Liquid cooling for the Ryzen 7 1800x

[Tencryn]

My current system uses the Noctua NH-D15 which gave me idled temperatures of 40 Celsius but now I'm getting 55 which I'm not too happy about. My storage devices are below 30 which is ideal and the GPU is around 35 idled which isn't bad either. That 55 though. My heat sink is a little dusty, I will be getting some compressed air and sorting that out and maybe replacing the thermal paste if temperatures have not improved.

 

This got me thinking about liquid cooling. I've avoided it in the past as I've only ever built two machines and didn't feel comfortable messing around with water for obvious reasons but pre-filled solutions are a good option. The Noctua NH-D15 is a gigantic heat sink which prevents me from easily accessing my RAM should I want to upgrade in the future, and it isn't too pretty to look at which is why I'm considering water cooling. My limitation is my case which is the Corsair 760t so I can fit 2x140mm radiator at the top and there should be enough clearance for a push-pull configuration (Corsair did do a build with this) although I'm not too sure. 

 

With that limitation in mind, what are the ideal water coolers? My CPU is not overclocked and I'm not intending to overclock it either.

 

Thanks in advance.

[badreg]

A NH-D15 is more than enough for a stock 1800X, so if it is purely a performance issue, then clean out your case and move on. It will perform on par with 240mm AIOs and only a couple of degrees C worse than 280mm AIOs.

 

If it's for looks, then any 240mm+ AIO will be fine. Go with whatever looks best to you.

[Cereal5]

Just blow out the dust and throw some new thermal paste in it while you’re in there, call it good. Make sure you’re mounting it tight enough also. Otherwise, you won’t see markedly better temps unless you go with a 280mm+ rad, which isn’t worth the $120 in your case.

 

If you’re set on an AIO, Corsair and NZXT are two of the best choices.

[lmeneses]

If you're not gonna oc, why bother with water cooling? Also, if those are the temps you're getting with an NH-D15, then there's something wrong lol. I would definitely check to see if the cooler is securely attached, as well as how the thermal paste is holding up. 

[Princess Luna]

You probably just need to seat the cooler again, reapply the thermal paste and dust it free, the NH-D15 is comparable to high end 280mm AiO's that will cost at least double and be more prone to break...

[Tencryn]

38 minutes ago, lmeneses said:

I would definitely check to see if the cooler is securely attached, as well as how the thermal paste is holding up. 

I believe it's securely attached but I did have some trouble installing it when building the PC so who knows at this point. If I decide against an AIO then I will definitely be checking the thermal paste anyway so if it isn't properly attached then that'll cover both issues.

 

I haven't fully decided on whether or not I'll go for an AIO but it is purely for aesthetics and ease of access to the RAM which could do with some upgrades. It's running 2x8GB 2133 MHZ. I'm expecting a massive decrease in temperatures over air cooling but if I'm going to be taking off the cooler, why not consider something that looks a bit more appealing?

 

43 minutes ago, badreg said:

If it's for looks, then any 240mm+ AIO will be fine.

43 minutes ago, Cereal5 said:

If you’re set on an AIO, Corsair and NZXT are two of the best choices.

Got it. I just wanted to be sure I won't install something that cannot handle the temperatures of the CPU.

 

3 minutes ago, Princess Cadence said:

the NH-D15 is comparable to high end 280mm AiO's that will cost at least double and be more prone to break...

Why are they more prone to breaking? Is there like an average time frame that someone should wait prior to replacing?

[Cereal5]

11 minutes ago, Tencryn said:

Why are they more prone to breaking? Is there like an average time frame that someone should wait prior to replacing?

Cadence thinks AIOs are powered by witchcraft and black magic. And they don’t compare to “high end” 280s, nor does a good 280 cost double. The D15 is usually around $85 IIRC, a 240 around 100-110, and a 280 about 120-140. Either way, we all recommended you try some cheaper methods first, if all you’re concerned about is temperatures.

 

As for breaking, of course it will, there’s more parts to an AIO. That doesn’t mean it will break or leak though.