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 🤔

 

[BoomerD]

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.

Odds are, unless you buy from some small mom-n-pop computer store, the inventory has been refreshed enough that any affected units have either been returned or repaired...or sold. Arctic is putting stickers on the boxes to identify coolers that have the updated seals.

ARE CURRENT PRODUCTS IN STORES AFFECTED?
All products that were on the market and in our warehouses have been subjected to additional quality control testing and have been replaced to ensure that no affected products entered the market.

We have since increased quality assurance and quality control testing. We have also marked these products with a “QC Passed” sticker.

 

[cellarnoise]

There are really good cases, (though size and the volume they take need to be taken into account) that can handle a 65w cpu with ssd / nvme. Now if you need a dedicated gpu that is another factor to think about!).

At this point it is mostly about truly the performance that you need, either lower core (towards single core (single core is b.s. it should be 2 to 4 core) or whatever cores you need. And then figure out your needed heat / airflow dissipation.

For extra GPU, storage devices, other cards such as PCI, ect. Not that hard really. Bigger heatsinks with some airflow are quieter! Better airflow and quite fans are much better!

Don't go water cooled unless you might want a bit more problem over time, but it bought stuff is much better now.

 

[DasFox]

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.

I mentioned already everything I have for the CPU.

Corsair 4000D Airflow case
5600x with a Noctua NH-U12S SE-AM4 CPU Cooler
Gelid GC-Extreme thermal paste
Asus B550-F Gaming with a Negative 28 undervolt
CPU fan set in BIOS at 100%

Idle temps - 32c-34c
Desktop Work Load temps - 50c-65c
Gaming Temps 50c-60c

NOW these might look like decent Air Cooled temps, but REMEMBER, I had to undervolt and run the fan at 100%.

SO this is why I was considering the Arctic as a better solution, so I didn’t have to undervolt and run fans at 100%.

What are talking about no need to run a 65W?

I asked before, what is the reality on leaks at some point in time? Worrying about a leak, is really the deal breaker here, wondering if it might ever happen and fry my box.

I actually thought that liquid cooling now offers Non Conductive liquids to use, in case of leaks, won’t fry anything?

I also wanted to place the radiator on top, so I could leave two 140mm fans I have in the front.

THANKS

P.S. For the life of me, not sure why I bought the NH-U12S SE-AM4 CPU Cooler, instead of the Noctua NH-U14S. I wonder if it will make a bigger difference? hmm 🤔

 

[cellarnoise]

I've not read reports of the arctic aios leaking. Arctic has a 6 year warranty now, that they bumped up after confidence in their product a year or so ago.

I believe that the liquid would be conductive and short out puter parts though.

I have been using the arctic 420 for over a year now in one of my puters and it has been running 24-7 for over a year. Still working fine for what it's worth.

What are your goals? You have what looks like a good airflow case with decent case fans. You have a good cpu cooler also for your cpu. Why are you running your fans at 100% all the time, unless you don't care about noise as your temps are good?

I doubt an arctic 240 or 280 would run more than 10c cooler under full load than what you have, but it would likely be quieter under full load and you could really turn the fans down at idle to run quieter there also.

When idle, I slow all my fans down to just barely running or so that the cpu and graphics stay under 50C. When either cpu or graphics go over 50c I ramp the fans up. Makes the system quieter and the parts stay cool enough in my opinion. Did you know that AMD for the most parts runs the new 7000 series to 95C as stock practice? AMD does not seem too concerned about 95C or under.

The NH-U14s is a great cooler (I have two), but probably would not help much with your heat output compared to the U12S, based on the reviews I've seen of both. If you want cooler and quieter, you could go to the largest dual tower and dual fan air coolers, and gain a little with less chance of remote catastrophic failure, which you seem to be concerned about.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

FWIW, I've never experienced leaks from any of the builds I put together so far, and I've been using Corsair AIOs since the FX-8350 era...
I think it's pretty safe and mature as a technology.

 

[In2Photos]

Did you ever decide on an AIO or are you sticking with your Noctua?

@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.

I finally got a chance to check out my son's system again. Sorry for the late reply.

My son has the NZXT H510 Flow. He's using 4 Enermax fans, two up front on the AIO as intake, one on top and one at the back, both as exhaust. With PBO negative 20 (he had some instability at negative 25) his PC sits around 28C at idle, 40-50C during gaming (he also has some YouTube video usually going while gaming), and tops out at 61C during a 10 minute CB R23 run which had his CPU at 4.65GHz all core. During idle his fans are at ~500 rpm and his AIO pump is ~2100 rpm. They barely change while gaming and typical use, basically keeps the PC silent. Only during CB did they ramp up, 900 rpm for the fans, and 2900 for the pump. The change was audible, but not distracting. He wanted the AIO mostly for looks, but also to help keep fan noise down as his PC is on his desk.