I'm a huge fan of custom water cooling
loops that should really be no surprise
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there's a lot of different ways I could
have done this video and I could have
done the quick easy awesome retention
two minute video of here the coolers
here are the temperatures have a nice
day hit subscribe and like and all that
junk but you know that doesn't really
tell the whole story there's more going
on here with these coolers than just the
temperatures now all of these are going
to be featuring 240 millimeter radiators
which is to 120 millimeter fans because
that fits in most cases and it really is
the most common size that people
purchase so yeah I could have done like
the H 110 or gone with 140 millimeter
fan units but that's not the way we're
doing it today we're doing it with 120
millimeters and if you don't like that
well then just deal with it I guess so
first up we have got what is arguably
one of the most successful coolers to
ever hit the market selling just tons
and tons of units and even if you're not
into water cooling you've more than
likely seen or heard of the H 100 i from
course there so next up we have the
Swift tech h2 20x which was really
remarkable when it hit the market
because it's made by a company that
specializes in making individual
components for custom water cooling
loops so their their goal and their
mission here was really to take
off-the-shelf custom water cooling parts
pre assemble them so that you could
expand it in the future have
serviceability change the fluid and add
to it you know custom water cooling loop
type components which are GPU blocks and
radiators and things like that
and then of course we've got the brand
new ek water blocks predator 240 which
has the exact same reasoning of why it
exists it's where it's made by a
manufacturer that makes in-house all of
their own custom water cooling parts pre
assemble them into an all-in-one loop
where you get the same quality as a
custom loop but in an all-in-one
easing ease of use of an all-in-one kit
now I could have just done temperatures
and been done with it but there's more
to it than just temperatures there's
ease of use and installation there's
durability and longevity serviceability
and expandability and then of course
value so we're going to go ahead and
talk about all three of those things now
first up here we've got the H 100 I the
thing is pretty easy to install it's got
some cables flopping around here the
fans are controlled by a Corsair zone
software
which plug into the pump here and you've
you've got some things you've got to
plug in it's not too bad though it's
lightweight construction and is an
aluminum radiator with a copper block
and pump built into the top of the block
right here so the pop pop the block and
pump are a single unit
you've got the fans here which you have
to add I'm going to install onto the
radiator when you take it out of the box
installation is pretty easy it's not too
hard if you've got to attach the bracket
based on which socket you're going to be
using so there is some assembly required
with the socket and the bracket putting
it together and then it has a retention
backplate depending on which socket you
use now it is not serviceable you are
not able to take this thing apart you
cannot change the fluid and you cannot
add to it but it also works on intel and
AMD sockets from LGA 775 and up as well
as AMD AM + 2 + 3 + sockets so no
problems there in terms of compatibility
now the Swift tech h2 20 X features
thicker tubing rubber tubing on here
which the corsair h100 I also had was
rubber tubing not the fep flexible
tubing you've got a much heavier duty
radiator because it's made of copper and
not aluminum you've got their swift tech
helix fans on here and then you've got
an actual laying DDC pump in here and a
built-in reservoir with fittings on here
that you can open up to access the fluid
you can change out the fluid and then
you've got a really heavy duty copper
block with custom lighting and a lot of
stuff going on here
now you can actually remove these
fittings and add to them you can't
expand it in add radiator or GPU block
or whatever you want to I feel that the
wiring is a little bit cumbersome where
you have got the fan wires coming off
that goes on to a pwm splitter which
also requires its own power and its own
PWM signal wire here to be plugged in to
the motherboard and then on the block
you also have its LED light wire coming
off here so that the block can light up
and then the pump also has its PWM
circuit as well as its own power so
you've got a lot of cables going on here
as you can see
yeah you've got a lot of stuff going on
but you also have a lot of wiring that
makes it very difficult to route and
look pretty in my opinion but as I said
it is serviceable it is expandable it
does work on Intel and AMD socket sets
but it's got a lot of wires kind of
dangling off of it and then last but not
least we have the EK water blocks
predator this is the way it comes out of
the box fully assembled the socket
assembly here is ready to go
copper water block ek supremacy block
you've got there cool stream radiator
here with Vardar fans put on laying DD
seat pump on here for moving the coolant
and then a reservoir on the side right
here it's fully assembled this is
exactly how it comes out of the box the
fans are already preassembled they're
already wired on to this little logic
board right here that controls PWM as
well as power to the fans and the pump
and then the block doesn't have any
lighting on it but it does have holes
here where you could add LEDs if you
want to try and add some lighting to it
in the future and the only cables that
you have to actually install for that
are these two guys right here one power
cable one PWM cable and that is it
rubber tubing on here compression
fittings that are much easier to access
and add to if you're going to be doing
additional radiators or additional
blocks for like a GPU block the downside
is it does not support AMD at all
and I don't think they plan on
supporting AMD either the other downside
is because I use kind of an all-in-one
or one-size-fits-all for Intel sockets
if you're using socket 2011 or 2011 - 3
you might run into the issue where these
little nubs that are designed to push
through the motherboard so it can screw
into the 2011 socket might not work with
your motherboard ask me how I know do I
need to remind us all that we drilled
through a motherboard thinking that we'd
be ok
and we weren't so yeah this has full
support for all sockets but some 2011
and 2011 - 3 it will not work on so you
need to keep that in mind when it comes
to ease of installation the predator
easily decimates the other two by just
mounting on the bracket for the cheap
the CPU and then mounting it to your
case
and two cables and everything is powered
pump and fans which is trust me in terms
of ease of installation it doesn't get
any easier than that one
before we can talk about value you have
to know what you're getting for your
money so we've already talked about the
materials we've already talked about how
easy they are to install we've also
talked about things like expandability
and how easy it is to service them etc
etc so before we show the temperatures
the testbed is an Intel x99 motherboard
59 30 K overclocked to 4.4 gigahertz at
one point to 5 volts which i think is
pretty standard most people would be
able to get that clock at that voltage
it's not a lot of volts but it's also
not as low as the voltage could be so
we're pumping some heat into these bad
boys to really see how well they can
handle it but stress testing on a six
core 12 thread CPU like the 59 30 K
that's overclocked while also stressing
the CPU cache as well as the FPU means
that there could be a lot of heat in
these chips so that's why I thought that
that would be really appropriate to do
it with these three units so with that
said let's go ahead and look at the
temperatures and then we'll talk about
some closing thoughts on these coolers
and then hopefully have armed you with
the information it takes for you guys to
be able to go out and get the best deal
when it comes to buying your all-in-one
water cooling units and you'll have more
money left over for hookers and blow
no trust me my reaction was very similar
to yours when it comes to the charts
yeah the one that performed the best in
terms of temperature was the Corsair H
100 I now I ran these tests multiple
times I spent all day I mean from sunup
to sundown doing these tests in
different types of ambient temperatures
cooler temperatures hotter temperature
because it got hotter as the day went on
and as you can see by running all three
of these with fans at a hundred percent
the H 100 I was by far the best
performing in terms of temperature
however once we take fan control and fan
speed into account and we slow the fans
down so that we can have an acoustically
pleasing experience because trust me the
H 100 I with these SP fans on here
running at full speed what 2700 rpm holy
hell is the thing unbearable to listen
to so performed extremely well but if
you're okay with having a leaf blower
inside your computer those are the
temperatures you got so once we slowed
the fans down on all three of these with
the PWM PWM setting in the motherboard
set to silent well this is what we got
so when you're looking at benchmarks and
things in different editors or different
magazines or online editorials it's
important to really pay attention to
what the RPM speed is set to for the
fans now we already know that our fans
are absolutely freaking amazing and that
really shows here once you slow down the
fans now the helix fans I've actually
used these independently in all of them
water cooling loops before in fact my
original white NZXT switch 810 case with
AMD build that I actually had when I
started my channel was using these exact
Swift tech helix fans not the PWM ones
but the DC ones that I controlled and
slowed down myself
but when acoustics matter then the ek
predator 240 really stood out where it
had a lot less drop-off in temperatures
when it came to acoustics being involved
and slowing down the fans then the other
two did so you really have to ask
yourself when it comes to buying these
units what is it you're looking for are
you just looking for a flat out the best
performance you can possibly get at the
sacrifice of any noise level then the H
100 I is certainly going to be the the
unit to go with but at those speeds
constant rpms like that fan running full
speed pump running full speed I really
wouldn't know how long your unit would
last I would venture to say that inside
of two years you're replacing it because
it died and that's where the other two
units come in because in terms of their
quality of parts being used they're
going to last years and years over the H
100 I now obviously when it comes to
value that's not something I can tell
you whether or not it's worth it to you
I can tell you that personally for me
and all in one water cooling loop that's
expandable and has off-the-shelf parts
that you would use at a custom loop are
much more enticing and an incentive to
me to buy than something like an H 100 I
if I was using the system daily
overclocking it putting a lot of heat
into it and wanting to maybe expand in
the future the extra cost associated
with that gives me a better value
remember value does not mean which one
is cheapest it means which one gives you
more for your money and obviously the h2
20x and the predator 240 are offering
that but then when it comes to ease of
use and aesthetically pleasing to me
personally the
predator 240 offers me more when it
comes to that aspect than h2 20x
but today's video was not about telling
you which one is better it's about
giving you the information between these
three to give you guys hopefully what it
takes for you to determine for yourself
which is the better unit for you so I
thought this was a fun video to do where
we just kind of compared the three and
give you some insight onto what's on the
market when it comes to all one water
cooling loops versus expandable loops
because I think the future is going to
look more like this we're going to start
seeing all of the brands offering
expandable loops like that
and that's where companies like Coursera
are kind of screwed when it comes to the
future in my opinion because remember
Corsair rebrands ASA tech units where
ASA tech is the one that has come up
with those designs where Swift tech and
predator made by ek are all built
in-house and they control everything
when it comes to those units alright
guys thanks for watching hope this video
was fun for you
October has been a water-cooling month
where I've done more water cooling
videos in October don't ask me why it's
October I don't know it just happened
that way
maybe it's because October is the first
cool month you get after summer and then
you can start jacking up your overclocks
and getting more performance and you've
got to keep those temperatures in check
well keep them in check with these units
and sound off in the comments on which
unit makes more sense to you and why not
just don't just say roof dirt dork
geo sucks that comment because it says
nothing it gives no information and it
really makes you sound like a doofus if
you think it sucks say why it sucks and
if you think the H 100's better say why
it's better not H 102 better cuz it's
got a red bak I'm sorry about some of
the comments sound just that bad alright
guys time to get out of here follow on
social media if you've got any questions
you want to tell me that I suck that's
okay I do kind of stuck alright guys
I'll see you the next one
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