Aventum 3 vs Haistorm 2

1) With the Aventum, you get a completely custom case that you can't get anywhere else. It uses 140mm fans, instead of 120mm fans, so there is a larger amount a surface area with the radiators, too. The Hailstorm is the Corsair 900D...not that there is anything bad with it.

2) It would be highly unlikely a water-cooled GPU. The cooling loop itself should not exceed 60 degree C because of the pump maximum operating temperature; that's not to say the GPU can't be any hotter as that is only the temperature of the water running over it, but it wouldn't be much hotter. You can turn up the maximum temperature of the GPU into the 90's, if you want. The cooling solution on both the Aventum and Hailstorm is overkill, so you won't have issues with this unless you're going to be operating it outside in Dubai.

3) Noise is all about fan speed. With larger fans and more surface area of the Aventum, you can turn fans down even more...but to be honest, they'll be spinning a very low levels on either, as the cooling systems are fairly overkill.

4) Easier with a flexible tubing set-up. DS would use quick-disconnects fittings on both, so you could keep the loop mostly intact if you go to upgrade the GPUs. With a hardline set-up, you will need to drain the entire thing.

5) Not much...usually a top-off every 6 months to a year, possibly less.

Thank you for the quick and thorough reply guys... really thank you for that...

Would you guys suggest to go with custom cooling (air) GPU's? seems like an easier/cheaper choice for upgrading... I'm concerned about heat and noise with SLI setup and one card flushing hot air to the next.. that's why I wanted to go full water cooled....

Seems like the Aventum 3 is the better case for cooling ... I'm going to bite the bullet and wait till aug, maybe the third party cards are available then...

why get an Aventum if you're seriously considering air cooling?  i wouldn't, much cheaper alternatives.  the Aventum 3 is the DS flagship, designed as a full custom water loop solution supporting many devices as possible.  the Hailstorm is also what i'd consider a full on water cooling case.   if you want to go with an air cooled system choose a Velox.   

I'd only recommend the Aventum or Hailstorm if you are water cooling everything. If you are going to air cool the GPUs, go with the Velox...but if you are really concerned with thermal throttling, water cooling the GPUs is the way to go.

I agree with what you are saying but I can get better air cooling with proper fans placed on aventum/hailstorm then velox plus more room which is a big deal for me, but ya the price I would pay would be much higher but IMHO my air flow/temps would be much better then velox.

but like I said I agree with what you are saying as far as cost and etc.

Edited by DST4ME - 23 Jun 2016 at 3:52pm

OK a couple of additional questions:

1) Is draining the whole system and replacing the cards an impossible task for end users? is it something we can do with a support call walkthrough (assuming I have assembled my own PC's in the past)

2) If I pick GPU water cooled, does DS ship the original fans? So when I upgrade I can resell the used cards.

Originally posted by db188 Originally posted by Xenecus OK a couple of additional questions: 1) Is draining the whole system and replacing the cards an impossible task for end users? is it something we can do with a support call walkthrough (assuming I have assembled my own PC's in the past)  2) If I pick GPU water cooled, does DS ship the original fans? So when I upgrade I can resell the used cards. no not an "impossible" task, but it can be a bit daunting to someone for the first time.  fortunately, there are plenty of youtube vids on how to do it properly.  i think it can be a pita with how big this Aventum is, because you kind of have to be able to tilt the machine at times to get all of the fluid out of the rads (especially the lower rads) and this beast is HEAVY!!  they didn't give me the original coolers that came with the Asus Strix 980ti's i bought and had replaced with EK water blocks, so, unless you make that request with them i'd say no.  your warranty with Asus is void anyway when you do that with their cards.  some companies are different with that policy.  however, i guess it'd be nice to have them for resale.

Thanks db188!, how are the noise levels of your setup? have you actually measured it? is it above 30 DBs?

Are there any huge performance differences between the hard and soft water cooling tubes?... because I'm thinking it's actually a plus getting the soft ones to avoid the system drain...

Originally posted by  I doubt it. The front on the Aventum is drawing in air entirely through the side slots and then is passed through the hard drive cages. The Velox has a clear shot through the mesh front panel straight to the components. The top ventilation would be the same on both, unless there is a radiator in the top position.

The drive cage does not have heat, I can fit more fans on the aventum making my airflow much better with a few modifications.

But like I said for the money it makes more sense to go velox for aircooled

Edited by DST4ME - 23 Jun 2016 at 9:30pm

I can already see that people on this forum are pretty awesome! that's a rare sight these days :) To be honest wasn't impressed with their sales people at all, they seem to know very little about hardware and even their own systems.... however it's the community what makes these boutique shops great aside from the build quality of course.

I don't want air cooling, I love to play with OC and I hate noise and heat, so there's a pretty good tradeoff with watercooling and cost for me... my concern is that I don't want to spend 6-8k on a system that it gets hard to upgrade... I've had Alienware from 2000-2009 and Falcon Northwest since 2009, I keep my systems for roughly 2 years without touching and then I upgrade the video cards and later the motherboard/CPU within a 4-5 year spam.... If I buy the Aventum 3 it's going to be my next case for probably 8-10 years minimum, I just want to make sure that this case allows me to upgrade and that the watercooling doesn't become the achilles heel of the system...

I agree with you, I'll go with the soft tubing for both CPU and GPU (will be my first time with GPU WC!)

JUst to be clear, my main priority is maximizing the performance but keeping the noise at minimum, I wish DS had some guidelines as to what's their quietest system when water cooling everything...

So far I'm going with the Aventum 3, just hoping the backorder doesn't go past August...

Thx for the help.

Thanks DST4ME, that is great insight! I would probably buy the GPU's with WB installed and sell the "old" video cards" to offset the cost, at the end of the day it's never a win win with technology, we're in it for the fun and the excitement and it has a cost ...

Now, having said all this... would you recommend waiting for the Aventum 3 or would you go Hailstorm 2 all water cooled? In other words, am I losing a lot by not waiting for the Aventum 3 case when the components are exactly the same?

(keep in mind all my requirements, noise, upgrade etc)... I will never go past 2 way SLI, so I'm probably not going to need any more space that originally planned.

THanks. I'm going to try and wait for the Aventum 3 seeing how getting a Hailstorm 2 is the same exact price.

Going to go with the full LQ and soft tubing. Thanks for the help everyone.

Originally posted by Xenecus THanks. I'm going to try and wait for the Aventum 3 seeing how getting a Hailstorm 2 is the same exact price. ........................................

Excellent choice. I don't think they price the same. The Aventum is 100-200 higher than the Hailstorm. You pay a small premium for the exclusivity of the  DS case all else being equal.

Actually and it may be a blessing in disguise (thx for the heads-up db188) the Aventum 3 is not an option given that it's over 28" in height..... My absolute max is 27.5" which puts the Hailstorm 2 in the only choice? or is the Velox a consideration? thoughts?

Ya if your space is only 28" then hailstorm won't do either, you want room around the case so it can "breath", otherwise you endup "chocking" the case aka you get the same hot/warm air circulating or air does not have enough room and gets pushed back in.

IMHO find/make room. its worth it.

Otherwise you can go velox as mentioned.

Ya there is enough room just keep in mind that some parts are gonna be closer but with lc you should be fine.

Again noise = your fans, so you should be at the same spot as before, the front fans should be quiet and you can control them via control center software.

keep in mind the rad is still on top pushing hot air up and out.

I don't have personal experience with them but they performance ones not led, are suppose to be quiet. I would upgrade but thats just me, its not needed.

be prepared to have a hard time finding NB-eloop fans.  i wanted them in my build and even went as far as ordering them from a German company.  this delayed my build substantially and in the end they couldn't even get them in stock or tell me a reasonable time when they'd get them. 

if i were you i'd look at EK Vardar high pressure fans.  their fan noise to linear airflow thru rads scaling is better.


Edited by db188 - 24 Jun 2016 at 5:17pm

those are custom parts that you have to special request