I had a NZXT X61. That's a 280mm AIO and it worked like a champ for 6 years, in fact it still works, but one of the fans developed a bad bearing. So on a whim, I replaced it with a Cryorig R1 Ultimate, which I got on sale for $49. Pretty good deal since it bangs heads with a Noctua NH-D15 and is a fraction better than a D15S.
2nd guessing that decision, but that price was a factor. That supposedly really quiet aircooler is seriously louder than the old X61, at any rpm. At less than 900rpm the X61's stock fans were almost dead silent. But since I dropped my OC from 4.9GHz to 4.6GHz, the overhead afforded by the 280mm wasn't needed, the air cooler works just the same, equitable temps. It's just noisy. (to me).
Fact is, liquid or air is all equitable, in their respective areas. A 120mm AIO is equitable to a 140w budget air like a CM hyper212 evo, a 280mm is equitable to the biggest air coolers, and the 140mm equal the mid range etc. But thats temp performance. The only advantage liquids offer in range is that air coolers can only get so big, a NH-D15 is 250w+, a 280mm is 300-350w, a 360mm is 350-450w. But if your cpu is only outputting 150w, air = liquid, headroom is useless.