MatthewE310 :
n0ns3ns3 :
there is no such thing as "affordable" liquid cooling.
until you get into 140-160USD for things like Swiftech H220 X2 or EK Predator 240, it's crap coolers that have almost 0 practical justification to exist.
that means Corsair, NZXT, TT Arctic, DeepCool and many others are total crap.
you get better noise and thermal perfromance with much cheaper and much more reliable high end air coolers.
There are liquid coolers that cost 140-160 USD made by Corsair or NZXT, such as the Corsair H115i Extreme or NZXT Kraken X62. I thought that the only difference of these coolers compared to others ones are that you can't change the liquid from the cooling system, hence they don't last as long? Because shouldn't all of these coolers all have similar components and function similarly, but the only difference is that the ones you are criticizing are disposable? I never asked for an actual affordable liquid cooler, since the word "affordable" could be subjective. I was only asking for the most affordable ones that could help me achieve my goals. That could possibly mean a cooler that is $160 or even $200 if necessary. I am very intimidated of the idea of installing a liquid cooler that doesn't include liquid and requires me to add the liquid myself. I like simplicity of use.
They are very different almost on any level.
Lets' take for example corsair and nzxt - their liquid coolers are made by asetek and coolit. you can see a teardown here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc07JtDerUw&t
to summarize, they have anemic pump, aluminum radiator - thus high fin density - thus high RPM fans and some copper plate that serves as cold plate (the one that contacts CPU).
If you look at Swiftech or EK you get AiO made of enthusiast grade components:
1. Real pump (xylem DDC) that can reliably push the liquid through the loop at lower speed = lower noise and higher reliability. this pump also allows to add components to the loop as it can handle 1-2 GPU blocks and couple of radiators.
2. Full copper radiators - much better heat dissipation + lower noise
3. Real high end CPU water blocks.
not to mention that they are customizable , expandable and serviceable.
And this is called "entry level".
If you are really want to start with liquid, those (swiftech and EK) are the most affordable.
Though the later is currently EoL as it will be replaced by something new soon.