Items tagged with liquid cooling
Alder Lake is almost here (we know, it feels like we've been saying that forever, but it's really true!), and at minimum, upgrading to a 12th Gen Intel Core processor also necessitates a new motherboard (Z690). You may also opt to jump on the DDR5 bandwagon, but what about your cooler? Some companies have announced additional brackets so that existing coolers will work with Alder Lake. Corsair is among them, with a new Retrofit Kit for its expansive lineup of all-in-one liquid coolers. The caveat is that it's not free. Fortunately, it's also not expensive—the asking price is $2.99 (€2.99 / £1.99) with free shipping anywhere in the United States or Europe. According to the press...
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AMD is tired of playing second fiddle to the competition and is making a spirited run for the performance crown, both in CPUs (Ryzen 5000 series, or Zen 3) and GPUs (Radeon RX 6000 series, or RDNA 2). At the very least, things are about to get very interesting. Coming along for the ride is EKWB, a stalwart in the liquid cooling business, which is teaming up with AMD to release some specially designed water blocks and cooling products. Frank Azor, one of the co-founders of Alienware who joined AMD as its chief architect of gaming solutions last year (and who we spoke with a few months on our 2.5 Geeks Podcast), gave EKWB a shout out during the Radeon RX 6000 series launch even yesterday. The image...
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Don't feel bad if you were not able to buy a GeForce RTX 3080 yesterday—a lot of people are in the same boat. The card is in high demand, and understandably so (it's a gaming monster). Eventually the stock situation will be resolved (fingers crossed, anyway), and when you do get one, EK has a new series of nifty water blocks to liquid cool your card. Not just for the GeForce RTX 3080, either. EK, for anyone who is not familiar, is a stalwart in the liquid cooling scene with an assortment of products, including custom loop parts, bundled kits, all-in-one coolers, and more recently it added a line of pre-built PCs with liquid cooling to the mix. Now it has launched a set of water blocks for...
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At this point, practically every person on the planet knows NVIDIA is getting ready to introduce a new round of graphics card for consumers, based on its Ampere GPU. The big day is presumably September 1, which is when NVIDIA will hold a GeForce Special Event. As we await, the liquid cooling folks at EK Water Blocks have jumped on the hype train by teasing upcoming designs that could be ready in time for launch. On the company's official Facebook page, EKWB has been active reminiscing about past water block designs, as part of NVIDIA's Ultimate Countdown campaign reflecting on 21 years of GPUs. And it is through those posts that we get some hints of EKWB's future product plans. That's because...
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Liquid cooling systems provide many benefits and look fantastic, but they are not always accessible to gamers on a budget. The company EK is known for their water blocks and liquid cooling solutions, but they have recently branched out to include fully-built systems. EK showed off their line of fluid-gaming PCs at PAX East 2020 in Boston, Massachusetts. The line includes both more affordable and high-end options. The Fluid-Gaming systems come in three tiers: the “base model” Battle, the mid level Conquest, and the no-compromises Vanquish. All three options include the same hard-line liquid cooling setup. However, the hardware insides varies based on the tier. The 250-AR Battle includes...
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Gigabyte is looking to take its cooling game to a new level. Having dabbled in air coolers, the company is launching a line of all-in-one liquid coolers with RGB lighting under the Aorus banner. These are the first Aorus AIO liquid coolers, and they will be available in three radiator sizes, including 360mm, 280mm, and 240mm. "The release of our ATC800 Cooler earlier this year was met with praise and we have followed through with a cooling solution for fans of AIO cooling," said Jackson Hsu, Director of the Gigabyte Channel Solutions Product Development Division. "The universal design for fan and pump RPM control allows for the new AIO coolers to work with motherboards from all brands." As you...
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We have been experimenting with AMD’s Ryzen 5 processors here at HotHardware and while they have already proven to be a great value, we wanted to explore some different mainstream cooling options to see what kind of additional goodness we could extract from the processors. All-in-one liquid coolers are not quite as nice looking or as potentially high-performance as a custom built system that can employ hard line tubing and multi-waterblock arrangements, but they are still a step up from many air coolers and don’t require the same hefty investment. This makes all-in-one liquid coolers very appealing for mid-range gaming setups where maximizing performance per dollar is often the goal....
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When it comes today's high-end processors and graphics cards, it's a well-known fact that cooling is crucial to maintaining performance and preventing your hardware from having a premature meltdown. In the case of modern chips, that cooling comes in the form of heatsinks or water-cooling blocks that are directly attached to the wick away heat. However, Purdue University researchers have developed a rather novel way to cool high-performance chips more efficiently. The researchers incorporated tiny microchannels directly into the chip to enhance cooling performance. These microchannels are just a few microns wide and help to circulate liquid coolant to more efficiently regulate chip temperatures....
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There are plenty of GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics cards to choose from, assuming you're in the market for a top-shelf solution for high-end and/or 4K gaming. However, the field of contenders quickly begins to diminish when you weed out all of the air-cooled variants and limited your search to just liquid-cooled cards. One such card that falls into the latter category is Gigabyte's Aorus GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Waterforce WB Xtreme Edition 11G. That is quite the mouthful, though there is plenty more here than just a long-winded name. Gigabyte's newest GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is an enthusiast solution for users either already have a liquid cooling setup inside their rigs, or plan to implement one. As such,...
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Colorful just threw down the gauntlet on outrageously large graphics cards with a GeForce GTX 1080 model that occupies four expansion slots. Yes, we said FOUR! It needs that much space because it is lugging a liquid cooling contraption on its back to keep things extra chilly. Users can optionally detach the liquid cooling backplate, but what would be the point in buying a specialized card if the plan is to remove the very thing that makes is specialized?Called the iGame 1080 Kudan, the monster sized graphics card is equipped with three cooling fans on the front. Each one sports a gold color border shaped like a gear, a neat effect that makes the card look like a mechanical contraption rather...
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What’s faster than Visiontek’s new Radeon R9 290? Not the 290X, according to the graphics card maker. VisionTek used CES to formally launch the CryoVenom, a liquid-cooled R9 290 that can be user-overclocked for a speed boost of (according to VisionTek), up to 24%. The card’s one-year warranty covers the overclocking, provided you stay within the speeds VisionTek rates it for, of course. VisionTek says its CryoVenom R9 290, which retails for $550, has a GPU speed of 1175MHz and memory speed of 1450MHz, all while keeping temps low (125 degrees Fahrenheit in VistionTek’s tests). Those are higher frequencies than the stock R9 290X, which has GPU and memory speeds of 1000MHz...
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The Consumer Electronics Show is over, but the product announcements keep rolling in. Among them is Corsair's introduction of a pair of big and burly Hydro Series liquid CPU coolers, the dual-fan H110 and single-fan H90, both with spacious radiators. "Many PC enthusiasts choose liquid cooling for its extreme cooling efficiency and quiet operation," said Thi La, Senior VP and GM of Memory and Enthusiast Component Products at Corsair. "To take liquid cooling the next level, we super-sized the Hydro Series H110 and H90, providing users our best cooling-to-noise ratio ever." The H110 rocks a double-length 280mm by 140mm radiator with side-by-side fan mounts. Each fan is a low-speed 140mm static pressure...
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Corsair announced the Hydro Series H100i and H80i liquid CPU coolers. These new coolers are redesigned versions of the popular H100 and H80 coolers. The new H100i and H80i models are designed to provide better cooling, quieter operation, easier installation, and Corsair Link digital control. The Hydro Series H100i and H80i utilize new copper cold plates that are more efficient, improved manifolds, optimized fan designs, and larger diameter tubing to deliver better cooling than previous generations. The Hydro Series H100i employs a 240mm radiator while the Hydro Series H80i uses a double-thick 120mm radiator and two fans configured in a ‘push-pull’ arrangement. To reduce noise, the...
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Corsair announced a new version of its Hydro Series H60 liquid CPU cooler as well as the new Hydro Series H55 liquid CPU cooler. The Hydro Series H60 features a new cold plate and manifold design. It also uses larger diameter tubing to increase the coolant flow rate. This cooler makes use of new composite rubber tubing, thereby providing for easier installation while still retaining low evaporation rates. The Hydro Series H60 also features a new magnetic mounting bracket that is designed to make it easy to select the correct motherboard socket format. The new H60 comes with a 120mm fan based on the Air Series SP120. This fan features a motor that has been tuned for high torque, ensuring high...
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A few months back, we examined the performance of four liquid coolers for the Sandy Bridge-E socket LGA 2011 platform: Corsair's H80 and H100, Maingear's Epic 180, and Intel's own reference cooler. Liquid coolers are popular with high-end OEMs and some enthusiasts, but they aren't cheap -- and there's a certain group of enthusiasts who aren't comfortable with flowing liquid in their systems. Recently, we spoke with the team at Noctua, who offered to send us one of its high-end air coolers for comparison. We've been curious about the company since it came across our radar with its upgrade offer for anyone upgrading to Socket 2011 last year. The Noctua DH-14 is a mammoth air cooler that competes...
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A few months back, we examined the performance of four liquid coolers for the Sandy Bridge-E socket LGA 2011 platform: Corsair's H80 and H100, Maingear's Epic 180, and Intel's own reference cooler. Liquid coolers are popular with high-end OEMs and some enthusiasts, but they aren't cheap -- and there's a certain group of enthusiasts who aren't comfortable with flowing liquid in their systems. Recently, we spoke with the team at Noctua, who offered to send us one of its high-end air coolers for comparison. We've been curious about the company since it came across our radar with its upgrade offer for anyone upgrading to Socket 2011 last year. Before we get started, we can't resist sharing the following:...
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In this latest episode of HotHardware's Two and Half Geeks, Marco, Iyaz and Dave discuss AMD's hot new Radeon HD 7970 graphics card, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, HotHardware's Liquid Cooler Line-up with products from Intel, Corsair, and MainGear, the Lenovo IdeaPad U400 Notebook, and hints of our next sweepstakes where you could win some sweet gear! Show Notes: 01:10 - AMD Radeon HD 7970: 28nm Tahiti GPU Review 05:24 - Samsung Galaxy Nexus with ICS Smartphone Review 12:20 - Liquid Cooler Lineup: Intel, Corsair, MainGear Tested 17:01 - Lenovo IdeaPad U400 Notebook Review 22:31 - “Tablets of the Season” Winners announced, hints at upcoming contest...
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You know a computer case means business when it warrants naming an entire PC line after it, and that's what you have with Maingear's SHIFT chassis. Designed in conjunction with Silverstone, the SHIFT computer case is the centerpiece of not one, but two full blown system configurations featured at Maingear, including the "The SHIFT" (for consumers/enthusiasts) and "The Quantum SHIFT" (workstation). But what if you're not in the market for a brand new system and just want the case? Too bad, so sad, up until now. Maingear tells us there's been so much interest in the standalone chassis that they've decided to offer a limited run of SHIFT computer cases with the EPIC 180 liquid cooler (featured in...
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Corsair continues its wet and wild run into the world of liquid CPU cooling with the introduction of its new Hydro Series H40 and H70 CORE coolers. Both are supposedly easy to install and require zero maintenance, two big advantages self-contained liquid coolers have over the roll-your-own variety. Sitting on the entry-level end is the H40. This closed-loop cooler supports most modern AMD and Intel sockets (AMD AM2, AM3, and FM1; Intel LGA 1155, 1156, 1366, 2011, and 775). Both the cold plate and radiator are made of aluminum, and a 120mm fan helps keep things chilly. For those who need a little more cooling oomph, the H70 CORE is based on Corsair's existing H70 and boasts a double-thick 38mm...
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PNY today announced it's new all-in-one Liquid Coold Graphics series. Kicking off the new series are a pair of XLR8 GeForce GTX 580 videocards, both of which sport an integrated liquid cooling solution from Asetek that's stupid-simple to install in your case. What separates the two cards is that one of them comes with an additional CPU block. "Designed to increase performance while reducing noise and temperature, PNY’s Liquid Cooled Graphics offers the fastest factory-overclocked card currently on the market at 857 MHz," said Nicholas Mauro, senior marketing manager, PC components for PNY. "The simple all-in-one design offers a powerful, yet easy to install and cost-effective gaming solution...
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Antec announced its next-generation high-performance CPU cooler in the form of the Antec KÜHLER H2O 620. Antec worked together with Asetek to develop this easy-to-install liquid CPU cooling solution that claims to outperform stock CPU coolers up to 20 percent under full load. The Antec KÜHLER H2O 620 targets mainstream PC hardware and gaming enthusiasts who want sealed liquid CPU cooling. The KÜHLER H2O 620 will be available at the end of this month for an estimated price of $69.95. Antec Announces Newest Next-Generation CPU Cooler: KÜHLER H2O 620 Antec’s KÜHLER H2O 620 uses Asetek technology, sets latest standard in high-performance and quiet CPU cooling Fremont,...
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Once you've been bit by the enthusiast bug, a funny thing happens. Graphics cards are never fast enough. Processors will never be too powerful. And motherboards will never have too many features. Manufacturers continue to push the envelope and make enthusiast level products because of demand. Along with the goal of being the best in their respective markets, many hardware companies continue to improve their product line up to stay competitive, while also offering consumers options at different price points and performance levels. Located in Brea, California, EVGA has a solid reputation in the industry. Their customer service support is top notch with an exclusive Step-up Program and...
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