Water vs. Air

[Custom Inc.]

People have told me both air and water are great.....i was thinking the noctua nh-d14 or the nzxt kraken x40.....idk though

 

 

 

 

help me out please

[joelthezombie15]

Does your case fit the kraken?

[extremescouter]

The Noctua NH-D14 is the best air cooler out there, and can even beat AIO liquid coolers with both noise and performance. 

[piplupgao]

kraken to show off to noobs lol

but overall I say NH-D14

[Elbstrand]

Yes, against common opinion, a really good tower air cooler will beat almost any AIO liquid cooler. The only real gain from AIO is easier mounting and less stress on the motherboard / socket.

[ThunderShark]

I would go with the NH-D14

[notenoughtv]

For the looks I'd say go for the kraken. But for pure performance the Noctua is better.

 

Yes, against common opinion, a really good tower air cooler will beat almost any AIO liquid cooler. The only real gain from AIO is easier mounting and less stress on the motherboard / socket.

The NH-D14 will be better than a 120mm radiator AIO, But dual 120mm liquid cooler will outperform.

[Kayn]

For the looks I'd say go for the kraken. But for pure performance the Noctua is better.

 

The NH-D14 will be better than a 120mm radiator AIO, But dual 120mm liquid cooler will outperform.

Yeah it will out perform but by 7-8C. So it really depends on which the person likes better.

 

Personally I would go with the Noctua because there is only two main points of failure and that is the fan and possible the heatsink itself where as an AIO cooler has the pump, the fan, and the radiator/reservoir.

[terrytek]

Yeah it will out perform but by 7-8C. So it really depends on which the person likes better.

 

Personally I would go with the Noctua because there is only two main points of failure and that is the fan and possible the heatsink itself where as an AIO cooler has the pump, the fan, and the radiator/reservoir.

 

Well watercooling is a lot quieter than air cooling and will perform very well, like with dual 120mm radiators.

[Kayn]

Well watercooling is a lot quieter than air cooling and will perform very well, like with dual 120mm radiators.

Air cooling is only as loud as its fans. Whereas a AIO cooler has fans and then pump noise if there is any. Either one can be quiet but it depends on fans.

[LimitedSkill]

Phanteks ph-tc14pe FTW!

[Jumper118]

k2 mountdoom or phanteks phtc14pe the dh14 is a great cooler if you don't have a window though

[mgsstar]

+1 on the NH-D14. I don't think the thin radiator will beat the NH-D14 because of the limited area it has to disperse its heat. And like @Kayn said it is easier to maintain.

[Woodypc]

I would go for the H100i. s\Same or better performance and not the strain on the motherboard.

[acsnow]

Air is better than any closed loop cooler. Silent with the right fans, solid, reliable, never have to worry about a pump failing or making noise. and most of all performs just as good or better than a closed loop.

[Nit3Rid3R]

NH-D14, it will just look completely boss in the system. 

[jmohamed]

I've got the NH-D14, just replaced my H80i with it and I see almost a 10degree difference in performance under load and its also very quiet, couldn't recommend it more. Just make sure it fits with your RAM/Case.

[rmonty]

+1 for the NH-D14, it is a beast of a cooler, and will beat most AIO water coolers.

[TheGreatSkott]

the kraken cooler is better than the nhd14 (both with the same fans) but the noctua fans are soo much better. neither really compare that well to the h220 though(but it is almost double the cost of the noctua).

 

if aesthetics aren't a big factor go for the nhd14.

[PsychoticEpisode]

I take a simpler approach, I look as the cons of each.

Air

more noise  (depending on what you get)

Bigger  (if you want better performance)

 

Water

ALWAYS the possibility of a leak  (NO matter how small)

More expensive  (even the lower end cost more than so high end air) 

 

For me the choice is simple, I go with air cooler. With air cooling the only thing that can fail  is you fans and that is simple to replace. With water if 1 drop hits any part of you system is can fry you components.  I don't have the time or the money to deal with that so I try away from water cooling. 

[Ashratt]

water only if you do a real full loop imho, cpu performance is not nearly as important as an overclocked gpu

in real-world applications it doesn't really matter if you run a 3570k oc'd or just a i5 3450 (yes there is of course a difference but as long as you have a good gpu it won't make a differnece between not/limited

playable and 60fps+