[SOLVED] AIO vs NH-D14

[bumblebee953]

Hey y'all! I'm in the process of assessing upgrades to my mobo, cpu, and RAM and even though my NH-D14 has served me very well over the years, I'm kinda over the clunkiness of it when cleaning and dusting out my rig, on top of pains with choosing new RAM and having to worry about its clearance below the HSF. Also not super ashamed I'd like a little bit more RGB bling in my rig so going with AIO (not to mention the bling on the pump unit) can free up room for RGBs on the RAM.

I'm just now looking into AIOs and have read a few threads about the popular models like Corsair H100i and Kraken, but I haven't really seen much comparison between those and top-performing air coolers like my Noctua.

Is it worth it to make the transition? If this was 5-10 years ago I'd be a little nervous around AIOs but as I understand they've come a long way. But if the performance is noticeably worse then I'm a little hesitant. My case is Corsair 650D so I should have room for a properly top mounted AIO (ala Gamer Nexus vid).

Would be great to get some recommendations on the AIO models as well!


Thanks a bunch!

 

[Phaaze88]

At the very core, both air and liquid coolers are hybrid air coolers, but with vastly different ratios of air to liquid.
Air coolers are like 90-95% air, with the rest being a small amount of liquid in the heatpipes.
AIOs/CLCs are closer to 50/50. Maybe I should start calling them hybrid coolers on purpose knowing it would irk some people...

 

[alceryes]

Am I the only one who thinks AIOs get a bad rap vs. the Noctuas?

I've got an H80i v2 on my i9-9900k and it's been perfect under even heavy load. Yes, if I torture test it the temp will slowly rise to unacceptable levels since it's only a 120mm rad. but for such a small, quiet, and relatively cheap cooler, I've got nothing but praise.

 

[Phaaze88]

Am I the only one who thinks AIOs get a bad rap vs. the Noctuas?

Well, Noctua has a darn good reputation, and for good reason. I think they set a standard for air cooling that few manufacturers are able to beat.
"Zalman CNPS20X and Deepcool Assassin 3 are 'Noctua Killers'!"
Are they really, when they do so, while being louder?

Sure, there's that brand premium, but I'll be darned if one isn't getting their money's worth with their coolers.
NH-U12A, U12S, U14S, D15S, D15 - all excellent coolers in their own right. Can go toe-to-toe with 240 and 280mm hybrid coolers.
What do they lose compared to the hybrids? Not much, really.
-Color scheme: that's subjective.
-Every now and then someone brings up that stupid motherboard weight excuse that was debunked years ago.

I've got an H80i v2 on my i9-9900k and it's been perfect under even heavy load. Yes, if I torture test it the temp will slowly rise to unacceptable levels since it's only a 120mm but for such a small, quiet, and relatively cheap cooler, I've got nothing but praise.

I remember that.
Yeah, the H80i V2 is on par with 240mm hybrid coolers, so it makes sense that things will get out of hand if you push it.

 

[bumblebee953]

Now I wonder if some of these discussions may change and there could be a shift towards AIOs again now with the fan design in the 30xx cards raising case ambient temperature. With aftermarket coolers that may change but I wonder if it's more of the card's design?

 

[Phaaze88]

It doesn't change much of anything really. The 3080 and 3090 reference designs are doing what aftermarket axial fan cooled models have been doing for years now:
Dumping exhaust into the chassis and feeding it into cpu coolers.