Looking for alternative to corsair coolers

Malneb · 27 Jun 2023

There is always speedfan or any of the other several apps out there that follow the same principle like actually controlling your fans nothing more.
I wouldn't bother with a proprietary fan monitor/controller either for the vary reasons you mentioned i have not installed anything like this since about 2010 because much of it is cumbersome.

If it ever needs me to sign in with my email or do X Y or B or it is doing way to much little swiss army pocket knife then its trash and its not needed. 65 processes sounds like doing to much.

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Wobitancrawfodi said:

Wow! Been reading a lot of reviews. No two seem to feel the same way about the same cooler.
Anyway, I think I'm leaning towards the Arctic II Freezer 360mm cooler with an extra set of fans in a push pull configuration. I have a W100 case with plenty of room.

The installation manual doesn't really explain too well how the cabling is handled.
I assume there is a pump header (4 pin) and 3 fan cables (or in my case 6 because of the extra fans).

How do I connect those? Connect 3 fans to one header through a 3 way cable? According to the website there is only one cable to connect? No power cable, no pump cable, just one for everything?

Wonder then how to add the extra fans?

It has a RGB controller so you only need one plug to the motherboard and everything else plugs into the controller.

Wobitancrawfodi · 27 Jun 2023

This is what I'm looking at for my son who needs a new cooler: Liquid Freezer II 280 | Multi-Compatible AiO CPU Water Cooler | ARCTIC
This is what I am looking at for myself:Liquid Freezer II 360 | Multi-Compatible AiO CPU Water Cooler | ARCTIC

I have no desire to purchase RGB coolers. I am only interested in cooling and being able to set curves and monitor temps.

So the fans connect to a "controller"? Where is this controller?
The Arctic's documentation is really bad.

Damn retailers in Australia are all clueless, black box shifters. Can't find a single retailer with any technical knowledge. Their advice, just buy one and see if it works. If not, return it, but we will charge you a restocking fee.

---Update---
The Arctic is out. Not what I'm looking for... The one connector is a no go. I want to be able to set the fans and pump independently of each other.

Malneb · 28 Jun 2023

Sorry should of mentioned i am not over familiar with these as in i have never owned one.

it will either have a controller if its RGB where you would only use one connection to CPU header and one other to an AUX for its box controller.

Or there will be one plug that goes into the CPU header and rad fans will be daisy chained off of that.

Both these setups are pretty much the norm because cable management. There is only like 3 fan headers on most MB sometimes 4 or more but less common. The 3 AUX headers get used up by the case pretty fast.

The rad fans should spin at the pump speed anyway well they don't have to but its not going to hurt anything if they do i mean.

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looking at this it looks to be the latter

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Not actually sure if the fans can be controlled independently as not sure if this has a built in hub but you could potentially get the RGB version to control the fans independently of the pump and just turn the RGB off, assuming that it has an extra controller etc.

JAM83 · 28 Jun 2023

hsehestedt said:

People will have wildly different opinions on this, but for my personal preference, if you are not wildly overclocking, a high quality air cooler such as those from Noctua are an excellent choice.

No special software of any kind needed.

100% agree. . Plus, idc what people say, liquids and electronics DO NOT MIX, idc if the liquid isn't conductive, it still can ruin components. I'll never understand why. . . I'll NEVER use a liquid cooler in my systems.

Wobitancrawfodi · 28 Jun 2023

Hey, thanks for that. Pretty easy to install, no issue there.

I have two scenarios - My PC uses 2x Corsair Commander Pros for case fans as I have 11 of them. I use 1 USB port and the CP's daisy chain together. But even if I'd needed to use motherboard headers I could have used fan splitter cables.

For mine I want to add an additional 3 fans on the 360 so I will have a push-pull set up. Summers are hot and I have no cooling where the PC is so every degree helps. The issue then is where do I connect those fans, and how do I sync them to the other fans. I suspect I can't.

The other PC I need to replace a cooler on is my sons. I will use a 280mm cooler on that one.

Of course, I will want to set up fan curves for both systems. There would be only one fan setting in the BIOS that needs to be set, and that would be the pump - for the Arctic given it only has one connector.

Apparently the most efficient way to set radiator fans is by coolant temp not by CPU package. From experience using the latter results in lots of ramping up and down of fans as temps change. When I changed to coolant temp the performance was much better and I didn't have to listen to fans change speeds every few seconds every time the CPU temp spiked for some reason.

For CLC AIO's I've never seen a leak. I've got 10 PCs with AIOs and I've been using them for close on 10 years. I've probably built several hundred PCs with AIOs and never had a leak. I've only ever had one person insist on using an air cooler.

For custom loops, sure if you don't do it right you risk a leak.

I have nothing against air coolers. I've used a few of them on systems that are not overclocked. My only concern is the weight. I've also often found getting multiple fans connected to air coolers much more fiddly than connecting up an AIO. Each to his or her own.