AIO as good as custom watercooling?

Not a chance. Custom will have much better components, more powerful pump, better radiators, more coolant in the loop which means it takes longer to reach equilibrium. A AIO would get nowhere near my loop the way I have it set up.
 
No way never. And if you're only cooling a CPU, your GPU (on air) is likely going to be the noisiest component in your build, noticeably so. If you look at reviews, you may net a few degrees with an AIO over an air cooler on a CPU, but so what? You've paid twice as much with no real world benefit, and your system is no less quiet... perhaps even louder when you factor in pump noise.

AIOs are a marketeers dream... there is obviously a strong aesthetic argument, and perhaps if your case simply cannot fit any decent air cooler, but otherwise, there is no logical reason to go this route.

If you can afford it, and are willing to invest the time (which is significant), full custom loop watercooling wins hands down... it's not even close. The price/performance argument simply cannot be made however, but if you want the ultimate in terms of low noise and the best temps, it's the only way. :)
 
nightrider1470 said:
Just wondering?
Click to expand...
Good in what way?

Performance? Only if you royally fluff the custom loop.
Convenience? Actually, yes. It's about as plug & play as an air cooler, I'd say.
Space? Yep, some AIOs will fit where air or custom loops might not.
Reliability? Again, only if you badly fluff the custom loop... at least until the warranty expires.

I really liked my Corsair H100 AIO. It performed better than almost all the air coolers available to me at the time... but having gone custom since, I'd not go AIO again.
 
nightrider1470 said:
Is there a low profile CPU air cooler that would allow low temps so I can overclock my 2700k to 5.6ghz?
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The Noctua NH-L12 and BeQuiet Shadow Rock LP are both supposedly excellent low profile coolers, but I strongly doubt you'd get that much out of either. Best to check some reviews and user experiences to see how far you could push it, but I think you might be asking too much there.
 
Thanks!!!

I just had a look through my PC spares box and I found a Heatkiller rev 3.0 with barbs.

It would make sense to try and put together a custom loop.

Do you think I could do it for £60?, Buying used if needed.

So I will need?
Coolant
Pipe
Pump
Radiator
Res

?
 
nightrider1470 said:
Thanks!!!

I just had a look through my PC spares box and I found a Heatkiller rev 3.0 with barbs.

It would make sense to try and put together a custom loop.

Do you think I could do it for £60?, Buying used if needed.

So I will need?
Coolant
Pipe
Pump
Radiator
Res

?
Click to expand...

Tough, but it's worth checking the MM and seeing what people might have, you might get lucky.

If you're only cooling the CPU, you could get away with a 240 rad, small pump/res, so you wouldn't need much. Pipe is cheap, fittings aren't much either if you can get used.

Still, it won't net you a very quiet system with your GPU out the loop, but if that's not a concern then you might manage it.
 
You are not going to get anywhere near 5.6Ghz with a 2700k with any normal amount of cooling and voltage. To think you will is just setting yourself up for a big disappointment. If you are very lucky you may reach 5Ghz but will probably need a lot of vcore.
 
Thing is, you can happily net an AIO that'll do equally as well as the "big brand" ones (like NZXT, Corsair, Thermaltake) for about £50 new. High end air cooling isn't going to come in much cheaper than that and I'd... be a bit worried if pump noise on a AIO was significant (running 2 and the PSU fan is louder, that's an x-series 1250w I'm barely touching).

Custom is undoubtedly better but it's not completely night and day difference and generally at least twice to 3 times the price (2nd hand being a good compromise for full custom ofc).

I could happily throw prices around but... it'd be obviously unwelcome. Arctic cooling and fractal both have some VERY cheap designs that are based on the same Asetek gen 5 everyone else is using, same parts, same rads, same tubes, vastly cheaper. The Arctic generally comes with enough fans for push/pull out of the box, space permitting they're both the one of cheapest and one of the best performing.

Completely agreed with pasty on the speed expectations. 5.6ghz is a silicon lottery winner, sub-zero with a gale blowing it along.

I'll say it, there's a normal barrage of "what, in minecraft, lol" type comments but... 2600k @ 4.5 (will have it's final big push soon). 980ti @ decent overclock. NOTHING in the system breaks 55c under full load. I got 2x200mm CM masterflows bringing air in, 2 x 240mm aio's on cpu+gpu (push-pull on CPU) exhausting. Far exceeded any expectations I had of the system when I build it, it just works.
Watercooling+good airflow can do wonderous things.
 
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