What size AIO cooler?

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m_c

m_c

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I've not been on here for a while, but having just ordered a shiny new laptop, and looking at various benchmarks, I'm looking to treat my desktop to some upgrades over the coming months, as some tasks are getting noticeably slower (mostly Fusion 360/CAD work with the odd bit video editing just now).

It's currently got a Ryzen 5 3600* running the included Wraith air cooler, in a Corsair 465X case.
I'm planning to upgrade the motherboard since AM4 upgrade options are getting limited, but that's a couple months away, so not entirely sure what processor I'll end up with.
However I'm needing to add some extra storage, and while I had the case open, and to soften the blow of doing a full motherboard/CPU/Memory swap, I was going to add a watercooler just now.

However, I'm not sure what size I should get.
The case has options for 240 (top mounted), 280 (front mounted), and 360 (front mounted with the HDD cage removed).
(case details are at https://www.corsair.com/us/en/p/pc-...mid-tower-atx-smart-case-black-cc-9011188-ww# )

I might add some HDDs for video storage at some point, so would a 240 or 280mm cooler be good enough for something like a 9700X or 7900X (planned budget for a processor is around £3-400), or should I just get the 360mm?
I was going to go for whatever sized Corsair Titan RX, unless anybody has a good reason not to.


*I built this system 5 years ago, and opted for the 3600 for simplicity with plans to upgrade it and add a water cooler later, but just never quite got around to it :rolleyes:
 
A 240mm would be fine and makes sense if your adding hard drives to your case as you need to remove the cage to fit a 360mm in the front.

9700x draws 170w when power limits are removed and most 240mm aio match top tier air cookers at around 250w tdp so enough to handle the above.
 
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I'd factor cost into this as much as radiator size, if you're not planning on moving into a small form factor case which doesn't support 360mm rads you might as well go for the 360.

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £53.99 (includes delivery: £3.99)​

It's really not worth spending more on an AiO in 95% of cases than this, and smaller radiators aren't saving you much if any money.
 
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