Question Help Ryzen 5600X - Best CPU AIO or Arctic?

[DasFox]

I have a Ryzen 5 5600X I was looking to cool with the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280.

Ok, so we all know there are a lot of choices out there, and I wasn’t planning on spending the next 6 months researching... LOL

I read a little on the cooler, just like any of them out there, they all seem to have their Pros & Cons.

But if there is a general consensus, in the same price range, for a far superior cooler, even better cooling, I’d love to hear some thoughts on this?

Also, it’s my understanding, that if you place it in the front of the case, the hoses should be at the bottom, and the hoses going up to the pump should also be at the bottom?

P.S. I have a Corsair 4000D Airflow case, I was going to put the radiator on the top, not sure for size I can go bigger than a Liquid Freezer II 280. hmm 🤔

 

[DasFox]

WOW, not World of Warcraft either! LOL 😂

Seriously, no one has any thoughts on Arctic’s Liquid Freezer II coolers?

Almost 4 months later an no replies...

P.S. I seriously want to buy one of these, and I’m not sure if it is the best bang for buck, or if there are other AIO out there, seriously better? hmm 🤔

 

[BoomerD]

I keep trying to justify buying a new CPU cooler. I currently have a POS Coolermaster 120mm radiator AIO. it works...but just barely.

IF I do, it will be with an Arctic Liquid Freezer II 240mm unit.

They review VERY well. I live out past the ass-end of nowhere, so I don't know anyone who has one to judge performance by...and Walmart is the closest thing I have to a local computer store...

Arctic Liquid Freezer II Cooler Review: New Best-Performer for CPU & VRM Thermals | GamersNexus

stub Today’s review has been the most-requested review from our commenters for about 6 months now, and it’s not even a piece of silicon. The Arctic Liquid Freezer II series has gotten heavy community interest because of high reported performance in the enthusiast forum userbase. We wanted to...

www.gamersnexus.net

As for mounting the radiator:

 

[BoomerD]

And, by the way, the Arctic Liquid Freezer II is (AFAIK) the ONLY AIO cooler with a 6 year warranty. Some have 2 year, many have 5 years.

 

[In2Photos]

The Arctic units are very nice, the fan on the block blows air over the VRM section. My son has a 5600X and he picked out the Enermax 240mm AIO for his build. I was a little worried about it because it was like $65 and included RGB fans, but he's had it for about 10 months now and it has been solid. It has a 5 year warranty. We are using PBO2 with an undervolt of -20 and his temps sit around 55C with like 40% fan speed and 50% pump speed so his PC is dead silent.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

It was probably a good thing not to have bought the liquid freezer II 4 months ago. From the GN news -

"Arctic discovered a defect in its Liquid Freezer II coolers that we've heavily reviewed (and generally recommended), and now, it is offering repair kits (or replacements) for anyone affected. The defect pertains to the gasket breaking down and causing gunk buildup, staining of the coldplate, and loss of performance over time. This didn't affect all units, but it affected enough for Arctic to be faced with a hard decision: Hide it or handle it right. Fortunately, Arctic chose to handle it right. Arctic is firm that this isn't a "recall," but it does have a procedure in place to repair affected units. This follows its previous actions to implement a 6-year retroactive warranty for its coolers."

Would not hesitate to buy one now.

 

[BoomerD]

It was probably a good thing not to have bought the liquid freezer II 4 months ago. From the GN news -

"Arctic discovered a defect in its Liquid Freezer II coolers that we've heavily reviewed (and generally recommended), and now, it is offering repair kits (or replacements) for anyone affected. The defect pertains to the gasket breaking down and causing gunk buildup, staining of the coldplate, and loss of performance over time. This didn't affect all units, but it affected enough for Arctic to be faced with a hard decision: Hide it or handle it right. Fortunately, Arctic chose to handle it right. Arctic is firm that this isn't a "recall," but it does have a procedure in place to repair affected units. This follows its previous actions to implement a 6-year retroactive warranty for its coolers."

Would not hesitate to buy one now.

Agreed. They recognized a problem and took steps to correct it.

 

[DasFox]

@In2Photos sitting at 55c doing what? And you also did an undervolt on it?

I did an under volt on my 5600x in my Asus B550-F Gaming bios. PBO Negative 28.

I’m running on Air and using a Noctua NH-U12S SE-AM4 CPU Cooler, with Gelid GC-Extreme thermal paste, and I still hit 4.6ghz. I run the cpu fan at 100% speed.

In the Corsair 4000D Airflow case, I have 2x Noctua NF-P14s redux-1500 PWM, 4-Pin, 1500 RPM (140mm) at the front, and 1x Noctua NF-P12 redux-1700 PWM, 4-Pin, 1700 RPM (120mm) at the rear, I run all 3 at 100% speed.

My idle temps on average are 32c, my gaming temps on average are 50c.

I’ve attached pics of my BIOS PBO for the under volt I did.

P.S. I’ve seen those videos before for radiator placement. I planned on placing the radiator at the top, so I could leave the 140mm fans in the front.

 

[aigomorla]

I never recommend AIO's unless space constraints require them.
For example, you have a 240mm + mounting spot, but they gave you so little clearance room you could not fit a decient heatsink with adequate air flow.
Since most 240mm+ mount spots are mounted directly to the intakes of the case, you can always get the coolest air, and its rarely starved as if everything was sealed.

Also im not really convinced an AIO is worth it, there are more things which can go wrong on an AIO then a dry air heatsink.
Unless you absolutely must have that LCD screen on the CPU pump, well then i would probably recommend a AIO, but those AIO's will cost you.

 

[DasFox]

Well, it doesn’t even look like anyone makes a decent AIO.

I’m to lazy to cut, bend tubes, design all this, and do all this, not to mention how easy it might be to make mistakes, etc..

So all the time, and effort, isn’t worth it to me.

Plus I haven’t even researched products, and that take time.

My luck, something will get screwed up and I get a leak, fry something, then I’ll be pissed, with all the time researching parts and building the bloody thing. LOL 😆

Sounds like I better stick to air for now, until someone makes a killer AIO, because taking apart the video card is all I care to mess with for now.

P.S. My 50c average CPU/GPU gaming temps is starting to look really good right now. LOL 😆

 

[cellarnoise]

Arctic is a good aio. If u want cool and quiet. Larger the better.

At current 6 / 8 core and equivalent level, the larger air coolers work great and besides fan, less to fail.

Not much fun in that, and maybe a tiny bit more noise and less frequency...

 

[BoomerD]

Well, it doesn’t even look like anyone makes a decent AIO.

I’m to lazy to cut, bend tubes, design all this, and do all this, not to mention how easy it might be to make mistakes, etc..

So all the time, and effort, isn’t worth it to me.

Plus I haven’t even researched products, and that take time.

My luck, something will get screwed up and I get a leak, fry something, then I’ll be pissed, with all the time researching parts and building the bloody thing. LOL 😆

Sounds like I better stick to air for now, until someone makes a killer AIO, because taking apart the video card is all I care to mess with for now.

P.S. My 50c average CPU/GPU gaming temps is starting to look really good right now. LOL 😆

Arctic makes what is arguably the best AIO water cooling system on the market. EK also makes a decent one, although reviews can be mixed.

My case was built to house an AIO cooler. I have barely 150mm from the motherboard to the glass side panel. Not enough room for one of the VERY GOOD air coolers. (I'd love to put one of Noctua's better double fan units on my i7-9700K but there's just not enough room)

 

[NoxMorbis]

Well, it doesn’t even look like anyone makes a decent AIO.

I’m to lazy to cut, bend tubes, design all this, and do all this, not to mention how easy it might be to make mistakes, etc..

So all the time, and effort, isn’t worth it to me.

Plus I haven’t even researched products, and that take time.

My luck, something will get screwed up and I get a leak, fry something, then I’ll be pissed, with all the time researching parts and building the bloody thing. LOL 😆

Sounds like I better stick to air for now, until someone makes a killer AIO, because taking apart the video card is all I care to mess with for now.

P.S. My 50c average CPU/GPU gaming temps is starting to look really good right now. LOL 😆

Try the Enermax Aquafusion series.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Liquid cooling for a 65W CPU? What are you guys smoking?

If you're in love with fans & bling, at least be honest about it.

IMHO there's no way you need an AIO with dual 14cm fans on for that 65W silicon. There's no justifiable thermal gain or energy expenditure.

A Hyper 212 Evo or Deepcool 300 is sufficient.

What's next, monster truck tires on a Honda Civic?

 

[Tech Junky]

@AnitaPeterson I concur as I'm running a 125W 12700K with a dual fan cheap $50 air cooler just fine at room temp most of the time and it might get up to 50-55C under load.

https://www.amazon.com/ID-COOLING-SE-226-XT-LGA1700-Heatpipes-All-Black/dp/B09FDXJV3M

Sometimes there's just a bunch of hype around what's needed to keep a CPU cool. There was tons of AIO talk about ADL and I almost bit the bullet and picked up a AIO for twice as much but, decided to give the 226 a shot before being convinced to add liquid as a risk to the PC case.

If you were talking a 7xxx series AMD then delidding it can shave 20C off the top end. There are more efficient ways to keep a system cool than spending tons of money on junk you don't need.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Liquid cooling for a 65W CPU? What are you guys smoking?

If you're in love with fans & bling, at least be honest about it.

IMHO there's no way you need an AIO with dual 14cm fans on for that 65W silicon. There's no justifiable thermal gain or energy expenditure.

A Hyper 212 Evo or Deepcool 300 is sufficient.

What's next, monster truck tires on a Honda Civic?

I have my 5600 in a mITX CoolerMaster nr200 with a 6600XT. I have it in ECO which is 45W CPU with the +200MHz boost. Basically a stock 5600X with lower CPU and package power. I use a $42 DEEPCOOL Castle 120mm AIO, and it is outstandingly cool and quiet.

OTOH, my 5600X is in a Corsair iCUE 220t with a Noctua UH12A ECO +200MHz, and it is also cool and quiet. The case fans even on a silent profile are the loudest thing in the build. I suspect the $20 ARESGAME cooler I bought when @blckgrffn tipped me about it last year would easily cool it.

The moral of the story is: I have found no point in running these at stock 65W. They can perform better than that, even in ECO.

Last comment: Investing in a good cooler, is always worth it. Any quality company provides adapter kits for free or little cost for future sockets. Hence, it can follow you through multiple builds.

 

[NoxMorbis]

Liquid cooling for a 65W CPU? What are you guys smoking?

If you're in love with fans & bling, at least be honest about it.

IMHO there's no way you need an AIO with dual 14cm fans on for that 65W silicon. There's no justifiable thermal gain or energy expenditure.

A Hyper 212 Evo or Deepcool 300 is sufficient.

What's next, monster truck tires on a Honda Civic?

It saves space and displays better. Towers cover everything up. I just bought the Enermax 120mm and it cools my 3600 as well as the 240. However, the Enermax Aquafision is a top tier cooler also. That said, sometimes it is about bling bling!

 

[AnitaPeterson]

It saves space and displays better. Towers cover everything up. I just bought the Enermax 120mm and it cools my 3600 as well as the 240. However, the Enermax Aquafision is a top tier cooler also. That said, sometimes it is about bling bling!

"Displays better"? Is your computer for display or work?
Are you replacing your parent's lava lamp with breathing multicolored fans in a hot glass case?

This is the second time you're praising Enermax in this thread.
You must be a youngling, seeing how you're still going for bling instead of substance.

Us old-timers also remember this:

 

[NoxMorbis]

"Displays better"? Is your computer for display or work?
Are you replacing your parent's lava lamp with breathing multicolored fans in a hot glass case?

This is the second time you're praising Enermax in this thread.
You must be a youngling, seeing how you're still going for bling instead of substance.

Us old-timers also remember this:

Well, have you ever heard of a false dichotomy? It's called a "false dichotomy" because there are other options rather than the two stated. For instance:

Is your computer for display or work?

It's for both!

The Enermax Aqufusion AIO is a really good performer. The fans that come with it are very decent. Enermax has excellent customer support, also.

Compared to the Garbage CoolerMaster MF series 120mm fan that I posted about here on ANANDTECH. (Coolermaster use to be a really good, high quality company. If their fans are indication which direction they went, it's poor.)

If I were NOT building display, which next build will NOT be, I'd run the Enermax 120 to save space, and cool it with the Noc fan below.

One thing I didn't mention is that I only build ITX these days. I like getting things as small as practical for teh type of build.
.
Enermax Squ120 Specs:
300-1500 RPM
68 CFM (44% higher than CM MF120)
1.9 mm-H2O (18% higher than Cm MF120)
23 dBA (23% less dBA)
MTTF: 100, 000

Noctua Redux 120
450-1700 RPM
70 CFM (49% higher than CM MF120)
25 dBA (17% lower than CM MF120)
2.83 mm H₂O (75% higher than CM MF120)
MTTF: 150, 000

Am I young? The first computer I worked on was the IBM P/S 2 286.

 

[blckgrffn]

I have my 5600 in a mITX CoolerMaster nr200 with a 6600XT. I have it in ECO which is 45W CPU with the +200MHz boost. Basically a stock 5600X with lower CPU and package power. I use a $42 DEEPCOOL Castle 120mm AIO, and it is outstandingly cool and quiet.

OTOH, my 5600X is in a Corsair iCUE 220t with a Noctua UH12A ECO +200MHz, and it is also cool and quiet. The case fans even on a silent profile are the loudest thing in the build. I suspect the $20 ARESGAME cooler I bought when @blckgrffn tipped me about it last year would easily cool it.

The moral of the story is: I have found no point in running these at stock 65W. They can perform better than that, even in ECO.

Last comment: Investing in a good cooler, is always worth it. Any quality company provides adapter kits for free or little cost for future sockets. Hence, it can follow you through multiple builds.

I use those ~$20 coolers over and over for families (where I typically put nicer fans on them) and for fun Craigslist builds (maybe change the fan, depending on the look). The ID brand cooler is my current go to of that flavor and I'll step up to a $40 thermalright if I am feeling adventurous.

Meanwhile, in an effort to shut up my 5800X3D I put a *gigantic* $80+ air cooler on it and turn the fans waaaay down. I considered an AIO but in the end I just went with what I knew, which was air.

Wow, now it's like $48? https://www.amazon.com/Thermalright...sink-Technology/dp/B09JZ7B32Q/ref=dp_prsubs_3

Normal cpus are able to be cooled by these tower coolers, I promise. Anything past that is personal preference or looking for never hitting any thermal throttling. Which to be clear about, from my stand point you do you. I've got a case full of ARGB fans in rainbow mode.

 

[NoxMorbis]

I use those ~$20 coolers over and over for families (where I typically put nicer fans on them) and for fun Craigslist builds (maybe change the fan, depending on the look). The ID brand cooler is my current go to of that flavor and I'll step up to a $40 thermalright if I am feeling adventurous.

Meanwhile, in an effort to shut up my 5800X3D I put a *gigantic* $80+ air cooler on it and turn the fans waaaay down. I considered an AIO but in the end I just went with what I knew, which was air.

Wow, now it's like $48? https://www.amazon.com/Thermalright...sink-Technology/dp/B09JZ7B32Q/ref=dp_prsubs_3

Normal cpus are able to be cooled by these tower coolers, I promise. Anything past that is personal preference or looking for never hitting any thermal throttling. Which to be clear about, from my stand point you do you. I've got a case full of ARGB fans in rainbow mode.

It's true. If I build another rig it will be a non display case and I'll use a tower if I can fit it. Nothing to ever weorry about at all, just go.

 

[DasFox]

Liquid cooling for a 65W CPU? What are you guys smoking?

If you're in love with fans & bling, at least be honest about it.

IMHO there's no way you need an AIO with dual 14cm fans on for that 65W silicon. There's no justifiable thermal gain or energy expenditure.

A Hyper 212 Evo or Deepcool 300 is sufficient.

What's next, monster truck tires on a Honda Civic?

My 5600x even using a Noctua NH-U12S SE-AM4 CPU Cooler with Gelid GC-Extreme thermal paste, and a slight undervolt, running the fan at 100%, is what it takes to keep it cool. This chip is slightly on the warm side, so a liquid cooler I think would be better.

 

[DasFox]

What are the chances of leaks on the Acrtic?

But, with this Acrtic defect, hmm, probably should wait a while before buying, so I don’t get stuck with this, and need to deal with it.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

My 5600x even using a Noctua NH-U12S SE-AM4 CPU Cooler with Gelid GC-Extreme thermal paste, and a slight undervolt, running the fan at 100%, is what it takes to keep it cool. This chip is slightly on the warm side, so a liquid cooler I think would be better.

What's "cool"? And what are you using the CPU for? Besides the CPU cooler itself, the overall temperatures are also dependent on case build and ventilation, placement and ambient.

I am running a 5800X with a Cryorig M9 Plus in a Thermaltake Bach enclosure. Enabled PBO, set a 95% CPU power threshold. The highest I've seen it go in the past six months since I built it is 81C, but then again I didn't try crazy things like Topaz 8K upscaling on it.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Step 1: Spend extra time and money to show off the insides of your computer with RGB and LCD AIOs, like these guys:

Gamers can’t stop trapping their favorite characters in their PC cases

Save them!

www.polygon.com

Step 2: A few weeks later, buy this:

Turn your PC case into an extra monitor with Asrock's Side Panel Kit

Because subtlety is for console gamers.

www.pcworld.com