Might be done with AIO's

Criticalhitkoala

Criticalhitkoala

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Apr 17, 2015
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Obviously results may vary from user to user, but I've personally bit hit with a string of bad luck when it comes to AIO. Just had another watercooler pump go out. First it was the Corsair 110gtx 4 months ago (that still hasn't been rma'ed thanks to Fry's not replying to multiple emails for the reciept over 3 months), and now a Lepa Aquachanger a few days ago.

I decided fuck it and got a Noctua NH-U12s and put 2 120's Noctua's and getting comparable temps on oc and its quieter.

Anyways just venting. Just really sucks to have 2 completely different AIO pumps go out in less than 2 years of usage.

Anyone experience the same thing?

Once that RMA comes in, will be selling a cheap 110gtx with 2 140mm noctua's if anyones interested :)
 
Can't say I have, but I know many who have. Seems everyone who comes back to quality air cooler after using CLCs comments on how they have similar cooling and less noise .. and obviously way more dependable.
 
Excellent choice. I agree, AIO's are good coolers BUT they are loud & you have the possibility of a pump failure or leak that will possibly damage your system, which you will never have with a good air cooled heatsink.

After you've had a whirl with the U12s, you should upgrade to the D15 monster :)
 
I think air cooled heatsinks - good ones - do great on all but the most power hungry CPUs. But I like water cooled, full cover block water cooled, GPUs. So I end up putting the CPU in the loop, too. I have a Thermalright Macho on my 3770K rig, and it runs a really nice example of an MSI 980Ti, all air on that one, and it's a nice quiet rig. But I have a weakness for TitanX cards and I have tried to live with the screaming reference blowers and can't do it. Those are going under water.
 
Krenum said:
Excellent choice. I agree, AIO's are good coolers BUT they are loud & you have the possibility of a pump failure or leak that will possibly damage your system, which you will never have with a good air cooled heatsink.

After you've had a whirl with the U12s, you should upgrade to the D15 monster :)
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Well, a fan can fail just as easily as a pump, so you CAN have some of the same problems.

I wouldn't say AIOs are all bad though, it looks like the OP had a bad string of luck, but I wouldn't judge all AIOs by that fact.
 
After my H70, I moved to air only. Running a Scythe Ashura on my ryzen system. Great quality and performance.
 
After a couple AIOs I moved back to air and went with a Noctua. Much happier now, PC is more silent and I don't have any concern over getting another noisy pump. Also this thing has the best mounting system I've ever used. Took me a while to like the look, then I got case fans to match and I love it:

aeosBC0.jpg
 
Krenum said:
Accept when a fan fails, the heatsink will still cool the CPU enough to prevent catastrophic failure.
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I've been fortunate with that. I think the fail safes on the intel chips (I assume AMD also is okay now) helped me...it did suck seeing my 5930k running at .21 ghz when the cpu hit 95 celcius before I realize yet another pump was dead.

I agree with Krenum here though only for the shear way of how it works. If the fan on a heatsink fails I have another fan on it, but also circulation from the 4 case fans to at least move air around. With both my AIO's on the 5960x and 5930k I was fortunate that the system did shut down (after slowing down as much as reasonable) and was able to diagnose that it was a pump. the problem though with the AIO is that the pump REFUSED to move water and basically it created an extremely hot tube and just a standard room temp tube (pretty much a really small surface area that was SUPER HOT), and if I needed my machine up again I had to have another cooling solution. At least with the heatsink fan I just have to replace the 120mm fan, and there's already 5 extra in the case. My down time would of been only a few minutes compared to 2 days. I remember in the past having a lose power supply cable maybe stop a fan on a air cooler, and the heatsink was passive enough to at least let the machine run a little. With these AIO dead pumps I haven't seen machines sky rocket to those temps this fast ever.

Fortunately the system that did go down this time was the house gaming system, so it was just 2 days without Rime and Dark Souls for my wife......which I guess is pretty bad also.

But as mentioned, results may vary....This isn't a call of "EVERY AIO SUCKS"....more venting cause of my shit luck with them compared to every other cooling solution I've used.
 
Ocellaris said:
After a couple AIOs I moved back to air and went with a Noctua. Much happier now, PC is more silent and I don't have any concern over getting another noisy pump. Also this thing has the best mounting system I've ever used. Took me a while to like the look, then I got case fans to match and I love it:

aeosBC0.jpg
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Quite Simply...WANT.

I have a 120mm single rad on the 5960x and I just might replace it with this. Don't wanna risk another pump dying again. No more AIO's for me.
 
only ever had one AIO die on me (out of two i've ever had) was an antec khuler or whatever it lasted nearly the lifetime of my 2500k so i def got plenty of life out of it. died of pump failure. i replaced it with a refurb Corsair H115i but have sense gone full custom loop and at this point wouldn't go back to anything else great temps, great overclocking and low noise. if my D5 dies one day i can always just replace just the pump.
 
THUMPer said:
Safe to say AIO's are gimmicky.
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Gotta agree. While the idea is nice of offloading the weight of a heavy cooler to another part of your system, I don't see an actual performance difference between the noctua and the 240mm rad aquachanger I had. I'm sure once the noctua gets some dust in it it might be a little worse, but I haven't had dust problems in nearly a decade so I don't expect too much of a temp change.

Crosses finger.
 
Frito11 said:
only ever had one AIO die on me (out of two i've ever had) was an antec khuler or whatever it lasted nearly the lifetime of my 2500k so i def got plenty of life out of it. died of pump failure. i replaced it with a refurb Corsair H115i but have sense gone full custom loop and at this point wouldn't go back to anything else great temps, great overclocking and low noise. if my D5 dies one day i can always just replace just the pump.
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I love the custom loop systems but 2 things are stopping me right now from it. 1) Cost and 2) With both failures even with a fry's 30 minutes away I still would of had a 2 hour downtime on the machines. Do custom loop people have multiple pumps at their house just in case of failure? Cause I would assume it would be equally as inconvenient if your system goes down.

Like mentioned above a fan dying is just a fan dying. I have so many 120mm fans laying around it seems a lot more accessible in an emergency over another pump, mostly a custom pump.

After having 2 failures in less than 6 months, count me a little bit more on the skeptical side.
 
AIC dump the hot air OUTSIDE your case. Your big hearsink air cooler is dumping that heat inside your case. Big difference.

I couldn't run two gtx 560ti in my coolermaster cosmos 1010 because I had heat problems. (Throttling at 9x degrees, hard drives and notherboard getting dangerously hot etc. evo 212 unable to keep cool). Now I run a 4770k overclocked to 4.5ghz on a Corsair H80i I v2 and two Fury x cards in the same case without any heat problems. My GPUs are both 60*. My CPU the same. All under continuous load. My hard drives and mobo are basically room temp. Before they were like 65*


So the only advantage to AIC is not limited to the single device it is cooling.
 
I've been using the AIO's for 6 years now. My H60 ran 24/7 for 5 years, I sold the machine last year, and it's still running fine (sold the machine to a friend who then sold it to my brother).

I like the look of the AIO coolers, not a fan of giant heatsinks filling up the case, lol.

I put these Intel branded AIO coolers on my Xeon this past winter since I like the look of them.
IMG_1071.JPG
 
Archaea said:
AIC dump the hot air OUTSIDE your case. Your big hearsink air cooler is dumping that heat inside your case. Big difference.

I couldn't run two gtx 560ti in my coolermaster cosmos 1010 because I had heat problems. (Throttling at 9x degrees, hard drives and notherboard getting dangerously hot etc. evo 212 unable to keep cool). Now I run a 4770k overclocked to 4.5ghz on a Corsair H80i I v2 and two Fury x cards in the same case without any heat problems. My GPUs are both 60*. My CPU the same. All under continuous load. My hard drives and mobo are basically room temp. Before they were like 65*


So the only advantage to AIC is not limited to the single device it is cooling.
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I can confirm with you that my 2 AIOs pumped all the heat into a 2x2inch square on my motherboard.
 
vegeta535 said:
I must be deaf or something. I can't understand how people complain about pumps being too loud. I had H50, H60 and a H100 and can't say I ever heard the pump.
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Yeah me either. My H100 is quieter than my case fans. If I turn the fan speed up it's slightly louder but nothing I'd call "noisy". My H100 has been jam up. I've been using it for a few years now and despite using it on a power hungry chip with a very steep over clock on it, I'm able to run at the lowest fan speed, it doesn't take up any room in the case and looks better.

That said, I have considered going to a conventional heat sink/fan for my next build. I usually have bad luck and a leaky AIO does worry me. Yeah a conventional heat sink can have a fan go out but it can be replaced by another $20 or so fan pretty easy without having to deal with RMA for a bad pump.
 
Yeah, I've had two Corsair H80s and a H100 go out on me, all within about 2 years of use. The pumps would work intermittently on all of them. I said FUCK IT! as well and went BIG air.

Last year I upgraded and relegated my old main rig as my backup server/backup gaming rig and went AIO again. This time I went with units that had 5 or 6 year warranties to put my GPU under - and then got a 360MM AIO with only a 3 year warranty for the CPU because the 1660V3 needed better cooling than even my (now sold) Corsair H115i could provide... We'll see how that pans out.
 
Have not had any bad luck so far. The possibility of a leak does sometimes worry me, though. Was still thinking about doing a full custom loop in my next build. Having a large tower HSF doesn't really appeal to me.
 
I've been toying with the idea of an AIO, but quietness is of utmost importance to me. Is it truly quieter than big air?

I'm not doing crazy overclocks or anything like that. Just a 7700k and gtx 1060. Currently using a Noctua NH-U14S that is very quiet inside a Fractal Nano S. I do like that AIO make it easier for RAM and mobo compatibility.
 
I cant think of an advantage an AIO will give over a large heatsink if you dont clock much.
Temps will not be in need of improving and noise wont be a problem.
An AIO risks being louder, less reliable and you are paying for the privilege.

Ram compatibility is a limited issue, there is always good enough ram at moderate prices that will fit if you arent a mad overclocker.
Motherboard compatibility doesnt figure at all, heatsinks fit all motherboards for the class of PC they are designed.

Stick with what you have unless you are unhappy with it.
ie you have a good reason to want better performance.
 
^ lol, pretty happy with air. It's very quiet. Never had a water-cooled system and just wondered if I was missing out on something.
 
only issue with big heatsinks is the RAM compatibility. Had to move heatsink fan to the front of cooler just so the side panel could close.
 

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xrayos said:
^ lol, pretty happy with air. It's very quiet. Never had a water-cooled system and just wondered if I was missing out on something.
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Its a bit of fun and an easy way to get near the best out of your hardware.
But you have to be diligent.

I water cool my CPU but have taken steps to make sure it is reliable and silent. That means avoiding noisy pumps that are pushed hard.
I use a pond pump that is known for its reliability and has now been running 13 years 24/7.
My radiator is a 280mm car heatercore I was given.
I've replaced the 1/2" ID pipes once and clean the water block every few years.
It needs topping up periodically.

I went for an Accelero Xtreme air cooler on my 1080ti.
This works very well with a watercooled CPU because it has all of the case air for itself, or at least it used to.
I've since put my PC inside a table and feed cool air from under the table directly to the gfx card, as well as having the Accelero cooler.
Wicked quiet cooling without much expense and is very reliable.
AIO are not part of my consideration.
 
Nenu said:
Its a bit of fun and an easy way to get near the best out of your hardware.
But you have to be diligent.

I water cool my CPU but have taken steps to make sure it is reliable and silent. That means avoiding noisy pumps that are pushed hard.
I use a pond pump that is known for its reliability and has now been running 13 years 24/7.
My radiator is a 280mm car heatercore I was given.
I've replaced the 1/2" ID pipes once and clean the water block every few years.
It needs topping up periodically.

I went for an Accelero Xtreme air cooler on my 1080ti.
This works very well with a watercooled CPU because it has all of the case air for itself, or at least it used to.
I've since put my PC inside a table and feed cool air from under the table directly to the gfx card, as well as having the Accelero cooler.
Wicked quiet cooling without much expense and is very reliable.
AIO are not part of my consideration.
Click to expand...

I do think custom loop is the way to go in the future over AIO. While the AIO is convenient, and I do agree with the post above that it controls ambient inside temps better, after two failures that completely made my computers unusable until their was a replacement cooler I'm just turned off on AIO's. By all means my results aren't everyone elses results, but 2 pump failures in less than 6 months just makes me feel 200% eeyore.
 
trentchau said:
I do think custom loop is the way to go in the future over AIO. While the AIO is convenient, and I do agree with the post above that it controls ambient inside temps better, after two failures that completely made my computers unusable until their was a replacement cooler I'm just turned off on AIO's. By all means my results aren't everyone elses results, but 2 pump failures in less than 6 months just makes me feel 200% eeyore.
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Most people don't have 500 bucks to throw down on a custom loop.
 
Jay88 said:
Most people don't have 500 bucks to throw down on a custom loop.
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So start small (or buy used parts) and add on as funds permit. All you really need to get started is a pump (D5 ~$75), a radiator (240mm ~$50), a reservoir ($25), barb fittings ($20), tubing (Primochill LRT $25), and a CPU block (Supremacy EVO ~$75). For ~$270 you can build a pretty nice starter loop, nothing that really needs to be replaced if you want to add a GPU to the loop (just add more radiator). You could easily cut those costs by going used (I snagged an EVO for $45 on here) or choosing a less expensive cpu block (like a xspc raystorm ~$50) without limiting your options in the future. Or you could move to a cheaper pump/res combo AND a less expensive cpu block and still have a loop that performs well for around $200.
 
Fuck AIO and the vomit of different models they rode in on.

They make some sense if you are bad at choosing cases, or are just trying to force fit with what you have to use some case that you have deluded yourself into thinking is a good build. (its not) Two less-than-good choices don't cancel themselves out however, get a better case instead.

They really are not better coolers, if you need more you go custom loop period.

Also if you compare the pump noise to your fans and can't tell the difference, you either: have shit fans, are far enough away that it doesn't matter anyways, have hearing loss or all of the above.
 
trentchau said:
Obviously results may vary from user to user, but I've personally bit hit with a string of bad luck when it comes to AIO. Just had another watercooler pump go out. First it was the Corsair 110gtx 4 months ago (that still hasn't been rma'ed thanks to Fry's not replying to multiple emails for the reciept over 3 months), and now a Lepa Aquachanger a few days ago.

I decided fuck it and got a Noctua NH-U12s and put 2 120's Noctua's and getting comparable temps on oc and its quieter.

Anyways just venting. Just really sucks to have 2 completely different AIO pumps go out in less than 2 years of usage.

Anyone experience the same thing?

Once that RMA comes in, will be selling a cheap 110gtx with 2 140mm noctua's if anyones interested :)
Click to expand...

Can't say I have experienced anything like that. In my 10+ years of doing water cooling I have yet to have a pump fail. Most of my pumps I have run for 3+ years, only changing them periodically to a more efficient system when I do a major upgrade.

I can definitely understand the frustration, if I had the same experience as you, I would think about switching back to fans. Cases these days are designed far better for cooling and using heatsinks and fans to cool the system is quite effective. Also there are many ways to dampen the noise now as well. I mean really, even when I use water cooling, I usually end up with a similar number of fans anyway.
 
NoOther said:
Can't say I have experienced anything like that. In my 10+ years of doing water cooling I have yet to have a pump fail. Most of my pumps I have run for 3+ years, only changing them periodically to a more efficient system when I do a major upgrade.

I can definitely understand the frustration, if I had the same experience as you, I would think about switching back to fans. Cases these days are designed far better for cooling and using heatsinks and fans to cool the system is quite effective. Also there are many ways to dampen the noise now as well. I mean really, even when I use water cooling, I usually end up with a similar number of fans anyway.
Click to expand...

WHen you mention replacing pumps, I'm assuming you are on a custom and not AIO?

I think the main issue I have is the AIO is so integrated that if there was a point of failure it pretty much extends to the whole system. Fortunately I'm not in the position some of us may of been over 2 decades ago where losing our thermal solution meant our cpu burned to a crisp, but I did lose working time the first time the pump went out. Good thing it went out early in the day and I could make it to frys to put a replacement in to get back to work that night. I was just more annoyed that when the pump died, the system is completely not usable.
 
xrayos said:
^ lol, pretty happy with air. It's very quiet. Never had a water-cooled system and just wondered if I was missing out on something.
Click to expand...

Nenu said:
I cant think of an advantage an AIO will give over a large heatsink if you dont clock much.
Temps will not be in need of improving and noise wont be a problem.
An AIO risks being louder, less reliable and you are paying for the privilege.

Ram compatibility is a limited issue, there is always good enough ram at moderate prices that will fit if you arent a mad overclocker.
Motherboard compatibility doesnt figure at all, heatsinks fit all motherboards for the class of PC they are designed.

Stick with what you have unless you are unhappy with it.
ie you have a good reason to want better performance.
Click to expand...

Aluminum said:
Fuck AIO and the vomit of different models they rode in on.

They make some sense if you are bad at choosing cases, or are just trying to force fit with what you have to use some case that you have deluded yourself into thinking is a good build. (its not) Two less-than-good choices don't cancel themselves out however, get a better case instead.

They really are not better coolers, if you need more you go custom loop period.

Also if you compare the pump noise to your fans and can't tell the difference, you either: have shit fans, are far enough away that it doesn't matter anyways, have hearing loss or all of the above.
Click to expand...

xrayos said:
I've been toying with the idea of an AIO, but quietness is of utmost importance to me. Is it truly quieter than big air?

I'm not doing crazy overclocks or anything like that. Just a 7700k and gtx 1060. Currently using a Noctua NH-U14S that is very quiet inside a Fractal Nano S. I do like that AIO make it easier for RAM and mobo compatibility.
Click to expand...

Not to completely derail this thread, but some information on Water Cooling vs Air Cooling:

1) Will it be quieter? This is a bit subjective and largely depends on the design of your build and cooling. It can be quieter, but regular air cooling can also be very quiet these days. Most of the time it depends on how much heat you want to dissipate, the more heat you have the more airflow or circulation required, and invariably the louder your system will be.

2) Space. Each system has their own advantages when it comes to space. Generally a heatsink/fan combo will only take the space around the CPU. But you have to consider its width and height. So for some cases certain heatsink/fan combos won't work because there is not enough height, or the RAM slots are too close to the CPU block. Water cooling generally takes less space around the CPU block, but will take more space for the radiator and hoses. Clearance isn't usually an issue, mostly mounting space on the case itself and whether you can mount internally or externally.

3) Heat Dissipation techniques.

Heatsink/Fan combos dissipate heat quickly into the air around them, which builds up heat inside the case. This is generally why you need a good air channel system to keep the air flowing through the case. The advantages to this is it usually dissipates heat quickly away from the CPU, but then immediately expells it to the environment around the CPU. With good air flow circulation it should dissipate quick enough, but if you don't have good air flow circulation it could lead to other components heating up and creating a cascading heat effect. This isn't particularly likely in most cases these days, especially if you are not overclocking or stocking the system full of GPU cards, and other major sources of heat.

Liquid Cooling dissipates heat a little more slowly and evenly into the water that circulates through the system and expells it out the system through the radiator. This keeps ambient temperatures in the case much lower, but isn't usually as quick as air solutions. The benefits to this is a more stable temperature and environment. Typically this also means you do not need as many fans to circulate the air within the system since the radiator is expelling most of the heat out of the system itself. This is generally why it is thought that liquid cooling solutions are quieter. However, if you have other heat producing items in the system like GPUs, you would likewise want to liquid cool them, or you would still need air circulation to dissipate the heat they generate in the system. So if you aren't using blocks for both your GPUs and CPUs, you are still going to need proper air flow in the case to dissipate heat, which will generate more noise (case fants + radiator fans). In these cases liquid cooling may be even louder than general air cooling. However, the ambient temperature fluctuations should still be much lower.

4) Cost. Generally this is the kicker here. Typically your heatsink/fan combo solutions is going to be overall cheaper than a liquid cooling solution, unless you go crazy on expensive heatsinks/fans. Comparable cooling systems will almost always benefit the air cooling solution. However, depending on your environment, especially if you do a lot of overclocking on both CPU and GPU, you may want the extra cost of liquid cooling to maintain a more stable ambient environment.
 
trentchau said:
WHen you mention replacing pumps, I'm assuming you are on a custom and not AIO?
Click to expand...

Both, but I didn't change the pumps on the custom loop, and with the AIOs, i generally just switched AIOs. I started with a full custom build in a massive case, then I switched to AIOs, and I have upgraded the AIOs over the years. I am only on my fourth/fifth (my custom solution i actually changed out blocks, but used the same pumps the entire time) water cooling system. I have yet to have any actually fail. Custom->H80->H100->H100iv2. My custom build was by far the superior, but it was also costly, I dumped over $1000 into my original custom build back when I was actually doing OC competitions.

trentchau said:
I think the main issue I have is the AIO is so integrated that if there was a point of failure it pretty much extends to the whole system. Fortunately I'm not in the position some of us may of been over 2 decades ago where losing our thermal solution meant our cpu burned to a crisp, but I did lose working time the first time the pump went out. Good thing it went out early in the day and I could make it to frys to put a replacement in to get back to work that night. I was just more annoyed that when the pump died, the system is completely not usable.
Click to expand...

As mentioned above, there are guides on changing components in some AIO systems (looking up modding AIO). Generally speaking they are pretty cheap and easy to replace compared to the expense of a fully custom system. In my custom build I actually dumped water all over my system three separate times. In all three cases, I turned off the system, let it dry for a few days, wiped away any leftover debris (UV ink) with rubbing alcohol, let stand for another few hours, then booted up and everything worked. I haven't had an AIO leak or die on me yet.
 
NoOther said:
Both, but I didn't change the pumps on the custom loop, and with the AIOs, i generally just switched AIOs. I started with a full custom build in a massive case, then I switched to AIOs, and I have upgraded the AIOs over the years. I am only on my fourth/fifth (my custom solution i actually changed out blocks, but used the same pumps the entire time) water cooling system. I have yet to have any actually fail. Custom->H80->H100->H100iv2. My custom build was by far the superior, but it was also costly, I dumped over $1000 into my original custom build back when I was actually doing OC competitions.



As mentioned above, there are guides on changing components in some AIO systems (looking up modding AIO). Generally speaking they are pretty cheap and easy to replace compared to the expense of a fully custom system. In my custom build I actually dumped water all over my system three separate times. In all three cases, I turned off the system, let it dry for a few days, wiped away any leftover debris (UV ink) with rubbing alcohol, let stand for another few hours, then booted up and everything worked. I haven't had an AIO leak or die on me yet.
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Are those parts readily available? It sucks buying things expecting them to fail hard and buying the parts to replace it when you can buy a air heatsink that would be a portion of the price. Not all things are perfect, and I'm not expecting it to be, but once again just annoyed that it's been two pump failures in 6 months.
 
trentchau said:
Are those parts readily available? It sucks buying things expecting them to fail hard and buying the parts to replace it when you can buy a air heatsink that would be a portion of the price. Not all things are perfect, and I'm not expecting it to be, but once again just annoyed that it's been two pump failures in 6 months.
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The parts for what? The AIOs? They are mods, so....sort of? If instant changeability is what you are looking for, a liquid cooling solution may not be the best option. You could have a spare AIO set aside to swap out in case the one you have fails, but that isn't exactly an instant solution. I mean occasionally air cooling systems have issues too. I have had to replace thermal compound on heatsink blocks before, and once had one that was too heavy it ended up cracking the mount and almost damaging my CPU. That is why it always pays to plan out and test components before relying on them completely in your system. And even then, sometimes things just break. That is what the warranty is for. It seems you have had some pretty bad luck with the AIOs. I can't really recommend another liquid cooling solution to you that is going to be 100% faultless. I can only offer my experience with them for the past 10+ years and advice on the advantages/disadvantages to each.
 
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