Question Refill my MSI 240mm AIO or switch to aircooler for my 7700X?

[nap_strike]

TL;DR: My MSI 240mm AIO is running super hot (95°C, even at medium loads) and making gurgling noises. Some users have fixed this by draining, cleaning, and refilling it, but it may require yearly maintenance. Instead of dealing with that, I’m considering switching to a Thermalright Phantom Spirit air cooler since a 240mm AIO isn’t much better anyway.

Should I bother cleaning/refilling my AIO, or just switch to the air cooler and forget about it?

Hey guys, I need some advice on my cooling situation. My PC specs:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X
• Cooler: MSI MAG CORELIQUID 240R V2 (240mm AIO)
• Motherboard: MSI MAG X670E TOMAHAWK WIFI
• RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32GB (DDR5-6000 CL32)
• GPU: Sapphire RX 7900 XT 20GB
• Case: MSI MAG FORGE 100M
• PSU: MSI MPG A850GF (850W, 80+ Gold)

I've undervolted my CPU using per-core PBO:
Core 1 to 8: 0, -11, -26, -12, -20, -9, -10, -17 (Core 1 can’t take any undervolt for some reason).

The Problem:​

My AIO has had high temp issues since day one, and after a year, it’s getting worse. It now makes gurgling noises and sometimes hits 95°C even in gaming (Stalker 2) at 40% load.

I found out that earlier versions of this AIO were recalled for clogging issues. Mine is the "fixed" version, but many people still report problems. Since the pump is on the radiator instead of the CPU block, some say it should be front-mounted. I tried that, but temps got even worse, and my PC shut down from overheating. So, I switched back to a top mount.

Possible Fixes & My Dilemma:​

Some users opened the AIO, drained the coolant (which looked like swamp water), cleaned it, and refilled it. They claim it made a huge difference. But:
✔️ It could fix the issue
❌ It might need yearly maintenance
❌ I’m a bit worried about doing it wrong

Since a 240mm AIO isn’t much better than a high-end air cooler, I’m considering switching to an NH-D15 or Thermalright Phantom Spirit.

• The NH-D15 is quite expensive, and for the same price (or less), I could get an Arctic Liquid Freezer III 420mm AIO. However, my current case can’t fit a 420mm AIO, so I’d need to buy a larger case, which would add even more cost. That makes it a bit of a dilemma.
• Thermalright Phantom Spirit is much cheaper and performs great with the 7700X.
• Air coolers are lower maintenance and I want to forget it for 5 years or so.

What Would You Do?​

1. Try cleaning/refilling the AIO?
2. Switch to a good air cooler?
3. Replace it with another 240mm AIO? (But would that even be worth it?)

Also, my current AIO’s fans are super loud. Even if I clean it, I’d probably need to replace them too.

Would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks!

 

[Aeacus]

Switch to a good air cooler?

I'd to this.

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 former 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 conductive liquids and electronics don't mix.