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Air or Liquid for 10700k

rain in july
By rain in july
in Cooling
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Would a Noctua NH-U12A cool an i7 10700k? or would I be better of getting a liquid cooler.

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U12A would be fine for stock or OCed, it performs very similarly to dual/triple fan AIOs. 

Intel HEDT and Server platform enthusiasts: Intel HEDT Xeon/i7 Megathread 

 

Main PC 

CPU: i9 7980XE @4.5GHz/1.22v/-2 AVX offset 

Cooler: EKWB Supremacy Block - custom loop w/360mm +280mm rads 

Motherboard: EVGA X299 Dark 

RAM:4x8GB HyperX Predator DDR4 @3200Mhz CL16 

GPU: Nvidia FE 2060 Super/Corsair HydroX 2070 FE block 

Storage:  1TB MP34 + 1TB 970 Evo + 500GB Atom30 + 250GB 960 Evo 

Optical Drives: LG WH14NS40 

PSU: EVGA 1600W T2 

Case & Fans: Corsair 750D Airflow - 3x Noctua iPPC NF-F12 + 4x Noctua iPPC NF-A14 PWM 

OS: Windows 11

 

Display: LG 27UK650-W (4K 60Hz IPS panel)

Mouse: EVGA X17

Keyboard: Corsair K55 RGB

 

Mobile/Work Devices: 2020 M1 MacBook Air (work computer) - iPhone 13 Pro Max - Apple Watch S3

 

Other Misc Devices: iPod Video (Gen 5.5E, 128GB SD card swap, running Rockbox), Nintendo Switch

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A good air cooler will beat an AIO in most situations. The only real reason to go AIO is if you can't fit an air cooler (ITX builds, for example). Custom loop is an entirely different situation. You can totally outdo an air cooler there, but AIO, not so much.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X · Cooler: Artic Liquid Freezer II 280 · Motherboard: MSI MEG X570 Unify · RAM: G.skill Ripjaws V 2x16GB 3600MHz CL16 (2Rx8) · Graphics Card: ASUS GeForce RTX 3060 Ti TUF Gaming · Boot Drive: 500GB WD Black SN750 M.2 NVMe SSD · Game Drive: 2TB Crucial MX500 SATA SSD · PSU: Corsair White RM850x 850W 80+ Gold · Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow · Monitor: MSI Optix MAG342CQR 34” UWQHD 3440x1440 144Hz · Keyboard: Corsair K100 RGB Optical-Mechanical Gaming Keyboard (OPX Switch) · Mouse: Corsair Ironclaw RGB Wireless Gaming Mouse

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I have both Noctua NH-U12A and an Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360 AIO. 

 

I can confidently say that I am very disappointed with this Noctua cooler as its worse than my old BeQuiet! Dar Rock Pro 2 while being more expensive and louder and my AIO absolutely trashes it in temperature and noise. 

 

Yes, the Noctua is more quiet on idle but the Arctic fans are not as loud as the Noctua fans in load while also being over 20°C cooler with the AIO. 

 

Now Arctic is using much thicker rads than other AIO coolers but it was the same price as the Noctua. 

 

IMG_20200829_143121.thumb.jpg.86527cc9c34ad15277a589cf9da75f5c.jpg

 

IMO, if you can fit the 240/280/360mm Arctic Liquid Freezer II in your case, it should outperform the Noctua while also being cheaper (except 360 which is about the same price) 

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1 hour ago, WereCat said:

I have both Noctua NH-U12A and an Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360 AIO. 

 

I can confidently say that I am very disappointed with this Noctua cooler as its worse than my old BeQuiet! Dar Rock Pro 2 while being more expensive and louder and my AIO absolutely trashes it in temperature and noise. 

 

Yes, the Noctua is more quiet on idle but the Arctic fans are not as loud as the Noctua fans in load while also being over 20°C cooler with the AIO. 

 

Now Arctic is using much thicker rads than other AIO coolers but it was the same price as the Noctua. 

 

IMG_20200829_143121.thumb.jpg.86527cc9c34ad15277a589cf9da75f5c.jpg

 

IMO, if you can fit the 240/280/360mm Arctic Liquid Freezer II in your case, it should outperform the Noctua while also being cheaper (except 360 which is about the same price) 

thanks! I'll keep this in mind.

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