Hi all, as odd as it is I have a mid-range air cooler I bought when I built my PC that has a fan that is failing. Buying a new fan is easy enough, but I figured I would upgrade my cooler anyways. However, I tend to overthink things for a variety of reasons.
I have in my possession a Dark Rock Pro 4, a Noctua NH-D15 cromax black, and an Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280 A-RGB. I am not sure which one I should go with.
This question really isn't about what is going to be the best as all three options are highly rated coolers and will do the job well.
For those who may want more information, I have a Ryzen 9 3900X, an RTX 2070 Super, on an MSI Meg X570x all in a Phanteks P600s . My OS is on an NVMe M.2 and I have other SSDs installed as well for storage.
My temps even with a midrange Enermax cooler were always within range for GPU/CPU even when gaming. I have 3 140mm intake fans in the front and 3 120mmm set as the exhaust on the top as well as a 140mm exhaust fan in the rear.
The CPU is not overclocked and I have no plans to overclock it. Sure, I may upgrade the processor and GPU in the near future, but even then I think the above coolers could handle a 3000 series GPU and a new AM4 Processor.
I usually play video games and do some video and fx editing in programs like after effects. So, there is a lot rendering out at times.
This is just more of a personal/opinion question as to which one you would choose. I am sure your rationale and reasons would be different than mine. For example, I like the Dark Rock Pro, but I am not a huge fan of its aesthetic. This is about the same for the NH D15. At least Noctua sells heatsink covers I can buy to jazz it up. On a personal level, I know Noctura is the gold standard for air coolers, but it pisses me off on an emotional level they have their god awful standard brown color and they refuse to change - and when they do change the cromax black costs more and I am not entirely certain the cost difference warrants the prices they charge even if it is only a few dollars. So, I just think - damn you Noctua, stop making ugly, good running products. People who I know who build PCs typically are shying away from an AIO and their paranoia about leaks may be transferring to me a bit on that one - albeit that is a tiny amount.
So, what is my own opinion? All three will be more than adequate. The Arctic probably will yield the best temps, but that may be at a noise db level I am not prepared for fully. It probably will be good for that and if I want to overlock and upgrade, I will not need to worry about GPU hitting anything if the size of the GPU is too large - but that is a minor issue. The NH D 15 will offer an almost similar performance if not the same to the Arctic even though it is air. It will last a long time. It is pretty big and ugly and I think I have enough ram clearance for the front fan. If not I can bump the fan up a bit and it will still fit. The Dark Rock will do well, but not as well as the NH D 15. It is pretty bulky and ugly too. The reason I would use one of those is that I couldn't get my hands on the NH-D15 I would want because the black sells out while their ugly browns are everywhere.
So, I know that is a lot to take in and read for nothing. But I really do want people's opinions on this. It may help me make my final decision on what to put into my PC.
Your help would be highly appreciated!
I have in my possession a Dark Rock Pro 4, a Noctua NH-D15 cromax black, and an Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280 A-RGB. I am not sure which one I should go with.
This question really isn't about what is going to be the best as all three options are highly rated coolers and will do the job well.
For those who may want more information, I have a Ryzen 9 3900X, an RTX 2070 Super, on an MSI Meg X570x all in a Phanteks P600s . My OS is on an NVMe M.2 and I have other SSDs installed as well for storage.
My temps even with a midrange Enermax cooler were always within range for GPU/CPU even when gaming. I have 3 140mm intake fans in the front and 3 120mmm set as the exhaust on the top as well as a 140mm exhaust fan in the rear.
The CPU is not overclocked and I have no plans to overclock it. Sure, I may upgrade the processor and GPU in the near future, but even then I think the above coolers could handle a 3000 series GPU and a new AM4 Processor.
I usually play video games and do some video and fx editing in programs like after effects. So, there is a lot rendering out at times.
This is just more of a personal/opinion question as to which one you would choose. I am sure your rationale and reasons would be different than mine. For example, I like the Dark Rock Pro, but I am not a huge fan of its aesthetic. This is about the same for the NH D15. At least Noctua sells heatsink covers I can buy to jazz it up. On a personal level, I know Noctura is the gold standard for air coolers, but it pisses me off on an emotional level they have their god awful standard brown color and they refuse to change - and when they do change the cromax black costs more and I am not entirely certain the cost difference warrants the prices they charge even if it is only a few dollars. So, I just think - damn you Noctua, stop making ugly, good running products. People who I know who build PCs typically are shying away from an AIO and their paranoia about leaks may be transferring to me a bit on that one - albeit that is a tiny amount.
So, what is my own opinion? All three will be more than adequate. The Arctic probably will yield the best temps, but that may be at a noise db level I am not prepared for fully. It probably will be good for that and if I want to overlock and upgrade, I will not need to worry about GPU hitting anything if the size of the GPU is too large - but that is a minor issue. The NH D 15 will offer an almost similar performance if not the same to the Arctic even though it is air. It will last a long time. It is pretty big and ugly and I think I have enough ram clearance for the front fan. If not I can bump the fan up a bit and it will still fit. The Dark Rock will do well, but not as well as the NH D 15. It is pretty bulky and ugly too. The reason I would use one of those is that I couldn't get my hands on the NH-D15 I would want because the black sells out while their ugly browns are everywhere.
So, I know that is a lot to take in and read for nothing. But I really do want people's opinions on this. It may help me make my final decision on what to put into my PC.
Your help would be highly appreciated!