High end air or H100 with new fans?

dark_hag666 · 9 May 2012 at 19:10

Plan on taking my 3570k up to 4.5-4.8ish but I really can't decide on cooling - case is a Lian Li A16 the HDD thing removed 8 bay grills installed. Noise is a concern.

Air would be quiet and cheaper, but I'm not 100% on the clearance for the Phanteks, or even the K2, in my case.

H100 would be more expensive and I'm concerned about noise (fan noise and pump noise), but would definitely fit.

Any thoughts guys?

Ollie1132 · 9 May 2012 at 19:12

Phanteks is 170mm tall K2 is 160mm tall (clearance needed) I was told that high end air works a bit better than closed waterloops.

shaf · 9 May 2012 at 19:26

I have the H100 and replaced the fans with Notua 120mm. The stock fans are noisy.

setter · 9 May 2012 at 19:29

k2 here and the stock fans are nice and quiet, though you need to make sure you get low profile ram.

Yaayuh! · 9 May 2012 at 22:59

Ollie1132 said:
Phanteks is 170mm tall K2 is 160mm tall (clearance needed) I was told that high end air works a bit better than closed waterloops.

The h100 is the only exception, but you pay a lot more for it.

Benjyshwa · 10 May 2012 at 00:08

Well h100 plus better pair of fans on full will do slightly better than any air cooler I think, but you could get one with a dodgy pump and end up RMA'ing etc

Phanteks would be quite a bit cheaper for almost the same performance unless you really crank the OC.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1759/7/

I have a h100 but in hindsight would go for a Phanteks just for the possibility of less problems and hassle.

dark_hag666 · 10 May 2012 at 02:30

Can anyone confirm that the stock Intel air cooler is 60mm high

-Mike- · 10 May 2012 at 11:10

dark_hag666 said:
Can anyone confirm that the stock Intel air cooler is 60mm high

Its definately not 60mm high.

Helios1234 · 10 May 2012 at 11:12

Results in sig etc but the H100 with Noctua fans really can't compare with the high end air coolers using the same fans. To get the most out of the H100, you need high RPM fans. If you were to change the stock fans for low RPM fans, it will be a quieter unit but performance will also take a hit. Opting for higher RPM aftermarket fans means you're not really solving the noise issue by much. On the other hand, there are the air coolers which are more efficient and the only real compromise being the memory modules you can buy.

Your best bet would be the K2 as it's not as high as the Phanteks and leaves enough memory clearance for the likes of the G.Skill RipJawX/Z. The unit is also pretty quiet and you can control the fan speed yourself.