Air vs Liquid (CPU Cooling)

[pcman1990]

This might be a dumb question but my PC is in my living room and during the summer our living room gets pretty hot, I've always wondered if switching to liquid cooling would be better since fans are just pushing hot air onto the CPU, any thoughts?

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

both liquid and air cooling are limited by the ambient temp in the room. With that said liquid cooling will usually get you closer to ambient temp then air does. But if your have a good air cooler the difference may not be anything huge. Keep in mind that most cpu's can operate safely up at temps up to 70 c or 158 f.
1. What air cooler do you have now?
2. What temps do you expect in the summer?
3. What's your budget for a new cooler?

 

[Rammy]

They essentially do the same thing. Air coolers work by pushing air across a large area at relatively high speed. The only difference with a liquid cooler is that the heat is being transferred to a radiator before this process happens.
Ambient temperature will have an effect on any cooling system, so it's not like closed loop or custom loop systems are immune to this.

I'll assume you are talking more about closed loop coolers like the Corsair H60/H100i. There is nothing wrong with these units but they aren't inherently better than air cooling in any way. They still use fans, and their performance/money ratio is generally not very good. Most people are better off with air cooling. If your CPU is getting too hot during the summer, then a cooler upgrade of some description might be useful.

 

[pcman1990]

both liquid and air cooling are limited by the ambient temp in the room. With that said liquid cooling will usually get you closer to ambient temp then air does. But if your have a good air cooler the difference may not be anything huge. Keep in mind that most cpu's can operate safely up at temps up to 70 c or 158 f.
1. What air cooler do you have now?
2. What temps do you expect in the summer?
3. What's your budget for a new cooler?

I'm just planning ahead for my i7 4790k that i plan on getting this week, the temps in the room range in the higher 70's (fahrenheit) maybe even hotter since that room is the hottest. My budget is around $80 but most liquid coolers like the H80i wouldn't fit my case i think. I was just going to get a Hyper 212 EVO but I'm afraid it wouldn't do much since it would just be blowing hot air. I don't really plan on overclocking either, i just want something that'll keep it at decent temps while playing heavy games or rendering videos.

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

Average room temperature is about 75 f. even if your room got as hot as 90 f your CPU will be fine with a cooler like the Hyper 212 Evo. Just make are that you have good intake and exhaust on the case. I'd wager you'd be fine with a mild overclock even. Of course if the overclock is a must then I would really go with a liquid cooler. What case do you have?

 

[pcman1990]

Average room temperature is about 75 f. even if your room got as hot as 90 f your CPU will be fine with a cooler like the Hyper 212 Evo. Just make are that you have good intake and exhaust on the case. I'd wager you'd be fine with a mild overclock even. Of course if the overclock is a must then I would really go with a liquid cooler. What case do you have?

A Rosewill Challenger
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153

I was really determined to get an H80i just to be safe but it looks like a lot of people were having trouble fitting it in the back fan slot. Some people with the same case said it fit and others said it didn't, I just really don't want to get my new CPU and cooler just to find out the cooler doesn't fit.

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

It's hard to tell if the cooler will fit or not. If your really desperate to get the cooler in the case you could mount the radiator to the side door. Have the fan on the outside pushing air through the radiator on the inside. You would prolly need a second pair of hands but it should be possible. But as I said before a good air cooler will be more then enough to keep you build safe. Otherwise I would look into a different case if it's possible. I recently did a build with the new corsair spec 02. pretty good budget case.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139041&cm_re=corsair_spec-_-11-139-041-_-Product

 

[pcman1990]

It's hard to tell if the cooler will fit or not. If your really desperate to get the cooler in the case you could mount the radiator to the side door. Have the fan on the outside pushing air through the radiator on the inside. You would prolly need a second pair of hands but it should be possible. But as I said before a good air cooler will be more then enough to keep you build safe. Otherwise I would look into a different case if it's possible. I recently did a build with the new corsair spec 02. pretty good budget case.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139041&cm_re=corsair_spec-_-11-139-041-_-Product

Would i be able to mount the h80i on the top exhaust slot? If not then I'll definitely just go with Hyper 212 EVO, like i said i really don't plan on over clocking, i just want to keep things cool.

edit: that case you linked me to is a great deal! I had no idea that existed, i might actually go with that lol

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

The problem with mounting the h80 on the top vent on the rosewill case is that it will likely get in the way of the mosfet cooling on most motherboards. (the heatsink on the top edge of the board) The h80i will fit just about anywhere on the spec 02. My personal choice is the front center mount. draw fresh air from the front through the radiator.

 

[nikoli707]

4790k... i would delid and use some coollaboratory liquid pro before i did anything past a phanteks/noctua or h100i.

 

[ryder57]

I own a 212 plus evo cooler, , my room in the summer is 80 degrees (Fahrenheit)average.I was getting 110-150 degrees Fahrenheit on my cpu with stock cooler.
After I installed a 212 plus evo cooler, my temps are down to 80-110 F under load and 75-85 F at idle.
I have a mild oc of 3.6 on an I7-960 with a TDP of 130W Max. this is an older cpu and runs hot to begin with.
The 212 plus evo is the best thing I have come across in air cooling for the money. Hope this helps.

 

[nikoli707]

I own a 212 plus evo cooler, , my room in the summer is 80 degrees (Fahrenheit)average.I was getting 110-150 degrees Fahrenheit on my cpu with stock cooler.
After I installed a 212 plus evo cooler, my temps are down to 80-110 F under load and 75-85 at idle.
I have a mild oc of 3.6
The 212 plus evo is the best thing I have come across in air cooling for the money. Hope this helps.

^ huh. of F... not C...

 

[pcman1990]

I own a 212 plus evo cooler, , my room in the summer is 80 degrees (Fahrenheit)average.I was getting 110-150 degrees Fahrenheit on my cpu with stock cooler.
After I installed a 212 plus evo cooler, my temps are down to 80-110 F under load and 75-85 F at idle.
I have a mild oc of 3.6 on an I7-960 with a TDP of 130W Max. this is an older cpu and runs hot to begin with.
The 212 plus evo is the best thing I have come across in air cooling for the money. Hope this helps.

Wow, i didn't know it did that well! That's really impressive for a $30 cooler.

 

[ryder57]

I own a 212 plus evo cooler, , my room in the summer is 80 degrees (Fahrenheit)average.I was getting 110-150 degrees Fahrenheit on my cpu with stock cooler.
After I installed a 212 plus evo cooler, my temps are down to 80-110 F under load and 75-85 at idle.
I have a mild oc of 3.6
The 212 plus evo is the best thing I have come across in air cooling for the money. Hope this helps.

^ huh. of F... not C...

He used Fahrenheit in his description so I thought I would reply in Fahrenheit so he could understand my statement better.
Haha lol...

 

[ryder57]

I own a 212 plus evo cooler, , my room in the summer is 80 degrees (Fahrenheit)average.I was getting 110-150 degrees Fahrenheit on my cpu with stock cooler.
After I installed a 212 plus evo cooler, my temps are down to 80-110 F under load and 75-85 F at idle.
I have a mild oc of 3.6 on an I7-960 with a TDP of 130W Max. this is an older cpu and runs hot to begin with.
The 212 plus evo is the best thing I have come across in air cooling for the money. Hope this helps.

Wow, i didn't know it did that well! That's really impressive for a $30 cooler.

Its 50 bucks here a little expensive.
I have to admit it performed wayyyy... better than I expected.

 

[Karadjgne]

Your choice in coolers is a personal one at best, all things considered. A h-60 performs equivalent to a hyper212, a h80i like a Noctua nh-d14, a h100i like a Noctua nh-d15. Space and mounting options are the only limiters, and even then, you can get creative. My radiator is mounted above the frame in a small gap below the outer plastic she'll in my case, fan below the frame, for top exhaust. It's not what I'd call a standard mounting, and not in any way was it supposed to do that, according to CoolerMaster, but I did it anyways to avoid clearance issues.

Get your case first, then figure out what you need for cooling, be it cpu or case fans, clc or air.