Is Corsair H170i an overkill for 12700k with moderate OC?

[TurquoiseA]

I am building a new PC with 12700k (until the release of Zen4 at least). I ordered a Corsair 7000D, so fitting this monstrous radiator shouldn't be a problem. I believe the H170i can definitely cool 12700k nicely but my question is do I really need an aio like this? I am asking simply because I prefer future-proof hardware.

 

You are very welcome to share your thoughts about coolers you would choose for a 12700k, provided no budget limit and purely performance-oriented. It doesn't necessarily have to be aio but I'll pass custom loop atm (lazy and clumsy). 

 

It just reminds me of some extra questions: Since the 7000d has quite a few fan mounts, plus I ordered some noctua nf f-14 iPPC PWM 3000RPM fans for front (3) and rear (1) mount (I will mount the rad on top of the case), is it necessary to fill the side panel (4 x 120mm) as well? Please share your thoughts regarding the airflow configuration, for example front intake, rear exhaust... Please bear with me if I sounds dumb to you, I really just started looking into cooling configuration until I constantly get BSOD a couple of days ago. 

 

Also note I will be using a PSU that the fan has to face upward and a strix 3090. Both may cause internal thermal problem imo.

 

Thanks!

[Somerandomtechyboi]

Arctic liquid freezer will demolish that aio price to performance and performance wise, though better not like white cause youll have to paint it yourself

 

Idk actually, youd need a car radiator inside a custom loop to acheive any decent oc cause theres not much diff when you are only doing +100/200mhz.

 

Im also contemplating a watercooling system but it is far cheaper and uses basically a 480mm rad from a motorcycle and the cheapest sht possible, reason is i can find a cheap quadcore 45nm xeon so i wouldnt need it anyway due to low multi and my board being garbage at high fsb aka overclocking, tried to justify it by using it for the nb instead for tec cooling but failed cause tec is an extra 72w power draw and doesnt seem to get ludicrous fsb gains but that might just be because i made a jank scrap metal plate that is not flat at all. My reason is performance but futureproofing would be nice, if i did wanna futureproof then i might aswell pay the extra 11$ for a car rad but im too cheap for that xD

 

It all depends on your reasoning really, if you wanna futureproof then go with an aircooler like the nh d15, drp4, fuma 2, or macho as aircoolers are literally just a hunk of metal and will last forever as long as you dont let them rust and swap the fans every decade or 2 when they break, but aios have a pump inside them so if that dies then the aio is useless and you have to replace the entire thing.

 

 

A good middleground would be custom water as its modular and if something dies like the pump then you can swap it out, issue is if you are the type that cares about aesthetics and dont like diying things then itll be stupid expensive, but if you are like me and dont give a fk then there are some outlandish solutions you could go for like motorcycle or car rad, but if you dont want something sticking out of your case or have weird mounting then those chinese aluminum rads should suffice, they are pretty cheap but youll want to pair them with a copper block for max performance, galvanic corrosion will set in unless you use antifreeze so use antifreeze over a fancy coloured coolant, cars have been mixing copper and aluminum in theyre cooling systems for a long time so it should suffice for mixed metal pc cooling

 

External rad out of a used car rad is the absolute cheapest solution (depending on how cheap car rads are) and the best performance for your money, though they are massive and bulky so rip if you ever wanna move em and theyll also need to be an external rad so theyll look ugly, even if you paint them they are still a PITA to move. Chinese watercooling stuff is still decently cheap and decently good value while still offering a degree of convenience and decent performance, just make sure to get a copper block that isnt flat and prefferably a block without any plexiglass cause antifreeze can wear out plexiglass, you may opt for a cheap used block from a reputable watercooling manufacturer or atleast something that used to be expensive but its now cheap and used like thermaltake pacific or if you are lucky even used ek blocks

 

 

Aircooling if youd like something that performs decently well with basically no maintenece and will pretty much last forever

 

Aio if you like something with no maintenece, great performance, but if the pump dies then you are fked

 

Custom water if youd like the best of both worlds, performance and maintainability but you may need to do some maintenence like changing out the coolant or whenever something dies. Its also more modular so if you go hedt then get an hedt block and maybe upgrade a few other things but you can reuse some parts unlike aircooling and aio where you need to upgrade the entire thing