Question i need help picking a 420mm aio for my build

[flyaway1999]

hi, im currently in the process of building my pc. im building in a dynamic evo xl white. i'm also waiting for the 9950x3d to come out to finish it, but im buying all the other parts in the meantime. I already got 3x140mm lian li tl fans for the bottom, 3x140mm lian li tl fans for the side/front and 2x120mm fans for the rear. Now, im looking for a 420 aio for the top. I have a gigabyte x870e extreme ai top motherboard and the heatsink for the m2 from what i read in the arctic compatibility list blocks the pump for the arctic iii. I know there arent that many options in terms of 420 aio's, especially in white which i would prefer but ill settle for black if thats what i have to put. Ideally, something Aesthetically pleasing as well as performant. Does somebody have any suggestions as to which i should get based on personal experience? seems in terms of white its either arctic liquid freezer iii or thermaltake TH420 ultra v2, except i cant find any good reviews on the thermaltake unit. I've also heard of some people mounting the arctic iii upside down(with the tubes up) but I dont know about that either maybe thats an opion too. does anybody have any experience with the reverse mounting or the arctic too?I also thought of maybe getting the alphacool eisbaer aurora pro 420 as later on , i eventually want to do a custom loop so i could add it with keeping the radiator too but the reviews for it arent too convincing. I'd like to know I'm open to any suggestions.

Thank you

 

[turtletarget111]

Do not ever mount an AIO on the bottom of the case. This will force air into the pump and coldplate, reducing cooling performance, but more importantly, will kill your pump over time as water starts to evaporate from the liquid cooler. Mounting the cooler on top of the case is ideal, failing that, mount it to the front with the tubes at the bottom. As far as custom water cooling loops, they are very cool, but require a huge monetary investment, routine maintenance, and there is always a risk for leakage damaging your parts (to a far greater degree than an AIO).

The Arctic Liquid Freezer III has been independently tested by several outlets and is one of the best AIO coolers on the market, especially considering the extremely competitive prices. Apart from performing really well in general, it's also a newer cooler, and it was designed with modern CPU sockets in mind, meaning it will better cool a CPU with a chiplet design (like the 9950X3D) as opposed to an older cooler that simply ships with new mounting hardware.

 

[steveb1976]

artic freezer iii,
lian-li galahad ii trinity
thermaltake
corsair h170i

 

[SyCoREAPER]

Why are you dead set on a 420mm?
You're limiting your options of cases and AIOs for no real reason.

A 360mm keeps a 9800x3D around 60-70C max with a thermal limit of 95. I don't see AMD shooting itself in the foot with the 9950x3D and the steak they're on dominating against Intel.

 

[flyaway1999]

Why are you dead set on a 420mm?
You're limiting your options of cases and AIOs for no real reason.

A 360mm keeps a 9800x3D around 60-70C max with a thermal limit of 95. I don't see AMD shooting itself in the foot with the 9950x3D and the steak they're on dominating against Intel.

ok well heres the thing. it was mainly a 420 for aesthetics but i guess ill settle for a 360. i really wanted to get the liquid freezer iii but the problem is that on the motherboard combatibility list, my motherboard isnt compatible because the m2 heatsink blocks the pump and im not removing the heatsink. thats a nono for me.

a few i been looking at that are available to me are the ek nucleus and the deepcool lt360. the thing with the nucleus is that i read thats its real good with intel but not as good with amd. so ideally i want something white with argb.... i just cant find the proper information because i find a lot of reviews are biaised. So i do want something visually pleasant as well as performant for a 270 watt cpu which i might overclock to i dont know maybe 310-315w.
So its just kinda confusing because if something is good with intel apparently doesnt perform the same with amd...

 

[Phaaze88]

So its just kinda confusing because if something is good with intel apparently doesnt perform the same with amd...

It's much to do with the shape of the IHS(one is slightly concave[Intel], the other is slightly convex[AMD]), as well as what's under the hood: one has a rectangular die down the center(Intel), and the other has 2 or more dies offset from the center(AMD).

Cooler cold plates aren't perfectly flat either.

 

[flyaway1999]

It's much to do with the shape of the IHS(one is slightly concave[Intel], the other is slightly convex[AMD]), as well as what's under the hood: one has a rectangular die down the center(Intel), and the other has 2 or more dies offset from the center(AMD).

Cooler cold plates aren't perfectly flat either.

Do you have a model you suggest and have experience with that's is reliable and would fit my needs? Like one that has a cold plate that will do good on an amd ihs?

I can't seem to decide. would you suggest for example the ek cooler cr 360 lux. It seems to do great with intel but not so much with amd

Such a headache i wanna buy something once and not have to think about it for a while...

 

[Phaaze88]

Do you have a model you suggest and have experience with that's is reliable and would fit my needs? Like one that has a cold plate that will do good on an amd ihs?

I can't seem to decide. would you suggest for example the ek cooler cr 360 lux. It seems to do great with intel but not so much with amd

Such a headache i wanna buy something once and not have to think about it for a while...

I don't exactly have any suggestions, as I don't change hardware very often; I've been on X299 for around 7.5 years, and just recently managed to reserve a 9800X3D.
Best bet is to watch/read reviews. TPU has a good sample set: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/be-quiet-light-loop-360-mm-aio-cpu-liquid-cooler/7.html
That EK cooler doesn't appear to be as good as some others on those lists. It's a bit more impressive on the Intel list the next page over though.

If you desire reliability, and to set it + forget it, stick with air coolers. An AIO should be bought knowing it'll become e-waste at an undetermined point in time, most commonly pump failures and loop clogging.

 

[SyCoREAPER]

ok well heres the thing. it was mainly a 420 for aesthetics but i guess ill settle for a 360. i really wanted to get the liquid freezer iii but the problem is that on the motherboard combatibility list, my motherboard isnt compatible because the m2 heatsink blocks the pump and im not removing the heatsink. thats a nono for me.

a few i been looking at that are available to me are the ek nucleus and the deepcool lt360. the thing with the nucleus is that i read thats its real good with intel but not as good with amd. so ideally i want something white with argb.... i just cant find the proper information because i find a lot of reviews are biaised. So i do want something visually pleasant as well as performant for a 270 watt cpu which i might overclock to i dont know maybe 310-315w.
So its just kinda confusing because if something is good with intel apparently doesnt perform the same with amd...

Ah ok. Well just one thing to consider, 140mm fans are more expensive with less options. If you don't like the fans that come with it, you might have a hard time finding (big debate not intentionally initiated) high static pressure fans or high airflow for whichever use-case.

Nevertheless, I don't have anything else I can contribute other than food for thought in above 2 posts. Best of luck.