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Corsair H70


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So, I have not been happy with my CPU's temperatures during long gaming sessions, I decided to order the H70.

 

It just came in today, so I intend to install it this weekend some time. So I'm curious if those of you that have installed one before, if you have any words of wisdom from lessons learned. I also have never replaced a heatsink before, so are there any tips or tricks to removing the existing thermal paste?

 

 

- JHunter

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I installed a H50 (the smaller one) on my i7 1366 chip in August 2009, see:

http://www.legionofspartans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4215

 

IMG_7438_resize.jpg

 

Key is:

 

Locate a position for the radiator/fan assembly to mount

Check the pipes with the cooling block will reach the CPU comfortably with enough flex/slack

in the pipes to allow you to interlock the cooling block to the CPU mounting ring that you have to

mount to the motherboard prior to attaching the CPU.

 

Fix the rad block/fan assembly into place and then remove the protective plastic cover on the cooling block and push into the mounting ring & 1/4 turn to lock, then tighten the ring screws.

 

Make sure the CPU surface is nice and clean, use a alcohol swab/ wipe.

Do not add too much extra silver paste, if any at all, as the cooling block has it

pre coated.

 

IMG_7443_resize.jpg

 

 

Make sure the fan is mounted to push air out of the PC, you can add a second fan to create a push pull

but you will need a fan cable splitter (Y cable) to drive both fans off the CPU Fan header.

 

IMG_7452_resize.jpg

 

The pump (inside the cooling block) is driven 100% all the time off a std fan header.

 

Fan power splitter cable, for two fans, you need, 2x Male with one 1x Female

around $2-3

 

startech.com-tx3-fan-power-splitter-cable-p_533982b.png

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I have installed plenty H50's and H70's. My advice is as follows:

  • Polish to a shine both surfaces (heat sink & cpu) before applying your thermal compound.
  • Make sure you use restraint when applying thermal grease. Too much is worse than too little.
  • If your case does not allow fresh air to be drawn into the inlet side of the heat exchanger, make modifications to do so.

I do know people that simply leave the side cover off their case and use a household small fan for circulation throughout the case. Thats all I have, because these units come sealed and fully assembled the installation is pretty straight forward. The only thing that some users have done is change the stock fans to higher CFM units of higher quality. The more air you put through that heat exchanger the greater the heat extraction.

Great choice in cooler by the way!

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Well, interesting tid bit to share.

 

Got bored this evening with a few hours to burn before I had to take off for work, so I figured I'd go ahead and get this done. When I pulled off the existing (stock) heatsink, the paste was just crap. Just to humor myself, I decided to put on a dab of the good paste I got with the H70, and then put the stock heatsink back on just to see what the difference would be. Doing so as dropped by idle temps by 10 degrees Celsius. Crazy. Haven't done any gaming yet, but I'm sure the under load temps will show similar results.

 

I'll still be putting the H70 on this weekend, but just goes to show how much a difference a good thermal paste can make.

 

 

- JHunter

 

 

P.S. for Haji - Hope you didn't wait around for me to come back on TS. I got wrapped up with that little experiment, as well as deciding to re-route some cables that I did not place very well when I initially put the box together.

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P.S. for Haji - Hope you didn't wait around for me to come back on TS. I got wrapped up with that little experiment, as well as deciding to re-route some cables that I did not place very well when I initially put the box together.

 

No I didn't wait for your return but I am glad that you were able to personally witness what I was saying about a good thermal paste versus consumer friendly pre-applied thermal tape. It has been my experience that the H70 till realize a 4-12 degree reduction in operating temperatures simply by replacing the pre-applied Corsair thermal tape and applying a good thermal paste.

Once you install your H70, you will be making snow out of that machine thumbsup_anim.gif

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I have an H70 and it's rubbish. You're going to hate it. You might as well send it to me to get it off your hands. I'll pay for the shipping. ;)

 

Easy to install. Easy to operate. You should really follow the upgrade tips that Haji mentioned to get the best performance out of the unit.

 

After and Overclock from 2.8 to 4.09 (i7 930), the temps stay around 50C on a moderate load. TS3, Steam, AVG, EVGA Precision, Core Temp and an instance of Firefox or Chrome. If I load a game, it might jump to 56C to 60C but that is well within safe operating limits.

 

The only problem that I had was the corsair emblem on the pump itself does not sit horizontal. This is an OCD thing for me though. In no way does it diminish the function, it just looks off a bit.

 

Here's how mine is setup:

 

9HiEu.jpg

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Be careful if you are running 2 fans off 1 header on the motherboard. Some boards arent made to put out enough power and will burn up, causing some other bad things to happen.

 

I can not vouch for every motherboard but in general the fan headers are protected outlets, meaning

they have a max wattage shutdown point.

 

Check your motherboard manual for further details.

Generally all fan headers can cope with 1 amp @ 12 v DV which is approx 12 Watts.

Average fan uses 3.6 Watts

 

 

You can mount around 3 fans per header normally.

 

Headers are normally protected against short circuit failure of the fan which is common.

 

 

I've never had a problem with 2 FANS

 

You have to remember the manufacturer has no idea what fan you'll be connecting

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Problem with therm. Big water, it's not 'a sealed for life' system like the Corsair & requires topping up and generally is more complicated.

 

Corsairs solution is:

 

good performance

sealed for life

Maintenance free

life span 50,000 hrs average lifespan (24hrs /7 days) that's 5.7 Years continuous

Ready to go from the factory.

 

I personally like the idea of sealed for life liquid systems...

Remember lead acid batteries before sealed for life, topping them up each month.

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Well koolance or thermaltake systems are the best in cooling,and useally have a big resovior with flow meters and temp warnings. I might go themaltake on my next build and go all the way with ram and gpu water blocks as well. Something to think about.

MAN is this sight DRAGGING it ass for me today! like its got boat ancors tied to it cacthing on every telephone pole along the way.

Edited by Athlon64~SPARTA~
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