Question when switching from water to air cooling.

[Sophrosyne]

I recently switched from Corsais H80i AIO water cooling system, to a Noctua U12S, and noticed some interesting differences I'm curious to know the reason behind.

 

So when my computer was idle during the AIO, it stayed below 32 celcius constantly and went up to 60-65 celcius during load. With the air cooling system it sits around 45-50 celcius  idle and very close to it at 60 celcius during load.

 

Why is the idle temp so high compared to the water cooling AIO? Did I apply the paste properly, so that the whole surface area is covered? Or is this a normal trend when air cooling?

 

I am using an Intel® Core™ i7-4820K CPU.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

[MasonBitByte]

Water cooling is typically more effective than Air cooling, especially if you are seeing increased heat on your CPU. If it is an i7 or High-end i5, you might be better off with water cooling. (Especially with an overclock.)

[meenmeen1103]

3 minutes ago, Sophrosyne said:

I recently switched from Corsais H80i AIO water cooling system, to a Noctua U12S, and noticed some interesting differences I'm curious to know the reason behind.

 

So when my computer was idle during the AIO, it stayed below 32 celcius constantly and went up to 60-65 celcius during load. With the air cooling system it sits around 45-50 celcius  idle and very close to it at 60 celcius during load.

 

Why is the idle temp so high compared to the water cooling AIO? Did I apply the paste properly, so that the whole surface area is covered? Or is this a normal trend when air cooling?

 

Thanks in advance!

You've probably got a much lower fan speed at idle with the air cooler. You can set the fan speed slightly higher at idle. Generally the main difference between water and air (given the same amount of heat dissipated) for cooling is the heat saturation taking longer in water cooling systems.

[Guest]

19 minutes ago, MaseeGames said:

Water cooling is typically more effective than Air cooling, especially if you are seeing increased heat on your CPU. If it is an i7 or High-end i5, you might be better off with water cooling. (Especially with an overclock.)

No. A 120 water cooler and a 120mm air cooler both dissipate the same amount of heat, it is a myth that water coolers are better. The difference in idle temperature comes from the fact that water can also take in a lot of heat, so when processor is in idle all the heat goes directly in the water, so water acts as a thermal buffer. However, if both systems are under load for longer periods, and the waters thermal buffer fills up, they both act the same. So water cooler is better only for short bursts of cpu activity, and even then you could just create a better fan curve for the air cooler, resulting in the same temps.

Water coolers just look cooler. (no pun intended)

[SquintyG33Rs]

26 minutes ago, MaseeGames said:

Water cooling is typically more effective than Air cooling, especially if you are seeing increased heat on your CPU. If it is an i7 or High-end i5, you might be better off with water cooling. (Especially with an overclock.)

the h80i is a 120....... stop talking out of your ass use your mouth.

 

in reality water isn't more efficient than metal. it's a worse conductor in every possible way. but it makes it possible to have greater radiator surface to use as heat exchange, which mean it can then dissipate bigger thermal loads.

 

OP: not sure why your temps idle are higher though your fan night be set to stop at idle? because if it's only reaching 60 at load it's very unlikely you have a real problem. mess around with fan curves