Best Budget cooling around £60 - Air - AIO - Custom

Soldato
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I was wonder which is the Best Budget cooling option - Air - AIO - Custom.

I'm trying to get the best option for the least money.

My options are high end air cooler (Thermalright), AIO or upgrade my water cooling

I currently have a custom water cooling set up at the moment which is a few year old details 360 black ice stealth rad, ek supreme water block, phobya balancer, Phobya Water Cooling Loop Pump DC12-400 PWM 12Volt.

So would need some upgrades.

I do have a few issues with custom water, you need to keep a closer eye on it, punp issues, leaks, kinks, amount of coolant ext, I would rather have something i can forget about.

Im hoping what ever I choose it could be used in my future ryzen upgrade

Im thinking Air maybe the best option but i want to double confirm.
 
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Soldato
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Why do you think you need upgrades?

The custom loop you have, depending on the fans, is probably miles better than anything you can buy on your budget anyway..

Just get this..

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ek-water-blocks-amd-socket-bracket-for-am4-wc-9dx-ek.html

Thanks, I'm running it with noctua fans.

Well it was not just the reason of a upgrade I was also thinking of a change. custom is good but i worry more about it then i would with air or AIO
you need to keep a closer eye on it, punp issues, leaks, kinks, amount of coolant ext,

The reason I thought I would need a upgrade is because its a few years old and things do move along, so I thought it may not be as good i assumed also I would have needed a new water block which would cost the same, I was not aware I could get the new mounting plates.
 
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Thanks, I'm running it with noctua fans.

Well it was not just the reason of a upgrade I was also thinking of a change. custom is good but i worry more about it then i would with air or AIO
you need to keep a closer eye on it, punp issues, leaks, kinks, amount of coolant ext,

The reason I thought I would need a upgrade is because its a few years old and things do move along, so I thought it may not be as good i assumed also I would have needed a new water block which would cost the same, I was not aware I could get the new mounting plates.

If it was me I would just get the new block mount plate, some new hose with thick diameter (less chance of kinks) and replace all the O'rings on the fittings.. if the pump runs silent without any rattling or weird noises then you should be fine..

No AIO or AIR cooler would come close and your expences would be minimal.
 
Soldato
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Thanks, I'm running it with noctua fans.

Well it was not just the reason of a upgrade I was also thinking of a change. custom is good but i worry more about it then i would with air or AIO
you need to keep a closer eye on it, punp issues, leaks, kinks, amount of coolant ext,

The reason I thought I would need a upgrade is because its a few years old and things do move along, so I thought it may not be as good i assumed also I would have needed a new water block which would cost the same, I was not aware I could get the new mounting plates.
I have air coolers on most all of my rigs because they are quiet, low maintenance, easy to change, low cost and extremely dependable. As long as case uses filtered air there is virtually no maintenance .. the only thing that can go bad is the fan, and even if fan stops completely there is still enough cooling to use system at low load . and any fan will work until replacement is in hand.

There is no doubt air coolers are more dependable/trouble free, no CLC is close to your loop in quality or dependability, therefore your choices are keep your loop or go air. Mid to top tier air are £34-80.00 range .. from Matterhorn on up to the likes of PH-TC14PE, R1, NH-D15S, etc. Right now you can get the PH-TC14PE ifor £ 47.99 .. extremely good cooler at a very reasonable price.. https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phanteks-ph-tc14pe-cpu-cooler-black-hs-009-pt.html

I'm not conversant in custom loop components, but will guess that yours are decent quality .. I think your Black Ice Stealth is pretty dense fin count and rather thick so it needs good fans .. but not as powerful as CLCs have aluminium radiators with super dense fin count requiring high powered fans to push enough air through them remove heat. I do not know a much about custom loop radiators but I do not know of any that are not copper. I think your pump is about 400 ltr/hr and about 18 watt ?? CLC pumps are like 25-40 ltr/hr. 1-3watt .. and if you watch the forums much you will see someone posting up about switching from a CLC back to top tier air and being amazed by how much quieter their new air cooler is as well as usually much lower temps.
 
Soldato
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Thanks, I still dont know which is the better option because i cant compare so I think ill go with the cheapest option, just so i can spend the money i save on the GPU/CPU.
 
Soldato
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Best option depends on cost of waterblock .. if waterblock costs more than £47.99, get the PH-TC14PE. It is one of the kings of the hill of coolers along with R1, NH-D15S, NH-D15, NH-D14, TRUE Spirit 140 Power, NH-U14S, Silver Arrow IB-E, etc. All are within a couple degrees of each other. Case airflow makes more difference in overall cooling than which of the top coolers you use. ;)
 
Soldato
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Best option depends on cost of waterblock .. if waterblock costs more than £47.99, get the PH-TC14PE. It is one of the kings of the hill of coolers along with R1, NH-D15S, NH-D15, NH-D14, TRUE Spirit 140 Power, NH-U14S, Silver Arrow IB-E, etc. All are within a couple degrees of each other. Case airflow makes more difference in overall cooling than which of the top coolers you use. ;)
I was thinking the same but from the link @keenan gave me I wont need a new water block, I can just get new brackets to fit my old block for under £10 allowing me to save some money and keeping it for longer, it may not be the best but the best value for money.

I can Just upgrade in the future when its its worth switching.
 
Soldato
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I was thinking the same but from the link @keenan gave me I wont need a new water block, I can just get new brackets to fit my old block for under £10 allowing me to save some money and keeping it for longer, it may not be the best but the best value for money.

I can Just upgrade in the future when its its worth switching.
Indeed, 10 quid is a lot lower cost than 50 quid. I'm guessing your loop is about same noise level as air cooler .. assuming no pump noise at idle. Loop probably give a little better temps too.
 
Soldato
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I think you'll find that is the thread size common to nearly all fittings - G1/4"

It is the diameter of the barb or compression fitting itself which dictates the tube size
Im not sure but this is the info i have on my last order 16/10mm (3/8ID).
 
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Associate
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Get a Noctua NH-d14 or 15, I got the D15 and its amazing! Also they will supply and mountings needed for later upgrades so no need to muy a new one years later.
 
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I got an arctic freezer 240 AIO on my ryzen 1700 and this things a beast plus really quiet. its a no frills AIO but comes with 4 decent fans, I think it was like £65. my 1700 at 3.85 idles at about 28c in this current heat and prime / OCCT etc doesnt break 60c. gaming I think its about 50c with a reference 290 blower gpu.
 
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