_-_80mm_Thick.html

I figured there isn't a lot of coolant in a closed loop cooler to absorb and carry the heat, so a custom loop would at least benefit from having a higher coolant capacity.

 

[Som3one]

Sure it would.

But IMO it´s still not worth it. And definately not capable of cooling more than one heat source.

 

[Som3one]

Just a thought: You could always go external watercooling.

 

[rds1220]

Having done all three the custom water loops do better at cooling than a closed loop water kit or air cooling. Those water kits really don't do any better than high-end air cooling.

 

[thismafiaguy]

Thanks for your opinions! I will look for more reviews of this particular radiator, so far it appears to be one of the best if not THE best 120mm radiator currently on the market. I honestly wouldn't mind if I don't get the same cooling performance as the people that are running 3 or 4 radiators in their system, I mainly want to build this custom loop for the challenge, and as a step up from the H80i.

I did find someone who has done a custom loop with pretty much the identical parts that I will be using, it seems to be pretty good actually.
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1711727

 

[manofchalk]

A thicker rad does perform better than a slimmer one provided you have a strong enough fan.

I think if you build this loop, you will only be dissapointed. 120mm is not a lot of rad space, if you include the GPU in the loop you will get horrible temperatures. I would be looking at externally mounting radiators, the top panel looks like it could easily accommodate a 280mm rad.

 

[thismafiaguy]

I won't be able to modify the case to mount a 280mm radiator, it will mean mounting my SSD, 3.5" storage HDD, and reservoir elsewhere in the case. And I've taken measurements from the top of the power supply to the ceiling inside the case, if I mount a 280mm rad that is 38mm thick, one of the fans will be seriously suffocated due to proximity of the power supply, and the other one will simply be pulling all the hot air from the motherboard. External water cooling gives very flexible options, but that would negate all the effort of building a mini-ITX system in the first place.

What is considered a good result from a custom loop? I've seen two people so far that have built custom loops using this 120mm radiator, and their load temps with CPU+GPU are about 20-25°C above ambient. I'm not expecting very much, just an improvement over the H80i and GPU on air.

 

[rds1220]

If you can get the CPU to the high teens or low twenties that is really good. Again it really depends on the rad you use the fans, the number of fans, static pressure from the fans. Each plays it's own part in the process and each contribute.

 

[Bonecrushrr]

I won't be able to modify the case to mount a 280mm radiator, it will mean mounting my SSD, 3.5" storage HDD, and reservoir elsewhere in the case. And I've taken measurements from the top of the power supply to the ceiling inside the case, if I mount a 280mm rad that is 38mm thick, one of the fans will be seriously suffocated due to proximity of the power supply, and the other one will simply be pulling all the hot air from the motherboard. External water cooling gives very flexible options, but that would negate all the effort of building a mini-ITX system in the first place.

What is considered a good result from a custom loop? I've seen two people so far that have built custom loops using this 120mm radiator, and their load temps with CPU+GPU are about 20-25°C above ambient. I'm not expecting very much, just an improvement over the H80i and GPU on air.

CPU and GPU on a 12 cm Rad at only 20-25 degrees above ambient... I call bulls*** unless its a Pentium II and an old school Radeon 9000. My I7-920 is water cooled with just the CPU on a dual 120mm rad 3/8 tubing on a swiftec mcp655 and that runs 50 degrees full load or 28 to 30 above ambient when overclocked.

If you put a CPU and GPU on a single 12cm radiator then expect them to run very hot.

P.S. The microres may work well with lower flow's however with the high flow of the MCP655 I could not get it to quit picking up air( the incoming water swirls so fast that it creates turbulence in the top half which pulls air bubbles into your loop) even with only 1/8th inch of air space in the top. MCP655 is 1200 lph and your pump is 1050lph so not that far off.

 

[thismafiaguy]

Here is the build log of the guy that built a CPU+GPU loop with the Alphacool Monsta 120 rad, seems pretty legit.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1295261/build-log-mini-elite-crusher-cooler-master-elite-120-advanced/20

I however will not be building my water cooling loop in an ITX case, I have gone back to an ATX tower and I will be building a loop with a 240 and 280 rad for the CPU and GPU. ITX was fun, but not enough to house my ambition.

 

[Bonecrushrr]

I still don't believe it that is too much heat input and not enough radiator for those temperatures. My dual 120mm radiator on my i7-920 overclocked to 3.76ghz ran between 50 and 55 degrees and that was cpu only.

 

[thismafiaguy]

I'm sure there are quite a few other factors that contributed to his overall results, his build log mainly showcased what was possible with that kind of a setup. But if a 120mm rad can do that, I wonder what the 240mm version can do.