Air cooler v AIO water cooler

greymack · 13 Jun 2015 at 08:42

Hi guys i'm looking for a bit of advice on cooling.

I'm about to embark on a new build and my core components will be a fractal design Define R5 case a core i7-4790 cpu and gigabyte z97xud3h BK motherboard with some decent DDR3 ram.
The case comes with one 140mm fan at the front and one at the rear, my intention was to buy a 2nd fan for the front to increase air coming in but my main question is regarding the cpu cooler.

On my current pc i have a corsair H60 AIO water cooler with the radiator attached to the rear and set to suck in cool air, i currently have a top fan which sucks out the warm air. With the Define R5 you can of course open sections of the top and do the same however i'm trying to build a 'quiet' pc and apparently the more of these panels you remove on the R5 to add fans the less chance you have of creating that quiet pc.

So with the Define R5 having 140mm fans i could get the corsair H90 which i believe would fit just fine however i'm wondering if i'm going overkill here and i'd be better with a decent air cooler.
My intention is not to overclock so would the air cooler on the i7-4790 be just as good as H90 at noise and cooling?

Long story but i got there in the end.

As always appreciate any advice.

greymack · 13 Jun 2015 at 15:39

So air coolers are quieter than the water cooler?

If so what are the current top of the range & recommended models?

greymack · 13 Jun 2015 at 19:35

I like the look of the be quiet dark rock pro 3 & the Noctua

Just to clarify if I'm not overclocking and an air cooler and an AIO system will keep things cool enough however is an air cooler a better solution for noise (or silence)

greymack · 13 Jun 2015 at 21:48

So air cooling is the way to go?

greymack · 14 Jun 2015 at 02:00

Cheers for that.
My new case is the define R5 and the model i have chosen is windowless so again this steers me towards an air cooler as you're never going to see it.

greymack · 14 Jun 2015 at 10:40

I currently have Corsaid H60 and always found it to be quiet and an impressive cooler.
The only downside is the radiator clogs up really quickly dust so needs a regular clean out.

However my minds made up and it's an air cooler for me this time. However I think i will have to decide on which ram i'm going for first just incase they are a tad on the large side which might impact on the model of cooler i go for.

greymack · 14 Jun 2015 at 11:06

Ooh just noticed the Be Quiet Dark Rock 3 (minus the pro), this might be the one for me

greymack · 16 Jun 2015 at 19:27

I get it guys and answers are most appreciated.

I'm buying an air cooler, still not 100% decided but I'm considered the dark rock 3. Great reviews big minus is it's hard to install however as I'm building from scratch in a new case i can fit the board to the cooler rather than the conventional way.
I think the air cooler better suits my case with two front fans pushing cold air in, then the dark rock pushing that cool air through the heatsink then the rear case fan sucking it all out.
Thats the plan anyway

greymack · 17 Jun 2015 at 22:06

Cheers for the responses guys always good to get different points of view.
One thing to mention is the aesthetics, this is not an issue for me as i have purchased a fractal design Define R5 with no side window so whatever way i go it won't be seen.

I have purchased a second case fan for the front of the case, these fans are 140mm and rated well when it comes to noise. There's also a 140mm rear fan to exhaust the heat.

I'm still leaning on the noctua or dark rock 3 air cooler though when it comes to cooling.
As I said previously i had a corsair H60 and never had any issues, maybe a slight buzz from the pump but it never failed. The main inconvenience for me was the radiator constantly required cleaning as it got bunged up with dust very quickly.

greymack · 18 Jun 2015 at 19:10

yeah i had it pushing, not ideal but it suited my old case better.

greymack · 20 Jun 2015 at 14:41

i'll have a look at the NH-D15, i agree though they look dam ugly but as my define r5 has no window it's not really a concern