Antec KÜHLER HO 620 CPU Water Cooler Review @ [H]

I just wanted to share my results using the Antec 620. I am running an i7 920 at 3.9Ghz with 1.275V which idled at 50°C and would hit mid 90's after several minutes in Prime95 with my dinky Arctic Freezer 92mm cooler. Having installed the Antec cooler, I am now idling at 38° and after a full pass in Prime95, the hottest core just hit 70°C. I must say I am pretty happy with those results. The fan/pump is super quiet and relatively easy to hook up even though the included instructions are basically worthless. Hopefully now I can finally go over 4.0Ghz without worrying something is going to melt.
 
t0asty said:
I just wanted to share my results using the Antec 620. I am running an i7 920 at 3.9Ghz with 1.275V which idled at 50°C and would hit mid 90's after several minutes in Prime95 with my dinky Arctic Freezer 92mm cooler. Having installed the Antec cooler, I am now idling at 38° and after a full pass in Prime95, the hottest core just hit 70°C. I must say I am pretty happy with those results. The fan/pump is super quiet and relatively easy to hook up even though the included instructions are basically worthless. Hopefully now I can finally go over 4.0Ghz without worrying something is going to melt.
Click to expand...

I'm happy to hear you're pleased with the results. As far as your feedback on the instructions, it's pretty difficult to get all of that info onto a piece of paper. We'll be following that up with an install video shortly.
 
Yeah I understand. Anyone with any PC building knowledge can figure it out by looking at the pictures, but a newcomer might be a little intimidated. That video should be a big help for that issue though.
 
t0asty said:
I just wanted to share my results using the Antec 620. I am running an i7 920 at 3.9Ghz with 1.275V which idled at 50°C and would hit mid 90's after several minutes in Prime95 with my dinky Arctic Freezer 92mm cooler. Having installed the Antec cooler, I am now idling at 38° and after a full pass in Prime95, the hottest core just hit 70°C. I must say I am pretty happy with those results. The fan/pump is super quiet and relatively easy to hook up even though the included instructions are basically worthless. Hopefully now I can finally go over 4.0Ghz without worrying something is going to melt.
Click to expand...

got mine a few days ago and I am pretty impressed with it although I have to agree the instruction sheet provided was pretty much useless to the point where I had to take a look for a reveiw detailing the correct install procedure to make sure I didnt balls up the install.

keeps my unlocked and overclocked X2 560BE @ 3.8Ghz around 58'c max (socket temp as Core temps dont work on unlocked CPU's) under prime load for 9 hours in this high ambient summer weather with 1.52v vcore and 1.425 NB @ 2500mhz, this is using a push pull exhaust config on the rad, gonna experiment a bit more with the fan config to see if I can get a bit better on the temps
 
What is the recommended radiator/fan setup? I have a CM Haf 932 for a case, I was thinking of doing a push/pull exhaust setup using the rear 140mm fan spot that also has 120mm holes. If that's the best way, should I put one radiator fan outside the case and one on the inside, or have both fans inside the case?
 
ok, i got mine... installed, and fired up.... and there it sits at 25c... stock fan, blowing in... haven;t added another yet... just a crappy side fan blowing out... 10000% agreed, the instructions are beyond useless. watch one of the youtube vids for real installation instructions..
 
Just unboxed mine. All my fan headers are throttled, I assume I need to disable that and let the unit handle it?
 
Got mine today. Took forever to figure how to install with instructions but once I got it installed it was really easy. This this is awesome keep my CPU way cool. I bumped my 2500k up to 4.5ghz no problem and my temps are still way lower than the old retail intel cooler.
 
Mines working fine. It's much louder than my old air cooler and while Antec claims it has fan control built in it runs at full tilt.

Yeah, the instructions were weak.
 
ianken said:
Mines working fine. It's much louder than my old air cooler and while Antec claims it has fan control built in it runs at full tilt.

Yeah, the instructions were weak.
Click to expand...

There are a few reasons for the fans to run at full speed:

  • You've plugged your fans directly into the motherboard
  • Your liquid temperature is so hot that it requires the full fan speed
  • The fan speed isn't as low as you anticipated. Even at its lowest speed, the pump will only drop the fans down to 1450rpm. At full speed, the fans run at 2000rpm.
  • The pump's sensor is defective.

My troubleshooting would go like this:

  • Make sure you've got the fan plugged into the pump
  • Drop your overclock if you're overclocking. If you're not overclocking, make sure you have the unit seated properly on your CPU.
 
Antec_Jessie said:
There are a few reasons for the fans to run at full speed:

  • You've plugged your fans directly into the motherboard
  • Your liquid temperature is so hot that it requires the full fan speed
  • The fan speed isn't as low as you anticipated. Even at its lowest speed, the pump will only drop the fans down to 1450rpm. At full speed, the fans run at 2000rpm.
  • The pump's sensor is defective.

My troubleshooting would go like this:

  • Make sure you've got the fan plugged into the pump
  • Drop your overclock if you're overclocking. If you're not overclocking, make sure you have the unit seated properly on your CPU.
Click to expand...

The fan is hooked to the pump. The pump is plugged into the CPU fan header and speed control for it is disabled. The unit is seated properly. The temps look good.

Stock and OCed and the sound levels are about the same. The case is large and well ventilated.

It is a six core I7 which I suspect would spew more heat than a quad.

EDIT: it is sitting idle now, furiously blowing cold air out the back of the case. It's barely above ambient. :D IN this state it's the only fan I need in this huge case.

In this situation why shouldn't I plug the pump into a solid 12V source (like the pwr fan header) and run a good PWM fan for the radiator off the CPU fan header with the thermal control enabled?

EDIT2: I decided to treat this as just another cooler. I grabbed a spare PWM fan (Nexus) and slotted it in there and connected it to the CPU header, while running the pump off the power fan header. Works GREAT. Throttles fan speed well.

On my I970 I'm running 20x200 for 4Ghz. I'm a few degrees cooler than the older Thermalright Ultra I had on there. Idle 35c and silent with the exception of the added pump noise. If I run a stock speed the throttling is more gradual. OCed the knob goes to 11 right away.
 
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Sorry for bumping an old thread, but I didn't think it was worth it to create a whole new topic on the subject. I just wanted to say that I just got my 620 from Amazon in the mail today to replace my stock 955BE cooler. As everyone else has said, the instruction booklet could have been a lot more informative, but the installation wasn't too difficult. So far it is working out much better than the stock hsf. It is keeping my processor cooler and it is much quieter. That being said, I have a few questions.

1) I plugged the pump into the CPU_FAN header on my motherboard. Am I supposed to disable the automatic fan control on the motherboard? When I tried it out, the fan ran at full speed all the time so I left it enabled.

2) If I were to add a second fan, what would be a good match for the stock fan (or should I just replace both)?
 
They've made these setups so much simpler from back during the 1ghz wars...
 
Fry's has this for $58 right now, seems like a good deal for good quiet cooler!
 
You should have posted that in the hotdeals section as a new thread, instead of zombifying a thread that was posted 7 months ago and hadn't been posted to in 3 months. =P
 
Yes its an old thread, but its linked to a [H] review and I used this review to make my buying decision on this cooler. So I'm posting this for other people that might read the review and come here try and find more info on the cooler.

The Antec KUHLER 620 does it the LGA2011 socket. All you have to do is call Antec and they will send you the mounting hardware free of charge!

Here are some pics and my thoughts on the LGA2011 mounting adapter.

https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=190fb085fc201c89&resid=190FB085FC201C89!387&parid=190FB085FC201C89!391
 
Very nice, now thats good service. I really love my Antec 620 coolers. They also make great video card cooler btw.
 
So, has anyone used this Kuhler with a different fan to get better cooling? I mean one fan, rather than push pull. I mean, sure, you can bolt on a Delta screamer, but how about a Scythe GT or something similarly quiet?
 
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