A semi-modifiable watercooler from Swiftech

Subject: Cases and Cooling | March 11, 2013 - 03:20 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: swiftech, H220 Compact Drive II, AIO, water cooler

Swiftech has made an All In One watercooler with a bit of a difference, not only will it work straight out of the box, changing the fluid and tubing will not void your warranty like many other AIO coolers. The 269mm x 127mm x 29mm radiator has a pair of 120mm fans cooling it, an unsealed Fill Port for changing your cooling liquid and two ports for 5/8" outer, 3/8" inner tubing which can also be swapped out. Pro-Clockers found it to be a decent performer though somewhat outclassed by coolers using 140mm fans but far more flexible and upgradeable. If you are looking for an AIO cooler that you can add to later on then keep your eyes our for the Swiftech H220 which should be for sale in the very near future.

"Swiftech has been sitting back in the cut watching the market and seeing what to do and what more they can do to make their entry into the lower cost AiO market. That entry is the H220 Compact Drive II CPU Cooler. Gabe and company has release a cooler than is more than “an install it and leave it type” solution. This new cooler can be upgraded in many ways. Meaning you can add water blocks as your system grows, refill with the liquid of your liking, add more tubing to accommodate the added blocks as well as other steps to assure that you have a water-cooling system for a life time."

Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:

CASES & COOLING

Source: Pro-Clockers

ASUS Shows Off ROG ARES II GPU With Sealed Loop Water Cooler

Subject: Graphics Cards | January 19, 2013 - 01:26 AM | Tim Verry
Tagged: water cooler, sealed loop, ROG ARES II, gpu cooler, asus, amd, 7970 ghz edition

ASUS has taken the wraps off of a new dual GPU graphics card that comes equipped with a sealed loop liquid cooler to keep the two overclocked 7970 GHz Edition GPUs frosty. The new ROG ARES II is a limited edition card that pairs the ARES II GPU with an Asetek-based cooler and rounds out the top-end of the company’s Republic of Gamers lineup.

The card itself features two AMD Radeon 7970 GHz Edition GPUs clocked at 1050 MHz base and 1100 MHz boost, 6GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 1650 MHz, and ASUS’ DIGI+ 20-phase VRM with “Super Alloy Power” hardware. The ROG ARES II has a 500W TDP and uses three 8-pin PCI-E power connectors. The card measures 11.8” x 5.5” x1.8,” not including the radiator.

The ROG ARES II includes one DVI-I, one DVI-D, and four DisplayPort video outputs. ASUS is also packing a DVI to HDMI adapter in the box.

The sealed loop water cooler is where the card sets itself apart, however. Based on an Asetek design, the ARES II water cooler features a 120mm radiator, and two CPU-style water blocks over each 7970 GHz Edition GPU. The loop runs from the radiator and through both water blocks before returning to the radiator which is paired with two 120mm fans. Curiously, the water cooler did not result in a single-slot design. Rather, the ARES II card has a somewhat-bulky two slot profile. According to ASUS, the water cooled card will run up to 31 degrees Celsius cooler than the reference NVIDIA GTX 690 graphics card while being as much as 13% faster (though ASUS does not specifically name the games/benchmarks).

ASUS has not released any pricing or availability information, but you can expect it to rival the price of PowerColor’s Devil 13 thanks to the sealed loop water cooler and ARES II hardware. Currently, ASUS is planning on producing a mere 1,000 liquid cooled ARES II cards, so be prepared to be fast on the mouse click upon release.

I would have liked to see a water cooler that was a bit more customized to the card. In particular, I think ASUS should have used a single water block that covered both GPUS and the VRM area, which would have allowed ASUS to get rid of the fan on the card itself entirely. Nevertheless, the ARES II will be extremely fast, and hopefully run nice and cool even when overclocked. I’m interested in seeing a head-to-head between the ARES II and PowerColor Devil 13.

Read more about AMD’s Graphics Core Next architecture at PC Perspective.

Source: Asus

Corsair Hydro Series Cooler Comparison and Review - H60, H80i, H100i

Author: Morry Teitelman

Date: January 14, 2013

Subject: Cases and Cooling

Manufacturer: Corsair

Tagged: water cooler, water block, Hydro Series, H80i, h60, H100i, Corsair Link, corsair

Introduction and Technical Specifications

Introduction

Hydro Series™ H100i Extreme Performance CPU Cooler
Courtesy of Corsair

Hydro Series™ H80i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Courtesy of Corsair

Hydro Series™ H60 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Courtesy of Corsair

The Corsair Hydro Series™ CPU water coolers come in a variety of sizes and configurations to fit the needs of all classes of computer enthusiasts. We decided to look at their latest revisions of these coolers, embodied in the H60, H80i, and H100i cooling units. We put these units up against the Swiftech Apogee HD custom cooling system on our test bench to see just how well these coolers performed. Starting at a base price of $79.99 for the Corsair H60 cooler, you really can't go wrong with the any of these standalone units.

Continue reading our review of the new Corsair Hydro Series CPU Coolers!!

AMD's retail Bulldozer watercooler

Subject: Cases and Cooling | November 7, 2011 - 12:17 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: amd, bulldozer, water cooler

When the Bulldozer process first started to hit the review bench one of the most commented on facts was that AMD had plans to release a watercooler with some models of the FX-8150. The basic design will be familiar to anyone who has seen a self contained watercooler, with a waterblock directly attached to a radiator. In this case you can use two 120mm fans to move air over the radiator, which might be a good thing considering the small diameter tubing and questionable finish on the waterblock. Neoseeker shows of the monitoring software and the cooling prowess of this bundled watercooler in their latest review.

"In our review of the AMD FX-8150 last month, we noted that AMD would at some point begin bundling the new Bulldozer CPU with a stock water cooler with the promise of opening the doors to even better overclocking performance for enthusiasts. We've at last got our hands on the model which will come included with the FX-8150 in the near future, and we put it to the test in our updated coverage for the FX-8150 CPU. Find out just how large the additional overclocking headroom becomes with the upcoming stock water cooler."

Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:

CASES & COOLING

Source: Neoseeker

Corsair Launches New H40 and H70 CORE Sealed Loop Water Coolers

Subject: Cases and Cooling | October 6, 2011 - 04:39 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: water cooler, liquid cooling, hsf, h70, h40, corsair, cooling

Corsair has released two new sealed loop water coolers dubbed the Corsair H40 and H70 Core that are aimed at budget builds and enthusiasts who prefer to provide their own fans. These new models, like their predecessors, are compatible with both AMD and Intel sockets and will have mounting hardware, the cooler itself, and a illustrated quick start guide that the company claims will be helpful during setup. As the coolers use a somewhat odd mounting ring system, photo illustrations can indeed be helpful (as I learned when setting up my own H70).

The new budget H40 water cooler

The H40 is Corsair’s new budget sealed loop water cooler, replacing the H50 as the company’s entry level cooler. It features an aluminum radiator able to accommodate up to two 120mm fans (one 2000rpm 120mm fan is included). The radiator connects to the water block via flexible black tubing, and the cold plate is also composed of aluminum (versus the H70’s copper base plate). It includes mounting hardware to support all the latest AMD and Intel sockets up to AMD’s FM1 and Intel’s socket 1155.

The H70 Core (or CORE if you prefer Corsair’s all caps nomenclature) is a retooled H70 water cooling product that eschews the fans in favor of a slightly cheaper retail price. Further, by selling the H70 without fans, enthusiasts are able to purchase (or reuse) their own fans. The H70 CORE water cooler itself is the same as the previous 70, and features a 38mm thick aluminum radiator connected by sealed flexible tubing with a copper cold plate. The radiator can accommodate two 120mm fans and the device is compatible with both Intel and AMD CPU (Processor) sockets.

The H70 without bundled fans is a sealed water cooler that many enthusiasts have been asking Corsair for for a long time, and it’s good to see the company responding to requests. The H40 may well be a decent option for a quiet, low power HTPC. The H40 carries and MSRP of $59 USD while the H70 CORE has an MSRP of $89 USD. The H70 with bundled fans retails for around $95 USD, so it will be interesting to see where the H70 CORE will fan in retail and whether it will provide a good value. Both sealed loop water coolers will be available worldwide later this month.

Source: Corsair

PC Perspective