Liquid Cooling or Air Cooling

[steve-kon]

This is my build

MSI Z170 M5 MOBO

I5 6600K CPU

Cooler Master MasterCase 5 Windowed Mid Tower Case

And the rest of the normal stuff, I'm stuck at what cooling method to choose. I'm not gonna go Overclocking right out of the box, so what should I choose?

Note: This is my first build, and my first time doing anything remotely related to PC build. So, a non technical answer is appreciated.

[Kantor]

if your not going to overclock it i wouldn't bother with a water cooler if you are planning to do so in the future than think about it otherwise its not really worth it.

Edited December 13, 2016 by Kantor
unnesisary space in the word cooler

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, steve-kon said:

This is my build

MSI Z170 M5 MOBO

I5 6600K CPU

Cooler Master MasterCase 5 Windowed Mid Tower Case

And the rest of the normal stuff, I'm stuck at what cooling method to choose. I'm not gonna go Overclocking right out of the box, so what should I choose?

Note: This is my first build, and my first time doing anything remotely related to PC build. So, a non technical answer is appreciated.

Water cooling is more expensive, but cools more than air cooling. Not really needed when not overclocking, but good when you plan on overclocking.

[RagePoweredGamer]

Even when overclocking, I would choose air cooling unless you're doing a full custom loop including your graphics cards in it. (If you have room for this): The Noctua ND-H15 actually performs BETTER than plenty of great AIO coolers, and comes in at around $85, compared to the $100-$150 that I normally see on the water loops. On top of that, it comes with 2 of the best fans on the market, which never goes out of style. Last major point is that air coolers are quieter and have less moving parts, so there's less to make noise and less to go wrong. I use this cooler and have my 4790K running at a 0.8 GHz overclock full time, and it never gets warmer than I eat my pizza. Here's Linus' original video with AIO comparison to the one I recommend. 

 

[Praesi]

Air. Water has way too many possible flaws and Air can look awesome too. Temp wise there no serious difference compared to a nice Air Setup.

[steve-kon]

12 minutes ago, Kantor said:

if your not going to overclock it i wouldn't bother with a water cool er if you are planning to do so in the future than think about it otherwise its not really worth it.

 

9 minutes ago, Factory OC said:

Water cooling is more expensive, but cools more than air cooling. Not really needed when not overclocking, but good when you plan on overclocking.

 

6 minutes ago, Praesi said:

Air. Water has way too many possible flaws and Air can look awesome too. Temp wise there no serious difference compared to a nice Sir Setup.

I think I'll go with air cooling for now. Thanks for the replies.

[steve-kon]

14 minutes ago, ragepoweredgamer said:

Even when watercooling, I would choose air cooling unless you're doing a full custom loop including your graphics cards in it. (If you have room for this): The Noctua ND-H15 actually performs BETTER than plenty of great AIO coolers, and comes in at around $85, compared to the $100-$150 that I normally see on the water loops. On top of that, it comes with 2 of the best fans on the market, which never goes out of style. Last major point is that air coolers are quieter and have less moving parts, so there's less to make noise and less to go wrong. I use this cooler and have my 4790K running at a 0.8 GHz overclock full time, and it never gets warmer than I eat my pizza. Here's Linus' original video with AIO comparison to the one I recommend. 

 

I must be living on a different planet, that model costs me $200.

[DaBeggad]

18 minutes ago, ragepoweredgamer said:

Even when overclocking, I would choose air cooling unless you're doing a full custom loop including your graphics cards in it. (If you have room for this): The Noctua ND-H15 actually performs BETTER than plenty of great AIO coolers, and comes in at around $85, compared to the $100-$150 that I normally see on the water loops. On top of that, it comes with 2 of the best fans on the market, which never goes out of style. Last major point is that air coolers are quieter and have less moving parts, so there's less to make noise and less to go wrong. I use this cooler and have my 4790K running at a 0.8 GHz overclock full time, and it never gets warmer than I eat my pizza. Here's Linus' original video with AIO comparison to the one I recommend. 

 

is it just me or are you a marketing guy working at noctua?  

 

ps: theyre good but god dang ugly

[WoodenMarker]

Air coolers can perform very well but are limited in size due to the area around the motherboard. Liquid cooling can achieve higher performance with more surface area by placing radiators away from the motherboard.

If you don't need as high of an oc as possible, air cooling will almost always be plenty and usually be the quieter choice due to the lack of pump noise.

[steve-kon]

2 hours ago, WoodenMarker said:

Air coolers can perform very well but are limited in size due to the area around the motherboard. Liquid cooling can achieve higher performance with more surface area by placing radiators away from the motherboard.

If you don't need as high of an oc as possible, air cooling will almost always be plenty and usually be the quieter choice due to the lack of pump noise.

OK, that's that then. It all depends on my preference, that's not very encouraging(just kidding). As I have said before i'm new to this PC build thing so I have not a slightest idea about the cpu cooler installing. But I have a small doubt regarding installing the CPU cooler. I have this case(not yet, it still didn't reach me) it comes with a 140mm rear fan preinstalled, so the cooler I should look for is a 140mm sized one right? Or can I get a 120mm Cooler and replace the preinstalled 140mm fan with a 120mm fan?

 

Cooler Master MasterCase 5 Windowed Mid Tower Case (MCX-0005-KWN00)

As I said I know nothing about these, so forgive me if I sound dumb.

[WoodenMarker]

4 minutes ago, steve-kon said:

OK, that's that then. It all depends on my preference, that's not very encouraging(just kidding). As I have said before i'm new to this PC build thing so I have not a slightest idea about the cpu cooler installing. But I have a small doubt regarding installing the CPU cooler. I have this case(not yet, it still didn't reach me) it comes with a 140mm rear fan preinstalled, so the cooler I should look for is a 140mm sized one right? Or can I get a 120mm Cooler and replace the preinstalled 140mm fan with a 120mm fan?

The rear fan size has nothing to do with the size of the cooler you should get for your cpu. 

If you want a specific recommendation, tell us what you're looking for in a cooler, where you're shopping/located, and your budget. 

[steve-kon]

6 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

The rear fan size has nothing to do with the size of the cooler you should get for your cpu. 

If you want a specific recommendation, tell us what you're looking for in a cooler, where you're shopping/located, and your budget. 

I ordered this and cancelled it seeing it is a 120mm variant. Is it good though?

DeepCool CPU Liquid Cooler CAPTAIN 120 EX WHITE , any cooler from 100-150 dollars would be great as i have to pay 50 dollars or more in my country.

[WoodenMarker]

1 minute ago, steve-kon said:

I ordered this and cancelled it seeing it is a 120mm variant. Is it good though?

DeepCool CPU Liquid Cooler CAPTAIN 120 EX WHITE , any cooler from 100-150 dollars would be great as i have to pay 50 dollars or more in my country.

120mm AIO's usually aren't worth getting in the first place since air coolers in the same price range will usually perform as well or better while being quieter.

What kind of dollars are you using and why do you have to pay more than $80?

[steve-kon]

Suppose a Noctua NH-D15 CPU Cooler costs $87.75 in newegg.com, I get it for $198.45 in my country.

I live in India fyi.

[WoodenMarker]

4 minutes ago, steve-kon said:

Suppose a Noctua NH-D15 CPU Cooler costs $87.75 in newegg.com, I get it for $198.45 in my country.

I live in India fyi.

Is that USD in both cases? 

Can you link us to where you're shopping? What's your budget? 

You need to quote a post or tag a member or else they won't get a notification you replied to them. 

[steve-kon]

8 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

Is that USD in both cases? 

Can you link us to where you're shopping? What's your budget? 

You need to quote a post or tag a member or else they won't get a notification you replied to them. 

That is USD on both the cases..

amazon.in is where i shop for products..

100 - 150 dollars for CPU Coolers..

[WoodenMarker]

2 minutes ago, steve-kon said:

That is USD on both the cases..

amazon.in is where i shop for products..

100 - 150 dollars for CPU Coolers..

The site doesn't use USD. What your budget in INR? 

[steve-kon]

8 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

The site doesn't use USD. What your budget in INR? 

10,000 INR 

[WoodenMarker]

12 minutes ago, steve-kon said:

10,000 INR 

Depending on how much you want to spend,

212X: http://www.amazon.in/gp/aw/d/B00HNSD69O/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481706001&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=Hyper+212&dpPl=1&dpID=51DZrrO8cLL&ref=plSrch

PH-TC14PE: http://www.amazon.in/gp/aw/d/B005OREE38/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481705405&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=Ph-tc14pe&dpPl=1&dpID=510u3x6JD9L&ref=plSrch

[steve-kon]

11 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

Depending on how much you want to spend,

212X: http://www.amazon.in/gp/aw/d/B00HNSD69O/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481706001&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=Hyper+212&dpPl=1&dpID=51DZrrO8cLL&ref=plSrch

PH-TC14PE: http://www.amazon.in/gp/aw/d/B005OREE38/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481705405&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=Ph-tc14pe&dpPl=1&dpID=510u3x6JD9L&ref=plSrch

Thanks, the Phanteks cooler looks good, but in the comment section it says something like this "As with any cooler this large, you have to be aware of potential RAM clearance issues. If your RAM is too tall, that could be a problem. " I will be using a G-Skill Ripjaws V model ram, would it be a problem?

[WoodenMarker]

6 minutes ago, steve-kon said:

Thanks, the Phanteks cooler looks good, but in the comment section it says something like this "As with any cooler this large, you have to be aware of potential RAM clearance issues. If your RAM is too tall, that could be a problem. " I will be using a G-Skill Ripjaws V model ram, would it be a problem?

The cooler has 40mm of clearance for ram. Ripjaws V is 42mm tall. If you're planning a new system, just get ram that isn't unnecessarily tall. 

[Tim Serious]

5 hours ago, steve-kon said:

Suppose a Noctua NH-D15 CPU Cooler costs $87.75 in newegg.com, I get it for $198.45 in my country.

I live in India fyi.

check newegg india noctua coolers doesn't cost lot in shipping as they ship from Austria i belive so do check newegg india.

[steve-kon]

8 hours ago, WoodenMarker said:

The cooler has 40mm of clearance for ram. Ripjaws V is 42mm tall. If you're planning a new system, just get ram that isn't unnecessarily tall. 

I already have a got the RAM, can't change that. Can you please suggest an alternative. Thanks.

[steve-kon]

4 hours ago, Tim Serious said:

check newegg india noctua coolers doesn't cost lot in shipping as they ship from Austria i belive so do check newegg india.

I know it costs less even if I ship it from newegg but newegg allows only credit card payments and my credit card is inactive right now so I don't think i'll be able to do that.

[WoodenMarker]

3 hours ago, steve-kon said:

I already have a got the RAM, can't change that. Can you please suggest an alternative. Thanks.

True Spirit 140 Power: http://www.amazon.in/Thermalright-True-Spirit-140-Power/dp/B00IYEEOMO/ref=sr_1_51?ie=UTF8&qid=1481750495&sr=8-51&keywords=thermalright

If it overhangs the first ram slot with the fan in front, you can mount in on the other end of the heatsink for pull instead.