All In One CPU Liquid Cooling Unit Thread

Introduction​

So, I've been looking at getting an All-In-One H20 CPU Cooler for quite a while. A few years at least. Over time I've seen many reviews but have failed to find a comprehensive amalgamation of the data. So, I'm taking it upon myself to corral as many of the reviews as I can, into this thread. I'll try to breakdown the list in a logical way here.

The goal of this thread is to help people like me who are looking for information on All In One Watercooling Units, and who would like to have a simple place where they can reference many reviews. It will focus on current coolers and be a constant work in progress.

All In One Cooling Unit Alphabetical Listing​

Antec
Kuhler H20 620
Kuhler H20 920

Cooler Master
Eisberg 120L Prestige
Eisberg 240L Prestige
Seidon 120M
Seidon 120XL
Seidon 240M

Corsair
Hydro Series H55 Quiet CPU Cooler
Hydro Series H60 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Hydro Series H80i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Hydro Series H90 140mm High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Hydro Series H100i Extreme Performance CPU Cooler
Hydro Series H110 280mm Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler

NZXT
Kraken X40
Kraken X60

Silverstone
Tundra TD02
Tundra TD03

Swiftech
H220 CPU Liquid Cooling Kit (requires top up every 3+ years)
H320 CPU Liquid Cooling Kit (requires top up every 3+ years)

Thermaltake
Water 2.0 Performer
Water 2.0 Pro
Water 2.0 Extreme
Water 3.0 Performer
Water 3.0 Pro
Water 3.0 Extreme

Zalman
Reserator 3 Max
LQ320
LQ315
LQ310
CNPS20LQ

Review Listings​

Antec

Cooler Master

Corsair

NZXT

Silverstone

Swiftech

Thermaltake

Zalman

Averaged Review Scores and Recommendations​

- Reviews are adjusted to a 10 point scale and averaged over the total of scored reviews.
- Where no score is given, recommendation is listed

Antec


Cooler Master


Corsair

NZXT


Silverstone


Swiftech


Thermaltake


Zalman

- Break down by budget and enthusiast categories
- Further break down by radiator size
- Scores compared by Meta rating, number of reviews and overall recommendation outcome

Budget
120mm
Antec Kuhler 620

Enthusiast
120mm
Corsair Hydro H80i

140mm
NZXT Kraken X40

240mm
(Swiftech H220 for those who can get a hold of one)
Corsair Hydro H100i

280mm
(Corsair H110 for those looking for a quieter solution)
NZXT Kraken X60

360mm
Swiftech H320

I think the Swiftech 220 and 320 are currently in patent limbo in the US

Yes, it is for sure. Currently the Swiftech H220 is not available for purchase in the US. You may be able to import from other places though.

I've updated more reviews. All but Thermaltake and Zalman are fairly well fleshed out now. I'll finish those two soon and get to work on amalgamating reviews in a sort of Metacritic style adjusted mean.

my personal recommendation for those looking to buy one of these:

get the swiftech H220 if you can find it. although, that said, you will have to find someone to send it to you from abroad or get a pre-owned one.

NOTE: for the swiftech unit, this is the first pump they built IN HOUSE, so like every great thing that is built the first time, it fails. so it has to be RMA'ed first...find someone who has already RMA'ed it and buy it second hand or the new replaced unit. the other water coolers don't compare, and it is probably the only one that doesn't use trash components that can't be upgraded. swiftech's pump is far more powerful, it uses standard tubing that doesn't kink or snap and it uses the exact same block from the apogee cpu blocks

I just recently purchased a Corsair H100i and it was a very simple installation. It's my first experience with water cooling and so far I am very pleased with the results!

Rocking a thermaltake Water 2.0 extreme on my 1100t @ 4.0ghz. I don't have to worry about temps, it keeps the chip cool as hell. I run black Antec fans on it as the included fans look REDICULOUS, but the whole setup is whisper quiet at idle through to about 45% load. The noise ramps up pretty damn quickly after that, but that was my choice: custom fan curve set up in the assetek software.

I would suggest it, but the radiator is fat, and may not fit well into most cases without bumping up too close to the motherboard.

Good thread, hope it gets complete!

I am just starting to put together some final plans for a new build. Are there any good comparison reviews out there?

HardOCP link for the Kuhler H2O 920 doesn't work. For me anyway.

I would also love to see any information about how much warranty support these different brands provide. I know Corsair took care of some people that had very rare "catastrophic failures" that destroyed some other components. Not sure how other manufacturers handle this kind of thing. I know its very rare, but if it happens and you are dealing with a dead MOBO or video card from your AIO cooler leaking, which companies cover that?

Updated the reviews listing. All sections complete. Will work on the review score amalgamation next.

RE: Round Ups - I would look at the HardOCP, Anandtech (though their Corsair scores are screwed), XBit, Hardware Secrets and Kit Guru reviews. They tend to have roundups, and at the very least they list the performance of the unit they are reviewing in reference to the units they have reviewed in the past. I would warn against buying based on solely one site's reviews, as there can be discrepancies in units, testing and results.

For example: the Linus Tech Tips reviews, while nice on the surface show flaws in the data. Ex: Baseline temperatures are not adjusted for in the final results and sometimes the final temperature delta and baseline temperatures do not add up.

RE: RMAs, Failures and Warranty - The scope of that research is far beyond what I would like to invest in this thread, but I highly encourage other users to tell us about their experiences! It's definitely good information.

Double Post...

Meta's updated fully.

Categorical top scorers updated.

After reading some reviews and comparing data myself, this thread confirmed my problem choosing between the Corsair H100i and the Cooler Master 240M. Some reviewers say one is better than the other, other reviewers turn it around. Most probably I'll let the price and availability decide.

Yeah, I think that is definitely the best way to do it. It really seems like fan choice, case airflow dynamics, component choice and ambient room temperature and airflow basically level the playing field for the top tier coolers. The best bet for most of us is to get the cooler (of the top rated group) that best fits your case, is readily available and priced well, then put some top quality fans on the radiator and optimize the airflow in the case.

RE: The List.
I'll continue filling out the data with more reviews over time, some of them are fairly rare though, so there are some that might not have good data. If any new coolers are released I'll try to implement them in a timely fashion.

Updated Thermaltake Water 2.0 Extreme reviews.

Maplehamwich said:

Categorical Top Scorers​

- Break down by budget and enthusiast categories
- Further break down by radiator size
- Scores compared by Meta rating, number of reviews and overall recommendation outcome

Budget
120mm
Antec Kuhler 620

Enthusiast
120mm
Corsair Hydro H80i

140mm
NZXT Kraken X40

220mm
(Swiftech H220 for those who can get a hold of one)
Corsair Hydro H100i

240mm
(Corsair H110 for those looking for a quieter solution)
NZXT Kraken X60

320mm
Swiftech H320

Click to expand...

Minor correction, but the X60 is a 280mm, not 240mm.

Right you are. Fixed.
Updated with HardOCP Silverstone reviews.