Watercooling, or big air cooler?

m_c

m_c

m_c

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10 May 2020
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My new build is running well, and even though it's a lot quieter than using my laptop with it's cooling fans going flat out most of the time, the standard AMD cooler that came with the 3600 is already annoying me with it's regular speed changes!

Plus some idiot mounted it the wrong way around, so it's covering one of the memory slots :rolleyes:

Anyway, at some point I'm planning on upgrading the CPU, so am considering going for something like an AIO watercooling setup, but would a big air cooler be as effective?

I've got a Corsair 465X case, so I've got plenty options available, but can't decide what option would be the best long term..
 
Big air performs about the same as AIO at stock.
Its only when you really tax the cpu that water takes the lead and in general, gaming won't do that (you didn't mention what you use the pc for).
If you want quiet, go air.

I have the same case and went with a h100i Pro as I went RGB mad (had custom water cooling before and it saves changing the coolant colour). I can't actually hear mine when gaming, it's on my desk about 50cm away (playing RDR2)
I also had a Dark Rock 4 and a Noctua NH-U14S sat around and performance seems about the same for all.
 
The only gaming I'm planning on doing is the new MS flight sim, just so I can fly over the local area :-)
My main use is 3D CAD/modelling, along with some video editing, so I'll be making the CPU working pretty hard at times.

I had been looking at one of the H150s, but perhaps a H100 would be better so some cool air is still being drawn in for the graphics card?
 
m_c said:
The only gaming I'm planning on doing is the new MS flight sim, just so I can fly over the local area :)
My main use is 3D CAD/modelling, along with some video editing, so I'll be making the CPU working pretty hard at times.

I had been looking at one of the H150s, but perhaps a H100 would be better so some cool air is still being drawn in for the graphics card?
Click to expand...

Take a look at the arctic freezer ii as its currently the top performer on ryzen and is quite cheap also.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KPaSEGe6ML0
 
Indeed, your case has 170mm CPU clearance which is enough for almost if not all coolers, and AMD have plenty of room between CPU and PCIe sockets. But AMD have RAM sockets closer to CPU and if you have RAM more than about 35mm tall a 140mm fan will not fit between RAM and case side panel. ;) What is the height of your RAM? Or what RAM is it?

I would get a good air cooler rather than CLC. Both cool about the same with good case airflow and air coolers outlast CLCs becuase they only have fan to wear out .. maybe need an updated mount if being transferred to another system in the future. CLCs usually cost more, are not as quiet (pumps almost always are audible in quiet enviroment).typically last from a couple years to 5-6ish years before coolant level gets low and/or pump wears out. If you choose air I can help, not going CLC I can't.
 
I have no idea on height, but it's currently got 16GB worth of Corsair Vengeance RGB in it, although I have a 32GB 8pack kit to fit when I get a chance.

I'm not set on watercooling, I just want something that's a bit quieter, and upgrade proof.
 
I've got an Arctic Freezer 33 eSports with 2 fans on and it doesn't interfere with my tall Corsair RGB Vengeance, they are in slots 2 and 4 though.

Today I upgraded to a Ryzen 3700x and my temps have obviously gone up but on the Ryzen 2600, overclocked to 4.1ghz I think it maxed at 56c in MW and about 60c when stress testing. So you could even slow the fan profile a bit if you wanted it quieter.
 
I've found the Noctua aircoolers to be excellent - Noctua Nh-d9l has performed well for me on AM4.

Sounds like you case is wide enough for a 120mm or even 140mm cooler
 
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