Aio water cooler or air for 9900k?

scorchisio · 30 Dec 2019 at 00:41

gday

I Am torn between kraken x72 360 aio or the noctua dh15 which is so ugly but more reliable and less to go wrong? what would you do?

cheers

doyll · 30 Dec 2019 at 13:43

Seems kinda a no brainger to me. Kraken X72 360 costs more than twice as much, isn't as dependable and won't last as long as D15 or other air coolers will. And there are other air coolers that performance just as good NH-D15 costing even less (one is about £50), most even look better and a couple even cool slightly better.

Ross Thomson · 30 Dec 2019 at 18:09

arctic freezer II 360mm. cooler and quieter than the noctua at around the same price £77

doyll · 30 Dec 2019 at 21:12

Ross Thomson said:
arctic freezer II 360mm. cooler and quieter than the noctua at around the same price £77

Can you please supply link to reviews giving those results?

Reznor · 2 Jan 2020 at 10:44

Yea that cooler has been on my radar for awhile now, looks to be very good if you dont want all the RGB frills! The nzxt aio looks awesome, but the Cam software which controls it can be dodgy
There is the review for you, its the 240mm but you see it beating the D15.

https://www.kitguru.net/components/...id-freezer-ii-all-in-one-cpu-cooler-review/5/

I've never had an aio leak, but they can go wrong for other people so its best to choose a company which has a good leak warranty for the AIO. I think ive heard corsair for instance cover any damage which might occur if it leaks. Other companies might not, I cant see any mention that Arctic cover pc damage due to leaks.

End of the day its your choice and only you can decide, if you want to take the risk or go for a good old junk of metal

doyll · 2 Jan 2020 at 12:56

Thanks! Not the exactly the same as 360mm rad with 3x fans will make 1.8dB more noise than 2x fans on 240mm rad fan noise. This means 2 fan radiator at 41.2dB needs 1.8dB added making noise level of 43dB for 3 fan rad versus D15's 44.1dB .. and human ear need about 3db change is noise level to hear a difference.

I found testing in link below of 280mm against D15 being a 2.4c difference. 28m0 vs 360mm have very similar performance.
https://www.overclock.net/forum/61-...ctic-liquid-freezer-ii-280mm-ryzen-3900x.html

Indeed, it's user's choice. It will be interesting to see how long these CLCs last. Do you remember Enermax LiqTech TR4 and how users were having serious problems with them within a year or so.

Relentless81 · 2 Jan 2020 at 13:25

I decided against the Arctic Freezer Liquid 2 recently and went with a Noctua D15S, I was very close to ordering one as I wanted to try an AIO again but decided against it in the end

apostolis_kt · 6 Jan 2020 at 16:52

I did the opposite, was going for the noctua but went for the arctic freezer ii 280mm because the air cooler would block the ram and its rgb its a shame to be hidden. Time will tell, so far does good on my 3950x

Relentless81 · 6 Jan 2020 at 17:09

apostolis_kt said:
I did the opposite, was going for the noctua but went for the arctic freezer ii 280mm because the air cooler would block the ram and its rgb its a shame to be hidden. Time will tell, so far does good on my 3950x

D15S doesn't block the ram, also miles away from the GPU

apostolis_kt · 6 Jan 2020 at 19:30

Relentless81 said:
D15S doesn't block the ram, also miles away from the GPU

Very good point, thought it was the D15. I rushed to get a cooler because i had the 3950x sitting on the bench waiting to be installed and everyone was saying air cooling is not as good.

Relentless81 · 6 Jan 2020 at 19:32

apostolis_kt said:
Very good point, thought it was the D15. I rushed to get a cooler because i had the 3950x sitting on the bench waiting to be installed and everyone was saying air cooling is not as good.

Don't worry about it, as long as temps are down and frames are high it's all good plus the D15S is ugly unless you spend serious money on Chromax accessories