AIO vs Custom Loop

[TheCaptain53]

So I'm currently using an i5-4690K, being cooled by a Cooler Master TX3 EVO, and an EVGA GTX 970 SSC.

I'm not so worried about the temperatures of my GPU as the fans hardly spin up, so in terms of thermal dissipation, it's got a bit of head room when I decide to put in an overclock. My only concern is my TX3 EVO, of which I'd only want to put a mild overclock on my chip.

I'm sort of tending towards the AIO as it's easier to install and is much cheaper. However, with a custom loop, I could change parts should anything break, like the pump. There's also far more potential for user error. However, a custom loop would mean I could add my GPU in later on and run multiple radiators in my setup.

I've been looking at the Corsair H100i for an AIO, or for a custom loop, then a complete EKWB loop.

So... What do you guys recommend?

As a side note, does anyone have experience of installing the H100i GTX in a Corsair Spec-01? I hear the tubing can make installation a bit of a nightmare.
Or for that matter the H100i as well.

[Altecice]

Tubing always makes the installation of liquid cooling a nightmare, Custom loop or not .

I can only say that you get what you pay for, custom loops are more expensive (pick a number and double it). But you get much more cooling potential. 

[Oshino Shinobu]

Full loops are not cost effective. They cost a hell of a lot, and don't offer much of a performance improvement (in terms of speed, it would be better to buy a new/another GPU). 

 

I'd go for an AIO, or a good air cooler like the NH-D15 or Dark Rock Pro 3. Only go for a custom loop if you're going to enjoy the process of building it, and are happy with the current performance of your PC for the most part. 

[JebKerman]

I'd actually throw the big air coolers into the mix, the Cryorig R1 Ultimate/Universal (cannot recommend this enough), Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3, and Noctua D14/D15. all are probably going to cool about as well as an H100i and probably be quieter (plus they have no point of failure).

 

On water cooling, an AIO would be more reasonable. A custom loop is probably going a bit overboard (especially the price tag)

[TheKDub]

I'd actually throw the big air coolers into the mix, the Cryorig R1 Ultimate/Universal (cannot recommend this enough), Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3, and Noctua D14/D15. all are probably going to cool about as well as an H100i and probably be quieter (plus they have no point of failure).

 

On water cooling, an AIO would be more reasonable. A custom loop is probably going a bit overboard (especially the price tag)

 

Yes they do, the fans...

[JebKerman]

Yes they do, the fans...

...but those are easily replaceable, the heatsink itself has no point of failure, if an AIO goes kaput then the whole thing has to come out, or you've gotta get a new PC

[Cukumbermouth]

if you have the money and the space, id be soo interested to see the temps if a lot of rads and only cooled the cpu, i mean like  a 120 in the back and 2 240's (sorry is my termology is wrong)

[Admire]

Full Loops are expensive as well(Especially if you actually want a something high quality...The fittings alone are insanely expensive)......

But VERY cool!

 

 

AIOs are in my opinion overvalued...There are too many things that can break, and I have witnessed a lot of bad pumps inside AIOs...I still feel big aircoolers are a way better and safer choice in the long run vs. AIO.

[Altecice]

Full loops are not cost effective. They cost a hell of a lot, and don't offer much of a performance improvement (in terms of speed, it would be better to buy a new/another GPU). 

 

They aren't cost effective but what enthusiast parts are?

I dont agree with you when you say they dont offer much of a performance improvement. It really depends how many/large your rads are.

[TheCaptain53]

Full Loops are expensive as well(Especially if you actually want a something high quality...The fittings alone are insanely expensive)......

But VERY cool!

 

 

AIOs are in my opinion overvalued...There are too many things that can break, and I have witnessed a lot of bad pumps inside AIOs...I still feel big aircoolers are a way better and safer choice in the long run vs. AIO.

I prefer the look of AIOs. I would have considered a large air cooler, but the space in my case restricts me from doing so. I can only fit a CPU cooler of approximately 150mm in height, which is why I went for a TX3 EVO over a 212 EVO.

[Oshino Shinobu]

They aren't cost effective but what enthusiast parts are?

I dont agree with you when you say they dont offer much of a performance improvement. It really depends how many/large your rads are.

I mean, compared to what the same money can do when you buy a new component. For the money it would cost to build a full loop, he could probably sell his current card and get a 980Ti.

 

They obviously improve the cooling a lot, but the performance boost you get from overclocking isn't certain. He could have a chip that won't go any further, even with watercooling. 

 

I still think full loops should be done for the sake of the full loop, making it look nice and enjoying the process of it, rather than for the performance benefits. 

[TheCaptain53]

I mean, compared to what the same money can do when you buy a new component. For the money it would cost to build a full loop, he could probably sell his current card and get a 980Ti.

 

They obviously improve the cooling a lot, but the performance boost you get from overclocking isn't certain. He could have a chip that won't go any further, even with watercooling. 

 

I still think full loops should be done for the sake of the full loop, making it look nice and enjoying the process of it, rather than for the performance benefits. 

That's what I was thinking, it's purely for aesthetics purposes. However, if it was a total waste of money when I could better redirect it somewhere else, I'll use an AIO instead.

[Admire]

I prefer the look of AIOs. I would have considered a large air cooler, but the space in my case restricts me from doing so. I can only fit a CPU cooler of approximately 150mm in height, which is why I went for a TX3 EVO over a 212 EVO.

 

Thats fair enough..just a difference of opinion in looks, but the lack of space makes your choice perfectly reasonable...There are a lot of very pretty aircoolers but fewer in that size.

[rcarlos243]

First of all before you even bother upgrading, what is the maximum overclock you can get with your current cooler and at what temps?

 

If you cannot get more than average overclock (base on the frequency and voltage used) it might NOT be even worth it to spend the money to upgrade your current cooling.

 

Does your room get HOT with your current rig? If so even with a custom loop it will make your room more hotter than it is now.

 

How sensitive are you to noise? If noise is very important to you then a Noctua NH-D14 / D15 is a much better choice.

 

 

I have the same dilemma before I got my custom loop.

 

I went with alot of coolers (Intel Stock Cooler, Zalman CNPS10x Extreme, Noctua NH-D14, Corsair H110, Nepton 280L, TT 3.0 Ultimate) and now my custom loop.

 

Problem is even with superior cooling, I am limited by the current hardware I have (like my current CPU not being able to clock past 4.2Ghz even with 1.4vcore and 2.1 VCCIO with temps under load less than 80c) and it is alot more noisy even with my fans turned all the way down to 800RPM (I got 6x Gentle Typhoon AP-15s).

 

Unless you have a really good overclocking hardware (it can clock above average), it is not worth it to spend more money to upgrade cooling.

 

If you really want to upgrade your cooling, then Noctua NH-D15 or even NH-D14 is much better than pretty much all AIO's especially in terms of noise.

[TheCaptain53]

First of all before you even bother upgrading, what is the maximum overclock you can get with your current cooler and at what temps?

 

If you cannot get more than average overclock (base on the frequency and voltage used) it might NOT be even worth it to spend the money to upgrade your current cooling.

 

Does your room get HOT with your current rig? If so even with a custom loop it will make your room more hotter than it is now.

 

How sensitive are you to noise? If noise is very important to you then a Noctua NH-D14 / D15 is a much better choice.

 

 

I have the same dilemma before I got my custom loop.

 

I went with alot of coolers (Intel Stock Cooler, Zalman CNPS10x Extreme, Noctua NH-D14, Corsair H110, Nepton 280L, TT 3.0 Ultimate) and now my custom loop.

 

Problem is even with superior cooling, I am limited by the current hardware I have (like my current CPU not being able to clock past 4.2Ghz even with 1.4vcore and 2.1 VCCIO with temps under load less than 80c) and it is alot more noisy even with my fans turned all the way down to 800RPM (I got 6x Gentle Typhoon AP-15s).

 

Unless you have a really good overclocking hardware (it can clock above average), it is not worth it to spend more money to upgrade cooling.

 

If you really want to upgrade your cooling, then Noctua NH-D15 or even NH-D14 is much better than pretty much all AIO's especially in terms of noise.

As I said before, I'm limited in terms of air cooling due to space restrictions.

I fully understand that they match and even surpass the performance of some AIOs, but their compatibility is one of their shortfalls.

[rcarlos243]

First of all before you even bother upgrading, what is the maximum overclock you can get with your current cooler and at what temps?

 

If you cannot get more than average overclock (base on the frequency and voltage used) it might NOT be even worth it to spend the money to upgrade your current cooling.

 

Does your room get HOT with your current rig? If so even with a custom loop it will make your room more hotter than it is now.

 

How sensitive are you to noise? If noise is very important to you then a Noctua NH-D14 / D15 is a much better choice.

 

 

I have the same dilemma before I got my custom loop.

 

I went with alot of coolers (Intel Stock Cooler, Zalman CNPS10x Extreme, Noctua NH-D14, Corsair H110, Nepton 280L, TT 3.0 Ultimate) and now my custom loop.

 

Problem is even with superior cooling, I am limited by the current hardware I have (like my current CPU not being able to clock past 4.2Ghz even with 1.4vcore and 2.1 VCCIO with temps under load less than 80c) and it is alot more noisy even with my fans turned all the way down to 800RPM (I got 6x Gentle Typhoon AP-15s).

 

Unless you have a really good overclocking hardware (it can clock above average), it is not worth it to spend more money to upgrade cooling.

 

If you really want to upgrade your cooling, then Noctua NH-D15 or even NH-D14 is much better than pretty much all AIO's especially in terms of noise.

 

With your current hardware i5 4690k and GTX 970.

 

I would say it is not worth it to spend the money upgrading your current cooling.

 

Heck I even ran an Intel Core i7 5820K at 4.0Ghz on an intel cpu cooler (the one that is bundled on LGA 115x but i removed the mounting stuff and secured it with a zip tie) for a while till I got my custom loop running.

 

Just spend the money on something else or better just save it for future upgrades like Skylake, Pascal, NVMe, GSYNC IPS monitor, better chair (like Steelcase Leap or desk, or other peripherals like joystick, racing wheel, etc...

[Curufinwe_wins]

Custom loops are really only worth it imo if you are also wc the gpu(s).

A decent aio is nice. Good air coolers are underrated but some people (myself included) can't stand the look of them.

Cheap yet very decent aio is the lepa auqachanger 240 (50-80 USD).