H70 Water Cooling Kit by Corsair Reviewed

[engstudent]

I would say lower push / higher pull just for the fact that the other way around would produce a harmonic resonance of the fins that would be detrimental to the optimum air flow.

 

In other words, I have no idea

 

I tried the lower push than pull and the puller was struggling - maybe it wasn't being fed enough air, it's started whinning. Then it started crying. Had to swap em. And a may have lost a degree in performance. I'll never know, because the sound was unbearably annoying. So I replaced them and all is well now, got at least a 9 degree difference at idle and at least a 7 degree difference at load - the difference at load is probably a lot more at this overvolt but I shut the load test off at 64C with the previous cooler. Max temp underload is still in the upper 50s for the hottest part of the prime95 torture test.

 

Should try a second, identical, 110cfm scythe fan in the pushpull config or leave it at that? It's only 10 bucks.

[ccokeman]

Always use fans of the same CFM rating so you dont run into that issue.

[Waco]

Always use fans of the same CFM rating so you dont run into that issue.

Agreed - I used to run a pair of mismatched fans and it was horribly annoying. However, since they spun in opposite directions I put up with the noise because stacking them made them capable of a huge amount of static pressure. I'm surprised it's so hard to find fans that run "backwards" sold next to identical normal models. Two 25mm fans stacked running in opposite directions may be a *bit* noisy but the gains to be had are great.

[srini]

I installed H70 and I am happy for that!

After reading the review of Corsair h70 in OC Reviews, I found that it costs Rs. 5700 in SP Road, Bangalore and I decided to install it, because with my stock cooler the temperature was going beyond 80 degree Celcius, when I set the frequency to 3.6 GHz (not manually, but automatically, through the BIOS utility). I purchased and installed it and here are the salient features of the story (I will not bore u with each and every step, instead highlight what I think is important):

Point 1. -- Preparation-- The official video by corsair for installation of H50 in youtube sucks (because he does not bother to explain the installation on AM3 socket and he particularly ignores the question of retaining/removing the backplate) and I found that in my case, I could not use the stock backplate with the Corsair's screws, and So I had to remove the motherboard from the cabinet (because CoolerMaster 690 II advanced does not give you access to all the screws of the backplate if you use Asus g4a89gtd Pro) in order to remove the stock backplate. Since that meant disconnecting all the connections, I photographed all the connections and also memorised the connections as much as possible, before disconnecting.

Point 2. -- Removing the thermal paste from the CPU-- I purchased both Isopropyl Alcohol (not sure of the percentage, but 70% or 90% is suggested) from an Electronic store in SP road, and Acetone from a Medical Store, and I removed the thermal paste from CPU, using Acetone and Johnson earbud and then Isopropyl Alcohol and Johnson earbud. Doing this was hard because I had to hold the CPU by the edges (and avoid pressing the pins), and hold it hard enough to withstand the pressure that I had exert with my other hand (to remove the thermal paste). I could have saved myslef from this trouble had I saved the plastic container in which the CPU is packed. It is so much easier to keep the CPU in the container, with the pins resting on the sponge, and then scrub its surface.

Point 3. -- Though I took care not to over tighten the screws of the cooler, I did hear a snapping sound while tightening and after this I was ever so careful not to overtighten the screws; and I think it is important to tighten the screws (while fixing the cooler on to the CPU) in the ORDER suggested in the manual.

Point 4. -- Proof of the pudding is in the eating -- Lo and Behold, the CPU temperature is now not crossing 50 Degrees Celcius, while the CPU grinds away at the frequency of 3.6 GHz. It is a tad noisy, I mean the CPU fans, but that is fine, though.

 

Thanks to Overclockers Club for suggesting Corsair H70.

- Srinivas RG