AIO vs Custom Loop

[K86twCuCgDzvF2yHrqKq8FAJNW]

AIOs can fit in smaller cases but custom water cooling loops look a lot better and probably lower your temps even more. Which one is better?

[Skiiwee29]

Custom loops are more for show than anything. They perform within a few C of AIOs so you likely wont be able to really get any further head room for Overclocking comparatively. That said, most custom loops are generally more reliable pump wise and as you alluded, look better overall. It really comes down to budget, do you want to spend 125-150$ on an AIO or 200-250$ on a basic custom loop?

[K86twCuCgDzvF2yHrqKq8FAJNW]

Well yeah. Custom loops look a lot better than AIOs. Getting one would look nice.

 

 

And then again here I am with a matx case so AIO it is I guess

[Ithanul]

Depends on usage and the case, and what you want out of the loop.

 

AIOs are nice in the fact you can switch those around on different hardware as long as you have the brackets for it.  Plus, convenient in switching out hardware.

 

Custom is nice in the fact you can expand it to the point of running fans at very low speeds.  Offset, blocks for hardware are usually for that hardware and don't switch out to other hardware (usually the case with GPUs).  Unless of course, you get an universal block.  Also, maintenance at least once a year or twice a year depending on coolant.  In that case, planning out placement of a drain value helps.

[Mick Naughty]

I’d take a custom loop anyway. Aio’s Will never touch their performance. My cases were made for water cooling but they aren’t small either. 

 

If you want simple and hassle free, aio is the way to go. I don’t dont donthings that way most of the time. I prefer water cooling, aio’s don’t fall in that category. 

[AMDNeko]

1 hour ago, Skiiwee29 said:

Custom loops are more for show than anything. They perform within a few C of AIOs so you likely wont be able to really get any further head room for Overclocking comparatively. That said, most custom loops are generally more reliable pump wise and as you alluded, look better overall. It really comes down to budget, do you want to spend 125-150$ on an AIO or 200-250$ on a basic custom loop?

With a proper custom loop you can get much further but in a more likely case for example when it comes to GPUs my Evga Hybrid 1080ti was around 53-60c at load in pubg & overwatch while the current loop never breaks 40c with the same exact card..some mmos do not even let it hit 30c and I can run it in K Boost mode permanently at 29c outside of games. The CPU gets a little more toasty running around 40c idle and 60c in some games with it peaking at 75c in AIDA64 SST. This is a far better result than old H100iV2/Evga Hybrid dual clc setup but it is indeed much pricier.

 

edit: Forgot to also mention my rooms ambient is 28c while all this is happening which feels like an inferno to me but Im sure some have it worse.

[Skiiwee29]

1 minute ago, PPCs-Kat said:

With a proper custom loop you can get much further but in a more likely case for example when it comes to GPUs my Evga Hybrid 1080ti was around 53-60c at load in pubg & overwatch while the current loop never breaks 40c with the same exact card..some mmos do not even let it hit 30c and I can run it in K Boost mode permanently at 29c outside of games. The CPU gets a little more toasty running around 40c idle and 60c in some games with it peaking at 75c in AIDA64 SST. This is a far better result than old H100iV2/Evga Hybrid dual clc setup but it is indeed much pricier.

Very fair assessment. But likely given your position as part of the premiere water cooling e-tailer (The very one I buy my parts from ) You do have access to quite high end components that could be out of reach for the average customer on a budget. Would be curious to hear what parts your loop consists of honestly. 

[AMDNeko]

1 minute ago, Skiiwee29 said:

Very fair assessment. But likely given your position as part of the premiere water cooling e-tailer (The very one I buy my parts from ) You do have access to quite high end components that could be out of reach for the average customer on a budget. Would be curious to hear what parts your loop consists of honestly. 

 Compared to most loops I have seen mine minus well be hot glued together with all the flack I have gotten from drain port placement alone  for the rads I have one HWLabs 360 GTS XFlow & one 280 GTS standard then for fans I went with push on the 360 with NB eloop B12-PS and P/P on the 280 with B14-PS. I doubt it matters too but Im using a Heatkiller AM4 block and EK block for the gpu.. Its a pretty standard D5 (Mines a D5 Strong) dual rad loop with only the cpu and gpu! though I did try and find cooling blocks for the hard drives but @PPCs-Matt fought me on that one.

 

Also thanks for your business~ 

 

[SolarNova]

5 hours ago, FZPX said:

AIOs can fit in smaller cases but custom water cooling loops look a lot better and probably lower your temps even more. Which one is better?

AIO's as you correctly said are best suited for small form factor builds on a budget or in builds that dont have enough height above the motherboard for a tower heatsink cooler, some of which are capable of matching and even beating AIO's in terms of cooling.

 

Custom loops have 2 primary functions. Superior cooling (obviosly), and asthetics.

 

So, which is 'better' , if you mean which cools better. Thats going to be a custom loop (asuming you use a big enough rad)

Which one is better in terms of cost, thats an AIO.

Which on is better in terms of looks, thats a custom loop.

which on is better .... you get the point .. it depends.