Corsair H70 - Advice?

[Furiøùs]

Just picked up an H70, coming from a TRUE 120 (single fan, no Push-Pull) and picked up an i7-920 as well, 4.2 solid with HT. With OCCT running on the Linpack, I'm hitting 82-83c. Exactly the same as the TRUE, and so far, not impressed.

I have it orientated so that the radiator is upside down (Sticker is facing up, with the tubes coming from the top as well) which was an accident, didn't realize it when I was mounting it. I have it as an exhaust, but with my HAF932 OG, I'm not worried about it too much considering the top fan blowing cool air, as well as the side fan.

Any tips to get my temps down? also, is it worth putting some real spread on the block / chip? I left the stuff that was on the block, figured it would be good enough.

[Havokator]

From what I have read, the Corsair H50 and H70 aren't any better than a really good air cooler. I have also read a review that tested both and determined that the H50 was actually better than the H70. You can read the review here:

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1555079

Also, did you say you are using the stock thermal pads or whatever that was on the block when you got it? I would definitely look into getting some good thermal paste such as MX-2 or at least AS5.

[Sideroxylon]

Those things aren't much better than a high end air cooler. There's not a lot you can do that will make much of a difference. Fans in push/pull and make sure you're feeding it cool air and not using it as an exhaust will help.

You're best bet is to ditch that thing and consider a custom setup if you really want to see better temps.

[86 5.0L]

pretty much, a H50/70 are the same as a top end air cooler, but with the benefits of zero stress on the motherboard and capability of lower noise.

[Lu523]

Glad I saw this. i was thinking about giving one a try. I will save my money.

[Furiøùs]

That's disappointing.

[mdzcpa]

I wouldn't ignore what 86 5.0L said above though. I put a pair of the H50s on my 2 kids rigs and love them. They are MUCH easier to install, take up vastly less room in the case, and are way quieter then most high end air coolers. I also like the idea of not hanging the weight equivalent of a brick off my mobo mounts. IMO the design, noise and weight of the best high end air coolers is obnoxious.

A customer water job is they way to go if your serious about water. But if you want an easy slam dunk cooler without the bulk and noise of high end air, there is definitely a market for these all-in-one units. You just cannot expect custom system performance.

[m0r7if3r]

From the data I've seen they aren't any quieter than high end air and stuff that's cheaper like the d14 and silver arrow beat them in performance and noise...

[mdzcpa]

I'm not going off of data. I'm going off my own hands on experience. Of course my opinion and $1 buy you a cup of coffee. All I know is that I happily through my overweight air cooling bricks in the trash bin after giving the H50 a whirl. I bought a second one for my other kid's rig. I run single fans on medium speed and they cool great for the noise/weight ratio. I will never go back to hanging monster coolers off my sockets again.

Edit - I would check out this review here as well. http://www.overclockers.com/corsair-hydro-series-h70-review/ It has the H70 on par with the D-14 and True rev c. This is only one review, but I know I've seen others that reach the same conclusion. Although I will emphasize again that neither the H50 or H70 are meant to seriously compete in the water cooling arena, the H70 should do better than the OP is experiencing. The only air coolers I could get to out perform the H70 were noisier...in my non-lab, seat of the pants, Lan room. But if pure cooling per dollar is the goal, then there are certainly some noisier air solutions out there that would be better.

[Biker]

In my experience both the H50 and the H70 have a hard time cooling 45nm 1366 over 4ghz.

Cooling 32nm however is a much better prospect ;)

For example in my system right now a H70 (configured as exhaust) is cooling a X5670 @ 4.2 with 2 1600 rpm fans constantly crunching on 12 threads @ 100% and the hottest core is 57 celcius...

What vcore are you running to get 4.2?

[86 5.0L]

In my experience both the H50 and the H70 have a hard time cooling 45nm 1366 over 4ghz.

Cooling 32nm however is a much better prospect ;)

For example in my system right now a H70 (configured as exhaust) is cooling a X5670 @ 4.2 with 2 1600 rpm fans constantly crunching on 12 threads @ 100% and the hottest core is 57 celcius...

What vcore are you running to get 4.2?

cools my i7 920 just fine :)

[Biker]

cools my i7 920 just fine :)

Yes but that means you must be running sensible vcore ;)

Anyway more details please:

Vcore fan speed hottest core temps under 100% load etc

In my experience over 1.3v vcore and a H50 / are hitting high 70's with 45nm 1366...

[m0r7if3r]

Edit - I would check out this review here as well. http://www.overclockers.com/corsair-hydro-series-h70-review/ It has the H70 on par with the D-14 and True rev c. This is only one review, but I know I've seen others that reach the same conclusion. Although I will emphasize again that neither the H50 or H70 are meant to seriously compete in the water cooling arena, the H70 should do better than the OP is experiencing. The only air coolers I could get to out perform the H70 were noisier...in my non-lab, seat of the pants, Lan room. But if pure cooling per dollar is the goal, then there are certainly some noisier air solutions out there that would be better.

I've actually met Jim (muddocktor, the guy who wrote that review) in person and talked rather extensively with him through OCF and I can say rather definitively that he will recommend high end air over the h*0 all day long. There are scenarios when it's good, such as limited or oddly distributed space, and it does have the benefit of guaranteed ram clearance, but performance and performance/noise wise, it's beat...on a side note, I met that san ace compound fan he test with in person and it's INSANE.

[86 5.0L]

Yes but that means you must be running sensible vcore ;)

Anyway more details please:

Vcore fan speed hottest core temps under 100% load etc

In my experience over 1.3v vcore and a H50 / are hitting high 70's with 45nm 1366...

vcore - 1.38
Vtt - +0.380mV
IOH 1.2

fans - 2 antec tri-cools on high
temps - between 80*-100*

dont be afraid of temps, you cannot damage a Nehalem by hitting 100*, I've been folding 24/7 for 1.5 years just fine at these temps :)

[Biker]

Madness :D

Well with sixteen hexacores crunching constantly in my front room i'll have to admit that I am VERY afraid of high temps :rofl:

[fatherTime27]

What fans are you using on it? Change it so it is an intake and get some fans that have high static pressure maybe some shrouds. Thats about all I can think of.

[86 5.0L]

Madness :D

Well with sixteen hexacores crunching constantly in my front room i'll have to admit that I am VERY afraid of high temps :rofl:

the temps are usually 75-80*, once it gets full of dust or the ambient temp rises is when it starts to creep up

[RacingTurtle]

I have it orientated so that the radiator is upside down (Sticker is facing up, with the tubes coming from the top as well) which was an accident, didn't realize it when I was mounting it.

Have you tried mounting it the correct way? Also, I saw a few degrees difference in changing out the Corsair TIM for some MX-4.

[Manicdan]

switch out the fans for Gentle Typhoons of whichever speed you like
take older fans and gut them out to make shrouds
use IC7 TIM
run it as intake
=
much better results

again, this is not built to demolish air cooling, just do a very good job with a few options for users as far as space and mounting location and where the heat goes.
if it really could offer better temps than ANY air cooling, that almost compete with a custom WC loop, it would be selling for much more.

[Furiøùs]

I didn't expect it to beat my TRUE-120 (rev A, the original) by much, but I did expect maybe 2-4c at best cooler, and I'm not seeing that.

I'm using the fans that came with the H70, I replaced the TIM with IC Diamond, and noticed maybe a Celsius drop, nothing to run home about.

I will try mounting it the normal way, and possibly mounting the radiator to the top of the case and take out the 250mm up there, in my HAF932. As of right now, It's mounted on the back, and I didn't want to make it an intake since my GTX480 would be blowing hot air right into it, considering hot air rises and the cooler would be above it.

I'll be experimenting this weekend with the orientation and if the tubes are long enough for me to mount it to the top.
I let the PC run all night while it was downloading some steam games (Fresh install) and the temps are a bit better, I'm seeing the same temps that I had yesterday with 0% load, now with 3-5% load, so that's not bad.

First shot at Watercooling, I'm not daring enough or have the $$ for a Custom kit.

[penguins]

It's not watercooling.

What I mean by that is it isn't meant to compete with water cooling, it's just supposed to be a simple option to use a radiator instead of a 5 lbs piece of copper heattubes.
it will not show you better temps that your true. Most people have at least 2x120 rad for their quad cores or at least high speed fans on a single. this is a single that comes with a low speed fan.
to be honest idk if it would even take advantage of a high speed fan.

watercooling isn't cheap, but it doesn't have to be mad expensive. Just keep in mind the cost of fittings, that's the killer..

[Vapor]

I like the term LCLC (Low Cost Liquid Cooling) for H50/H60/H70/etc type things...and yeah, definitely won't keep up with custom kits but they can do what a high-end heatsink can do in a much more versatile form-factor.

Like with any cooling, they need to have their radiator take in the coldest air possible for the best performance. We stress this a lot for WC (radiators at the case inlet), but it's just as important for heatsinks that they get cool air too....and in turn it's just as important for LCLC to be mounted in such a way that has the coldest air possible going through its radiator.

Put this way, if your case air is 8C warmer than your room air, then your CPU temps will be 8C higher if you're using case air to cool the radiator. LCLC can sorta separate itself from heatsinks in that it can be positioned to take in the coolest air possible--heatsinks are stuck where they are.

[Furiøùs]

I never expected incredible performance, but a little better than my TRUE was all I was expecting, I liked the form factor more then anything.
Going to try making it an intake.

[Church]

Imho we will never see these integrated LC systems with larger rads .. but in next revisions they should go at least for two separate 1x120 rads. Finding two separate 1x120 fan cutouts at most cases imho is much easier then finding 2x120 side by side, so it would still be compact and universal enough, yet finally be able to overcome top air coolers too.
Another option would be to sell optional second rad with two pieces of tubing and fittings and a bit of whatever coolant they use (i'm guessing there can be alu in these, so some specific coolant with corrosion inhibition property is needed?)

[Furiøùs]

Made it an intake, seeing a little better temps, nothing serious but definitely an improvement.

Will be looking into gutting fans and making a shroud, work in progress but I'm happy overall, Shogun 2 is so much faster on this 920 then my Q9650. :D

[kgk]

I've used the H50 and the H70 and before that dozens of air cooling heatsinks. I have to say, after swapping to the H50/H70's I can't imagine going back to the copper towers for a daily driver.

It's nice and compact, doesn't obstruct the RAM or RAM slots (which some have had a tendency to do), and it's quieter while achieving the same and sometimes better results.

In my experience anyway.