240/280MM versus a Phantom Spirit 120SE

[deviation]

Hi,
my friend's son currently has a Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120SE, but it isn't the quietest, and he likes the look of RGB, a watercooled case and the option for RGB fans - so he could either buy an AIO with RGB, or without add RGB fans later.

Would going to a 240mm or 280MM AIO from the Phantom Spirit 120SE, give him the same or better performance, or the same but quieter? Or would the Phantom Spirit beat an AIO of this size in both performance and noise?

Would something such as the Thermalright Frozen Notte or Aqua Elite, be a good option? I briefly looked into it, and the Frozen Notte apparently has loud fans, of which could be switched out easily enough - these are both 240MM, is there much of a gain between a 240MM or 280MM? As Thermalright don't seem to sell a 280MM, but his case supports it.

If there is a better 280MM AIO, we're open to ideas, but ideally his Dad's not looking to spend loads

I don't think his case would clear the Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro, otherwise it would be an easy choice

Any input is greatly appreciated, the key here is either quieter operation or the to achieve the same temps/volume.

 

[pastymuncher]

What cpu is he trying to cool? I had a Peerless Assassin SE120 on my 7800x3d and with the fans on the motherboards silent profile it was very quiet while still keeping temps in the 60's. A 240mm AIO has the potential to make more noise as you have a pump as well as the fans. I went from my PA120 to a Thermalright Frozen Edge 240mm AIO and took steps when installing to ensure it remained quiet. First I locked the pump speed at 2600rpm then stuck the fans on the motherboards silent profile in the bios which ensured that also remained very quiet. Yesterday that was replaced by a Thermalright Frozen Vision 360mm AIO that I picked up for less than half price in our members market and I took the same steps to keep that quiet which actually turned out to be silent. Work with what they have before replacing anything. The Phantom Spirit is a excellent cooler and will keep all but the most power hungry cpu's in check. Either stick the fans on one of the motherboards profiles in the bios or make their own profile in the bios or using some other software. They need to find a balance between temps and noise that they are comfortable with.

 

[deviation]

What cpu is he trying to cool? I had a Peerless Assassin SE120 on my 7800x3d and with the fans on the motherboards silent profile it was very quiet while still keeping temps in the 60's. A 240mm AIO has the potential to make more noise as you have a pump as well as the fans. I went from my PA120 to a Thermalright Frozen Edge 240mm AIO and took steps when installing to ensure it remained quiet. First I locked the pump speed at 2600rpm then stuck the fans on the motherboards silent profile in the bios which ensured that also remained very quiet. Yesterday that was replaced by a Thermalright Frozen Vision 360mm AIO that I picked up for less than half price in our members market and I took the same steps to keep that quiet which actually turned out to be silent. Work with what they have before replacing anything. The Phantom Spirit is a excellent cooler and will keep all but the most power hungry cpu's in check. Either stick the fans on one of the motherboards profiles in the bios or make their own profile in the bios or using some other software. They need to find a balance between temps and noise that they are comfortable with.

Thanks for your input.
It sounds like he's better off playing with the fan curves and sticking with that then.
I had thought a 240/280MM wouldn't be able to match that Phantom Spirit, in terms of noise or performance, it sounds like I was right.

I'll just suggest a bigger case in the future, then he can go for a 360MM or bigger AIO and have pure silence

 

[pastymuncher]

It all depends on what cpu it is. The Phantom Spirit is such a good cooler it does beat some 240mm AIO's but the better ones will beat it. There wasn't much difference between my Thermalright Peerless Assassin SE120 and my Thermalright Frozen Edge 240mm AIO but I value peace and quiet so both were running on silent profiles. If I let them have free reign it may have been different. What I was trying to say is that they need to find the perfect trade off between noise and cooling ability. If the cooler isn't on a profile it will spin up to full speed under max load to keep the cpu as cool as possible. What they need to do is adjust fans speeds downwards until they hit the point that they are happy with the noise and temps. It's all about trading one off for the other. As they already have the Phantom Spirit and it's a very good cooler it makes sense to work with what they have first before buying anything else. All this is irrelevant though if they are trying to cool a power hungry cpu such as the 14900k which is virtually impossible to air cool.

 

[deviation]

It all depends on what cpu it is. The Phantom Spirit is such a good cooler it does beat some 240mm AIO's but the better ones will beat it. There wasn't much difference between my Thermalright Peerless Assassin SE120 and my Thermalright Frozen Edge 240mm AIO but I value peace and quiet so both were running on silent profiles. If I let them have free reign it may have been different. What I was trying to say is that they need to find the perfect trade off between noise and cooling ability. If the cooler isn't on a profile it will spin up to full speed under max load to keep the cpu as cool as possible. What they need to do is adjust fans speeds downwards until they hit the point that they are happy with the noise and temps. It's all about trading one off for the other. As they already have the Phantom Spirit and it's a very good cooler it makes sense to work with what they have first before buying anything else. All this is irrelevant though if they are trying to cool a power hungry cpu such as the 14900k which is virtually impossible to air cool.

Sorry for a late reply mate, been out enjoying the car in the this weather
The kid has a 5800X, it runs pretty hot as I'm told they all do? His Dad's undervolted it, which has helped a lot, but it does love to spike when playing AAA games, which makes the Phantom Spirit ramp up a fair bit - we have already setup the PWM profile for the fans as best as we can, and there is no 'silent profile' option I'm afraid.

No offense intended, but I'm rather surprised that you think it's a quiet cooler?
It's no quieter than the Peerless Assassin, despite the PS having a new fan design? When it ramps up in AAA games those fans are pretty loud, I have seen people change the fans due to this.

It claims to be 25DB, but I can't see that being true when ramped up, as from my experience, most fans DB ratings are lies, or cleverly marketed at X % speed, and not made clear, on purpose - I have been caught like that many times when buying fans when assuming that X DB is the loudest it's rated to, when it isn't.

Both the PA and PS are great coolers, efficiency and price wise, don't get me wrong, just worlds apart from being quiet under load, so it surprises me that your X3D is quiet/cool? Or do the AM5's tend to run cooler than the AM4 X3D's? I know the done thing to do with a 5800X3D was to -20/25 PBO it straight away to help with the temps, that seems to be gospel whenever you look into anything online relating to their high temps, it's just crazy that nippers 5800X get's just as hot? But apparently they all do.

Regardless, I completely understand what you're saying and agree with the rest of it It's finding that sweet spot, which I think we have with the PS, we just wondered if we could make it better, but I think it's best to stick with the PS, considering he cant fit a bigger AIO; as ideally a 320mm/420mm running the fans slowly, would be the silent dream - which I myself will be upgrading to shortly (AFIIIP420), once I can afford it and a bigger case

Thank you for taking the time to be so thorough and helpful, I genuinely appreciate it Have a nice weekend.