Ditching water and going back to air

JJimmyJ · 17 Aug 2023 at 19:59

Evening all.
After a recommendation (or a justification) for ditching my watercooling kit and going back to air. I just haven't the time or passion for modding a loop any more.
Currently on a 3700x, so low wattage part and I tend to stick with mid tier, so just need a good air cooler (preferably quiet) to move to.
Thanks

Mcthommo · 17 Aug 2023 at 20:38

I did the same about 4 months ago and have been very happy
Noctua nh-d15 overkill maybe but does the job so well

gtl_racer · 18 Aug 2023 at 10:04

I've done the same 2 years ago, also went nh-d15..
Water cooling is a pain, once the pump dies you have a brick..

Glanza · 18 Aug 2023 at 10:33

I've gone back to air using a NH-U12A as it's the biggest Noctua cooler that would fit in my case without issue.

mickyflinn · 18 Aug 2023 at 10:50

Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120se is the value/performance king.

Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE Review: Incredible, Affordable Air Cooling Performance

Shockingly cool and quiet, less than $40!

www.tomshardware.com

pastymuncher · 18 Aug 2023 at 12:18

After some 17 years of watercooling everything I switched back to air earlier in the year for the pure simplicity of it. The cooler I went with is the ARGB version of the Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE. For just under £40 at the time it was a absolute bargain and in reviews beat coolers costing double the price. It was easy to fit although the heatsink has cutouts for tall memory I had to lift the front fan up a couple of cm's to clear them but this does not seem to hurt temperatures. In the motherboard bios I set the cooler to run in silent mode and it's just about silent. Even in those hot weeks we had the fans never ramped up and the cpu remined below 55 degrees C. In normal gaming use (No Man's Sky) it rarely exceeds 45 degrees C. It truly is a exceptional cooler and OCUK really needs to stock these.

I was so impressed with the fans I managed to get a brand new three pack of them for just under £15. These days £15 for a three pack of good quality ARGB fans is a steal!! I also got hold of a couple of extra fan mounting "springs" on Ebay for less than £3 and ended up mounting a third fan to the rear of the cooler. It dropped the temps a further degree or so be made doubly sure that the fans never ramp up.

I just double checked the price of the Peerless Assassin 120SE and it's down to £32.90 right now for the normal version and ARGB version. Anyone who is interested in this cooler should snap it up now.

There is a similar version called the Thermalright Phantom Spirit PS120 SE for £35.29. This has the same fans but seven heatpipes compared to the Peerless Assassin's six heatpipes. Reviews have it come out very slightly better than the Peerless Assassin so that's another option.

JJimmyJ · 18 Aug 2023 at 12:54

Thanks folks, nice to hear that others have moved on and don't miss it, or that the cooling wasn't compromised.
I've been googling and came back to the Phantom Spirit as mentioned above. I think I'll pull the trigger on it. I can then sell my rads, pump, fittings etc and make a bit of cash back

Rik1254 · 18 Aug 2023 at 14:27

I did the same with my latest build, bought the Peerless assassin which is matching the performance of my old 240mm CPU loop.

It is noticeably louder though, which is a mild annoyance because my pc is on my desk.

Removed User 345456 · 18 Aug 2023 at 15:51

mickyflinn said:
Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120se is the value/performance king.

Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE Review: Incredible, Affordable Air Cooling Performance

Shockingly cool and quiet, less than $40!

www.tomshardware.com

THIS!
I have one on my 5700X and it never goes above 57c in SP gaming and 64max with uncapped fps in MP, saying that since switching my case to BeQuiet Pure Wings 2's I don't think it does go above 60C now and is near silent as with the PA120SE!

JJimmyJ · 25 Aug 2023 at 09:38

Morning

Thought I'd just do an update. Got the Phantom Spirit and I'm liking it so far. Could probably still tweak my settings etc, and I think I may have been unfortunate and got a toasty 3700x (it also ran hot even with water).
In Cinebench, temp maxxed at 73, but got fans set to max out at 60%, so good bit of headroom if I wanted to push it more. Case fans also run low, 50% or less.
It's about as 'loud' as my water, so not really missing out and a lot less maintenance

Vimes · 25 Aug 2023 at 13:22

I have seen sone of the Phantom coolers advertised in the 140mm size. Assuming that the should be more capable and relatively quiet.
Not many seen to stock them tho.

Vimes · 25 Aug 2023 at 13:23

@JJimmyJ Was it more to do with cost and or just wanting to go to an air cooler as to why you didn't bother with an AIO?

JJimmyJ · 25 Aug 2023 at 13:28

Vimes said:
@JJimmyJ Was it more to do with cost and or just wanting to go to an air cooler as to why you didn't bother with an AIO?

Probably cost and knowing that I won't have to do any maintenance etc. The fans are really the only failure point, whereas an AIO has other moving parts (pump) and evaporation etc and a shorter shelf life.
I don't have as much time on the comp, and haven't built a new one for a while so my needs/wants aren't what they once were (I blame kids!!!)

Deleted member 77746 · 25 Aug 2023 at 13:37

You could have best of both worlds and get an AIO. Both water and air.

I’ve had my AIO running 4-5 years now.

pastymuncher · 25 Aug 2023 at 13:44

Vimes said:
I have seen sone of the Phantom coolers advertised in the 140mm size. Assuming that the should be more capable and relatively quiet.
Not many seen to stock them tho.

There are at least two 140mm twin tower coolers, the Frost Spirit 140mm (4x 8mm heatpipes) and the Frost Commander 140mm (5x 8mm heatpipes). Both are available around the same price as the Peerless Assassin PA120 SE but I can't find any reviews on either of them.

Vimes · 25 Aug 2023 at 13:48

pastymuncher said:
There are at least two 140mm twin tower coolers, the Frost Spirit 140mm (4x 8mm heatpipes) and the Frost Commander 140mm (5x 8mm heatpipes). Both are available around the same price as the Peerless Assassin PA120 SE but I can't find any reviews on either of them.

That has been my situation also, thinking that the 140 variants should be more capable than their 120mm counterparts.
Overall not a great deal of information or general availability.
At least so far.....

Removed User 345456 · 26 Aug 2023 at 14:32

JJimmyJ said:
Evening all.
After a recommendation (or a justification) for ditching my watercooling kit and going back to air. I just haven't the time or passion for modding a loop any more.
Currently on a 3700x, so low wattage part and I tend to stick with mid tier, so just need a good air cooler (preferably quiet) to move to.
Thanks

Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120SE is £36.99 on the rain forest, will match/beat a Dark Rock Pro 4/NH-D15, and keeps my 5700x at anything as low as 45c when browsing to 57c in games, never seen it go above 61c even after hours and the pc being next to an airing cupboard, I only have 2 cheap BeQuiet 140mm Pure Wings 2 non pwn running at a very low voltage paired with the 120mm version as a rear exhaust... I have an ok mesh fronted Antec NX410 mid tower. so nothing fancy going on.

embalse · 27 Aug 2023 at 06:04

Yep same here. I've been watercooling for years, but I think this will be my last water build. Air cooling is enough for my needs.

venomx · 29 Aug 2023 at 13:58

Custom water loop is not for me, I have seen beginners loops and they don't look tidy... it's also an unnecessary risk.
However, I love AIO way more than traditional heatsinks... Much more space efficient, runs silently even when under load, and just looks better overall. Could never go back to a traditional heatsink/fan

Drumroll · 30 Aug 2023 at 21:40

Using the Thermalright U120EX and I’m very impressed. No issue with RAM clearance, installation is a breeze. Pressure mount, if tightening slowly, a bit each side each turn, is perfect. Twice and haven’t noticed any excess of thermal paste on the corners as expected when using mounting mechanisms relying on 2 points. Was so impressed with the fans supplied that bought another 6 to fully populate the case.