| Antec Kühler H2O 620 Liquid Cooling System |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Cooling | |
| Written by David Ramsey | |
| Wednesday, 09 February 2011 | |
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Antec Kühler H2O 620 Liquid Cooler Review
Manufacturer: Antec, Inc. Full Disclosure:The product sample used in this article has been provided by Antec. Since Corsair popularized their version of Asetek's "LCLC" (low cost liquid cooling) system back in 2009, it seems that every time you look, another variation on the theme appears. All-in-one CPU water coolers have become popular and even mainstream, and for good reason: they're much cheaper than traditional liquid cooling systems, and offer a combination of good performance and generally low noise that makes them attractive alternatives to higher-end air coolers. The first generation of these coolers were virtually clones, with manufacturers doing little other than labeling Asetek's design, but we're starting to see some innovation in the area, and Antec's Kühler H20 620 steps into the market with its own unique take on the concept. Since all retail CPUs are boxed with perfectly good coolers (which are pretty quiet), the main reason to buy an aftermarket cooler is its performance when your processor is overclocked. (There might be some who buy coolers based on the aesthetics of their appearance through a windowed CPU case, but we'll assume they're in the minority.) But while performance is certainly the main criterion, other factors must be taken into consideration as well, such as noise, size, and price. The ideal cooler keeps your processor at or near ambient temperature, is silent, free, and unfortunately doesn't exist. Manufacturers vary the performance, noise, size, and cost factors of their products to address different segments of the market.
Antec is best known for their line of computer cases, which have been enthusiast favorites for years. They've only recently branched out into the cooling market, and the Kühler H20 620 is their first liquid cooler. Kühler H2O 620 Specifications
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Comments
Are they not supposed to be mounted so they are at the bottom of the radiator? The cooler water is at the bottom and having the feed and pickup at the bottom precludes the chance that the pump is pulling against an air bubble at the top.
I have handled one all-in-one system some time back and seen to remember that bottom orientation was specified.
Looks like I'm rubbing the branding off of mine then...
I didn't expect the H20 620 to perform better than the H70. In the future, would it be possible to get a pair of Scythe GT 1850rpm for heatsink and radiator tests?
They're considered the best fans in many extreme forums as they have great pressure even with low CFM.
Take care.
If I was having any problems keeping cool with the cooler that I have now, I'd certainly be interested in this one. If I end up building another system for myself, I'll buy this cooler with better performance and lesser price. Thanks for the review, I love being able to stay on top of news like this without having to go out and buy every new thing, and then test the parts myself.
##asetek.com/blog/204-questions-of-the-month-february-2011.html
cheers
Until now I haven't jumped in to try one of these "faux water cooling setups" as I have called them for several reasons .... 1st the reviews haven't been all that glowing here at BMR, 2nd It looks like a bit of a PITA to inspect the radiator for dust accumulation and 3rd fan and / or pump failure is major surgery.
This unit has my interest but the lack of PWM control is a turn off. It would seem that both the fans a the pump should both be controlled via the MoBo's CPU fan control logic in the BIOS. And without feedback, how would the BIOS know that fan and / or pump isn't spinning ?
I think Antec's methodology of controlling the fan via the pump, based on coolant temps, is the correct one. Water absorbs much more heat than air, and it takes a while for the water temp to rise appreciably even with a very hot processor. If the fan was controlled by the motherboard, it would ramp up unnecessarily soon.
I do agree with you that a standard PWM fan would be better than Antec's use of a non-PWM fan, which makes the fan-replacement issue cloudy.
Is it possible for you have all these types of water coolers gutted? I want to know what they look like inside. Also, my biggest concern weather the pumps are magnetically driven or motor driven.
Then I could take the pumps apart to inspect the design of the water block and pump motor.
Of course, this would destroy the water coolers and preclude their use in any further articles. Also, while you and I might find the results interesting, what most people are interested in is the performance, which we already know.
One thing that might be interesting is an in-depth test of the water coolers, measuring performance in stock and "mild overclock" scenarios. For this round of tests, I pushed the i7-950 about as far as it would go, which is really outside the parameters of what most of these coolers were designed for. A milder overclock test might be a better real-world indicator of their relative performances.
Thanks, and this is a great review! Very informative and thorough... BMR is >famous< for quality reviews in my book! (very, very few PSU reviews though, at least recently). Keep up the great work guys!
My issue is I couldn't "inspect that is "see it" when sandwiched between the fan so as to require disassembly for inspection. That's a bit of a PITA.
This modular approach could be taken further; it would be relatively easy to have a "620D" w/ twin radiator's mounting over the exhaust fan ports on the 1200, DF-85.
Or am I wrong?
I would much rather they did this and have a more efficient system, or, another way of looking at it, the same amount of cooling but the pump running at a slower speed (less wear).
Most computer radiators (including the Kuhler's) are dual-pass: the water goes in, flows through half the radiator tubes, then turns around at the far end of the radiator and flows through the other half of the tubes back to the outlet.
A single-pass radiator benefits from higher flow volume; a dual-pass radiator provides more cooling of the water since it's passing through twice as long a cooling path. You'd normally see single-pass radiators in systems with high-flow-rate pumps (like a Liang D5) combined with dual- or triple-120mm radiators.
While a single-pass design with gravity feed might have slight pumping efficiency benefits, I suspect it wouldn't cool as well as the existing designs.
You seem to be implying, that if something sets off from a set point, stops at 50% of the way, then returns........it is more than going 100% of the way. It?s the same distance!
Just with my system, the pump wouldn't have to work as hard.
Where as I would have all 10 tubes being used for one way only, is that correct?
Generally (and YMMV), a double-pass design is better for small rads with small pumps (like virtually all of the all-in-one water coolers), and a single-pass design is better for larger radiators backed by larger pumps.
So I would say cooling wise we are about equal.
But where my system surpasses yours, is because it is using gravity to flow through the rad where yours is having to use extra pump pressure, to pump the return back, That?s the difference!
Put another way, there is no net work done in a system where the beginning (water at the pump) is the same point as the ending (back at the pump). There will be losses due to internal friction/heat, but not gravity.
benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=219
Sadly, this product never made it to market. :(
And when we say "closed system" I take it that means air free?
- 1 top 200mm Big Boy 200? blue LED fan
- 2 rear 120mm TriCool? blue LED fan
- 3 front 120mm blue LED fan
- 1 (optional) side 120mm fan to cool graphics cards
- 1 (optional) middle 120mm fan to cool CPU or graphics cards
Antec doesn't seem to work very hard on integrating its various products. Still use Molex on all their case fans which is quite frustrating when ya have a MoBo w/ 8 fan headers. A fan controller which would control 2 CPU fans (and the pump) as well as their case fans via 3-4 pin fan connectors would be very welcome.
Thanks for the response. I was not aware the integrated controller only had single fan support. That seems like an odd design decision when most enthusiast cpu coolers are running in push/pull configuration. I'm guessing most overclockers will end up using their own controller which only peaks my interest in a comparison between say, the H60 and the 620 off a secondary controller in p/P.
Jack,
Yea, I agree there's no contest between the H50/620 but I think a more appropriate comparison would be between the 620 and H60 since the H50 is quickly becoming legacy. And, as I mentioned to David, I have a hard time crowning a clear winner when most people who spend $70+ on a heatsink are not going to run in a sub-optimal single fan configuration.
I realize this is just speculation but do you think this unit would gain better performance when utilizing an additional fan and instead of exhausting the air out of the case its configured in a push/pull configuration like the H70 where air is moving inside the case from the back?
I ask for a few reasons-this has the block and pump of the H70, with a much thinner rad and bigger rubber tubing for (possibly) better water-flow. A test with a 2nd fan and in a similar configuration as the H70 would be an interesting test.
thanks!
Joe
I am using a push/pull configuration and it seems to work really well!!! I think It would depend on what type of case you are running and where you are putting the rad. I would be willing to send you picks of what I have going on with mine if you like.
Frank
are you running push/pull directing air in from the back or exhausting out? Also what fans are you running? What temps?
Any details I would love :)
thanks
Joe
I am running a dual push system on my antec 1200. I mounted the rad on the back of the top cage. Using the extra fan bracket that came with the tower you will need to modify it for the rad to mount. I am using stock fans that came with the tower and the cooler, the fan that came with the cooler runs faster than the tower one but it still seems to be working great! my cpu temps have dropped 12 degrees. The only thing that took time for me to get used to was not having my dvd drive at the top, it now sits in the middle along with the card reader.Again if you would like to see some pics sends me an email and I will be happy to show you what I have done. fjsketo
Thank you.
Reading the Antec document #blog.antec.com/cooling/asetek-air-flow-matters/ regarding mounting the 620 as Exhaust or Intake seems to be proven to me that intake easily wins a few degress. I'm going to mount my system tomorrow putting on a Cooler Master Elite 430 the 620 on rear top as Intake (with dust filter) and having 2 top 120mm Fans to Exhaust the heat introduced by this.
Does any one have any comments to this?
Here was my train of thought...
In my case, the PSU is at the bottom of the case, drawing air in from within the case and pushing hot air out the back.
The GPU also draws air in from within the case and pushes hot air out the back.
Hot air rises. So.. wouldn't a fan at the top back of the case set as an intake fan pull all the heat that is rising from the exhaust of the PSU and GPU?
I understand the alternative is pulling hot air from inside the case and pushing out the back may not be much different, but if you have a top fan (like i do) you could set that up as intake, which would flow nicely over the board then straight through the radiator(in an exhaust config) and out the back of the case.
thoughts on this?
In the end, Antec stated they will ship me a "Spare Parts Request" shipment of the missing brackets via US Postal ground service which would take 2 weeks to reach me. It has now been 3 weeks and I have not seen it as yet! I have again opened a new c! ase with Antec quoting the original case however its been 4 days and they still have not contacted me nor do I even know where this shipment is. I was not provided any tracking information originally!
I would advise anyone who is interested in purchasing this product to be very cautious especially if you intend to use this on a socket 775 solution. You will be poorly handled by Antec support and you may or may not receive your shipment as promised by this company. They opt to ship you the parts by the cheapest means possible which is disheartening considering the mistake they had made is inconveniencing to we the consumers.
I cannot forgive how I was treated by them. VIP Support at Antec states that Asetek was responsible for designing the updated units and box and thus they feel it is not their responsibility despite their name being on the box! Then commit to a 2 week shipping time and miss that by 7 days (actually more than that now) makes me angry!
Anyway, I'm glad there are other solutions out there. Zalmann makes some pretty sweet coolers that are decent for overclocking! I'm going to explore those.
Sorry for ranting but thanks for commenting! :)