The World of Liquid Cooling: A Comprehensive Guide to CPU Coolers

When it comes to overclocking your computer's processor, one of the most critical components is the cooling system. A good liquid cooler can make all the difference between stable performance and catastrophic failure. In this article, we'll explore three different liquid coolers for CPUs - the Corsair H60, H80, and their variants.

The Corsair H60 is a popular entry-level liquid cooler that offers excellent performance at an affordable price. It's designed to work with both Intel and AMD processors, making it a great option for those who want a reliable cooling solution without breaking the bank. The H60 features a compact design with a 120mm radiator and three fans, providing quiet operation and decent airflow.

However, as we move up in the cooling hierarchy, things get more complex. The Corsair H80 is a step above the H60, offering improved performance and features like double the fin density and tighter fan spacing. This results in significantly better cooling performance, making it ideal for overclocking enthusiasts. But the price tag reflects this - at around $70, it's a bit more expensive than its counterpart.

One of the main limitations to overclocking on the H80 is voltage, not temperature. As we demonstrated in our previous video, the chip runs very cool even with a large heat sink, but pushing it too hard results in voltage instability. This means that while liquid cooling can help alleviate temperature issues, it's still limited by the processor's inherent characteristics.

The radiator itself is also worth noting - the H80 has a thicker design than its predecessor, the H60. The fins are more densely packed, and the two fans provide increased airflow without a substantial increase in fan speed. This results in improved cooling performance, especially for those who prioritize overclocking.

However, when it comes to the price-to-performance ratio, we have to ask - is the H80 worth its premium? Spending almost $100 on a liquid cooler for a $2,200ish CPU seems like a mismatch. We recommend sticking with factory cooling solutions or waiting for AMD's new Zen line of processors, which promise significant performance and power reductions.

On the other hand, AMD has two main lines of processors - their low-end APUs (A8, A10, A12) and standalone X4 chips like the 860k. For budget-friendly options, we recommend considering the Corsair H60 or H80 for entry-level CPUs. If you have a factory cooling solution that comes in the box, it's probably sufficient.

However, as we move up to higher-end AMD processors like the FX series (FX6300, FX8320, FX8350), things get more complicated. These six-core and eight-core chips require more aggressive cooling to prevent overheating and instability. This is where the Corsair H80i V2 comes in - it's a mid-range liquid cooler that offers improved performance over its predecessor while still being relatively affordable.

When it comes to high-end AMD processors, the H80i V2 is the way to go. It provides enough cooling to get really good overclocks out of those powerful eight-core processors from AMD, which often run hotter than their Intel equivalents. While it's more expensive than the standard H60 or H80, we believe it's worth the investment for those who want top-notch performance.

In conclusion, when choosing a liquid cooler for your CPU, there are many factors to consider - price, performance, and compatibility with different processors. Whether you're an overclocking enthusiast or just looking for reliable cooling solutions, this article has provided you with a comprehensive guide to help you make the right decision.

**Comparison Chart**

| Cooler | Price | Performance | Compatibility |

| --- | --- | --- | --- |

| Corsair H60 | $30-$50 | Good for entry-level CPUs | Intel and AMD |

| Corsair H80 | $60-$70 | Improved performance over H60 | Intel and AMD |

| Corsair H80i V2 | $90-$100 | High-end cooling for high-end processors | AMD FX series |

**What's Next?**

If you have any questions or comments about liquid coolers, please feel free to share them in the comments section below. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit that notification bell to stay up-to-date on our latest content.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhello and welcome to Tech deals 120 mm CPU Cooler comparison which should you buy and what CPU should you use each of these for that's what we're covering today cooler Master's hyper 212 Evo for $30 corsair's h60 liquid cooler for $60 and corsair's h80 I V2 $90 liquid cooler each excellent cooler in their own right Each of which I've covered in separate videos which I will link in the video description below if you would like to see more details about any of these please go check those out furthermore I've also linked all of these and everything I'll mention in the video today to both Amazon and Newegg in the video description below if you found this video helpful or useful to you and you're considering buying one of these please check out my links comparison shop between Amazon and Newegg uh see which one has it for the best price and buy it where it makes most sense for you now first let's talk about Intel processors Intel makes two basic categories of chips multiply locked and multiplier unlocked the way you can tell which one you have is whether there's a k at the end of the model name let's start with the multiplier lock chips these are two examples of such chips this is the i36100 and the i56500 great CPUs good performers good price both of these chips come with their own coolers and I have a sample of that to show you here this is the Intel stock cooler it's included in each of these boxes at no extra charge if if you buy either of these CPUs I recommend that you use the Intel cooler and that you not buy any of these aftermarket coolers I don't believe they're necessary this provides all the cooling you need at no extra price when you buy one of the multiplier lock chips that does not have a k at the end of it now some people may want to buy a fancier cooler because they prefer the athetics of it this for example is big and beefy looking and maybe you look at it and go that just looks cool and I want an awesome system that just looks awesome fair enough that's fine but just keep in mind that you're buying it for looks and not performance the Intel stock cooler runs the lock chips just fine as far as temperature and noise go the modern Intel stock coolers run the chips cool and they are quiet the fan on them is quiet if you end up with a noisy stock cooler get the cooler replaced there's something wrong with it because they're very very silent these days that brings us to the multiplier unlocked Intel chips there are several to choose from I will show you three here we have got two i7s and an i5 this is the I5 6600k it is multiplier unlocked so it can be run faster than its factory default configuration if you buy this then I recommend that you run it on the one it's sitting on the Corsair h60 why well to explain that let's talk about the hyper 212 12 first now the hyper 212 for $30 is a good cooler and you could easily run this chip at 4.2 GHz or faster on the hyper 212 but your temperatures especially if you go beyond 4.2 will start to get rather warm there will come a point where you'll run out of either temperature or voltage for overclocking and with the hyper 212 you may very well run out of temperature first furthermore it's worth noting that there's a design difference between air and liquid coolers and this is ultimately why I recommend the h60 even though it's twice the money at $60 the hyper 212 has a radiator that takes the heat out of your processor and then the fan blows over the radiator to get the heat out of the radiator the problem is is this keeps the heat inside your computer this circulates the heat inside your machine putting the stress on your case fans to exhaust it now if you have a big large full tower case and you have multiple case fans to exhaust lots of heat out of your case fair enough you may actually get really good cooling performance out of this but please note if you have a medium or mid tower case and maybe only one or two case fans all the heat generated by your processor will be combined with the heat from your motherboard your system memory and your graphics card forcing your system to work extra hard to exhaust it out of your system you don't have that problem with a liquid cooler the nice thing about a liquid cooler is this radiator right here takes all the heat via these hoses right off of your CPU this is the water block this is actually what installs on your CPU then the liquid coolant runs here to your radiator a fan attaches to the radiator and this goes on the back or top of your case and exhausts all the heat out of your case the heat from your CPU is not mixed with your system Ram or your graphics card allowing your entire system to run cooler that is one of the biggest benefits of liquid coolers over air coolers now you may see tests online if you search other websites on an open a test bench the h60 and the hyper 212 Evo actually have very similar cooling performance way too many tests that I have seen do these on open a test benches in an air conditioned room such as this with the motherboard mounted open and flat and the cooler here and the graphics card and RAM producing no heat not to mention not hard drives there's no ssds producing heat because you have the entire room of circulation the only proper way to do these tests is to install it all in a computer case and run it closed which is how you actually use your computer in my experience the Corsair h60 does run cooler than the hyper 212 when actually installed in a computer case for the extra $30 you gain something that's easier to install look look at the size of this this has to fit on top of your CPU the Rams around it your case is here this is this is large whereas this is not this is easy to install these hoses turn so you can position this and this will turn 90° each way so you can mount this on the back you can mount this on the side on the top of your case it's a very flexible mounting options for $60 it's a very reasonable priced item now you might ask wait a minute why wouldn't I then recommend the h80 simple now you're spending $90 to cool a $220 CPU if you're going to spend that much more money why not just buy an i7 I think that once you step above the h60 we're in i7 territory so in short that was a whole lot of words to say use the Corsair h60 for an i5 6600k unlock CPU you should easily get 4.5 GHz if not more out of this chip using that cooler it's a good combination $60 cooler $220 processor it's a nice option now if you're on an extreme budget there's nothing wrong with the hyper 212 Evo but my recommendation is the h60 if you can if you can make that happen now let's talk about the h80i and the i7 processors this is the only unlocked 8 I5 CPU but there are multiple i7s that are unlocked I'm going to show you two of them the i76700 K and the i7 6800 K Skylake and Broadwell e now I have covered these extensively in comparison videos in the past I'm not going to do that here but what I will say is that both of these chips are K chips they're multiplier unlocked using this radiator cooler you should be able to get between 4.6 to 4.8 GHz out of the sky Lake 6700 K and you should be able to get between 4.2 and 4.4 GHz out of Broadwell e the 6800k both of those are good overclocks off of the default clock speeds both of them will give you excellent performance at very cool temperatures your main limitation to overclocking on the h80 I2 course a is going to be voltage not temperature and I demonstrated that in my overclocking video for the 6800k I've got a nice big coair cooler on it temperature was no issue whatsoever the chip was running very cool it was all voltage limitations so no matter how much cooling you put on a processor at some point voltage becomes your limitation at least within reasonable parameters there is liquid nitrogen cooling for world record attempts but that's way outside the scope of this video I do want to call your attention to something however the actual radiator itself take a look at how thick that is take a look at how thick that is it's double the radiator and if you look at the fins the fin density on the the h80 is tighter than the fin density on the h60 now to compensate for this they provide two fans the speed of the air is not substantially changed but two fans mean that the fin density is increased and thus the cooling performance is increased compared to the h60 I would estimate based upon my experience of multiple liquid coolers that the h80 has up to double the cooling performance of the 860 for only $30 more for an extra $30 you get a lot more cooling performance but again the reason I wouldn't put it on this is simply because you're spending almost $100 on a liquid cooler for a $2 200ish CPU it just seems to be mismatched in my mind for cooling performance versus what you're paying for the processor so that's the Intel line of CPUs what about AMD now AMD has two major line of processors they have their low-end Apu line the A8 A10 and a12 along with the Standalone X4 860k and 880k chips such as this 860k right here on that side of things I would recommend looking at either a hyper 212 Evo or the Corsair h60 for Budget entry level CPUs I don't see the need in spending a lot of money on a cooling solution frankly if you have the factory cooling solution that comes in the Box I would recommend sticking with it and waiting to see what AMD comes out with in early 2017 with their new upcoming Zen line of processors now having said that we have the other end of AMD chips the FX processors which come in four 6 and 8 core chips on that end of things I would suggest considering either the Corsair h60 or the h80i V2 why because as you move up in those line of chips they run hotter and use more power and thus need more cooling for the four and six core chips such as the fx6300 which is a six core processor I would recommend the Corsair h60 cooler for $60 it's a reasonably priced option for those reasonably priced chips do you have an 8 core AMD processor such as the FX 8300 8320 8350 and so on you might want to take a look at the Corsair h80i V2 now compared to the price of those processor it is a relatively expensive option however this will provide the kind of cooling necessary to get really good overclocks out of those high-end 8 core processors from AMD they do run hotter than the Intel equivalents and so while they cost less to buy they do need the extra cooling of the h80 in order to get the most possible overclock out of those processors now having said all of that if you don't yet own an fx processor or any of the AMD chips you might consider waiting in until next year when AMD Zen line comes out either that or just buy an Intel chip if you're buying today but I understand many people own the AMD chips and have owned them for a number of years so if you want to get more performance out of them those are options to consider I hope this comparison has been helpful to you three different choices three different price points $30 $60 $90 as I said at the beginning of this video all three will be linked in the video description below both to my individual unboxings and first reviews as well as to Amazon and Newegg by all means check out those links before below like this video if you like it don't if you don't remember to subscribe to my Channel with a big huge red button right down there questions and comments go in the comments box below and as always video description links I'd appreciate it thanks for watching I'll see you next timehello and welcome to Tech deals 120 mm CPU Cooler comparison which should you buy and what CPU should you use each of these for that's what we're covering today cooler Master's hyper 212 Evo for $30 corsair's h60 liquid cooler for $60 and corsair's h80 I V2 $90 liquid cooler each excellent cooler in their own right Each of which I've covered in separate videos which I will link in the video description below if you would like to see more details about any of these please go check those out furthermore I've also linked all of these and everything I'll mention in the video today to both Amazon and Newegg in the video description below if you found this video helpful or useful to you and you're considering buying one of these please check out my links comparison shop between Amazon and Newegg uh see which one has it for the best price and buy it where it makes most sense for you now first let's talk about Intel processors Intel makes two basic categories of chips multiply locked and multiplier unlocked the way you can tell which one you have is whether there's a k at the end of the model name let's start with the multiplier lock chips these are two examples of such chips this is the i36100 and the i56500 great CPUs good performers good price both of these chips come with their own coolers and I have a sample of that to show you here this is the Intel stock cooler it's included in each of these boxes at no extra charge if if you buy either of these CPUs I recommend that you use the Intel cooler and that you not buy any of these aftermarket coolers I don't believe they're necessary this provides all the cooling you need at no extra price when you buy one of the multiplier lock chips that does not have a k at the end of it now some people may want to buy a fancier cooler because they prefer the athetics of it this for example is big and beefy looking and maybe you look at it and go that just looks cool and I want an awesome system that just looks awesome fair enough that's fine but just keep in mind that you're buying it for looks and not performance the Intel stock cooler runs the lock chips just fine as far as temperature and noise go the modern Intel stock coolers run the chips cool and they are quiet the fan on them is quiet if you end up with a noisy stock cooler get the cooler replaced there's something wrong with it because they're very very silent these days that brings us to the multiplier unlocked Intel chips there are several to choose from I will show you three here we have got two i7s and an i5 this is the I5 6600k it is multiplier unlocked so it can be run faster than its factory default configuration if you buy this then I recommend that you run it on the one it's sitting on the Corsair h60 why well to explain that let's talk about the hyper 212 12 first now the hyper 212 for $30 is a good cooler and you could easily run this chip at 4.2 GHz or faster on the hyper 212 but your temperatures especially if you go beyond 4.2 will start to get rather warm there will come a point where you'll run out of either temperature or voltage for overclocking and with the hyper 212 you may very well run out of temperature first furthermore it's worth noting that there's a design difference between air and liquid coolers and this is ultimately why I recommend the h60 even though it's twice the money at $60 the hyper 212 has a radiator that takes the heat out of your processor and then the fan blows over the radiator to get the heat out of the radiator the problem is is this keeps the heat inside your computer this circulates the heat inside your machine putting the stress on your case fans to exhaust it now if you have a big large full tower case and you have multiple case fans to exhaust lots of heat out of your case fair enough you may actually get really good cooling performance out of this but please note if you have a medium or mid tower case and maybe only one or two case fans all the heat generated by your processor will be combined with the heat from your motherboard your system memory and your graphics card forcing your system to work extra hard to exhaust it out of your system you don't have that problem with a liquid cooler the nice thing about a liquid cooler is this radiator right here takes all the heat via these hoses right off of your CPU this is the water block this is actually what installs on your CPU then the liquid coolant runs here to your radiator a fan attaches to the radiator and this goes on the back or top of your case and exhausts all the heat out of your case the heat from your CPU is not mixed with your system Ram or your graphics card allowing your entire system to run cooler that is one of the biggest benefits of liquid coolers over air coolers now you may see tests online if you search other websites on an open a test bench the h60 and the hyper 212 Evo actually have very similar cooling performance way too many tests that I have seen do these on open a test benches in an air conditioned room such as this with the motherboard mounted open and flat and the cooler here and the graphics card and RAM producing no heat not to mention not hard drives there's no ssds producing heat because you have the entire room of circulation the only proper way to do these tests is to install it all in a computer case and run it closed which is how you actually use your computer in my experience the Corsair h60 does run cooler than the hyper 212 when actually installed in a computer case for the extra $30 you gain something that's easier to install look look at the size of this this has to fit on top of your CPU the Rams around it your case is here this is this is large whereas this is not this is easy to install these hoses turn so you can position this and this will turn 90° each way so you can mount this on the back you can mount this on the side on the top of your case it's a very flexible mounting options for $60 it's a very reasonable priced item now you might ask wait a minute why wouldn't I then recommend the h80 simple now you're spending $90 to cool a $220 CPU if you're going to spend that much more money why not just buy an i7 I think that once you step above the h60 we're in i7 territory so in short that was a whole lot of words to say use the Corsair h60 for an i5 6600k unlock CPU you should easily get 4.5 GHz if not more out of this chip using that cooler it's a good combination $60 cooler $220 processor it's a nice option now if you're on an extreme budget there's nothing wrong with the hyper 212 Evo but my recommendation is the h60 if you can if you can make that happen now let's talk about the h80i and the i7 processors this is the only unlocked 8 I5 CPU but there are multiple i7s that are unlocked I'm going to show you two of them the i76700 K and the i7 6800 K Skylake and Broadwell e now I have covered these extensively in comparison videos in the past I'm not going to do that here but what I will say is that both of these chips are K chips they're multiplier unlocked using this radiator cooler you should be able to get between 4.6 to 4.8 GHz out of the sky Lake 6700 K and you should be able to get between 4.2 and 4.4 GHz out of Broadwell e the 6800k both of those are good overclocks off of the default clock speeds both of them will give you excellent performance at very cool temperatures your main limitation to overclocking on the h80 I2 course a is going to be voltage not temperature and I demonstrated that in my overclocking video for the 6800k I've got a nice big coair cooler on it temperature was no issue whatsoever the chip was running very cool it was all voltage limitations so no matter how much cooling you put on a processor at some point voltage becomes your limitation at least within reasonable parameters there is liquid nitrogen cooling for world record attempts but that's way outside the scope of this video I do want to call your attention to something however the actual radiator itself take a look at how thick that is take a look at how thick that is it's double the radiator and if you look at the fins the fin density on the the h80 is tighter than the fin density on the h60 now to compensate for this they provide two fans the speed of the air is not substantially changed but two fans mean that the fin density is increased and thus the cooling performance is increased compared to the h60 I would estimate based upon my experience of multiple liquid coolers that the h80 has up to double the cooling performance of the 860 for only $30 more for an extra $30 you get a lot more cooling performance but again the reason I wouldn't put it on this is simply because you're spending almost $100 on a liquid cooler for a $2 200ish CPU it just seems to be mismatched in my mind for cooling performance versus what you're paying for the processor so that's the Intel line of CPUs what about AMD now AMD has two major line of processors they have their low-end Apu line the A8 A10 and a12 along with the Standalone X4 860k and 880k chips such as this 860k right here on that side of things I would recommend looking at either a hyper 212 Evo or the Corsair h60 for Budget entry level CPUs I don't see the need in spending a lot of money on a cooling solution frankly if you have the factory cooling solution that comes in the Box I would recommend sticking with it and waiting to see what AMD comes out with in early 2017 with their new upcoming Zen line of processors now having said that we have the other end of AMD chips the FX processors which come in four 6 and 8 core chips on that end of things I would suggest considering either the Corsair h60 or the h80i V2 why because as you move up in those line of chips they run hotter and use more power and thus need more cooling for the four and six core chips such as the fx6300 which is a six core processor I would recommend the Corsair h60 cooler for $60 it's a reasonably priced option for those reasonably priced chips do you have an 8 core AMD processor such as the FX 8300 8320 8350 and so on you might want to take a look at the Corsair h80i V2 now compared to the price of those processor it is a relatively expensive option however this will provide the kind of cooling necessary to get really good overclocks out of those high-end 8 core processors from AMD they do run hotter than the Intel equivalents and so while they cost less to buy they do need the extra cooling of the h80 in order to get the most possible overclock out of those processors now having said all of that if you don't yet own an fx processor or any of the AMD chips you might consider waiting in until next year when AMD Zen line comes out either that or just buy an Intel chip if you're buying today but I understand many people own the AMD chips and have owned them for a number of years so if you want to get more performance out of them those are options to consider I hope this comparison has been helpful to you three different choices three different price points $30 $60 $90 as I said at the beginning of this video all three will be linked in the video description below both to my individual unboxings and first reviews as well as to Amazon and Newegg by all means check out those links before below like this video if you like it don't if you don't remember to subscribe to my Channel with a big huge red button right down there questions and comments go in the comments box below and as always video description links I'd appreciate it thanks for watching I'll see you next time\n"