Question liquid (AIO) or air for silence (cheap)

[lazo1999]

Hello,
So I have an r5 3600 which I mainly use for gaming with a GTX 1660ti
Cpu is never stressed realy but i care a lot about acoustics especially in idle-browsing (because no headphones) AND I have an open case (Thermaltake Core P3) which makes it worse
Looks is also a factor - a metallic brick isnt the best thing inside this case which has dedicated space for water cooling
Right now i have it running with a cryorig c7 which isnt enough by any means (in aida64 it is over 2500rpm over 85 Celcius and no PBO)
but it is very silent on idling-browsing and a lot quieter than the stock cooler which also makes a motory noise. it is OK for just gaming though.
I want to buy a cooler relatively cheap (30-50€) but that budget is expandaple. Theese are my choices for air cooling cause they have very low starting rpm
Thermaltake Riing Silent 12 RGB Sync Edition
Be Quiet Shadow Rock Slim
Now Im thinking of liquid but I am concerned of the noise of the pump, cause custom is very very expensive and i change my graphics card a lot (so no GPU block)
Theese are around 65-75€
Enermax LIQMAX III RGB 240mm
CoolerMaster MasterLiquid ML240L RGB
Raijintek EOS 240 RBW
What is your experience with this kind of AIO? Do I have to choose between looks (AIO) or acoustics (AIR) or the extra money of the AIO give me both?

 

[punkncat]

Noctua has been known to have really quiet fans. Not sure if something suitable in your budget.

In an open air case like that I am not sure exactly what you are expecting. Perhaps look into passive cooling options?

 

[lazo1999]

yeah, noctua is surely a thing, but black ones are the same price as AIO and orange just 5€ lower and dont really look good in my sytem
The question is basically if AIOs are silent enoughas a noctua or be quiet! at low loads