Largest AIO Cooler for 2016 - 420MM on the horizon?

D

Ducman69

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Jul 12, 2007
Messages
10,550
Correct me if you disagree, but when it comes to water coolers, I was always told that bigger is always better. And so I always try to fit the biggest possible radiator that my case will take.

I have a couple FD Design S cases on the way, which will take even up to a 420mm radiator.

Looking around, it seems that such a beast as an AIO cooler doesn't exist. Does anyone know of one on the horizon, or too much of a niche?

Otherwise, who are the big daddies recommended, not so much just for maximum cooling, but maximum quietness (I know a lot of these AIOs have pretty noisy ass pumps)?

I see that Fractal has their own Kelvin S36, there's also a popular Thermaltake Water 3.0 Ultimate, and the bit pricier Swiftech H320X2

Thoughts?
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
you can cool a hot video card and cpu with a 240mm rad , those coolers just need better pumps and better flow, really don't see them going over 280mm, doesn't make much sense, at least until the 16core cpus show up
 
fwiw, I'm running a 6600K overclocked to 4.5ghz on a Corsair H60i 120mm AIO cooler and idle temps are in the 15-20deg range and under load, I've never seen it go much past 50deg

IMHO, a 420mm rad is completely overkill on an AIO cooler. Maybe for an entire custom loop... but for a single component, its probably a huge waste of money.
 
I mean, at that point why not just buy a motorcycle radiator? Only half joking... the thinner PC radiator cores work better because motorcycle radiators are made for higher temp liquids but if you find a cheap motorcycle one you could save some bucks....

motorradiator.jpg
 
dr.stevil said:
IMHO, a 420mm rad is completely overkill on an AIO cooler. Maybe for an entire custom loop... but for a single component, its probably a huge waste of money.
Click to expand...
Overkill? No such thing!

If the rad were large enough, I would think the pump could go real slow and quiet, and possibly run with stopped fans most of the time!
 
Ducman69 said:
Overkill? No such thing!

If the rad were large enough, I would think the pump could go real slow and quiet, and possibly run with stopped fans most of the time!
Click to expand...

lmao I forgot the community I was speaking to.

Seriously though, maybe the right choice of words is diminishing returns lol

I don't know if a larger radiator would allow you to lower the pump speed (logic tells me that you'd still want to flow the same CFM regardless of rad size, but I'm also fairly new to watercooling so it's quite possible I'm wrong), but you are right that the surface area might be great enough that it can be cooled without a fan at all. Not sure if that would actually give you a noticeable gain noise wise, in the grand scheme of things, but I'm also a sucker for over-doing things too lol :) I would definitely love to see it done
 
buhbuhfet said:
you can cool a hot video card and cpu with a 240mm rad , those coolers just need better pumps and better flow, really don't see them going over 280mm, doesn't make much sense, at least until the 16core cpus show up
Click to expand...
this is 100% true. You only need larger rad if you want silent system or you have dual or quad SLi. 240/360mm rad cools 220 watt CPU with space to spare. 240/360 will cool an 200 watt CPU and 300 watt GPU with decent fans. If you have dual or quad sli than yea a larger rad for sure!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top