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Are higher end air coolers better than AIO Water Cooling?

N3rot0xin
By N3rot0xin
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Reason i'm asking is I'm going to need to a new cooler here very soon. I currently have a Lepa AquaChanger 240, however the pump is loud and i don't think it's doing as good of a job anymore(pump could be on its way out). But i'm debating if I still want water cooling or if i should switch to air cooling. I recently upgraded to a 4k monitor and game at that resolution all the time, so things get toasty. The way my case is setup, the 240 radiator is mounted on the front and acts as the intake. As such, all the heat is immediately dumped back into the case. Underload, no component really has access to ambient air. An air cooler would solve this, giving 

 

I know some of the higher end air coolers from Noctua outperform some of the AIO liquid coolers, but how do they compare to something like an h110i(or whatever the current h1xx model is from corsair). 

 

If you need info on my system, everything in my profile is current. 

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It comes to how good the airflow is in your case. It needs to be really good for an air cooler to match the larger water coolers.

CPU: i7-2600K 4751MHz 1.44V (software) --> 1.47V at the back of the socket Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme4 (BCLK: 103.3MHz) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 RAM: Adata XPG 2x8GB DDR3 (XMP: 2133MHz 10-11-11-30 CR2, custom: 2203MHz 10-11-10-26 CR1 tRFC:230 tREFI:14000) GPU: Asus GTX 1070 Dual (Super Jetstream vbios, +70(2025-2088MHz)/+400(8.8Gbps)) SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB (main boot drive), Transcend SSD370 128GB PSU: Seasonic X-660 80+ Gold Case: Antec P110 Silent, 5 intakes 1 exhaust Monitor: AOC G2460PF 1080p 144Hz (150Hz max w/ DP, 121Hz max w/ HDMI) TN panel Keyboard: Logitech G610 Orion (Cherry MX Blue) with SteelSeries Apex M260 keycaps Mouse: BenQ Zowie FK1

 

Model: HP Omen 17 17-an110ca CPU: i7-8750H (0.125V core & cache, 50mV SA undervolt) GPU: GTX 1060 6GB Mobile (+80/+450, 1650MHz~1750MHz 0.78V~0.85V) RAM: 8+8GB DDR4-2400 18-17-17-39 2T Storage: HP EX920 1TB PCIe x4 M.2 SSD + Crucial MX500 1TB 2.5" SATA SSD, 128GB Toshiba PCIe x2 M.2 SSD (KBG30ZMV128G) gone cooking externally, 1TB Seagate 7200RPM 2.5" HDD (ST1000LM049-2GH172) left outside Monitor: 1080p 126Hz IPS G-sync

 

Desktop benching:

Cinebench R15 Single thread:168 Multi-thread: 833 

SuperPi (v1.5 from Techpowerup, PI value output) 16K: 0.100s 1M: 8.255s 32M: 7m 45.93s

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1 minute ago, Jurrunio said:

It comes to how good the airflow is in your case. It needs to be really good for an air cooler to match the larger water coolers.

Well airflow is good, i have noctua fans on the intake/rad so a lot of air is getting in. It's jsut that the position of the radiator makes it so all of its heat is being exhausted into the case, which I'm sure raises temperatures. I just wasn't sure if there was a definite line at which Air was better/worse than Water. 

I am whatever I am. 

 

 

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The big air coolers are usually trading blows with 240mm AIOs.  The temperatures may be a couple of degrees cooler or warmer, but with air you'll have less worries about leaks and no pump that can die.  A good case and a proper fan curve for the case fans can make a lot of difference.

 

A lot also depends on your use.  The water in an AIO loop needs a lot more time to heat up than the heatpipes of an air cooler do, so a loop will appear better if you don't stress the CPU for extended periods of time. 

 

As for mounting the radiator at the front of the case, various Youtubers did videos on that and apparently each position has its advantages and results may vary depending on hardware and testing methodology.

 

 

 

 

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53 minutes ago, Captain Chaos said:

The big air coolers are usually trading blows with 240mm AIOs.  The temperatures may be a couple of degrees cooler or warmer, but with air you'll have less worries about leaks and no pump that can die.  A good case and a proper fan curve for the case fans can make a lot of difference.

 

A lot also depends on your use.  The water in an AIO loop needs a lot more time to heat up than the heatpipes of an air cooler do, so a loop will appear better if you don't stress the CPU for extended periods of time. 

 

As for mounting the radiator at the front of the case, various Youtubers did videos on that and apparently each position has its advantages and results may vary depending on hardware and testing methodology.

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Whenever I do any kind of temperature reading, its after a decent stress of the cpu/gpu. And mounting the radiator isn't really something i have a choice over; my case only fits a 240 in the front. The rear is fixed 120, and the top is 120/140. 

 

I'll just do a custom loop and put radiators on all the fans.. 

I am whatever I am. 

 

 

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Noctua D15 beats pretty much all 240mm AIOs. TR edition beats 280mm AIOs. Other dual towers like DRP3, Phanteks one and Scythe Fuma are in close range. With fans being only things making noise and price being significantly lower, they are good competition. All falls under are you into looks and maybe bit better performance (<5C most of the time, just look at some graphs). Or less noise, cheaper but still delivering.

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25 minutes ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

Noctua D15 beats pretty much all 240mm AIOs. TR edition beats 280mm AIOs. Other dual towers like DRP3, Phanteks one and Scythe Fuma are in close range. With fans being only things making noise and price being significantly lower, they are good competition. All falls under are you into looks and maybe bit better performance (<5C most of the time, just look at some graphs). Or less noise, cheaper but still delivering.

Ooooh i wish i could use the D15.. But it's 4mm too tall to fit in my case right now. :(

I am whatever I am. 

 

 

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10 minutes ago, N3rot0xin said:

Ooooh i wish i could use the D15.. But it's 4mm too tall to fit in my case right now. :(

The heatsink is 160mm for all of them (D14, D15 and D15S). The fans are ones going over. If you can use fans as low as possible, or maybe even use 120mm fans, that would solve issue. But I haven't worked around that kind of space issue, so I can't comment on if its actually reasonable to even try.

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18 minutes ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

The heatsink is 160mm for all of them (D14, D15 and D15S). The fans are ones going over. If you can use fans as low as possible, or maybe even use 120mm fans, that would solve issue. But I haven't worked around that kind of space issue, so I can't comment on if its actually reasonable to even try.

It would be so close either way, plus there could be slight differences with the height of my motherboard. Ultimately i may go with the AIO and improve my exhaust fan setup. The D15 is the cooler i had in mind when making this post however it won't fit now that i look at the measurements. And, i don't know of any other air coolers comparable to the D15. 

I am whatever I am. 

 

 

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8 minutes ago, N3rot0xin said:

It would be so close either way, plus there could be slight differences with the height of my motherboard. Ultimately i may go with the AIO and improve my exhaust fan setup. The D15 is the cooler i had in mind when making this post however it won't fit now that i look at the measurements. And, i don't know of any other air coolers comparable to the D15. 

Scythe Fuma is dual tower that would fit, D14 if you have low profile RAM. But others will be significantly weaker in comparison.

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4 minutes ago, LoGiCalDrm said:

Scythe Fuma is dual tower that would fit, D14 if you have low profile RAM. But others will be significantly weaker in comparison.

I don't have low profile ram. Honestly if it's not the D15 i don't want an air cooler. I do have a couple of NF-F12s im currently using.. i just don't wanna spend on that if it wont' fit. Returns can be a hassle this time of year. 

I am whatever I am. 

 

 

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2 hours ago, N3rot0xin said:

It would be so close either way, plus there could be slight differences with the height of my motherboard. 

What case and motherboard are you using?

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There's the cryorig universal r1 which is pretty good. (Unless I'm mistaken? Correct me if I am)

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On 11/24/2017 at 7:21 PM, WoodenMarker said:

What case and motherboard are you using?

NZXT S340 and Asus ROG Maximus VIII Hero Alpha 

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5 hours ago, N3rot0xin said:

NZXT S340 and Asus ROG Maximus VIII Hero Alpha 

The NH-D15(S) fits just fine with the fans lowered. 

If you ever need help with a build, read the following before posting: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/3061-build-plan-thread-recommendations-please-read-before-posting/
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19 hours ago, WoodenMarker said:

The NH-D15(S) fits just fine with the fans lowered. 

Then i may be getting a NH-D15 then. An h100i with the noctua fans i already have would probably do just as good, but still has the risk of a bad pump. i do like the clean aesthetic of not having a dual tower cooler. But i also like quiet and efficient cooling that still works even if the fans die. Oh the pains of caring a lot how your pc looks lol. 

 

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