Offering a taste of liquid-cooled performance without the maintenance hassle, sealed-liquid systems are the logical choice for many high-end builds. We compare four options to an air-cooled standard to see if any of them stand out above the others.
The path to better PC component cooling has always involved bigger cooling surfaces, more airflow, or lower ambient temperatures. The problem with standard heat sink and fan designs is that the fans already hit the space limits of most systems, and making the cooler thicker can push its weight beyond the limits of the ATX form factor, causing bowing, bending, and sometimes even breaking. Noisy high-speed fans are required to maintain reasonable air velocity through the thicker sink, and pushing for the lowest ambient temperature often necessitates an acoustically-unfriendly chassis.
Liquid cooling conquers these challenges by relocating the heat sink to a more appropriate location, where it can be supported by the case and exposed to a cooler and/or higher-velocity airstream.
Moving the radiator away from the processor interface also benefits the builder, providing ample space to reach memory modules and on-board power connectors. And yet, maintenance issues often chase builders away from the custom cooling systems so often favored by our most enthusiastic readers. The alternative for low maintenance, sealed systems have become so reliable that they’re even being branded and sold by AMD (with its FX-series processors) and Intel (complementing the Sandy Bridge-E-based chips).

For as similar as the two coolers in the shot above seem, though, the included installation hardware is platform-specific. We decided that if we're going to spend big money on cooling, we want more universality than that. So, we chose to compare retail coolers able to support multiple platforms (two of which were produced by the same company as the platform-specific models).

| Closed-Loop Cooler Features | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antec Kühler H₂O 620 | Antec Kühler H₂O 920 | Corsair Hydro H80 | Corsair Hydro H100 | |
| Length | 5.6" | 5.6" | 6.0" | 10.8" |
| Width | 4.7" | 4.7" | 4.7" | 4.8" |
| Rad. Thickness | 1.1" | 1.9" | 1.5" | 1.1" |
| Cooling Fans | 1 x 120 x 25 mm | 2 x 120 x 25 mm | 1 x 120 x25 mm | 2 x 120 x 25 mm |
| Total Thickness | 2.1" | 3.9" | 2.5" | 2.1" |
| Control Type | Integrated/Auto | Programmable | Integrated/Auto | Integrated/Auto |
| Weight | 24 Ounces | 39 Ounces | 42 Ounces | 41 Ounces |
| AMD Sockets | All AM2 to AM3+ | All AM2 to AM3+ | All AM2 to AM3+ | All AM2 to AM3+ |
| Intel Sockets | 775, 1156/1155, 1366 | 775, 1156/1155, 1366 | 775, 1156/1155, 1366, 2011 | 775, 1156/1155, 1366, 2011 |
| Web Price | $58 | $95 | $75 | $95 |
I completely agree. Pretty much the only reason to go with these sealed water coolers is to say that you water cooled your PC.
I completely agree. Pretty much the only reason to go with these sealed water coolers is to say that you water cooled your PC.
I agree 100%. And I do, in fact have an H70. And when I'm at work describing the epic beast of computers I build, and I show off some pics of mine; I always point to the H70 and go "Theres the radiator for the water cooler" /gasp!
I think that's a perfectly good reason to buy any product. I like that I have a choice. But Noctua's tower coolers look pretty sexy too.
Remember these are easy to install closed loop water colling setups too guys.
They are not half inch or bigger professional units designed to keep your massively overclocked sub-critical mass uber rig cool as ice and quiet too.
You need a decent pump, a large or two smaller radiators, a tank, and a lot more hose ... and some more time.
http://www.swiftech.com/
Corsair, Asetech, Antec, Thermaltake ... these are all low end units ... not enthusiast's water cooling gear like Swiftech.
Good value for money though ... I am not knocking them.
Once again you do a comparison against an inferior air cooler, so your conclusion does not hold much weight with me.
Why do you not include the Noctua NH-D14 or a Thermalright Silver Arrow, both which cost about the same as your WC loops (or a bit less) yet are delivering better performance (and noise levels) with the Antec H100 at max speed as the exception. The H100 is comparable to the air coolers.
Oh I'd rather have a Noctua NH-D14 with a 3rd NH-12 fan, but I traded an old crappy PSU for this H70 brand new. So I takes what I can gets!
Furthermore you say "Once again..." even though the air cooler won the last time this editor wrote this type of comparison. Look it up, "Small water versus Big Air", I'm sure Google can help.
Furthermore you say "Once again..." even though the air cooler won the last time this editor wrote this type of comparison. Look it up, "Small water versus Big Air", I'm sure Google can help.
I read your last article as well, like I do most articles on the site.
The problem I have with this article is your intro where you mention noise and cooling performance, yet you chose an air cooler that is cheaper than the WC loops you are testing.
Had you chosen a comparable air cooler price wise (the Ncotua NH-D14 or Thermalright Silver Arrow), all of the WC loops would have performed worse than the air cooler, the H100 would have been the exception, but it would have to run at max speed, thus negating the noise level performance.