Air vs Water on CPU

[yannickverc]

First of all, I've read a few topics about this on the forum, but I haven't gotten a clear answer to it in those, so I thought I'd ask here.

 

atm I have an h55 cooler on my 4.2GHz 2500k. It is very likely that I will get an i7 4790K soon, but I already want to upgrade my cooling since the h55 can't relly keep my cpu cool after a few hours of gaming..

 

Since I always thought that water cooling was better than air cooling, no matter what.. I thought wrong.

 

My original plan was to get a h100i, but then I read hella bad things about it here so that's a no-go.. Other options were the NZXT x61 or an h110.

 

Since I read that air cooling is really good aswell I maybe want to get an NH-D15..

 

The problem is that I have a huge ass window in my case (H440) and I don't know if it'll still look nice after I place that big ass NH-d15 in there.. (I care a lot about looks of my PC )

 

So I wanted to get your options, opinions, experiences,..

 

Thanks!

[Archangel1994]

A good air cooler such as the NH-D15 (which you already mentioned) will match any AIO except the top ones such as the Kraken X61 or Swiftech H220X.

 

It comes down to

 

Want reliability and performance? Get an air cooler

Want Clean looks as well as performance? Get an AIO (Not the cheap models though)

 

Note though an AIO is often louder due to the pump.

[TheSLSAMG]

A good air cooler such as the NH-D15 (which you already mentioned) will match any AIO except the top ones such as the Kraken X61 or Swiftech H220X.

 

It comes down to

 

Want reliability and performance? Get an air cooler

Want Clean looks as well as performance? Get an AIO (Not the cheap models though)

Yeah, I would put it down to this.

 

Quick tip for OP: The Corsair H100i is known to have mounting issues with LGA 115x sockets, I would avoid it even though I had no issues.

[ShadowCaptain]

My original plan was to get a h100i, but then I read hella bad things about it here so that's a no-go.. 

 

There are a ton of people on the forum using a h100i just FYI

 

in my opinion its a really great AIO for the price, it keeps my 4770k at about 43 degrees during gaming (no OC currently) and with some better fans is very quiet

 

 

But just my opinion

[SMURG]

It all comes down to surface area. All watercooling allows you to do is move the heat to a potentially larger surface area - a 280mm radiator for example has more surface area than any air cooler can hope to achieve. As for noise, I find them to both be equally loud assuming the same fans are used in both scenarios (in reality you can use less fans with water because the radiator occupies a case fan mount). I have never ever noticed pump noise at all; if it's there it's much quieter than the fans anyway.

An NHD15 will be better than your H55 because it has a greater surface area, but an X60 or X61 will be even better again because of the huge 280mm radiator they bring to the table. A H100i would be a good choice too if you can only fit a 240mm rad, and actually benefits from being compatible with more pressure optimised fans like the NF-F12s.

[Archangel1994]

It all comes down to surface area. All watercooling allows you to do is move the heat to a potentially larger surface area - a 280mm radiator for example has more surface area than any air cooler can hope to achieve.

And yet it performs worse than an NH-D15.

 

It doesn't come down to only surface area, there are a few more factors.

[yannickverc]

And yet it performs worse than an NH-D15.

 

It doesn't come down to only surface area, there are a few more factors.

So for the sole purpose of performance you'd go for an nh-d15? I'm afraid it will look ugly in my green/black themed case tho.. those poopy brown fans..

[SMURG]

And yet it performs worse than an NH-D15.

 

It doesn't come down to only surface area, there are a few more factors.

Only with the crappy stock fans, and not in all cases (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2014/05/01/noctua-nh-d15-review/2). Stick some Noctuas on it and the X60/61 wins because it has the higher surface area.

[Archangel1994]

So for the sole purpose of performance you'd go for an nh-d15? I'm afraid it will look ugly in my green/black themed case tho.. those poopy brown fans..

You can replace those fans to black ones if you want, it's really easy.

 

But anyway no I would not go for an NH-D15. I clean my pc quite regularly and a bulky as hurr heatsink tower is not good with that. It's a choice you have to make though. If you go H100i, get SP120's to go with it. You can color the rings with spray paint if you want.

[SMURG]

So for the sole purpose of performance you'd go for an nh-d15? I'm afraid it will look ugly in my green/black themed case tho.. those poopy brown fans..

For the sole purpose of performance you buy whatever has the most surface area and buy fans with the highest static pressure to push air over that surface area. The stock X60/61 only loses to NHD15 because the stock fans are made of cardboard - if you use Noctua fans the X60/61 will win because you've eliminated the advantage the NHD15 gains from having much better airflow.

The X60/61 even equals or best the NHD15 with the stock fans in some tests - http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2014/05/01/noctua-nh-d15-review/2, since they're pretty close in terms of performance out of the box. Using better fans on the Krakens just really puts them ahead.

[yannickverc]

You can replace those fans to black ones if you want, it's really easy.

 

But anyway no I would not go for an NH-D15. I clean my pc quite regularly and a bulky as hurr heatsink tower is not good with that. It's a choice you have to make though. If you go H100i, get SP120's to go with it. You can color the rings with spray paint if you want.

For a water cooler I alreayd have fans on the top so that won't be a problem

[yannickverc]

For the sole purpose of performance you buy whatever has the most surface area and buy fans with the highest static pressure to push air over that surface area. The stock X60/61 only loses to NHD15 because the stock fans are made of cardboard - if you use Noctua fans the X60/61 will win because you've eliminated the advantage the NHD15 gains from having much better airflow.

Granted, but then I'd be spending a buttload of money. Money I need for my cpu/mobo/psu

[loccilucas]

So for the sole purpose of performance you'd go for an nh-d15? I'm afraid it will look ugly in my green/black themed case tho.. those poopy brown fans..

If you care that much about looks, just get an AIO, but they are alot louder than coolers like the D15 yet perform the same.

[Archangel1994]

For a water cooler I alreayd have fans on the top so that won't be a problem

It doesn't work that way. Fans optimized for airflow will be useless on radiators, you need fans with great static pressure such as Noctua NF-F12's or Corsair SP120.

[yannickverc]

It doesn't work that way. Fans optimized for airflow will be useless on radiators, you need fans with great static pressure such as Noctua NF-F12's or Corsair SP120.

Currently I have a stock fan on the rad and a sharkoon blade too, in push-pull. also 2 sharkoons on the top of my case because I wanted to get a dual rad

[SMURG]

Granted, but then I'd be spending a buttload of money. Money I need for my cpu/mobo/psu

Well as I said the performance even at stock is basically the same. Some tests show them equal or with the X60/61 a degree or two in front, so I reckon the difference in performance out of the box is pretty slim (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2014/05/01/noctua-nh-d15-review/2)

[runit3]

The other advantage of running a water setup is the ability to add your GPU(s) to the loop. The Swiftech h220x is a nice platform to start with if you're tentative about building your own loop. You can reduce your T case quite a bit if you're running a hot GPU, and clean up the case's airflow or at least maintain some semblance of air flow balance depending on how your GPU intakes/exhausts air.

 

Water cooling really comes down to how anal you are about your system looking nice and performing well, but there are only a few limited cases where I would run an AIO only on the CPU and not incorporate the GPU's into the loop. Most of those cases are related to case size and what type of air cooler you can cram in there, as the best ones are usually huge. I've done a few ITX/mATX builds recently and throwing in an H105 or H80i was really the best option for getting a high OC.

[yannickverc]

The other advantage of running a water setup is the ability to add your GPU(s) to the loop. The Swiftech h220x is a nice platform to start with if you're tentative about building your own loop. You can reduce your T case quite a bit if you're running a hot GPU, and clean up the case's airflow or at least maintain some semblance of air flow balance depending on how your GPU intakes/exhausts air.

 

Water cooling really comes down to how anal you are about your system looking nice and performing well, but there are only a few limited cases where I would run an AIO only on the CPU and not incorporate the GPU's into the loop. Most of those cases are related to case size and what type of air cooler you can cram in there, as the best ones are usually huge. I've done a few ITX/mATX builds recently and throwing in an H105 or H80i was really the best option for getting a high OC.

Getting a custom water loop isn't for any time soon so..

 

GPU stays fairly cool. the problem is that the hot air of the gpu had to move out via the push pul rad, so basically my cpu was being "cooled" with hot gpu air. (thus whi I added 2 fans on the top of my case)

[VMaxMuffin]

If you want a good (although not quite as good), quiet air cooler with better looks than and a lower price the D15, then take a look at Be Quiet!'s Dark Rock line up... http://www.bequiet.com/en/cpucooler/482

[yannickverc]

If you want a good (although not quite as good), quiet air cooler with better looks than and a lower price the D15, then take a look at Be Quiet!'s Dark Rock line up... http://www.bequiet.com/en/cpucooler/482

Damn, that is one sexy looking tower

[yannickverc]

If you want a good (although not quite as good), quiet air cooler with better looks than and a lower price the D15, then take a look at Be Quiet!'s Dark Rock line up... http://www.bequiet.com/en/cpucooler/482

It does look sexy, but Linus reviewed it and it wasn't that great.. 

[BaSkA]

You can always look for videos and pictures of rigs with the NH-D14/15 and see what you think.

I personally don't think it's ugly, it's more like a cool hipster puke great heatsink.

 

Some people paint the fans or switch them fans which makes it look better but only if you care that much.

[yannickverc]

You can always look for videos and pictures of rigs with the NH-D14/15 and see what you think.

I personally don't think it's ugly, it's more like a cool hipster puke great heatsink.

 

Some people paint the fans or switch them fans which makes it look better but only if you care that much.

You think it would be possible to paint the noctua fans black?

[BaSkA]

You think it would be possible to paint the noctua fans black?

 

Sure, it's not hard to paint the frame with plastdip or something, the blades are harder because it'll probably interfere with the performance and what not.

 

There are many tutorials online on how to detach the blades from the frame, never seen any of those on Noctuas though. But I guess you could try to paint it without detaching them...

 

Maybe you could try to replace the fans entirely and sell the included ones, less work I guess.

[yannickverc]

Sure, it's not hard to paint the frame with plastdip or something, the blades are harder because it'll probably interfere with the performance and what not.

 

There are many tutorials online on how to detach the blades from the frame, never seen any of those on Noctuas though. But I guess you could try to paint it without detaching them...

 

Maybe you could try to replace the fans entirely and sell the included ones, less work I guess.

Yea, I could sell those and get the industrial ones? Or just go straight for the be quiet one ... and maybe get 1 industrial noctua for it