Is water cooling worth the trouble?

[UnlameUsername]

So I'm thinking of upgrading my computer and I'm thinking of doing some water cooling, since in summer it gets so hot that I'm worried about my temperatures and I think water cooling would be a better solution. I've gone through videos on youtube and from what i've seen it always gunks up with crud and corrosion and im just too lazy to deal with shit like that, seeing how much water cooling is recommended is it worth going through all this hassle, or is the hassle just some oddity of not replacing your water enough?

[curiousmind34]

Just now, UnlameUsername said:

 im just too lazy to deal with shit like that

well then I have a simple proposition for you, buy an NH-D15 from Noctua. It performs basically the same as 240mm rads and is something you can just install and forget about.

[Nathanpete]

Get a big fat CPU cooler from Noctua, like the NH-D15. Same performance as a basic water cooling loop, and if you have dust filters on all the inlets for your case then it should work for way longer without maintenance. 

[Somerandomtechyboi]

2 minutes ago, curiousmind34 said:

well then I have a simple proposition for you, buy an NH-D15 from Noctua. It performs basically the same as 240mm rads and is something you can just install and forget about.

Or just get an aio like the liquid freezer 280 which i think outpeforms the d15 slightly and is quieter than one, along with not having to deal with a massive brick of a cpu cooler when you are working around the socket

 

 

Btw what are your temps?

If they are 80c or below dont bother

If they are 90c then upgrading cooler is justifiable

Otherwise dont bother

[curiousmind34]

Just now, Somerandomtechyboi said:

Or just get an aio like the liquid freezer 280 which i think outpeforms the d15 slightly and is quieter than one, along with not having to deal with a massive brick of a cpu cooler when you are working around the socket

 

If the amount of maintenance is the priority, a little extra performance won't really be worth it, especially considering it comes at an extra cost. I can't think of a single mainstream CPU that the NH-D15 can't handle.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

1 minute ago, curiousmind34 said:

If the amount of maintenance is the priority, a little extra performance won't really be worth it, especially considering it comes at an extra cost. I can't think of a single mainstream CPU that the NH-D15 can't handle.

Aios have gotten pretty reliable nowadays but i guess it wont last 10 years whereas a d15 will prob do 20 years easy

[Nathanpete]

2 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

Or just get an aio like the liquid freezer 280 which i think outpeforms the d15 slightly and is quieter than one, along with not having to deal with a massive brick of a cpu cooler when you are working around the socket

 

 

Btw what are your temps?

If they are 80c or below dont bother

If they are 90c then upgrading cooler is justifiable

Otherwise dont bother

But even the LF 280 will have the same gunk issues as other AIOs, just not as quick as something like the Enermax LiqTech II TR4, which was famous for being very quick to have gunk buildup in the pump block (like around 6 months rather than 3 or more years). 

[Somerandomtechyboi]

Just now, Nathanpete said:

But even the LF 280 will have the same gunk issues as other AIOs, just not as quick as something like the Enermax LiqTech II TR4, which was famous for being very quick to have gunk buildup in the pump block (like around 6 months rather than 3 or more years). 

Well i guess if you want your cooler to last literally forever than a simple air cooler will do the trick, just change the fans whenever they break and modify the mounting if it isnt compatible with the sockets 10-100 years down the line, and make sure it doesnt corrode

[Guest]

41 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

Aios have gotten pretty reliable nowadays but i guess it wont last 10 years whereas a d15 will prob do 20 years easy

A D15 will last eternity, and I'm more confident in Noctua's support for their products. They've been selling the D15 for a long ass time and they probably don't plan on stopping anytime soon. You could theoretically keep it for 20 years or more if they continue to just add mounting hardware for different sockets for the D15. I believe they have in the past sold or even given customers new mounting hardware for free on old coolers.

 

I guess my concern with an AIO is not reliability, just that if a component fails I won't know. You can visibly see fans fail, but when a pump fails, you're just left with a broken CPU cooler until you can get your hands on a new pump. Whereas with an air cooler, just slap a case fan on it, order a new fan.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

1 minute ago, wavem2 said:

I guess my concern with an AIO is not reliability, just that if a component fails I won't know. You can visibly see fans fail, but when a pump fails, you're just left with a broken CPU cooler until you can get your hands on a new pump. Whereas with an air cooler, just slap a case fan on it, order a new fan.

Even if you go custom water where you can swap out the parts, swapping the pump has gotta be a pain in the ass cause if the water spills on the board or something you are atleast gonna have to wait 24h whereas swapping a broken fan is just a matter of detatching it from the cooler and swapping in for a new fan

[freeagent]

The way I look at it is it is a hobby within the hobby. It requires maintenance, and time. If you are just going to be running your system @ stock then I don't really see the point personally. At the same time if you cant feed that air cooler a steady supply of fresh air, then your temps will suffer. Matching the cooler to the CPU is helpful too. People will buy a 212 and slap in on a 10850K or something because someone said its a great cooler then they wonder why it runs like ass. Then they throw an Arctic AIO on it and now its awesome.  

 

[Demonic Donut]

Is it worth it? My opinion is no. It's a waste of money unless you get pleasure from building/looking at it.

 

The performance boost is negligible and you'd be better off spending the money elsewhere on your build. Unless you already are planning on buying top tier components.

 

Aesthetically, I love a good loop. But I don't have the extra $500 or more to spend on one. I bought a D15 years ago and it's served me well.

 

There are some good AIOs, but I went with the D15 and am glad I did.

 

[freeagent]

If you can take advantage of its benefits and don't mind the time it is the superior way to fly. As much as I love my big heatsinks they can never compare to a real loop.