H70 vs. H50

R

RhoXS

Weaksauce
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Its decision time.

As soon as the 600T case appears on Newegg's site I intend to order one. Also, when I rebuild my system in the new case, I intend to switch from the Coolit Freezone peltier water cooler I use now to either the H70 or H50.

Now my two questions.

1. How will the noise level of the H70 at 1600 rpm compare to the H50 at its normal 1700 rpm?

2. How will the heat transfer capability of the H70 at 1600 rpm compare to the H50 at its normal 1700 rpm?

I am driving a Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz @ 3.8 Ghz. With it the Freezone idle temps remain stable between 95 and 99 degrees F and do not exceed about 135 at full load.

I prefer the H50 because it is smaller. However, for a consequential improvement in cooling, with no noise penalty, the H70 would be my choice (assuming I run the H70 at the lower 1600 rpm). I just do not have any way now of making an informed decision which to buy. Noise reduction is extremely important to me but it still has to be weighed against the need to effectively and reliably cool the CPU core.
 
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I don't think anyone on the consumer level has gotten these in their grubby little hands yet. I haven't seen any reviews yet but then again, I haven't checked in the last couple days.

If you can, wait. Otherwise, you can be an early adopter and let us know how it goes. :p
 
I'm in a similar spot. I am also considering the H70. Im sort of waiting for the full [H] review since the reviews I've seen have shown somewhat different results from each other. The testing here has always been more in line with what I've seen in actual use anyway.

I'm mainly worried that the H70 is going to play the in-stock out-of-stock game for a while.

Also like you I am awaiting the 600T. Announcing 3 months ahead of availability might have been a bit soon though.
 
skizzled said:
If you can, wait. Otherwise, you can be an early adopter and let us know how it goes. :p
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I fear you will probably be correct but will still not be able to offer a comparison, only what I experience with the cooler I opt for.

Without any better intelligence to go on, I am probably going to go with the H50 as it is much smaller and I suspect quieter. I also suspect it will do a good job and maintain perfectly acceptable CPU temps. This is still a crap shoot but I have to make a decision. Actually I was hoping the Corsair rep, Redbeard, that typically has so much to offer in this forum, would weigh in.
 
Somewhat of a thread high jack, but not entirely, what is the hard performance difference for these from pulling in the case / blowing out the case? I really hate the idea of having air blowing INTO my case from the back.
 
Cali3350 said:
Somewhat of a thread high jack, but not entirely, what is the hard performance difference for these from pulling in the case / blowing out the case? I really hate the idea of having air blowing INTO my case from the back.
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Honestly, I doubt there's much of a difference. On someone's comp I built, I originally had the h50 blowing air in, but I told him that it would get a lot of dust in the case. So I made it exhaust, and the temps were hardly different at all (I think within 1-3c).
 
Cali3350 said:
... what is the hard performance difference for these from pulling in the case / blowing out the case? I really hate the idea of having air blowing INTO my case from the back.
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As soon as a Corsair 600T case is available I intend to buy one. This case has a 200mm exhaust fan in the top of the case, almost adjacent to where the H50 would mount on the back of the case. I am planning to have air blowing into the case through the H50. Presumably, the warm air discharged by the H50 into the case will be immediately sucked out the top via the 200mm exhaust fan. This also maintains a natural flow path (hot air rises) using the induced draft of the 200mm exhaust fan and forced draft into the case of the 200mm supply fan at the bottom of the front panel. Since the video card and most of the mother board will be below the area of the H50 discharge I am thinking it might work out well.

At least, this is the theory.
 
Cali3350 said:
Somewhat of a thread high jack, but not entirely, what is the hard performance difference for these from pulling in the case / blowing out the case? I really hate the idea of having air blowing INTO my case from the back.
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why don't you flip the fan in the front of your case around to make it an exhaust fan? Who says that it HAS to be an intake fan?
 
Cali3350 said:
Somewhat of a thread high jack, but not entirely, what is the hard performance difference for these from pulling in the case / blowing out the case? I really hate the idea of having air blowing INTO my case from the back.
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There's probably some small difference on the coolers because the air outside of your case is probably cooler than the air inside of your case; however, there's nothing stopping you from making it an exhaust fan and exhausting your CPU's heat out of the case rather than dumping it into your case..

liar2 said:
why don't you flip the fan in the front of your case around to make it an exhaust fan? Who says that it HAS to be an intake fan?
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It doesn't have to be an intake, but your HDD's will be cooled better if you have the fan blowing across them (pushing air) rather than pulling air out.
 
Cali3350 said:
Somewhat of a thread high jack, but not entirely, what is the hard performance difference for these from pulling in the case / blowing out the case? I really hate the idea of having air blowing INTO my case from the back.
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Its very complicated math but in a nutshell the difference in temp between the rad (water in rad) and the temp of the air blowing through it has a tremendous effect on the heat transfer. It is the delta T that makes rad work well, and a moments thought will bear that out.

But to avoid the high level math I cant follow etc. an easy way to think of it is. Assume you have the best watercooling system in the world. At the very best it will cool the loop to ambient temps. So if ambient room air is 22C a loop temp of 22C is the best you can do, period. If ambient case air temp is 35C (a reasonable number likely on the low side) then the very best you could ever do is get the loop water temp down to 35C.

So simplified the performance change could be looked at as a percentage.

case air temp - room air temp divided by room air temp

In our perfect watercooling system above 35-22 = 13 and 13/22 = .59

So in a perfect watercooling world you suffered a 59% increase in loop temp due to the warmer case air.

While a wild simplification the basics are correct and illustrates a point I keep in mind at all times, you can blow all the air in the world through a rad with all the big fans you can strap on, but if you are blowing warm/hot air even 1000CFM wont do shit.


its all about over system design strongly affected by case layout, fans and their location, heat sources, mounting options etc. etc. etc. There is no easy answer other than to design and buy components with WCing in mind from the word go so you can optimize the systems thermals. Other than that we have to deal with real world issues and accept compromises. Engineering is almost always a compromise.
 
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I completely agree with BillParrish, he gives good advice. The bigger the average temp difference across the heat exchanger the higher the rate of heat transfer. I just want to add three more thoughts.

First, higher air (water) flow always, without exception, means better heat transfer across a heat exchanger. Higher air (water) flow comes with a compromise, fan (pump) noise, so there is another one of the engineering compromises that the real world lays in our laps. Better heat transfer or less noise? Choose your compromise. Also, do not ever fall for the sucker argument that "slow" air (water) flow (lower mass flow rate) means the cooling air (water) hangs around longer in the heat exchanger so it can pick up more heat. This is just wrong and no clever argument will make it right!

Second, do not fight mother nature; she will always win. Hot air rises. Therefore, use fans low in the case to bring cold air in and fans high in the case to exhaust it.

Third, the above three principles are always correct and no clever bright idea will change them.
 
Part of the allure of the H50 is that it doesnt put a pound of metal on top of my CPU :)

I have a Sniper X case and Im curious how much of a difference the giant side fan will make for the cooler in / out. I guess Ill just have to do some tests once I get it.
 
I was going to get an h70... but then i realized its going to be too hard to get a hold of one in the next week for my i7 build.

h50 for me!
 
bit late as youve prolly already made your choice but h70's a no brainer imo

or

if you're wanting to stick with sealed/AIO units, the Eco C240 or Asetek 570LX would be even better.
Only slightly, and they may be harder to fit on your case if you're not comfortable with a dremel (may not be needed).

I settled on the H20-220 LC kit from swift-tech, "kinda" an AIO unit, cept for the sealed part :)
Markedly more pricey, but also waaaay better performing....
 
they are both junk

I will not even consider one of these asetek POS units until the following happens:

A.) Dual and triple radiators

B.) more powerful pump

C.) longer tubes

D.) people quit kidding themselves into thinking that a single 120 radi can perform... I don't care how you slice and dice it... all it is is a single 120mm radi with an under powered pump mated to a crap block...

here I can beat an H70 for almost nothing

Block: Swiftech Storm Universal Waterblock Rev 2 $27 http://www.jab-tech.com/Swiftech-Storm-Universal-Waterblock-Rev-2-pr-3022.html

pump: Via Aqua 1300 $17 http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/ViaAqua1300.html

radiator: XSPC-RS240 (add $4 for barbs) $36 http://www.jab-tech.com/XSPC-RS240-BLACK-High-Performance-Copper-Fin-Radiator-pr-4203.html

pump switch: $5 tell them you need a relay that is 12 volt actuated and switches 120 volt
http://www.eskc.com/

fans: Yate loon high speed 120mm (pretty quiet for the air they move) $ 3.70 x 2 http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-120mm-Case-Fan-D12SH-12-High-Speed-pr-3771.html ***note: you can run 4 fans for push pull*** could maybe even run the medium or low speed fans

plastic hose clamps: $0.40 x 10 http://www.jab-tech.com/Plastic-Tubing-Clamps-Black-pr-3522.html

t line: $1 http://www.jab-tech.com/1-2-T-Line-for-1-2-ID-Tubing-Black-pr-3519.html

tubing: ClearFLEX 60 Tubing 1/2" ID / 3/4" OD $1 x 10 http://www.jab-tech.com/ClearFLEX-60-Tubing-1-2-ID-3-4-OD-pr-2431.html

fill port: $0.50 plastic 1/2 block off or free old AA battery :rofl:

total $107

you could also drop the price further by going with a single radi (performance should be equal to the h70 (however this would only drop the cost by around $7 to $10 including the fans)

H70 $110 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181013&Tpk=h70
 
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Different horses for different courses...
I use a custom loop, but am not some raging anti sealed-loop activist.

If total wattage isn't massive, and you're only focusing on CPU, say in a HTPC build.
Then there's nothing wrong with them...

With a few tweaks they're equal or better than the very best HSF's.
And because there's often issues with space in HTPC builds, you don't need to worry about a massive HSF.

If the emphasis of the build is hard-core OC's or intense gaming then yeah...
It makes more sense for a custom LC loop or phase-change set-up etc.

My situation was neither, I could've easily done with the sealed loops i suggested for my build.
But I liked the head-room/flexibility that the extra step of a custom loop brings.

Its never as simple as one solution is always better than the other, it depends on the exact usage for the build.
 
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jalyst said:
Different horses for different courses...
I use a custom loop, but am not some raging anti sealed-loop activist.

If total wattage isn't massive, and you're only focusing on CPU, say in a HTPC build.
Then there's nothing wrong with them...

With a few tweaks they're equal or better than the very best HSF's.
And because there's often issues with space in HTPC builds, you don't need to worry about a massive HSF.

If the emphasis of the build is hard-core OC's or intense gaming then yeah...
It makes more sense for a custom LC loop or phase-change set-up etc.

My situation was neither, I could've easily done with the sealed loops i suggested for my build.
But I liked the head-room/flexibility that the extra step of a custom loop brings.

Its never as simple as one solution is always better than the other, it depends on the exact usage for the build.
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Its just personal preference. If you are building a HTPC you are probably concerned with noise (unless your HTPC lives in a different room) so I wouldn't be recommending the H70 and probably not even the H50, I think you'd be better off with something like a Noctua C12P.
 
H70's performance is markedly better than the H50*, but it does suffer similar noise issues.
In their default form, if noise is paramount, then they wouldn't be the best option, & a Noctua C12P would be a nice alternative.

But paired with a fan or two that has an excellent CFM/noise ratio e.g. GT AP-15 or AP-14...
Then they're more than good enough for a HTPC build.....

Of course cost becomes notably higher than the Noctua once adding new fans (at least if going for the H70).
But performance at stock or OC'd (for the H70 at least) will also be consistently better.

*there's conflicting reviews, but that's just because one has to be careful so careful when they're doing an apples-to-apples
 
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jalyst said:
H70's performance is markedly better than the H50*, but it does suffer similar noise issues.
In their default form, if noise is paramount, then they wouldn't be the best option, & a Noctua C12P would be a nice alternative.

But paired with a fan or two that has an excellent CFM/noise ratio e.g. GT AP-15 or AP-14...
Then they're more than good enough for a HTPC build.....

Of course cost becomes notably higher than the Noctua once adding new fans (at least if going for the H70).
But performance at stock or OC'd (for the H70 at least) will also be consistently better.

*there's conflicting reviews, but that's just because one has to be careful so careful when they're doing an apples-to-apples
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I'd like to see some reviews of the H70 and H50 with something like Yate-Loon or GT AP-14 fans. Its an expensive endeavor to buy a H50 or H70 AND get new fans and generally quieter fans = worse cooling. I'd be interested to see how well the H70 does with a single or dual Noctua or GT-AP14 fan compared to top end air coolers which are cheaper and dont come with fans.

EDIT: A google search found the answer to my query...

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...25-corsair-hydro-h70-cpu-cooler-review-9.html

The H70 doesn't like fans that dont push a lot of air. Add to that the pump noise. Based on that if you want something quiet, I wouldn't be recommending the H70. And that's with dual 120mm fans which you'll struggle to fit in a HTPC case anyway. I'm still going to recommend the Noctua C12P for that purpose ;) Cheaper, quieter and in the end probably similar performance (especially if you make a fan opening in your case directly above the CPU for the C12P to draw air through).
 
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and generally quieter fans = worse cooling.

Generally yes, but not in the case of the fairly crappy fans that come with the H50/H70.
I'd fully expect the GT AP-15 to be quieter at the same airflow, whether it could get quiet enough for some needs, may be a concern.
So you'd step down to the AP-14 in that case..
The sliptreams have better attributes than the GT series for case fans.

H50, fans being equal with the top-end HS's, would not best them, even with some clever shrouding the differences will be minimal.
H70, fans being equal with the top-end HS's, and some shrouding, I'd fully expect it to solidly/consistently beat them.
But total cost would also be 'solidly' more...

Same for 570LX and C240, both should perform slightly better than the H70, & their pricing isn't too bad compared to it.
But the fact that they'd need one extra fan tips them into markedly pricier territory.
It's hard to say whether that extra cost is worth the fairly marginal extra performance.
I like them more than the H70 because of their form-factor....
 
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Custom loops -of course- are in another class entirely to what we've been talking about :)
 
jalyst said:
and generally quieter fans = worse cooling.

Generally yes, but not in the case of the fairly crappy fans that come with the H50/H70.
I'd fully expect the GT AP-15 to be quieter at the same airflow, whether it could get quiet enough for some needs, may be a concern.
So you'd step down to the AP-14 in that case..
The sliptreams have better attributes than the GT series for case fans.

H50, fans being equal with top-end air coolers, would not best them, even with some clever shrouding it'd be much the same.
H70, fans being equal with top-end HS, and some shrouding, I'd fully expect it to solidly/consistently beat them.
But total cost would also be a bit more...
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I dunno about that... the GT fans in most reviews I've read push less air for the same RPM as other fans.

That HWCanucks review shows a pretty big performance drop from its stock fans to dual Noctua P12s, which aren't terribly worse than AP-15s and prolly similar to AP-14s.

I wouldn't be convinced a H70 could beat something like a Noctua C12P for noise and performance in a HTPC case with a single quiet fan.

These things need to be compared properly to know for sure. You need to test a Megahalems/Venomous X/D14 with noisy fans to compare it to the great cooling performance of the stock H70, and you need to test the H70 with low speed fans to compare it to the quality of a good air cooler in a "silent PC" situation. Its too hard to extrapolate.
 
It depends on what sort of airflow you're wanting to get up to....
AP-15's top-end airflow is still very good, but at notably quieter decibels.
Pair two with a H70 in P+P w/shrouds, & I've no doubt it'll perform better than a top-end HS with the same fans.

I've read numerous comparatives between shrouded H50's & some top-end HS using the same fan configs. & it was neck-and-neck with the very best HS's.
With the full weight of H70 reviews out now suggesting there's at least a 3 degree disparity (avg; varies wildly of course depending on numerous factors) between it & the H50.
Then it follows that the H70 should solidly beat the very best HS's, of course, it would be preferable to see the actual comparison :)
 
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Then again I've read numerous reviews of the Eco C240*....
And as I recall, on-the-whole it's only minutely better than the best air, & in many instances the same.
So it's quite possible the H70 is only similar to, & does not surpass, the best HS on avg.
That's assuming there's a difference in performance between the C240 & H70, they may be very similar.


*data for the 570LX (slightly improved LCLC 240mm) is harder to come by.
 
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Yeah there's heaps of H50 Vs H70 reviews about, some with wildly diff conclusions.
But the majority now seem to be saying that there is a notable difference...
Maybe not enough if you already own a H50, but if you don't, then the H70's a better option.
Especially as prices continue to come down, & so long as you don't have space constraints.
 
Don't have any experience with the H50 but I'm more than happy with my H70. The pump thing looks really nice too, flat to the mobo with the corsair logo on it. I get idle non OC temps of around 30-32, which I'm happy with considering how little time I've spent setting it up and the fact I haven't tried tweaking things like the thermal paste or my case fan configuration.
 
from what i have seen most sites steer clear of comparing a stock h70 vs a h50 with an extra fan in push pull..... why? corsair wants to sell some h70s and sites want to keep doing reviews of corsairs products..... is the h70 better than the h50 YES! is the small difference worth 80-100 dollars or would u just rather add another fan to your h50 for 5-10 bucks, up to you
 
Its all good man, a few degrees is pointless. Just get the best value man. my ECO costed me 60 bucks... and i couldnt ask for anything better...
 
I bet a Coolermaster Hyper 212, a 25$ heatsink can beat both the H50 and H70 if paired with Indigo Extreme. Same fans of course.
 
the temperature of mi i7-950 with h70 is about 40. It is a little better than h50
 
The best part about the H70 is the larger radiator. The swivel connectors on the block add 1 more 90 degree bend which could possibly hinder flow. Also the swivels look like they could be a weak spot on durability. I'd prefer no 90 degree swivel and just have a direct from top connector going into cooling in and out chambers in heat sink.

The pump looks small on the h70.

It should cool much better than H50 based on the radiator alone.
 
adriantrances said:
I bet a Coolermaster Hyper 212, a 25$ heatsink can beat both the H50 and H70 if paired with Indigo Extreme. Same fans of course.
Click to expand...

Possibly, IX is an excellent paste, it's a few degree ahead of the very best pastes out there*, which is quite remarkable for a paste.
But put some IX on the H70, add some cheap shrouding (reused fans), and it should solidly beat this heatsink, H50 may still struggle though.
And my H20-220 LC loop would wallop it :)


*except for two other models from the same co. whose name escapes me now.
But they're very difficult to apply & remove etc.
 
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RM_Bulldog said:
from what i have seen most sites steer clear of comparing a stock h70 vs a h50 with an extra fan in push pull..... why? corsair wants to sell some h70s and sites want to keep doing reviews of corsairs products..... is the h70 better than the h50 YES! is the small difference worth 80-100 dollars or would u just rather add another fan to your h50 for 5-10 bucks, up to you
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Yeah def. hard to justify if you already own a H50, maybe if prices continue to come down.
A 2-5 degree improvement (same fan config) on avg. was disappointing...

SonDa5 said:
The best part about the H70 is the larger radiator. The swivel connectors on the block add 1 more 90 degree bend which could possibly hinder flow. Also the swivels look like they could be a weak spot on durability. I'd prefer no 90 degree swivel and just have a direct from top connector going into cooling in and out chambers in heat sink.

The pump looks small on the h70.

It should cool much better than H50 based on the radiator alone.
Click to expand...

Yeah it def. was a let-down in some ways....
I was expecting more dramatic improvements over the H50

Silverghost said:
The lines should be bigger on these.
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Yeah common design complaint; hoses are too short on the H70.

I'd love to see some direct comparisons between the: H70, C240, 570LX
But I suspect that'll never appear on the net.........
 
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