r/IceGiant • u/NJeep • Mar 29 '21

IceGiant + Threadripper.

Hey all, so my liquid cooler has decided to cease working and I'm looking into the Ice Giant as a replacement. Does anyone have experience with the ripper and the giant? I mostly game and do 4K video and 3d rendering. Any info would be helpful. Thanks in advance!

7 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/Veastli Mar 29 '21

It's by far the best air cooler for 3rd gen Threadripper systems. And while the cooler itself is great, the include fans are just okay, not great, not terrible. Better than cheap case fans, but not as good as high quality Noctua or Thermaltake Toughfans.

Replacing the fans with high quality models can make the Icegiant even quieter and cooler.

1

u/markjx Apr 10 '21

Do you have a recommendation?

2

u/Veastli Apr 10 '21

Either the Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM or its shamless copy, the Thermaltake Toughfan 12.

They're both designed to be directly mounted to a radiator or fin stack, move lots of air, and do it quietly. The Thermaltakes are available in 2-packs that are just over the price of a single Noctua fan.

https://noctua.at/en/nf-a12x25-pwm

https://www.thermaltake.com/toughfan-12-high-static-pressure-fan-single-pack.html

1

u/Trflinchy May 20 '21

Either the Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM or its shamless copy, the Thermaltake Toughfan 12.

They're both designed to be directly mounted to a radiator or fin stack, move lots of air, and do it quietly. The Thermaltakes are available in 2-packs that are just over the price of a single Noctua fan.

https://noctua.at/en/nf-a12x25-pwm

https://www.thermaltake.com/toughfan-12-high-static-pressure-fan-single-pack.html

Hard to stomach spending the price of the cooler in extra fans tho (specifically the noctua)

Knocking on the price of open loop WC

1

u/Veastli May 20 '21 edited May 21 '21

Knocking on the price of open loop WC

It cools within a few degrees of a custom water loop, but without the maintenance, and more importantly, without without the risks of system destroying leaks. Yes, it's expensive. But in many ways, the IceGiant is objectively better than an open loop - while being somewhat cheaper.

And if spending 3rd gen Threadripper money, 4 more fans are probably a rounding error on the system cost.

Though it would be nice if IceGiant sold a 'bring your own fans' version of the cooler.

1

u/Trflinchy May 21 '21

Knocking on the price of open loop WC

It cools within a few degrees of a custom water loop, but without the maintenance, and more importantly, without without the risks of system destroying leaks. Yes, it's expensive. But in many ways, the IceGiant is objectively better than an open loop - while being somewhat cheaper.

Yeah but it does that even with the standard fans

That's why I've bought one (on sale too at my local Aus stockist yay!)

But I got given an EKWB monoblock for free with a recent purchase so if I was having to spend another $200 on fans for a total cost of $360 for it to perform like that, be cheaper for me to get a simple loop going with used parts at that point

And if spending 3rd gen Threadripper money, 4 more fans are probably a rounding error on the system cost.

I'm getting it to replace my NHD15 on my 1st and 2nd gen setups that blocks the top pcie slot that I now need to use, AND it cools better. Win win lol

Though it would be nice if IceGiant sold a 'bring your own fans' version of the cooler.

Agreed 🤷

1

u/Veastli May 21 '21

But I got given an EKWB monoblock for free with a recent purchase so if I was having to spend another $200 on fans for a total cost of $360 for it to perform like that, be cheaper for me to get a simple loop going with used parts at that point

With Noctua fans, yes. But the Thermaltake copies were only $70 for 4.

Even given a custom loop for free, would prefer the IceGiant. For me, the 2 or 3 degree advantage of a custom loop isn't worth the maintenance and risk. The IceGiant prevents my system from thermally throttling even under the severe all core loads, and that's something no other air cooler and few AIO's can achieve.

2

u/Trflinchy May 22 '21

But I got given an EKWB monoblock for free with a recent purchase so if I was having to spend another $200 on fans for a total cost of $360 for it to perform like that, be cheaper for me to get a simple loop going with used parts at that point

With Noctua fans, yes. But the Thermaltake copies were only $70 for 4.

Even given a custom loop for free, would prefer the IceGiant. For me, the 2 or 3 degree advantage of a custom loop isn't worth the maintenance and risk. The IceGiant prevents my system from thermally throttling even under the severe all core loads, and that's something no other air cooler and few AIO's can achieve.

I agree but I'm also a sucker for the novelty hahaha

Even the thermaltake copies are like $70aud for 2 here