Noctua NH-D15 vs AIO?

[CC268]

Hey guys,

 

Here is the build that I am hoping to do fairly soon. This will be my first desktop build. I may change the motherboard to the ASUS Hero VIII (not that is really matters for this discussion).

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/CC268/saved/gckKHx

 

I would like to do a cool red and black build, but I am worried that the Noctua NH-D15 will sort of ruin the color scheme since it covers the RAM, covers so much of the motherboard, and is that weird brown color. For this reason I have though about going with an AIO cooler, but I have no idea what to look at as I have mostly been researching air coolers.

 

Any suggestions, ideas, help, etc?

 

Thanks!

[kameshss]

NZXT Kraken X61!

[FuzzyYellow]

they perform about the same, however, the noctua is a little quieter.

[Rusty_Shackleford]

 don't get an AIO. the nh d15 is superior in 99% of things. For aesthetics AIOs win hands down though.

 

Also the nh d15 will last way longer and doesn't have the water cooling risks.

 

[Astralify]

NH-D15

[TheAmazingCookieFromSquare]

If you want ultimate silence go with noctua

 

If you want more better looks go with kraken

 

They have the same cooling performance

[TheAmazingCookieFromSquare]

Omfg don't dare get an AIO the nh d15 is superior in 99% of things. For aesthetics AIOs win hands down though.

 

noctua ugly doe

[Enderman]

x61 or H110iGTX will perform bettwe than the NH-D15

the D15 is similar in performance to a 240mm AiO

a 280mm aio is better

 

if you want a good air cooler instead of an aio, the bequiet dark rock 3 is very good too and its black

[Br3tt96]

I had a Noctua d15. I hated the bastard, warped my motherboard. I say get a h100i or the kraken!

[Rusty_Shackleford]

noctua ugly doe

 

It is, however if you throw some red LED fans on there it looks pretty snazzy.

[KemoKa]

A decent AIO will outperform the NH-D15 in most cases by a certain margin. For me the AIOs are much more practical since they take the bulk and put it to the side (or the top, as the case may be), really they just get the heatsink out of the way. Makes rearranging things a lot easier in my opinion. And they don't need the huge backplate and a sturdy motherboard to hold them up. There are a lot of motherboards that will bow under the Noctua because of its weight if not supported correctly.

[TheAmazingCookieFromSquare]

It is, however if you throw some red LED fans on there it looks pretty snazzy.

Like any other fans perform then dem noctua 

 

Oh wait I say blue white led's!

[Fulgrim]

Noctua is more silent and offers great cooling capabilities, but good airflow in your case is a must.

 

I swapped my NH-D15 for an AIO - the H110i GTX due to my aftermarket gpu cooler having a large backplate which acted as a heatsink, preventing me from using my top PCI-E port, as the NH-D15 was in the way. The AIO is slightly better at cooling but the fans are noisy as fuck. I've got some replacement Noctua fans on the way to alleviate that issue.

[CC268]

Tough decision...I just feel like the Noctua will ruin the aesthetics of my build?

 

I mean honestly if performance is similar then I may go AIO for the aesthetics of it.

[CC268]

Well I am going to do some research on water coolers...if I go with air cooling I will go with the Cryorig R1 with the red casing for aesthetics.

[Benji_w]

Well I am going to do some research on water coolers...if I go with air cooling I will go with the Cryorig R1 with the red casing for aesthetics.

 

AIO coolers will perform the same as each other with margin of error, the physical size of the radiator is what will make the most difference. Unless you're overclocking balls to the walls then it really doesn't matter what you buy as a big air cooler or AIO won't take you as far as a custom loop speaking from experience with stable overclocks at 5ghz with more than 1.6v.

[UltraNeonGaming]

I had a Noctua d15. I hated the bastard, warped my motherboard. I say get a h100i or the kraken!

It warped your mobo? I know the thing is damn heavy, can I see a picture?

What motherboard?

[Br3tt96]

It warped your mobo? I know the thing is damn heavy, can I see a picture?

What motherboard?

I don't have a picture of it, but it was bending/warping the middle into the the motherboard tray. Overall causing the bord to short every time it tried to boot up. Once I took it off and used and removed the pressure with an aio it fixed everything, but my board has a little bit of so there. Asus sabertooth Mark 2

[UltraNeonGaming]

I don't have a picture of it, but it was bending/warping the middle into the the motherboard tray. Overall causing the bord to short every time it tried to boot up. Once I took it off and used and removed the pressure with an aio it fixed everything, but my board has a little bit of so there. Asus sabertooth Mark 2

It warped a mark 2?! How? That motherboard has a really thick backplate.

The motherboard works fine now with an AIO?

[Br3tt96]

It warped a mark 2?! How? That motherboard has a really thick backplate.

The motherboard works fine now with an AIO?

It's the armor less mobo. And yes, it works fine now with an aio. I tried just resetting the board back into the case, but the d15 still kept making it short out.

[CC268]

Like I said...if I go with aircooling it will be the CryOrig R1 as it has very similar performance to the Noctua and looks way better...but I think I may go with an AIO like the Corsair h110i GT