Best liquid cooler for i7-9700k

[Franco50]

At first I was going to go with an air cooler, but I was told that the best air coolers won't fit my case, so I am willing to spend a little more and go for a liquid cooler. I was told that the NZXT Kraken x52 was good, but I would like to know other alternatives before I purchase the cooler. By the way, this is my first build and I researched a lot about air coolers and water coolers, and I simply just want a good cpu cooler that I'll be able to use for future upgrades. Any other information would be helpful too.

My current build (excluding a 1 TB HHD that I am reusing from my old computer)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i7-9700K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor	$409.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	MSI - MPG Z390 GAMING EDGE AC ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$149.99 @ Newegg
Memory	Team - T-Force Night Hawk RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$240.98 @ Newegg
Storage	Samsung - 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$147.99 @ B&H
Video Card	MSI - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8 GB DUKE Video Card	$479.99 @ Walmart
Case	BitFenix - Aurora (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case	$107.33 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair - CX (2017) 750 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	$69.89 @ OutletPC
Operating System	Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit	$98.89 @ OutletPC
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1735.05
	Mail-in rebates	-$30.00
	Total	$1705.05
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-12-13 02:16 EST-0500

 

 

 

[Shiv78]

Kraken is one of the best looking and performing AIOs AFAIK. Get the X62 if the price difference isn't huge and the 280 rad will fit in your case.

[r2724r16]

3 minutes ago, Franco50 said:

At first I was going to go with an air cooler, but I was told that the best air coolers won't fit my case,

The Bitfenix Aurora can support CPU coolers that are up to 160mm in height (which is plenty for good air coolers). 

 

Get a Noctua NH-D15s (which is 160mm in height), there's no need to get an overpriced AIO liquid cooler.

[Franco50]

2 minutes ago, Shiv78 said:

Kraken is one of the best looking and performing AIOs AFAIK. Get the X62 if the price difference isn't huge and the 280 rad will fit in your case.

pcpartpicker says that my case is not compatible with the X62

[Franco50]

1 minute ago, r2724r16 said:

The Bitfenix Aurora can support CPU coolers that are up to 160mm in height (which is plenty for good air coolers). 

 

Get a Noctua NH-D15s (which is 160mm in height), there's no need to get an overpriced AIO liquid cooler.

I thought about the Noctua NH-D15s or the Dark Rock 4, but I was told that it might affect RAM slots and liquid coolers are better to clear more space for future upgrades

[r2724r16]

3 minutes ago, Franco50 said:

I thought about the Noctua NH-D15s or the Dark Rock 4, but I was told that it might affect RAM slots and liquid coolers are better to clear more space for future upgrades

The NH-D15s is basically a NH-D15 with better compatibility with tall RAM modules and narrow cases.

 

The RAM that you're getting (Team T-Force Night Hawk RGB) is 53mm in height while the NH-D15s has 65mm of clearance for RAM modules. 

 

EDIT: AIO liquid coolers are a bad value compared to air coolers and much louder than air coolers (generally speaking). 

[Franco50]

3 minutes ago, r2724r16 said:

The NH-D15s is basically a NH-D15 with better compatibility with tall RAM modules and narrow cases.

 

The RAM that you're getting (Team T-Force Night Hawk RGB) is 53mm in height while the NH-D15s has 65mm of clearance for RAM modules. 

Thank you! My original plan was to put the Kraken Cooler on top of my case and add extra fans in the front. Since you persuaded me towards the NH-D15s, would you recommend adding extra fans on top or the front of my case?

[r2724r16]

1 minute ago, Franco50 said:

Thank you! My original plan was to put the Kraken Cooler on top of my case and add extra fans in the front. Since you persuaded me towards the NH-D15s, would you recommend adding extra fans on top or the front of my case?

I suggest building your PC before buying extra fans.

 

After running stress tests on your system, if you feel that temperatures are too high, you want more quiet fans, or you need more airflow, you can buy extra fans. 

[Franco50]

Just now, r2724r16 said:

I suggest building your PC before buying extra fans.

 

After running stress tests on your system, if you feel that temperatures are too high, you want more quiet fans, or you need more airflow, you can buy extra fans. 

Thank you so much! Really helpful!

[r2724r16]

3 minutes ago, Franco50 said:

Thank you so much! Really helpful!

No problem. Mark this thread as solved by clicking the small check mark at the bottom of my comment. 

 

One more suggestion for your build: Don't get that MSI motherboard, get an ASRock Z390 Extreme4 instead