AIO Watercooling or stick with current cooler?

[Puntherline]

CPU: AMD FX-8350

Ambient temp: 35°C/95°F

CPU temp: Tops out at 73°C/163°F after 15 mins of GTA Online.

Current cooler: See attachment

Side-panels: Taken off

 

Should I stick with my current cooler?

If I should buy an AIO cooler, which one should I buy? (I was thinking about corsair (2x140mm) or the Arctic liquid freezer (3x120) since these are the only sizes that fit in my case)

Would you recommend other coolers? (AIO or air only please, I'm not too keen on full custom loops...)

[Deli]

Most AIOs are Asetek OEM. They perform more or than the same if you take the fans out of the equation.

 

A good 140mm air cooler will be just as good in term of cooling your 8350 as a 240 AIO, while more quiet and less exspensive. Consider the like of Noctua NH-D15S. The gold standard of air cooler.

[VolkA]

If you are fine with your current temps, then I don't really see a need to upgrade to AIO. Unless you think your CPU is heating up your room and making you uncomfortable.

[Deli]

2 minutes ago, VolkA said:

If you are fine with your current temps, then I don't really see a need to upgrade to AIO. Unless you think your CPU is heating up your room and making you uncomfortable.

Agree with the first part. But the second part is incorrect.

 

The amount of heat generate by the CPU releases to the surround(the room) is measured by watt. Air cool, liquid cool, the amount of heat generated by the CPU is the same. You see higher CPU temperature as the result of a less effective cooler. Higher temperature doesn't mean more heat is produced. Air cool or liquid cool won't make your room hotter or cooler.

[VolkA]

1 minute ago, Deli said:

Agree with the first part. But the second part is incorrect.

 

The amount of heat generate by the CPU releases to the surround(the room) is measured by watt. Air cool, liquid cool, the amount of heat generated by the CPU is the same. You see higher CPU temperature as the result of a less effective cooler. Higher temperature doesn't mean more heat is produced. Air cool or liquid cool won't make your room hotter or cooler.

Oh ok. Didn't know that. Haha. All I know was that when mine was air cool, my room was way warmer than now (AIO).

[Deli]

Just now, VolkA said:

Oh ok. Didn't know that. Haha. All I know was that when mine was air cool, my room was way warmer than now (AIO).

Sometimes, impression can be misleading.

[Puntherline]

3 minutes ago, Deli said:

Most AIOs are Asetek OEM. They perform more or than the same if you take the fans out of the equation.

 

A good 140mm air cooler will be just as good in term of cooling your 8350 as a 240 AIO, while more quiet and less exspensive. Consider the like of Noctua NH-D15S. The gold standard of air cooler.

I dont care too much about the noise, my headphones are pretty good at not letting thru any noise. I would just like to put the side-panels back on without frying my cpu or gpu. Money is not too much of a problem right now, I could go up to $200 but I plan on getting a Ryzen at the end of this year. (1700 or maybe even the 1800 if the price has dropped a little)

 

 

3 minutes ago, VolkA said:

If you are fine with your current temps, then I don't really see a need to upgrade to AIO. Unless you think your CPU is heating up your room and making you uncomfortable.

It heats up my room just a little bit, but that's okay. The main issue is that I want to put my panels back on without frying anything.

[Deli]

Just now, Puntherline said:

I dont care too much about the noise, my headphones are pretty good at not letting thru any noise. I would just like to put the side-panels back on without frying my cpu or gpu. Money is not too much of a problem right now, I could go up to $200 but I plan on getting a Ryzen at the end of this year. (1700 or maybe even the 1800 if the price has dropped a little)

 

 

It heats up my room just a little bit, but that's okay. The main issue is that I want to put my panels back on without frying anything.

If noise and cost aren't the deal breakers. Then it's down to personal preference.

 

As a good air cooler will perform more or less the same as 240mm AIO.

[Echo259]

280mm and 360mm AIO should do better than most air coolers. 

 

Also the better your cooler is, the hotter it makes your room. Basically a better cool that keeps your cpu cool is dumping that heat into the room. 

 

IMO if your planning on upgrading to ryzen soon anyway I'd wait for that and do the upgrade at the same time.

[Puntherline]

3 hours ago, Echo259 said:

IMO if your planning on upgrading to ryzen soon anyway I'd wait for that and do the upgrade at the same time.

The "safe" temperature for this cpu is supposed to be around 60°C and it starts to throttle at 70°C, but mine reaches 73°C when gaming and the summer over here will get a little bit hotter in the next couple of weeks. I don't think that it is absolutely safe to still stress the cpu even though it is well hotter than it is supposed to be. I don't mind taking my PC apart two times a year since I clean it once or up to twice a month. But let's get back on topic: Would you rather go for a 3x120 or a 2x140mm radiator? How thick should it be?

[Echo259]

3 hours ago, Puntherline said:

The "safe" temperature for this cpu is supposed to be around 60°C and it starts to throttle at 70°C, but mine reaches 73°C when gaming and the summer over here will get a little bit hotter in the next couple of weeks. I don't think that it is absolutely safe to still stress the cpu even though it is well hotter than it is supposed to be. I don't mind taking my PC apart two times a year since I clean it once or up to twice a month. But let's get back on topic: Would you rather go for a 3x120 or a 2x140mm radiator? How thick should it be?

Kk. 3x120 vs 2x140 should be very similar in cooling. There are other factors when it comes to rads but most doesn't apply to aio for example fin density (since almost all aio using the same one). As for thickness, the thick will provide more surface area for cooling but once again most aio uses similar thickness. Thickness also means more fan noise because it's harder to push air. I think the more important thing between the 3x120 vs 2x240 is case compatibility. I think more cases allow 2x240. So if you ever need a new case that's something to keep in mind.

[Puntherline]

2 hours ago, Echo259 said:

So if you ever need a new case that's something to keep in mind.

Yeah, my curent case supports 3 rads. One on the top (3x120 or 2x140 (push only) if I remove the metal bits that are supposed to come off), one at the front (2x120 (push only)) and one at the back (1x120 (push pull)).

[Echo259]

1 hour ago, Puntherline said:

Yeah, my curent case supports 3 rads. One on the top (3x120 or 2x140 (push only) if I remove the metal bits that are supposed to come off), one at the front (2x120 (push only)) and one at the back (1x120 (push pull)).

Since the 3x120mm or 2x140 will both be at the top. Either will be fine. 

 

One thing that may matter to you. Is the option of using the 2x120 in the front instead. I included a video that explains why. 

 

Regardless of which configuration you should I think the delta will be pretty small. I personally use a custom loop with a thick 360mm rad at the top and temps are good. 

[Deli]

12 hours ago, Echo259 said:

 

 

Also the better your cooler is, the hotter it makes your room. Basically a better cool that keeps your cpu cool is dumping that heat into the room. 

 

 

This is just wrong.

[For Science!]

Watch out for RAM clearance if you use a top mounted 280mm radiator. depending on your case and RAM height.

 

you can see in my Define C and a 240mm rad (30mm + normal fan) there is literally no clearance left on my LPX sticks. a 280mm would hit the RAM big time and anything other than low profile heat spreaders are a no go.

 

Edit: well you can't do 280mm on a define c, but my point still stands for 360mm and tall RAM sticks 

[Puntherline]

18 hours ago, Echo259 said:

Since the 3x120mm or 2x140 will both be at the top. Either will be fine. 

 

One thing that may matter to you. Is the option of using the 2x120 in the front instead. I included a video that explains why. 

I know why this would be bad and I would probably never try to put a radiator at the front of my case unless I really really have to do it.

 

18 hours ago, For Science! said:

Watch out for RAM clearance if you use a top mounted 280mm radiator. depending on your case and RAM height.

Yeah, I haven't considered that... I might have to put the radiator directly under the top of the case and the fans on top of the case to pull the air. Not a problem for me, I can solve that without it looking too weird.

[slavikcc]

On 2017-06-20 at 4:16 AM, VolkA said:

Oh ok. Didn't know that. Haha. All I know was that when mine was air cool, my room was way warmer than now (AIO).

Linus did a video on this very same subject here:

I OC'd my previous PC with an Intel Lynnfield for the longest time, which generated hell of a lot of heat in my room.  My new PC, which was not OC'd yet, is a lot cooler.