[SOLVED] i7 7700k Air vs AIO Cooling Cooler Purchase?

[ccoo84]

Hello, I'm doing minor upgrades to my computer, I'm replacing the case, motherboard & thinking about replacing the cooler.

Currently I have a Air Cooler, Artic Freezer Xtreme on my board but I want to start overclocking my chip.. I have a GTX 1080ti & a Coirsair 650W PSU..

Will It be better to tget something like a Noctua Air-cooler vs AIO..

I've never owned a Noctua but only heard good things, I like the idea of a AOI but there more expensive & draw more Watts. Any advice would be great. Thanks.


P.S I havew my eye on the
Cooler CPU Noctua NH-D15 Chromax.Black

 

[popatim]

You already have a good cooler to begin overclocking with. Just use that for now.

 

[iPeekYou]

It can be better, judging from the (old) reviews of Freezer Xtreme. Vortez's result is surprising, it shows the Freezer Xtreme as underperforming compared to a Hyper 212.

If you want to go Noctua, there's the NH-U12A. Almost as good as the Ds at a smaller footprint. The only downside is it doesn't come in Chromax. The NH-U12S does, but it's the slim, cut-down version and performs just about the same as other 120mm single tower coolers.

Alternatively, Scythe coolers are more silent focused. Keep in mind that some coolers are too silent for their own good, like the Ninja 2. I suggest a Fuma and a pair of strong fans if you can tank the noise. A guy on Reddit swapped his Fuma fans for a pair of Scythe Wonder Snails (like in my sig), and reported 5 degrees better temps.
Mugen 5 is also quite good for silence, but performance can be better. They're more affordable than Noctuas.

IMO, you can get better bang for buck going with whichever size air cooler you want to go with at cheap price, then swapping the fans for Noctua Chromaxes for silence. Assassin III is good candidate for NH-D14 replacement, for instance.

 

[ccoo84]

Thanks I ended up buying the Corsair Hydro Series H100x , Doesnt have to use any crappy Corsair software, no RGB on it & $100 cheaper then the latest model, with the same water cooling range off by 2 degrees or so.

Thank you for your help.