Question Ryzen 9 5950x: Air cooling or 240mm aio?

Dec 2, 2024
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I have a question regarding my ryzen 9 5950x cpu. I was wondering whether using a 240mm coolermaster aio cooler or a high end air cooler (probably a nh-d15) plus two more case fans would be more effective. I would normally just buy a 360mm aio cooler but my case unfortunately doesn’t support it. What do you guys think?

Ps. If i bought and used the 240mm aio cooler i mentioned, I wouldn’t be able to have two more case fans.
 
Be careful about chasing cooling numbers. As long as you stay below the thermal limits the cpu will run at maximum clocks. It does not really matter if you are 5 degrees below or 10 degrees below it will run the same.

Think very carefully why you want a AIO. A 5950x can easily be cooled by most of the later air coolers. If you look at the results many are as good as 240 AIO. With a air cooler the worst that can happen is you replace a fan. AIO the pump will eventually die and you have to replace the whole unit.

Also be careful about chasing name brands like noctua. For many years they were the best and nobody came close so they could charge huge prices. Now days even very cheap coolers like peerless assassin can meet or exceed the d15 for 1/2 the cost.
 
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