Quality water cooling for 5960X?

CoreStoffer

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 20, 2008
Messages
305
I'm going to get an i7-5960X soonish and overclock the beast to around 4,2 GHz (hopefully), but need some input to which water cooling I should go for.

Originally I thought that a Corsair H110 would cut the mustard, but I don't want the fans to run at max to cool the i7-5960X enough because of the noise, so now I'm thinking of these kits. All 360 radiators.

Lets say I'm going to run the fans on 7 volts or something like that, then what would you get?

Good, not too expensive, low noise:
ek-kit-l360

More expensive, a bit overkill, but could take a GPU or two too:

raystorm-d5-photon-rx360-v3-watercooling-kit

It have to be a kit like these and I would really prefer the Pump and Reservoir to be combined for simplicity. ;) :eek:
 
If you are looking at kits

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2...60mm_D5UT_-_Complete_Kit.html?tl=g30c321s1793

Would be my suggestion. Some better cooling than the other two, I personally prefer Alphacool.

However I will note .... for just a single CPU its going to be a little overkill to go with a 360mm (Some nice expansion options later, however keep in mind your going to want to have 120mmx120mm radiator space per component PLUS another 120mmx120mm extra is the general rule of thumb)
 
After using Monsta Rads and seeing how they really do a bad job at removing the flux I'd use XSPC or EK, but they are not bad. The PE rads from EK are very nice looking and offer pretty good performance, same goes for XSPC with whichever rads they are bundling now in the kits.

I would still go with a 360 radiator at the minimum given this CPU of yours. I went with a 240 rad years ago (50mm think) and it couldn't handle the heat a w3680 (980X Xeon) would produce at 1.35v 4.2 GHz, later on bought a BlackIce 360 and what a change. Though given the architecture changes Haswell is a bit more efficient over Westmere, but if you consider adding GPU's into your loop in the future the 360 would be a good start.

PerformancePC's is having a labor day sale


Spend $50+, get 8% off: "LABOR14-8"

http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=c5d0ca22f571464ad3718ac66&id=47e6d83077

It ends today though!
 
However I will note .... for just a single CPU its going to be a little overkill to go with a 360mm (Some nice expansion options later, however keep in mind your going to want to have 120mmx120mm radiator space per component PLUS another 120mmx120mm extra is the general rule of thumb)


The general rule of thumb does not apply to the 5960x, it's not a little quad core. It produces a LOT more heat.

I'd say a 360 rad is more the minimum for the 5960x if you want better performance than an AIO cooler. Switching from a 240mm h100 to a 240mm monsta rad custom loop on my OC'd i7 970 system only reduced load temps by about 10c, not enough to squeeze out any extra OC. The 5960x produces gulftown levels of heat when OC'd, plan accordingly.

Personally, I have a triple 480 rad setup waiting for my 5960x. Overkill? possibly. Or i like really quiet fans, and rads only dissipate a 1/3rd of the "rule of thumb" wattage with low fan speeds. :cool:

Edit: +1 for alphacool rads.
 
If you are looking at kits

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2...60mm_D5UT_-_Complete_Kit.html?tl=g30c321s1793

Would be my suggestion. Some better cooling than the other two, I personally prefer Alphacool.

However I will note .... for just a single CPU its going to be a little overkill to go with a 360mm (Some nice expansion options later, however keep in mind your going to want to have 120mmx120mm radiator space per component PLUS another 120mmx120mm extra is the general rule of thumb)

Thanks, I will keep that in mind and check the Alphacool-kit out. :)
 
After using Monsta Rads and seeing how they really do a bad job at removing the flux I'd use XSPC or EK, but they are not bad. The PE rads from EK are very nice looking and offer pretty good performance, same goes for XSPC with whichever rads they are bundling now in the kits.

I would still go with a 360 radiator at the minimum given this CPU of yours. I went with a 240 rad years ago (50mm think) and it couldn't handle the heat a w3680 (980X Xeon) would produce at 1.35v 4.2 GHz, later on bought a BlackIce 360 and what a change. Though given the architecture changes Haswell is a bit more efficient over Westmere, but if you consider adding GPU's into your loop in the future the 360 would be a good start.

PerformancePC's is having a labor day sale


http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=c5d0ca22f571464ad3718ac66&id=47e6d83077

It ends today though!

Thanks, I will take it that I'm on the right track then. :)

I'm from Europe so the sale doesn't work for me, but still thanks! :)
 
The general rule of thumb does not apply to the 5960x, it's not a little quad core. It produces a LOT more heat.

I'd say a 360 rad is more the minimum for the 5960x if you want better performance than an AIO cooler. Switching from a 240mm h100 to a 240mm monsta rad custom loop on my OC'd i7 970 system only reduced load temps by about 10c, not enough to squeeze out any extra OC. The 5960x produces gulftown levels of heat when OC'd, plan accordingly.

Personally, I have a triple 480 rad setup waiting for my 5960x. Overkill? possibly. Or i like really quiet fans, and rads only dissipate a 1/3rd of the "rule of thumb" wattage with low fan speeds. :cool:

Edit: +1 for alphacool rads.

Interesting, so I take it that a Corsair H110 won't really cut the mustard on a overclocked 5960X? ;)
 
How come you guys prefer the Alphacool? It is probably less expensive here in Denmark, so I have no problem getting one of those kits. Just want to hear the why? :)
 
Interesting, so I take it that a Corsair H110 won't really cut the mustard on a overclocked 5960X? ;)

It will, probably up to 4.5/4.6, but not much higher. I didn't want to lose IPC over my [email protected] with my upgrade, so a heavier OC with a heavier cooling solution is required. :)

How come you guys prefer the Alphacool? It is probably less expensive here in Denmark, so I have no problem getting one of those kits. Just want to hear the why? :)

Competitive pricing. High quality. Performance focused (they generally rank very well in reviews). I have only dealt with their radiators, but I see nothing wrong with the other things they make.
 
It will, probably up to 4.5/4.6, but not much higher. I didn't want to lose IPC over my [email protected] with my upgrade, so a heavier OC with a heavier cooling solution is required. :)



Competitive pricing. High quality. Performance focused (they generally rank very well in reviews). I have only dealt with their radiators, but I see nothing wrong with the other things they make.

Thanks for your input. much appreciated!

I don't want to push the 5960X to the max limit, and if I can get around 4,2 GHz on 1,25 volt, it would suit me perfectly fine.
 
Who is coming up with this rule of thumb bullshit? Number of components is an idiotic rule of thumb, components have vastly different heat outputs, even the same part will be different depending upon overclock. If you want an idea of how much radiator you need look at reviews and see how much heat they dissipate. If you need a rule of thumb a much better one is that most radiators can dissipate around 100 to 150W per 120mm^2. This is while keeping as close to 10C difference between coolant and ambient temperature which is generally considered to be very good. Most water cooling systems can even handle much higher heat loads, just at reduced performance but still better than air cooling.
 
Erasmus ... Most of the components are 100-150W per component..... so that fits exactly with the "rule of thumb"

I was simply giving something that plenty have said, I personally dont follow it and go slightly bigger and more than I need.
 
Erasmus ... Most of the components are 100-150W per component..... so that fits exactly with the "rule of thumb"

I was simply giving something that plenty have said, I personally dont follow it and go slightly bigger and more than I need.

Really? Cause an overclocked 5960X is running into the 300W category, as is almost any top of the line video card...
 
If you want cooling, especially for that CPU, you'll need a good pump and a stout rad/rads plus a good cooler.

If you want pump/reservoir combo, buy an MCP 655 and add an XSPC pump top reservoir.
As for blocks, I prefer Heatkiller.

Radiators, I use XSPC, but that's just me.

My two watercooled computers.......OC 4770K and two R9 290X.....three 120.2 rads and an MCP655. The other is an OC 3930K and two GTX 780s......one 120.3 and one 120.2 coupled with an MCP 655.
 
So your 150w chip is in the 300w range? And a rule of thumb does not typically apply to the MAXIMUM, its going to be the average. The average user does not have a 5960X. Is one of my suggestions bad? I went on to suggest MORE than the "rule of thumb"

Really? Cause an overclocked 5960X is running into the 300W category, as is almost any top of the line video card...
 
So your 150w chip is in the 300w range? And a rule of thumb does not typically apply to the MAXIMUM, its going to be the average. The average user does not have a 5960X. Is one of my suggestions bad? I went on to suggest MORE than the "rule of thumb"

Yes, an overclocked 5960X 140W TDP chip is in the 300W range when overclocked. From the AnandTech review:

"At 4.1 GHz, peak power is +104W over the system power draw at stock, with another 40W at 4.3 GHz. This shows that Haswell-E can be a power hog from even small overclocks, and thus users must have cooling to match. If we add the 140W TDP and the +140W more from the overclock (it would most likely be more than this due to the change of efficiency in the PSU curve), then a mildly overclocked CPU is fast approaching 300W. One can imagine that a highly clocked 4.7 GHz sample would be nearer 400W, and thus users should purchase power supplies to match." --Source

I figured I would use a 5960X because that is the topic of this thread.... In case you didn't know the more voltage and frequency you give a computer chip, the more power it consumes. Overclocking greatly increases your power draw above the designed power of the chip.
 
I say go alphacool. I've had two of their rads. All copper and solid as a rock. Their rads come in any thickness, too. The Monsta rads generally dominate, I have a Monsta 280 and I've never been happier.
 
I say go alphacool. I've had two of their rads. All copper and solid as a rock. Their rads come in any thickness, too. The Monsta rads generally dominate, I have a Monsta 280 and I've never been happier.

I had a 280mm Alphacool Monsta and it leaked water everywhere. My Alphacool reservoir also leaks when it is full. All of the Alphacool products I've owned have had major issues and I'm lucky my PC isn't fried.
 
Why not just buy all the stuff from a watercooling website. $90 for double/triple rad, $75(d5 or mcp***), $30-40 for a reservoir, $55-65 for cpu block, $20 for tubing + fittings.
 
I had a 280mm Alphacool Monsta and it leaked water everywhere. My Alphacool reservoir also leaks when it is full. All of the Alphacool products I've owned have had major issues and I'm lucky my PC isn't fried.

Jesus! That's a pretty bad experience...
 
I had a 280mm Alphacool Monsta and it leaked water everywhere. My Alphacool reservoir also leaks when it is full. All of the Alphacool products I've owned have had major issues and I'm lucky my PC isn't fried.

Could be PEBKAC. I have one Alphacool rad myself and I've never had any issues. Seems like a thick, well built rad.

Come to think of it, the only water cooling hardware issue I've ever had was a Swiftech-branded pump that finally died after about 6 years of near-continuous use.
 
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