Question Air Cooling vs Watercooling

Aug 14, 2022
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I wound up having to change my case and also cooler to finish the current build:

RTX 3060 TI
i5 13600k
Asus B660M-PLUS D4
Kingston SNVS500G MVMe
4x 3.5'' HDDs that can be reduced how to only 2x.

Cooler I had was a RR-212X-20PM-R1 that won't fit that mobo (unless I get a backplate adapter?). And now I'll transfer back to the old PC that will be renewed.

As I still have to re-learn what's like having a relatively fast computer, I don't think I should be concerned about overclocking yet.
Upon some research, I learned that using an AIO Water Cooler will increase the VRM temps.
With that said, I'm probably better off staying on Air Coolers, right?
Should I just go for an updated 212x or is there a cheaper/better option?
Is the VRM temps going up the only thing I should be concerned about?

As it was useful before, the websites I can use are:

www.pichau.com.br - Personal favorite here's a sorted search with the socket and prices listed ascending.
www.kabum.com.br - Reliable too, here's the custom search.
www.terabyteshop.com.br - Has the best deals, little stock, at least it barely lasts. Custom search here.
www.amazon.com.br - Brazilian version of Amazon with separate listings compared to the original one

Thanks in advance!
 
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Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
You might want to read into the watercooling sticky, that's in my sig space...the entire guide is a worthy read but if you want to skip parts, you can go down to the Closed Loop Cooler section of that guide.

You forgot to mention the make and model of your case and the layout/orientation of the fans in said case. To also ask, what sort of ambient room air temps do you get on a seasonal basis(not just now)?
 
You can probably get by with that Coolermaster, but I'd guess most would advise you to move up a notch or two.

If you are trying to avoid noise, something from Noctua would be a good choice. They should all come with the proper adapter for the 13600K and a tube of good thermal paste. U12, U14, D15 etc.

Other possibilities would be certain coolers from Scythe or Be Quiet or maybe Deep Cool.

What's the top of your budget?

Not a whole lot to be gained by over clocking a 13600K.
 
Aug 14, 2022
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You might want to read into the watercooling sticky, that's in my sig space...the entire guide is a worthy read but if you want to skip parts, you can go down to the Closed Loop Cooler section of that guide.

You forgot to mention the make and model of your case and the layout/orientation of the fans in said case. To also ask, what sort of ambient room air temps do you get on a seasonal basis(not just now)?

Thanks for the headsup about the sticky, I'm a little overwhelmed with info but gonna start reading asap!
Instead of getting a cooler based on the case, I've been thinking about getting a case based on the cooler. Main goal is to get a case that lets me put at around 4 additional fans.
Never got to measure the temps, but according to google, on average my city gets 35°C (95°F) max and 20°C min (68ºF).
During some really bad summer 40ºC (104ºF).


You can probably get by with that Coolermaster, but I'd guess most would advise you to move up a notch or two.

If you are trying to avoid noise, something from Noctua would be a good choice. They should all come with the proper adapter for the 13600K and a tube of good thermal paste. U12, U14, D15 etc.

Other possibilities would be certain coolers from Scythe or Be Quiet or maybe Deep Cool.

What's the top of your budget?

Not a whole lot to be gained by over clocking a 13600K.

I want to spend under 500 bucks.
Low noise is a very big want for when I want to do recordings, but not as much of a must.
 
I want to spend under 500 bucks.
Low noise is a very big want for when I want to do recordings, but not as much of a must.

How much do you want to pay for the cooler itself?

I assume 500 is for a bunch of different parts.

Low noise implies fans spinning at say 1200 rpm or less. Preferably fans of 120 mm or 140 mm diameter. On a modern system, fans can typically be configured to spin faster if necessary if temperatures are high.

Default idea would be a couple of decent intake fans on the front side and one on the back. Adjust from that after testing. RGB fans if you insist.

You may have to compromise on noise versus temps. I have no idea where that might be for you.

You need to decide what level of temps will bother you. Some are OK with CPU temps of 70, some would be extremely nervous.

Some people want liquid cooling strictly for the aesthetic factor...rather than performance itself.
 
Aug 14, 2022
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How much do you want to pay for the cooler itself?

I suppose I still had water coolers in mind and reading into the water cooler sticky, I feel like that won't be the most adequate option for me right now.
(I'm already having thermal throtling issues using an old intel stock fan that came with an i7 4790k, according to HWinfo and that's just with my browser and couple of other idle programs open. Temps are at 65ºC. I'm really stepping away from Water Cooling as I can't afford custom builds.)
The Hyper 212 is being some for about 300 bucks and I'd like to spend around that much. A little more won't be a problem, though.
Aimed temp would be under 80. I prefer perfomarce over appearance.
 
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Aug 14, 2022
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After concluding I will really stay with air coolers, now I'm trying to find out what is a decent option.
Is there any info about what I should look into? I'll be looking for those with 140mm fans because of noise, but can still do with 120mm if not possible.
As for the heatsink, is there some type of consensus of what to look into?
Traditional single fan
Traditional dual fan
Or dual fan with one being in the middle of the heatsink?

Finally, do shrouds on air coolers do anything positive or negative other than subjective taste for its appearance?
Examples:
https://www.pichau.com.br/cooler-pa...ol-ak620-120mm-preto-e-prata-r-ak620-bknnmt-g
 
First step I would take is to eliminate ANY cooler that will not fit in your case.

Cooler specs will tell you how tall the cooler is.

Case specs will tell you the maximum allowable cooler height.

From that list, eliminate those beyond your budget. I guess you are on Brazilian currency, so you'll have to judge that.

You'd likely want a cooler say 150 mm tall or taller, assuming that would fit in your case. Maybe with one single tower of fins. Maybe 2. Maybe one fan. Maybe 2.

The temp differences under a heavy load between an "acceptable and OK" cooler and an "excellent" cooler might be 10 degrees as a wild guess. But maybe you don't care if temps are 65 rather than 75? So why buy the "excellent" cooler?

Look around on your sites for Noctua or Be Quiet coolers in your budget that will fit your case. Noctua U12S?? Noctua U14S? Both single tower single fan.

Noctua D15? One of the best. Dual tower. Heavier; more expensive.

Any of those should be fine unless you have some unusual unmentioned circumstance.

Will they fit? I don't know. I don't know what case you have.

Provide a list of say 4 or 5 of your candidates that are:

1; within your budget
2; available for purchase at your vendors.
3; known to fit in your case after you check the specification sheets of your candidates and your case.

Your case may have good, bad, or average airflow. That may be important. Just like your room temperature may be.