[SOLVED] Liquid Cooler VS Air Cooler

[dwayne.eil]

So, I am having a real hard time trying to decide what kind of cooling I would want to use. The main reason why is I have heard that for liquid cooling there can be failure after 3 years. For air cooling seems to always be reliable, but I am worried it will not be able to satifsy my CPU properly to the performance I would like to get. I have a couple of coolers in mind and would love to hear your thoughts on them.

First off the components I have are listed:
Case - I have a S340 mid tower black + Red case. Link : https://www.nzxt.com/products/s340-black-red

CPU - I have the Core i7 8700k processor

I had two air coolers in mind and they are the Cooler Master V8 GTS and the Noctua NH-D15.

Cooler Master V8 GTS: http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/cpu-air-cooler/v8-gts/

Noctua NH-D15: https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NH-D15-heatpipe-NF-A15-140mm/dp/B00L7UZMAK/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1541104049&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=Noctua+NH-D15&psc=1

The two liquid coolers I had in mind is the MasterLiquid Pro 240 and the Kraken x62

MasterLiquid Pro 240 : http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/cpu-liquid-cooler/masterliquid-pro-240/

Kraken x62 : https://www.nzxt.com/products/kraken-x62

If I could get your opinions that would be fantastic, thank you for reading this post

 

[2sidedpolygon]

If you're overclocking, I'd get liquid if you can, but if you're just leaving the CPU at stock, you shouldn't need anything more than air.

 

[dwayne.eil]

If you're overclocking, I'd get liquid if you can, but if you're just leaving the CPU at stock, you shouldn't need anything more than air.

I was planning on messing around with overclocking, but like I said I wanted the best cooling system for the CPU I have for the best possible performances. Also which liquid cooler would you recommend for me to use then?

 

[Dugimodo]

A good air cooler is fine for overclocking, and just as good as a lot of AIO coolers. The main disadvantage of air coolers is the size and weight which can stress the motherboard, cause clearance issues with RAM, and be a bit awkward to mount. That said a lot of people have only ever used air coolers to great effect.

Air coolers do tend to last longer, and if the fan fails on them it's easily replaced. If the pump on an AIO fails or it loses liquid it's basically un repairable.

Both systems work, really it's down to personal choice. There are advantages on both sides.

 

[Barty1884]

A high-end air cooler (like the NH-D15) will better mid-range AIOs (like a lot of the CoolerMaster offerings. Not 100% sure on the MLPro), and will rival a lot of the higher-end AIO's (like the Kraken X62)

Air coolers are bulky, have some compatibility issues with a lot of cases &/or RAM modules.... but have substantially less 'risk' involved.
On top of that, air coolers will generally last longer. An AIO has a limited shelf-life. I wouldn't expect one to be functionally worthwhile beyond it's warranty period (around 3 years on good ones, top tier ones can be 5-6 years, IIRC).... A quality air cooler should have a useable lifespan over double that of a competing AIO.

Absolute top tier ($150+) AIO's will have the outright "best" performance, subjectively look "better" and compatibility is generally less of a concern.
BUT, performance gains are typically a fairly small margin vs a worthy top tier Air Cooler.

Personally, I'm all for Air (have had an NH-D15 for few years now). Liquid certainly has a place though. I'm just more of a form over function kinda guy.

 

[The Original Ralph]

the above points are all acccurate and well stated, this is just the opinion of an old fart

but introducing a conductive liquid, ie water, into an electronics environment seems more than foolish - an awful lot of risk for very little gain. Take a look at any of the cooler comparison reviews, and the best AIOs don't seem to offer much more than 1-2 degrees of cooling efficiency over the better air coolers - the Noctua D15 and D15S come to mind (i' run a D15s). Factor in the reliability factor - there just seem to be far more reports of pump failures than air cooler fan failures, and then there's the expense factor. And if the system leaks, it can take out the mobo, CPU and GPU depending on where the liquid flowed and what it shorted out

I just don't see the gain for the added risk, expense or diminished reliability

If or when someone introduces a system using Freon that is affordable, i'd be interested - far greater cooling effect from a gas that's intended for cooling systems - yeah, i know i can build a nitrogen system, but not really practical except for reviewers trying to set new OC records. I'm really surprised no one has come out with a Freon based system, that operates on convection, which would mean no pump necessary, reducing complexity.

 

[CrazyDingo]

NH-D15, an easy win there - great temperatures, easy install, no leaks or tricky maintenance.
Just make sure your case / mobo are big enough.

 

[izoli]

A quality large air cooler will do just fine performance-wise, but if you want that great cooling with less noise then a good water cooling system is the answer.

 

[Barty1884]

A quality large air cooler will do just fine performance-wise, but if you want that great cooling with less noise then a good water cooling system is the answer.

Not necessarily true. Depending on the AIO, the pump noise can actually be louder than some quality, top tier fans (from Noctua, BeQuiet, et al).

 

[izoli]

A quality large air cooler will do just fine performance-wise, but if you want that great cooling with less noise then a good water cooling system is the answer.

Not necessarily true. Depending on the AIO, the pump noise can actually be louder than some quality, top tier fans (from Noctua, BeQuiet, et al).

You're right