Using an i5-12600k which is 125 watts.
When looking coolers, look for those which support LGA1700 socket, since that is your CPU/MoBo.
I do not have a case yet. the board is e-atx.
With E-ATX MoBo, your chose essentially comes down to either full-tower ATX or super-tower ATX case. Also, you need to be careful since not all full-tower ATX cases support E-ATX MoBos (either you block off cable routing holes or PC case doesn't have standoffs for E-ATX MoBo).
Not sure what i need or will work, air or water.
As far as AIOs vs air coolers go, you won't gain any cooling performance if you go with AIO over air cooler since both are cooled by ambient air.
For equal cooling performance between AIOs and air coolers, rad needs to be 240mm or 280mm. Smaller rads: 120mm and 140mm are almost always outperformed by mid-sized air coolers. Single slot rads are good in mini-ITX builds where you don't have enough CPU cooler clearance to install mid-sized CPU air cooler.
Here are the positive sides of both (air and AIO) CPU cooling methods;
Pros of air coolers:
less cost
less maintenance
less noise
far longer longevity
no leakage risks
doesn't take up case fan slots
additional cooling for the RAM
CPU cools down faster after heavy heat output
Pros of AIOs:
no RAM clearance issues*
no CPU clearance issues
CPU takes longer time to heat up during heavy heat output (about 30 mins)
* on some cases, top mounted rad can give RAM clearance issues
While how the CPU cooler looks inside the PC depends on a person. Some people prefer to see small AIO pump in the middle of their MoBo with tubing going to the rad while others prefer to see big heatsink with fans in the middle of their MoBo.
Main difference between AIO and air cooler is that with AIO, you'll get more noise at a higher cost while cooling performance remains the same.
Here's also one good article for you to read where king of air coolers (Noctua NH-D15) was put against 5x high-end AIOs, including former king of AIOs (NZXT x61 Kraken),
link:
http://www.relaxedtech.com/reviews/noctua/nh-d15-versus-closed-loop-liquid-coolers/1
Personally, i'd go with air coolers every day of the week. With same cooling performance, the pros of air coolers outweigh the pros of AIOs considerably. While, for me, the 3 main pros would be:
1. Less noise.
Since i like my PC to be quiet, i can't stand the loud noise AIO makes. Also, when air gets trapped inside the AIO (some AIOs are more prone to this than others), there's additional noise coming from inside the pump.
2. Longevity.
Cheaper AIOs usually last 2-3 years and high-end ones 4-5 years before you need to replace it. While with air coolers, their life expectancy is basically unlimited. Only thing that can go bad on an air cooler is the fan on it. If the fan dies, your CPU still has cooling in form of a big heatsink. Also, new 120mm or 140mm fan doesn't cost much and it's easy to replace one. While with AIOs, the main thing that usually goes bad is the pump itself. And when that happens, your CPU has no cooling whatsoever. Since you can't replace pump on an AIO, you need to buy whole new AIO to replace the old one out.
3. No leakage risks.
Since there's liquid circling inside the AIO, there is always a risk that your AIO can leak. While it's rare, it has happened. It's well known fact that liquids and electronics don't mix.
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Now, since you have 125W CPU, only "big boy" air coolers would suffice, e.g Noctua NH-D15, Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4, Scythe Fuma 3, Deepcool Assassin III, Arctic Freezer 50 and the like.
Oh, Arctic Freezer 50 is the latest of what i listed and it is competing against other big boy coolers very well,
review:
https://hardwarecanucks.com/cooling-power/arctic-freezer-50-review/
I was thinking to go with Freezer 50 with my next build but to me, it has huge drawback of not being able to switch out the stock fans nor being able to raise the front fan if the RAM doesn't fit. Other big boy coolers doesn't have those issues though and fan can be placed higher on the cooler (which will increase the height of the cooler, so, you need to be careful. Or don't buy tall RAM in the first place.).
Though, you can go with AIO as well, bare minimum of 240mm rad (two 120mm fans), while 280mm rad (two 140mm fans) would be better. Even better would be 360mm rad (three 120mm fans) or even 420mm rad (three 140mm fans).
Most full- and super-tower ATX cases have plenty of room and it isn't much of an issue to fit big boy air cooler into them (usually around 165-170mm tall) or using triple-fan rad.
For example, my Skylake and Haswell builds (full specs with pics in my sig) are both in full-tower ATX cases. Corsair 760T V2 Black for Skylake and Corsair 750D Airflow Edition for Haswell. Now, both of my cases have CPU cooler clearance up to 170mm and i can put 280mm rad as front intake, and/or 420mm rad as top exhaust, if i so desire.
Have not found a page specific to coolers.
Here's further reading;
air coolers:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-cpu-coolers,4181.html
AIOs:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-cpu-coolers,4181-2.html
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