Advice on new computer Build

[Guest MarkP3637]

Max will be completely surprised but I am going to strongly disagree with the above. :( I know I don't have to say this but I will anyway, Not all air coolers are created equal. :( Having observed the performance first hand and some benchmarks thrown in to boot:1. The H50 is nothing more than the Asetek LCLC without the extra ports for GPU and chipset cooling (this is a fact, I know this for two reasons, 1. It looks exactly the same 2.They are ordered from Asetek and the Large Box that they come to you in as a retailer/vendor says "Asetek" on the box (20 or so in a box); it is not really new in any form and doesn't take advantage of the latest tech in water pump or block design, though it is a nice simple design.2. Its fan is what I would call roaring loud compared to what can be acheived with other options and the fan is runnin uncontrolled, not lowered when system is just at Idle.3. further when running a push-pull to on it to get any kind of performance close to that of the Best Air coolers you have a fan just making all kinds of racket sitting right on the outside of your case.4. Its performance pails in compared to a number of good Air Coolers.5. You can choose fans based on DBA and static air pressure so the choice is yours in many cases were there is no fan included as in the case of the powerful Megahalems.6. the price is so close it is a non issue as many Better Air coolers are cheaper even when including the fan, for the extra $10-$20 more in some instances, it is still considerably more performance -----> If you are trying to get a decent Overclock.Thorough Comparisons against the best Air coolers (make sure you read all the commentary):At Stock fans speeds and stock running I-7 : http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?opti...p;limitstart=11With Hi-Perf Fans on 1.4v overclocked I-7 : http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?opti...p;limitstart=12Having tested about a few dozen fans I can recommend this as one of the best for Balanced performance of DBA to CFM@Static Air Pressure (when run up against the Heatsink) as Used with the BIOS or a fan controller to adjust speeds and it is a superb value: http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9780/fan...K-R0.html#blankHere is a nice review of many, many fans to compare fans that seems to be fairly accurate though getting a bit old, I say that because some sites do not measure Fan performance as used when static pressure is needed, up against a HS or a grill, testing in free air is just lame to me...Anyway, Here is the Info: http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&articID=892

Thanks for the info guys and sharing your experiences. I will consider a full tower case like the coolermaster 840. Still thinking about the H50. Not sure what I am going to do yet.Thanks,Mark

[Guest FlyingBits]

Thanks for the info guys and sharing your experiences. I will consider a full tower case like the coolermaster 840. Still thinking about the H50. Not sure what I am going to do yet.Thanks,Mark

I might not have presented things as balanced as I could have in just shooting it down like I did, So I apologize to Max and anyone else who may like it, there are plenty of satisfied customers of the H50.And I need to correct some info as I was just informed that the H50 did get some upgrades to the 2006 design in the form of the pump and of course the Block was changed to fit newer sockets.The one thing that should probably be mentioned though about the H50 that wasn't by anyone is that if you follow the instructions as well as the reviews, it is optimally designed to blow fresh air from the outside and into the rear of the case, I do not like the idea at all or reversing the airflow of the case. On the other hand you will never incounter the problems of tall ram heatsinks getting in the way of some of these coolers (I'll post pix of what I did with mine HS in Part2 of my build back when it was overclocking a AMD 940 on an SLI MB to 4ghz with 8gig of DDR2).Hot air rising from the PSU and GPU is going to be mixed in to that fresh air, heated and then sent blowing across the memory and chipset, some of that will not completely exit the case, instead it wil get caught in the loop by the GPU and PSU.If I were setting this up I think there would have to be better thought in how the air is going to be moving thru the case, likely I would be reversing its intended airflow, but that being the case would likely rais temps on the CPU that you would get otherwise.Max, How do you have yours set up?So just read the reviews and do more research if you can afford the time and at least you

[Guest MarkP3637]

I might not have presented things as balanced as I could have in just shooting it down like I did, So I apologize to Max and anyone else who may like it, there are plenty of satisfied customers of the H50.And I need to correct some info as I was just informed that the H50 did get some upgrades to the 2006 design in the form of the pump and of course the Block was changed to fit newer sockets.The one thing that should probably be mentioned though about the H50 that wasn't by anyone is that if you follow the instructions as well as the reviews, it is optimally designed to blow fresh air from the outside and into the rear of the case, I do not like the idea at all or reversing the airflow of the case. On the other hand you will never incounter the problems of tall ram heatsinks getting in the way of some of these coolers (I'll post pix of what I did with mine HS in Part2 of my build back when it was overclocking a AMD 940 on an SLI MB to 4ghz with 8gig of DDR2).Hot air rising from the PSU and GPU is going to be mixed in to that fresh air, heated and then sent blowing across the memory and chipset, some of that will not completely exit the case, instead it wil get caught in the loop by the GPU and PSU.If I were setting this up I think there would have to be better thought in how the air is going to be moving thru the case, likely I would be reversing its intended airflow, but that being the case would likely lower the results you would get otherwise.Max, How do you have yours set up?So just read the reviews and do more research if you can afford the time and at least you're making an informed choice.

Thanks Paul for checking in to see if they had made any improvements to the H50 from the original design. I was concerned about that as I had read another forum post about how this cooler was just a repackaged version of that older cooler.I did read in one of the reviews of the H50 about the reverse fan issue. I would also be interested in how the guys who use this set up the fans.Mark

[TechguyMaxC 516]

I was skeptical of the H50 at first as well, then I did some research and found it to be an excellent product, especially for the $60 I paid for mine.I have mine configured using the factory recommended installation method, which is to intake air through the rear fan mount. I am using a higher RPM fan rather than the supplied fan, and have replaced the pre-applied thermal paste with Arctic Silver 5. I see temps in the low-mid 60's under full load on my E8400 @ 4GHz and 1.44V. This is in a CM Storm Scout case in a room with ambient temp of ~20 degrees C. I saw a temperature decrease of a full 10 degrees C moving from a Xigmatek HDT S1283 HS with dual 120mm high RPM fans. All-in-all, it is an excellent cooling product for the money. It won't let you reach 4.5GHz with an i7, but it gets the job done as well as just about any air cooler on the market. That being said, I just installed a Thermalright Venomous X with dual Antec Tricool 120mm fans @ 2000 RPM on my Q9550 @ 4GHz and saw a 13 degree C temp drop under full load compared to the previous OCZ Vendetta 2 HS with dual 120mm high RPM fans. In pure cooling capacity, I'd give the edge to the Venomous X, by a slight margin. Given that I paid about $90 for that vs. $60 for the H50, I'd rate the H50 as better bang for the buck.

[Guest FlyingBits]

I was skeptical of the H50 at first as well, then I did some research and found it to be an excellent product, especially for the $60 I paid for mine.I have mine configured using the factory recommended installation method, which is to intake air through the rear fan mount. I am using a higher RPM fan rather than the supplied fan, and have replaced the pre-applied thermal paste with Arctic Silver 5. I see temps in the low-mid 60's under full load on my E8400 @ 4GHz and 1.44V. This is in a CM Storm Scout case in a room with ambient temp of ~20 degrees C. I saw a temperature decrease of a full 10 degrees C moving from a Xigmatek HDT S1283 HS with dual 120mm high RPM fans. All-in-all, it is an excellent cooling product for the money. It won't let you reach 4.5GHz with an i7, but it gets the job done as well as just about any air cooler on the market. That being said, I just installed a Thermalright Venomous X with dual Antec Tricool 120mm fans @ 2000 RPM on my Q9550 @ 4GHz and saw a 13 degree C temp drop under full load compared to the previous OCZ Vendetta 2 HS with dual 120mm high RPM fans. In pure cooling capacity, I'd give the edge to the Venomous X, by a slight margin. Given that I paid about $90 for that vs. $60 for the H50, I'd rate the H50 as better bang for the buck.

$60 is a good price.I still have the Vendetta2 as well and keep toying with the idea of grabing a H50 andmaking a a hybrid H50-Vendetta2 cooler by means of the dremel and some graphite heat-risers....hmmmm

[Guest MarkP3637]

$60 is a good price.I still have the Vendetta2 as well and keep toying with the idea of grabing a H50 andmaking a a hybrid H50-Vendetta2 cooler by means of the dremel and some graphite heat-risers....hmmmm

I think I am going to stick with the H50. I am really looking forward to getting a system that will run FSX decently. Thanks again to all of you guys for the help and advice....:(). It's great to be able to go on a forum like this and benefit from the experiences of others.Mark

[destro87 0]

I'm currently running an i7 860 overclocked to 4GHz with an H50 cooler all in a Coolermaster HAF 932 and it is amazing. Sooo quietly. Great cooler that I woud also recommend.Myron P.