[SOLVED] NZXT H500 fan and CPU cooler options for a mostly-white build.

[egerro]

Hello,

I'm pretty excited about building my first PC in 6 years and I'm looking at some different cooling options. I'm going to be building in an NZXT H500 case and running an i9-9900k in a Gigabyte z390 auros master. It will be sitting on my desk and aesthetics are important to me. I'm trying to decide between these two options:

■ Noctua
Noctua - NH-U12S CPU Cooler (I'll probably swap the fan out for a Noctua NF-F12 chromax and use a heatsink cover)
2 x Noctua NF-S12A chromax 120mm fans for rear and top exhaust
2 x Noctua NF-A15 HS-PWM chromax 140mm fans for front intake
Might add some lighting with an RGB strip or two.
■ Corsair
Corsair - H100i RGB PLATINUM SE Liquid CPU Cooler (I love that it's all-white and it comes with two LL120RGB 120mm fans)
2 x Corsair - LL120RGB 120mm fans for exhaust.

How much have AIO improved since 2013? I'm afraid of the pump failing and my CPU running hot. I don't want to have to replace the cooler every two years. I love how clean AIO look though and that they draw less attention than massive air coolers. I heard the i9-9900k tends to run hot. How do these two compare when cooling the i9? I might do some moderate overclocking.

Thanks in advance!!

Edit: Removed list format. Didn't seem to be working well with my mobile browser.

 

[geofelt]

A very good looking case.
Two front 140mm intake fans will provide plenty of airflow for the air cooler and graphics card.
I like 140mm better than 120mm; they move more air at lower rpm.

I9-9900K can run very hot when fully under load.
I think I would opt for the noctua NH-D15s as a cooler. Yes, you can use a chromax fan if you want.

The nh-D15s will cool fully as well as a H100I and be quieter while doing it.
Air is more reliable and requires no maintenance.
It will not leak.

Another plus happens if your front intakes are filtered; your parts will stay cleaner from positive pressure airflow.

Do not use more than one rear exhaust fan. Stronger exhaust tends to draw in unfiltered air from adjacent openings.

 

[egerro]

A very good looking case.
Two front 140mm intake fans will provide plenty of airflow for the air cooler and graphics card.
I like 140mm better than 120mm; they move more air at lower rpm.

I9-9900K can run very hot when fully under load.
I think I would opt for the noctua NH-D15s as a cooler. Yes, you can use a chromax fan if you want.

The nh-D15s will cool fully as well as a H100I and be quieter while doing it.
Air is more reliable and requires no maintenance.
It will not leak.

Another plus happens if your front intakes are filtered; your parts will stay cleaner from positive pressure airflow.

Do not use more than one rear exhaust fan. Stronger exhaust tends to draw in unfiltered air from adjacent openings.

I'm worried about the ram clearance as I will be using 4 RGB sticks. How much more visual space does the NH-D15S take up over the NH-U12S, and how many degrees would I be losing by going with a NH-U12S vs a NH-D15S? I'm willing to give up some performance for aesthetics.

If I use a single exhaust, should it exhaust out the back or top of the case?

 

[geofelt]

The S variants of the noctua coolers are redesigned for high compatibility.
Not only is there no ram clearance issues up to 65mm. The coolers are offset a touch so graphics cards with backplates mounted in the first pcie slot will have no clearance issues.

You can go to the noctua site for full details.
https://noctua.at/en/nh-d15s/specification
The NH-D15s is a dual tower cooler that can handle the potential high thermal output of a 9900K, particularly if you overclock a bit.
Your case supports coolers up to 6.5"(165mm)
The noctua NH-U14s @165mm could work also.

Many coolers will work, but the larger/better coolers will do the job more quietly.

Z390 motherboards are dual channel only.
I think it would be a mistake to use 4 ram sticks when a 2 x 8gb kit will do.
It will be cheaper and 2 sticks are easier for a motherboard to manage.

As to a single exhaust, I like in the rear better than top.
The main purpose is to direct the cooling airflow past the cpu cooler and out the back of the case.
Any fan noise should be less apparent if the fan is in the rear.

Top could work if you had a special reason.

 

[egerro]

The S variants of the noctua coolers are redesigned for high compatibility.
Not only is there no ram clearance issues up to 65mm. The coolers are offset a touch so graphics cards with backplates mounted in the first pcie slot will have no clearance issues.

You can go to the noctua site for full details.
https://noctua.at/en/nh-d15s/specification
The NH-D15s is a dual tower cooler that can handle the potential high thermal output of a 9900K, particularly if you overclock a bit.
Your case supports coolers up to 6.5"(165mm)
The noctua NH-U14s @165mm could work also.

Many coolers will work, but the larger/better coolers will do the job more quietly.

Z390 motherboards are dual channel only.
I think it would be a mistake to use 4 ram sticks when a 2 x 8gb kit will do.
It will be cheaper and 2 sticks are easier for a motherboard to manage.

As to a single exhaust, I like in the rear better than top.
The main purpose is to direct the cooling airflow past the cpu cooler and out the back of the case.
Any fan noise should be less apparent if the fan is in the rear.

Top could work if you had a special reason.

I appreciate all the info! I think I'm going to give the NH-D15s a shot. One last question though.

Why would it be a mistake to go with 4 sticks of ram? A slight performance hit isn't a deal breaker for me. I really want to fill up all 4 slots because I think it looks better. Cost doesn't matter. I'm currently looking at Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32 GB 3200MHz C16 (51mm height). *SKU CMW32GX4M4C3200C16W