AIO £150 Budget for 12900k - (EK 360 D RGB Fitment on Asus Gaming D4)

Hazeno · 17 Apr 2022 at 14:50

Afternoon all, recently my 7980xe died a death, and I had to upgrade prematurely. So I grabbed an Asus Strix Gaming D4 board and a 12900k to reuse my old RAM for now. Unfortunately my old AIO isn't supported and to be honest after 4 years it was due for an upgrade anyway ( H150I PRO RGB )

Now I'm on the lookout for a good performing cooler to tame the 12900k and I have a few in my eyes but the main 2 are

::EK 360 D RGB which is in budget

::ROG RYUJIN 2 360 which is miles out of budget but tempting.

So I have a few questions, as I'm out of the loop on AIOs and here they are.

: What AIO ( But not the Arctic 2 as even though I know it's a SOLID performer, I don't like the aesthetic ) would YOU pair with a 12900k.

: Has anyone paired an Asus Strix Gaming D4 with the EK 360 D RGB? As I'm wondering if I can orientate it with the pipes near the RAM or would I need to orientate it upside down, due to clearance as I understand it's a big boi. If so any pictures? As I have all 4 slots populated.

: Any white ones to match the board that fit in budget, maybe slightly over?

Drumroll · 18 Apr 2022 at 02:25

Using the EK and it is a solid performer.
As you mentioned, the block can be mounted in different positions (rotated) which is very hand to clear RAM or GPU.
For the 12700K here, the fans are at 40%, and unless I'm running some benchmark, never goes over 50% to keep temperature under control.
At the moment, room temperature 21C, CPU at 28C.
During game, minutes ago, was under 50C.
The 12900K is a hotter chip, sure, but with decent airflow, the EK can cope it it.
One thing I really liked about the EK is that the pump (at 50%) can be heard only if fans are of or under 30%.
Tried the Corsair H150 Capelix and the high pitch noise could be heard from the other room.
What puts me off about most AIOs is the pump noise.
Maybe because since 2008ish, every custom loop I built was using a D5 pump, I got spoiled and always expected the pumps t be quiet. Even recently when tried a modern DDC pump, couldn't accept the noise.
The Arctic Freezer II, apart from looks as it is personal, have a very quiet pump. Never had to run at full blast to get the performance needed.
The EK seems as quiet, the fans are louder if over 50%, like per like, but don't present the annoying humming at 1000ish rpm of the P12 fans from the Arctic Freezer.
Never tried the Asus AIO.
Tried the beQuiet Silent Loop, and as expected the fans are amazing, but the pump mediocre, and as the fans are so quiet, just highlighted the pump noise.

Ross Thomson · 18 Apr 2022 at 14:33

The arctic 360. I don't look at the insides of my computer case so the lack of any fancy colours or lights doesn't mean anything to me.

ChocAndGray · 18 Apr 2022 at 16:30

Another vote for the arctic, price to performance ratio it's one of the best out there.

Ross Thomson said:
The arctic 360. I don't look at the insides of my computer case so the lack of any fancy colours or lights doesn't mean anything to me.

I'm the same. So much so that I went for a solid side panel on my case.

clone · 22 Apr 2022 at 06:40

Just installed the artic freezer 2 420 mm to cool my 12600kf and can't fault it, I have the same board as you.

Drumroll · 22 Apr 2022 at 19:52

I'm happy with the EK, but just found odd the Arctic's mounting issue with my motherboard and case (MSI Z690 Tomahawk + Lian Li O11D EVO).
Used the Arctic few times before and was always happy with it.
About the RGB thing, went ballistic once, got fed-up, now all blacked out system. I quite like the look of the Arctic. And performance, which is what matters, it offers plenty.