Need some CPU cooling advice!

[Indus Monk]

Let's say i got a z97 board and i wanna OC my 4690k to about 4.0-4.3ghz;

 

Would air cooling be suffice? If so, can a hyper 212x or darkRock pro3 handle cooling?

if not then:

Would be a single Radiator AIO be suffice? If so, can a nepton 240m or the h80iGT handle cooling?

[HKZeroFive]

The H80i GT is terrible performance for money, as is with all 120mm AIOs. More points of failure as well.

 

Air cooling would be fine. Although the Hyper 212X and Dark Rock Pro 3 are two different tiers - the latter being much higher.

[Indus Monk]

1 minute ago, HKZeroFive said:

The H80i GT is terrible performance for money, as is with all 120mm AIOs.

so when do these 120 mm AIO's come handy? why did they even make them in the first place?

[Nacho Marco Segui]

4 minutes ago, AmbarChakrabarti said:

so when do these 120 mm AIO's come handy? why did they even make them in the first place?

When you can't install an air cooler due to height issues

[ybriK]

6 minutes ago, HKZeroFive said:

The H80i GT is terrible performance for money, as is with all 120mm AIOs. More points of failure as well.

 

Air cooling would be fine. Although the Hyper 212X and Dark Rock Pro 3 are two different tiers - the latter being much higher.

Not necessarily bad, I got better temperatures with my 120mm AIO compared to my 212.

[HKZeroFive]

13 minutes ago, AmbarChakrabarti said:

so when do these 120 mm AIO's come handy? why did they even make them in the first place?

Only situation I can think of is that if you had an extremely compact ITX case (like the 

Silverstone Sugo SG13B) that can only fit 120mm AIOs and low-profile air coolers. Even then, I'd probably opt for air cooling. Some people also prefer liquid cooling for 'that look' but that's personal taste.

8 minutes ago, ybriK said:

Not necessarily bad, I got better temperatures with my 120mm AIO compared to my 212.

I know, I just said it's terrible performance for money. Why spend $50 on a 120mm AIO when I can have a Cryorig H5 Ultimate or Thermalright True Spirit 140 that cools much better?

[Mrhappyjolly]

budget? 

 

I don't think you can go wrong with this

 

http://www.ekwb.com/predator/

 

but EK - lower the cost of this stuff, ridiculous money

[Indus Monk]

1 hour ago, Mrhappyjolly said:

budget? 

 

I don't think you can go wrong with this

 

http://www.ekwb.com/predator/

 

but EK - lower the cost of this stuff, ridiculous money

i forgot to mention that i am in India! there are no custom watercooled PC's. EKWB's stuff would have to be imported. I would have to sell 69+420 kidneys to even import just one mount! I am limited to just the 212x (dark rock pro 3 is not sold here), the h80i GT or the nepton 240m. Oh... and budget would be about $65. This was just to get guidance for a potential future upgrade!

[WoodenMarker]

4 hours ago, Mrhappyjolly said:

budget? 

I don't think you can go wrong with this

http://www.ekwb.com/predator/

but EK - lower the cost of this stuff, ridiculous money

This is overkill. 

A 212x is already more than enough for a 4.4ghz+ oc. 

[TheGamingBarrel]

I was doing mroe than 4.4 On Stock cooling, very toasty though.

[Indus Monk]

49 minutes ago, TheGamingBarrel said:

I was doing mroe than 4.4 On Stock cooling, very toasty though.

Key Word: STOCK COOLING

[TheGamingBarrel]

7 minutes ago, AmbarChakrabarti said:

Key Word: STOCK COOLING

Yeah, so literally anything is better.

[aisle9]

9 hours ago, AmbarChakrabarti said:

so when do these 120 mm AIO's come handy? why did they even make them in the first place?

Watercooling a GPU, Mini ITX cases where there isn't room for a bigger rad or a decent air cooler, first-time builders who haven't done their research and assume that the $70 AIO must be at least twice as good as the $30 212 EVO next to it.

 

To answer your original question, any entry to mid-range air cooler from a decent brand would suffice for what you want to do. My personal favorites at the $30-40 price point are the beQuiet Pure Rock and Cryorig H7. The Deepcool Gammaxx 400 is getting great reviews for its performance at a $30 price point. The Hyper 212 family is out there, but really, it's bigger, louder and doesn't perform any better than smaller, quieter coolers. If you can get your hands on an H7 or a Pure Rock, that'd be my recommendation.