Corsair H70 Fan configuration

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DisrupTer911

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Oct 14, 2004
Messages
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I'm looking to upgrade my HSF setup to a self contained W/C setup in the form of either the following

Corsair H50
or
Corsair H70.

I want max cooling for stock speeds and overclocked to 4-4.2ghz and maintain stability in temps.

My question is what the fan configuration should be.
I want to run in a push-pull configuration for sure.

I wanted to know tho, is it necessary to space the fan off the radiator some to allow for better airflow over the entire radiator instead of having a deadspot in the middle?

Should it be just a few millimeters or the space of an empty fan shroud?

Also, would it be beneficial to run the pulling fan at a higher speed then the pushing fan?

I plan to also cut out the fan grating on the case itself so there's no hindering of the airflow.

My next question is, which is the better cooler for a push-pull setup on an AMD x6 1090T CPU? the H50 or the H70.

Thanks in advance everyone!
 
Make sure and check plenty of revierw on the H corsair stuff.
I was going to the get the H50 myself, but after reading reviews, I just ended up getting the A70 instead.
Runs quiet with both fans connected using the stepdown.
 
Well according to this thread Sonda5 tested with an h50 vs h70 the spacers work better: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1555079

I will argue that his findings with the h70 are not entirely fair but with the h50 you need higher cfm fans, it looks like Gentle Typhoon AP-15's may be in your future.
 
I'm not interested in the A70 aircooler. Def want water.

Ive read both threads but they seem inconclusive between h50 vs h70.

Is the H50 pump a higher flow?
 
The pumps on both are pretty pathetic all things considered, especially considering the pump of most watercooling setups.

MrSneis, I ordered 2 Gelid PWM fans with my H50 (FN-PX12-15), expecting to do push-pull and expecting the stock fan to be merely meh. I was going to go Panaflo, as they've received mostly fantastic reviews and positive feedback for the entirety of my research for probably 10-12 years of computer building/modding research.

For the price difference between the H50 and the H70, I'd rather get the H50 with better/more fans.... Though it sounds like fin density may be better on the H70, though I haven't seen a comparison yet where the H70 dominates the H50 except with stock or 1 fan setting. The H70 is a better performer at a low volume level, but if you don't mind the volume level, or replace the fans, they seem like similar performers. I could very well be wrong, but it's just an opinion on opinions that people have posted, or reviews posted on the individual products (I can't recall an article comparing the H50 an H70 on an apples to apples comparison with dual fans of 3rd party or whatever).
 
DisrupTer911 said:
I'm not interested in the A70 aircooler. Def want water.
Click to expand...

And for what it's worth, the only advantage of a "meh" water cooler like the H50/H70/Kuhler/etc is the heat capacity of water versus copper. The water will keep the top temps lower, but the lower temps higher, it basically narrows the change of temperature of the intermediate (heat transfer material).

Honestly, I only like watercooling cause it's badassed, though all-in-one kits are kind of cheating, and I feel dirtier than when I ran a full cooling loop on my 478 P4 Prescott (which needed a damn water loop cause they were SO DAMN HOT)
 
H50/H70 won't give you better temps than a good air cooler.

H50 is a high FPI radiator compared to the H70, which is low FPI. Which means the H70 will perform better with low speed fans, while the H50 will perform better with high speed/high static pressure fans.

Shrouds (putting space between the fan and the radiator) definitely do improve temps. This has already been proven through testing of radiators.
 
So my reasearch also lead me to the Zalman CNPS9900 MAX heatsink fan.

Its hard to do a straight comparision between the H50/H70/9900Max.

Temps at the high end seem to be between 10-15°C...

as it stands my 1090T w/ Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro running Prime95 for 30 minutes puts me at 55°C maxed at 100% usage.

the 1090T has a maximum threshold of 62°C which I'm already approaching at stock speeds.
my current cooler is only rated for 145W qmax tho.
 
The maximum threshold of the CPU is 62°C? That's crazy low! I'm still using my CNPS9700 which has lasted me since my 475 build (I think), and my CPU maxes out at around 55°C, but when I accidentally overclocked it, it went up to 100°C before auto throttling down. Does the CPU throttle down at 62°C? That seems nuts for a modern processor....

I'm not sure why you care about what idle temps are, as you mentioned it being important to you in the first post, because regardless of what the temperature of the heatsink/fan is, the processor is putting the same amount of heat into the case/room you're in anyway, the efficiency of the transfer is the only thing that matters. A more efficient HSF just moves the temperature faster from the processor to the room, but the end result is the room gets hotter, even at idle (assuming the processor creates enough heat internally to heat itself above room temperature)

For the overclocks, I would recommend checking out a 1090T overclocking thread and see what people are getting for temps and what their coolers are. I can help in cooler choices and whatnot, but don't know the kind of heat generated by that processor in particular.

I'm still very confused about the 62°C maximum threshold though. I've never seen it be below 95-100°C.
 
I'm not overly concerned with idle temps, I'm concerned with stock speed & o/c temps.

As for the 62*C temp Id read that on several reviews of the 1090T but I also think it's awfully low for max temp...
 
I think that the 62°C is probably a recommended running temperature ceiling (I know that with the Intel CPUs, people are recommending keeping your running temps at load under 80°C, as supposedly the silicon wears out prematurely above 80°C, but who knows). The CPU itself has a temperature control to throttle down the CPU if it goes above 100°C at load (again, at least on intel CPUs). I wouldn't feel comfortable running at 100°C at 100% load. That's why I was very uncomfortable with my ATI 4850, which had a single slot cooler but ran during normal operation at 100°C.

Bizarrely enough, the 62 degrees is right...

http://products.amd.com/en-us/DesktopCPUDetail.aspx?id=640

From one of the reviews I just read, the i7 2600k that I'm running runs at 72 or so degrees at load with the stock cooler, so I think Intel just rates their maximum temps much higher than AMD.

I hope someone more familiar with the 1090T can comment on temps, or check out a 1090T overclocking thread to see what people are considering acceptable.
 
Also to add a brief note, I just got home and tested my temps. I'm at 62 or so on my CPU at full blend test Prime95 with my CPU fan inaudible (fixed speed no PWM) with the Zalman CNPS9700. I never see it actually go that high during gaming, even with 3dmark11 CPU test it only goes to 56 degrees.

My last C2Q9300 overclocked to 3.3ghz (from 2.5ghz) would get up to 83 degrees with no problems during benchmarking.
 
Running my H70 with two Noctua NF-P12s on the lowest setting over here. I idle around 37C and get maxed around 77C.

List of my case fans:
Front intake - Scythe Kazemaru 2 140mm (800rpm)
Side intake x2 - NXZT 120mm (lowest setting on the Phantoms fan controller)
Top exhaust - NXZT 200mm (lowest setting on the Phantoms fan controller)
Rear exhaust x2 (push-pull) - Noctua NF-P12s (900rpm)

Loudest thing in my case is probably either my videocard or the H70s pump.
 
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Maximum recommended safe temps on the Phenom II is and has always been 62 C. Not sure at what point it throttles back though. Additionally, maximum recommended voltage is 1.55 v.
 
DisrupTer911 said:
77*C on a 2600K @ 5ghz...So what's your temp at a more attainable 4-4.2ghz?
Click to expand...

Not sure I went straight for 4.8Ghz+. I'm running on 1.4V. Prime goes to about 85C after a couple hours I've never tried more . 77C is when I play any games for extended periods of times including SC2, BFBC2, AvP, JC2, and Batman.
 
fullvietFX said:
Not sure I went straight for 4.8Ghz+. I'm running on 1.4V. Prime goes to about 85C after a couple hours I've never tried more . 77C is when I play any games for extended periods of times including SC2, BFBC2, AvP, JC2, and Batman.
Click to expand...

Don't mess around when you have a 2600k. :cool:
 
so I'm still torn on which direction i want to go...

H50 or H70 or CNPS9900 Max.

Either H60 or H70 I'd run a push pull setup though vs 1 fan on the CNPS9900 max...

If all 3 coolers cool to roughly the same 100% load temp then i might as well go air.

I game on this machine regularly but rarely see 100% loads hitting...so even 100% load temps aren't accurate estimation of where the system will run stable.
 
Like it has been said many times on this forum, the H50/H70 will only perform as well as air coolers in their respective price ranges. I would actually go with something like the A70 or Hyper212+ if you want dual fans. There are plenty of air coolers out there that can do dual fans. If you're really fixed on the H50/H70, go with the H50. It will provide better dual fan performance than the H70, especially with high speed fans.
 
DisrupTer911 said:
so I'm still torn on which direction i want to go...

H50 or H70 or CNPS9900 Max.

Either H60 or H70 I'd run a push pull setup though vs 1 fan on the CNPS9900 max...

If all 3 coolers cool to roughly the same 100% load temp then i might as well go air.

I game on this machine regularly but rarely see 100% loads hitting...so even 100% load temps aren't accurate estimation of where the system will run stable.
Click to expand...

The pump on my H50 started making clicking noises. I had the Zalman 9900A and I really liked it. I would honestly go with that, my H70 makes clicking noises here and there now too.
 
Tsumi said:
Like it has been said many times on this forum, the H50/H70 will only perform as well as air coolers in their respective price ranges. I would actually go with something like the A70 or Hyper212+ if you want dual fans. There are plenty of air coolers out there that can do dual fans. If you're really fixed on the H50/H70, go with the H50. It will provide better dual fan performance than the H70, especially with high speed fans.
Click to expand...

^ This ^

I had a H50, it didn't do any better than air and the H70 is no better than the ZALMAN NXPS10 Extreme or whatever I had before. Very disappointed in the Corsair LQ stuff. I am now waiting on my custom setup to come in.
 
I see some negative comments about the h50/h70 so I figured I'd add my two cents. Not sure if this really belongs in this thread but here's my rationale over the years:

Watercooling: Back when I had a real loop in my system it was expensive, risky, and time consuming to work with. Then when I got out of it resale fell to crap, but then again I guess that's always the case with PC stuff. I did fry at least one motherboard as well. The worst is when you order everything from like 3 vendors and you realize you forgot something and have to wait another week for whatever IT is. I also never could make up my mind about what tubing to go with. It probably cost me $250-$300 by my memory and I still had to get more. Super good temps though!

Air Coolers: These get spendy and fast which kind of negates the "value" part of the equation. My guesstimates put a high end heatsink at about $70+ and add better fans from there. Most of the good coolers are super big and super heavy leading to clearance concerns on some mobos and you can be pretty sure of warping your mobo at least slightly. These seem to be very effective however!

All-in-one Watercooling units: My first foray was the h50. Performance wasn't the best but it was very easy to work with and at the time my fans were not very good. I stepped up to the h70 with a bunch of expensive fans and now I have a quiet rig with temps that I can live with. Price, $90 for h70 + $35 for Gentle typhoon ap-14's (other fans probably cost be another $80 - YIKES!)

In the end, if you're an overclocker it's going to cost you and IMO none of the options are that cheap outside of a 212+ ($25) and Gentle Typhoons ($35). The h50/h70 are very easy to work with IMO and are a great compromise. I rarely go in expecting incredible cooling performance as I tend to favor quietness so the h70 seems to be a great choice for me.
 
fullvietFX said:
The pump on my H50 started making clicking noises. I had the Zalman 9900A and I really liked it. I would honestly go with that, my H70 makes clicking noises here and there now too.
Click to expand...

If you guys move your computer the water sloshes around making air bubbles which pumps don't like but typically work through after a few minutes. Is that why you're pump is making noises or is it just from regular use?
 
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