Premium air cooler vs midprice AIO water cooler

[jtvang125]

Still gathering parts for my upgrade and so far I have the cpu and mb purchased. It's a x99 board with a i7-5820k. Nothing crazy but should be a nice boost from a C2Q. I do plan on OC'ing this thing to atleast 4.5 so I'm trying to decide what to use to keep this thing cool.

Never used any water cooling system before but these AIO units around $100 seem intriguing. They seem to do a little better than the best air coolers but at the same time introduce quite a few more point of failure: leaks, buggy software, and pump failure. How are the reliability of these systems because a dead pump or a leak can be devastating?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Still gathering parts for my upgrade and so far I have the cpu and mb purchased. It's a x99 board with a i7-5820k. Nothing crazy but should be a nice boost from a C2Q. I do plan on OC'ing this thing to atleast 4.5 so I'm trying to decide what to use to keep this thing cool.

Never used any water cooling system before but these AIO units around $100 seem intriguing. They seem to do a little better than the best air coolers but at the same time introduce quite a few more point of failure: leaks, buggy software, and pump failure. How are the reliability of these systems because a dead pump or a leak can be devastating?

Basically, I'm in a similar boat with the degrading humiliation that I've been making inquiries here about the topic for several years. At one time I contemplated making an evaporative cooler, but like subsequent ideas I dismissed it as I thought about the clutter, or how I would look at the contraption two years later.

I had been looking at AiO kits like the H115i, H240 X2 [and Prestige], the EKWB Predator 240. The latter two have copper radiators, and you are advised to periodically service them (new coolant, etc.) every so often. You can add to them by purchase of additional parts.

You might get a 5C to 10+C improvement over heatpipe options, but I believe I can partly close that gap with certain practices and minor improvements. However, I could do similar things to improve performance with an AiO. It's just that you need to make a more deliberate accounting of space in the computer case and how you'll fit all your other wonderful stuff in their with the radiator, fans, reservoir and hoses.

Another old veteran here -- RussianSensation -- concludes that certain air-coolers always win hands-down in comparisons of price, performance and other factors. That is, the performance improvement (lower temperatures) may only be of some marginal value as you compromise your overclock to a reasonable temperature range. And of course, heatpipe coolers have an MTBF of ~1-million-years. Expect a pump to last 6 years or so. If you want something fail-safe, a custom-water setup with dual pumps is an option, but then again adding a sliver of more complexity.

I don't have to pull the string on my planned build for a few months, so I continue to fret over the choice. I'm leaning toward the EKWB Predator 240. Just remember -- you must . . have a place . . . . in the case . . . That is -- it has to fit.

 

[jtvang125]

^ Thanks for your input. I really have no worries of space in my case since it's a full tower. It has mounting for up to a 360mm radiator on top or a 240mm in the front intakes. Yes, these take up space but IMO they look a lot better than a giant chunk of metal and fans covering half the motherboard. I think I'll go with the Corsair H100i GTX on sale and $10 rebate at newegg at the moment. A diy system sounds like more work than I'll like to put in and the probability of messing up something goes up even more.

Question - Is it better to have the fans pull inside air across the radiator and exhaust it out of the case or pull in cool outside air and have your other fans exhaust the hot air out?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

^ Thanks for your input. I really have no worries of space in my case since it's a full tower. It has mounting for up to a 360mm radiator on top or a 240mm in the front intakes. Yes, these take up space but IMO they look a lot better than a giant chunk of metal and fans covering half the motherboard. I think I'll go with the Corsair H100i GTX on sale and $10 rebate at newegg at the moment. A diy system sounds like more work than I'll like to put in and the probability of messing up something goes up even more.

Question - Is it better to have the fans pull inside air across the radiator and exhaust it out of the case or pull in cool outside air and have your other fans exhaust the hot air out?

The wisdom says it's best to mount the radiator where the fans intake exterior air. The amount of airflow you have from intake to exhaust for the case in general will determine lost efficiency by putting the radiator at an exhaust vent. I've seen it done both ways, but the intake strategy is best.

 

[DesiPower]

I would go with water cooling, good air coolers are huge. I am currently using a 120mm radiator with a nocuta fan that blows air outside. I have 3 Intake fans and GPU is water cooled. Temp never rises over 72 degrees at 4.4 ghz (i7 4790k). So I am pretty sure you will be fine a 240mm radiator.

 

[ClockHound]

It's all about what your ears can tolerate. (That and long term reliability and re-usability)

If you value a quiet system then a top tier air cooler will perform within a few degrees of the entry level CLCs while being 3-4 times quieter. The high fpi aluminum rads with their low flow rate pumps used in most Asetek clones require high speed fans to deliver decent cooling and...high speed fans = high noise.

For example see the D15 vs H100i review at hightechlegion

When the H100i fans are slowed to sub 40dB noise level...it runs 7 degrees hotter.

While the magical marketing mavens attempt to portray these cheap (and they are cheap by liquid cooling standards) CLCs as the superior cooling option, they are as heavily compromised as other cooling systems designed to hit a target consumer price point.

To achieve great liquid cooling with low noise is going to cost more than what $100 CLCs can offer. If 60+dB of noise isn't a concern, then they could be a useful disposable option.

Otherwise need to pony up some $$$ for the EK Pred or Swiftech AIOs that use low fpi copper rads and pumps with high flow rates. AIOs made from proper custom loop components. They're not CLCs (Closed Loop Coolers), they're discrete liquid cooling components assembled into an All-In-One, ready to go semi-custom loop.

Or...select a top tier air cooler for under $100. Some well under $100. The compact $55 Scythe Fuma can quietly cool close to one of the best 240mm AIOs. Ehume's Fuma review

On a OC'd 5820k the Fuma may not perform as well as the 240mm EK Pred or a D15/R1, but the cooling value per dollar is far, far superior to any $100 CLC.

DIY system builds involve tradeoffs. The $100 CLCs offer decent cooling performance at the expense of noise and zero loop expansion capabilities. The $200+ AIOs offer better performance without the noise and can be expanded to include the GPU(s) in the loop.

For me, on a moderate budget, it's big air or with a bigger budget, a real loop - half measure CLCs cost too much.

Go big! Or go Home (Air)!