Liquid cooling or not

[Truebanana]

Hi together

 

I'm really uncertain what i should do. Right now I'm collecting some ideas to upgrade my system and have been stuck for a while with the CPU cooler.

 

I own a Dark Base Pro 900 case which I bought recently, I plan on getting a 7700k along with an Asus z270 mainboard and G.Skill TridentZ RAM. The major problem in my opinion is RAM clearance if I use a Dark Rock Pro 3 for the CPU.

 

However, i don't really know if it's a good idea to go for a AIO, like Corsair's H100i because of my case, since it doesn't have many holes in it for the heat to get out.

 

Other concerns are the weight put on the mainboard from a massive air cooler and a potential leak from a liquid cooler, which I found to be very rare. Furthermore, I don't plan to overclock a lot.

 

I really hope that you can give me good advice since I'm really uncertain what to buy.

 

Thank you in advance for your help.

[Droidbot]

As a H100i owner, I love it. I have a very open case, and even with my 4670, I get 30C idles and <65C loads. Don't worry about it leaking, since Corsair have a good warranty.

[Phentos]

If you're not going to overclock very much, like you say, then you don't really need something as beefy as the Dark Rock Pro cooler. You can get away with a smaller cooler, something like a Noctua NH-U14S. Something like that can easily handle a 7700K OCed to around 4.6-4.7 Ghz, depending on ambient temps and voltage setting.

 

I find that the lower-end AIOs like the h100i (non-GT/GTX) or the h80i really are not worth the money, and I don't trust them in a build because of lower quality parts and middling cooling performance. They can be bested by a decent air cooler.

 

If I were to purchase an AIO, it would have to be a high end model.

[Droidbot]

13 minutes ago, Phentos said:

If you're not going to overclock very much, like you say, then you don't really need something as beefy as the Dark Rock Pro cooler. You can get away with a smaller cooler, something like a Noctua NH-U14S. Something like that can easily handle a 7700K OCed to around 4.6-4.7 Ghz, depending on ambient temps and voltage setting.

 

I find that the lower-end AIOs like the h100i (non-GT/GTX) or the h80i really are not worth the money, and I don't trust them in a build because of lower quality parts and middling cooling performance. They can be bested by a decent air cooler.

 

If I were to purchase an AIO, it would have to be a high end model.

H100i stock is good, GTX is better but it's the same thing with a better pump and internals. 

[Phentos]

29 minutes ago, Droidbot said:

H100i stock is good, GTX is better but it's the same thing with a better pump and internals. 

Exactly. The better pump goes a long way toward performance and longevity of the cooler. Definitely worth the small extra cost.