Good AIO RGB 360mm Cooler

[Leonie Lion]

So I'm planning to build my brother a PC soon and plan to use my old case to do it which means I'm buying myself a new case. The Lian Li XL 011 to be exact. Since I learned how safe AIOs are (i.e. the water in it is none conductive) I decided I'd move to AIO to clean up my build. Now I'm wondering what the best AIO is. Or water cooling solution. Looking to clean up my build so looking for any any all ideas. I have a i9-9900K. Not overclocked. (It was my first build so i didn't realize having a K version was worthless to me.)

 

I've looked at Amazon and lots of the reviews are so bad idk whats good. 

[Mateyyy]

EK-AIO 360: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bOPsxqEMr4

 

5 minutes ago, Leonie Lion said:

I learned how safe AIOs are (i.e. the water in it is none conductive)

[Leonie Lion]

3 minutes ago, BlueScope819 said:

The heck? All coolers are safe and the water in it is in fact conductive. It's just regular water with some anti mold agents.

A 360 AIO isn't generally that good because something like the Noctua NH-U12A does about the same job and it also has a lot less moving parts (no pump) so it's much more reliable over the long term and it's easier to see that it's damaged (fan doesn't spin instead of figuring out you have no water flow in your AIO)

 

The performance between a NH-U12A and a 360 AIO isn't that great.

If you truly want the full liquid cooling experience you need to do a custom loop.

I'm not really ready to go that hard-core on a build yet. Maybe when I build a less expensive one I'd be willing to but my build is worth to much to accidentally destroy it. That being said. Ik Air cooling is better. I have a dark rock pro 4. But like I said. I want a more clean looking build. 

[Leonie Lion]

8 minutes ago, Mateyyy said:

EK-AIO 360: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bOPsxqEMr4

 

I read they were none conductive. I guess I'm wrong. My bad. Still learning.

[Leonie Lion]

4 minutes ago, BlueScope819 said:

A Dark Rock Pro 4 is awesome for a 9900k. To buy an AIO you are throwing away a perfectly good $150, as I did when I made the mistake of upgrading the cheapest AIO cooler I could find (this was way back when I was still learning a lot, and I still am) and I passed up the chance to get a NH-U12S. Sigh.

Well at the same time doesn't the bulk of the cooler pose a problem? Like for the Mobo? Sag since its so big and it would look terrible in a Lian li XL case

[Leonie Lion]

7 minutes ago, BlueScope819 said:

No? If your $200 case can't handle the torque through the 8 or so motherboard screws and your motherboard is so flimsy attaching a regular air cooler to it poses some sort of huge problem, I think you have bigger problems than needing a 360 AIO. The only reason why you need an AIO is if you are shipping your PC and you expect it to be bumped around a lot because a sharp shock can cause problems but normal operation is just fine.

Isn't most of it going onto the Mobo? Feel the case isn't doing much. Also you might he right. Maybe I should just get a different case. The be quiet full tower looked good.

[careless-gamer]

7 minutes ago, Leonie Lion said:

Isn't most of it going onto the Mobo? Feel the case isn't doing much. Also you might he right. Maybe I should just get a different case. The be quiet full tower looked good.

I have used air and water coolers on many different builds and personally haven't had an issue with either (leaks or sag). The noctua nh-d15 I'm using now isn't sagging at all and it's been about 4 months like this. I think the way it's mounted allows the pressure to be spread out. I've never seen someones board cracking or breaking from sag (if there ever was any). 

 

The Dark Rock Pro 4 and Noctua NH-D15 will probably perform better than any AIO but if you prefer form over function, go for an AIO. 

[Mateyyy]

32 minutes ago, Leonie Lion said:

I read they were none conductive. I guess I'm wrong. My bad. Still learning.

No worries.

Along with leaks, there's also the potential of pump failure. This might not be quite as catastrophic as a leak, as in it shouldn't damage any of your other components and your system should shut down if your CPU overheats, but it's still something to consider.

 

If I were you though, I don't know if I'd spend the money on a brand new AIO considering you've already got a DRP4. 

I think GN's review of the EK-AIO also includes an NH-D15 for comparison. Whether you think the difference in performance is worth the cost is totally up to you.

[VeganJoy]

 

large, quality AIOs from reputable manufacturers are better in cooling performance. you can't match that with a tower mounted on the CPU as there's just not enough real estate to support that much radiator area. plus, many people's cases have suboptimal airflow that can be somewhat negated with an AIO pulling cold air directly from the intakes of the case.

 

that being said, the difference between AIOs and air in performance is like the difference between Intel and Ryzen in gaming. sure there is a difference, and it's well outside of the margin of error. but a D15/DRP4 is half the cost of a large Kraken or other good AIO and will get you 90-95% of the way there in most situations. 

 

so if you need the extra performance (not OCing so unlikely) or like the looks/reduced motherboard clutter and cost is not an issue then go ahead and get an AIO, not a bad choice by any means. it'll look nice, especially in an O11 (the XL has room for taller air towers than the normal O11 but that kinda defeats the purpose of the case). the Kraken X63/X73 and Corsair H115i/H150i are very popular and well-reviewed Asetek units afaik, and i'm pretty sure that corsair will cover your components in case of a leak if you can provide proper documentation and that sorta thing.