[SOLVED] Is water cooling worth it?

[hikaen]

Ryzen 5 3600
Getting 45-50 on idle 67-80----85(really rare) during gaming/heavy load
Was thinking about getting a decent water cooler and overclocking a couple hundred mhz
Question is:are those temps reasonable and dont hurt my cpu over time?And if not,will ocing with the water cooler keep the cpu at same temps as of now or raise them even higher?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Thermal ceiling is not the limiting factor when it comes to overclocking on Ryzen, and where it is, water cooling isn't going to help much to be honest. You'd do just as well with a good air cooler.

Yes, anything below 80°C is ok. 85°C is probably going to have an effect on boost clocks. Yes, overclocking will raise temps even more. There is almost no headroom for overclocking on Ryzen. Aside from "overclocking" to establish an all core boost that is a little more evenly balanced rather than having a single core that boosts higher than others, which is by design, there is little reason for even bothering with an overclock on Ryzen. Even less so on Zen2 than 2nd Gen Ryzen.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/ryzen-3000-series-cpus-lack-overclocking-headroom,39850.html

 

[kerberos_20]

tbh watercooling is just eyecandy stuff for CPU, noctua (air) pretty much still beats 240mm aio in performance/noise volume

 

[SchizTech]

A high end air cooler is enough for most situations, as it's normal for a chip to get warm and keeping temperatures lower than a baseline where they never get dangerous in whatever configuration the system is in (CPU model, any OC, etc) is unnecessary. In my view unless a very high level of cooling is critical the water cooler just provides more that can go wrong (pump failure or leak)

 

[Darkbreeze]

This is the problem with water cooling. And it happens more often than some people care to admit since they are water cooling enthusiasts. Obviously, it's not always a problem and some amount of blame is often attributable to user error in the installation, but the fact remains that leaks and ruined hardware, even on an AIO system, are a real potential eventuality.

Coolant has dripped on GPU, now it's broken

Hi everyone, It looks like my enclosed water loop has leaked coolant on my GPU. I noticed when my monitor started to do this: I turned off my PC, then started cleaning it up with 99.9% isypropyl alcohol. I left it in a warm place for 24 hours to complete dry. I just plugged my GPU back...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[Beowolfbreko]

I wold not recomend water cooling.I wold go for air anytime (noctua,sycthe or cooler master)

 

[rubix_1011]

For the record, I've custom watercooled for nearly 18 years and only had 1 leak that has occurred in that time...and it was my own fault for not securing a fitting completely.

For those who care to know - AIOs are rarely the same level of performance as custom watercooling. AIOs are often cheaply produced - an entire AIO liquid cooler will be priced the same as a single pump, block or radiator of custom watercooling.

 

[Darkbreeze]

For the record, I've custom watercooled for nearly 18 years and only had 1 leak that has occurred in that time...and it was my own fault for not securing a fitting completely.

Which is why I said it was usually attributable to user error. The problem is, for the average person, they are not usually as attentive to detail and accuracy as you are, or do not know how to select the correct parts that might best avoid such issues. And for the AIO, exactly, they are not and should not even be in the same conversation as custom loop cooling. They have a place (AIO coolers), I'm just not sure that in most cases that place offers enough to justify the expense unless the primary concern is aesthetics.

 

[rubix_1011]

Yep, I've just seen an influx in 'liquid cooling' and there is a lot of misrepresentation of what buyers are actually getting vs. what they should prepare themselves for. The ambiguity is perpetuated by AIO vendors allowing this inaccurate data to perpetuate because ultimately, it drives sales for them.