[citation][nom]chumly[/nom]I find it strange that people would even consider Fan/heatsink monstrosities anymore. The additional weight constantly pulling on your motherboard is NOT GOOD. Buy a cheap closed-loop cooler on sale (there's one for less than $30 after rebate right now). They perform better and don't stress out your motherboard. They also free up room in your case (so the ventilation from your case fans is more effective on the rest of your components). They are also quieter (as in silent).These things are a relic and they need to be phased out.[/citation]
As others have pointed out, the perfomance isn't better, stress on the motherboard isn't a problem with a quality board, there's no need to free up room over your CPU (the ventilation from your case fans is HELPED by the extra fans on a tower cooler), and they're the noise is just as dependent on the fans you use (it's not like they have huge rads so you can use quieter fans or anything). Add to that the possibility of leaks and a dead pump (no pump=0 cooling, and closed loop systems use crap pumps), and you'll understand why many people stick with air coolers. They won't beat a custom loop by any means, but they're certainly a match for any closed loop system currently on the market.