Should I get an AIO cooler for my Ryzen cpu?

[Oliver7073]

I'm new to PC building and i don't know if it's worth getting an AIO cooler for my Ryzen CPU when I see people who can still overclock it by air.

 

[YoAndy]

The people using air coolers to overclock they are mostly on a tight budget. Personally I always go for a liquid cooling solution(custom water loop). Why? Because keeping temperatures lower helps the chip overclock better and prolongs the life of the CPU.

 

[blockhead78]

There are some decent air coolers out there that can handle mild/medium OC's fine, but it also depends on the cpu.

Not all CPU's of the same model behave the same, some will overclock at lower voltages than others, some won't.

If you're not planning on a large overclock, you could get away with an air cooler, but if you want too see how much you can get out of your CPU then at least an AIO would be recommended.

 

[Ecky]

Overclocking on air is fine - air coolers almost always outperform AiO coolers at the same price point, so it's only above maybe $125-150 that you really see them even starting to break even.

Why? Because when it comes to cooling, what matters is surface area. Circulating water is just one way to move heat from the CPU to the cooling surface, and heatpipes are really just as good at it, and a lot cheaper than a pump, tubing, coolant, hose clamps and a waterblock. For an AiO at the same price as an air cooler, it will almost certainly have less cooling surface because of the added costs of those components.

 

[jbheller]

Almost every system I make I use an all-in-one water cooler, with my favourite model being the corsair H60. It is affordable, works very well and being a 120mm unit will fit in almost any case.

I disagree with this comment "Moderator
Overclocking on air is fine - air coolers almost always outperform AiO coolers at the same price point, so it's only above maybe $125-150 that you really see them even starting to break even."

There have been many reviews of cooler efficiency published by Toms hardware and many other sites. The AIO units are equal to or outrank the air coolers.Plus they way a lot less and put no strain on your motherboard. Much better for LAN party computers

 

[Ecky]

Almost every system I make I use an all-in-one water cooler, with my favourite model being the corsair H60. It is affordable, works very well and being a 120mm unit will fit in almost any case.

I disagree with this comment "Moderator
Overclocking on air is fine - air coolers almost always outperform AiO coolers at the same price point, so it's only above maybe $125-150 that you really see them even starting to break even."

There have been many reviews of cooler efficiency published by Toms hardware and many other sites. The AIO units are equal to or outrank the air coolers.Plus they way a lot less and put no strain on your motherboard. Much better for LAN party computers

I personally have successfully taken my i5 to 4.9ghz with a $25 Coolermaster Hyper212 EVO. Spending triple digits on a cooler for overclocking isn't necessary. So, yes, overclocking on air can be fine.

Additionally, both TweakTown's and TechPowerUp's reviews show Noctua's D15 performing on-par with several tested 2x120 or 2x140mm AiOs, with considerably less noise (meaning lower fan speed), at a lower price.

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Noctua/NH-D15/8.html

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/6313/noctua-nh-d15-cpu-cooler-review/index6.html

Granted, a huge tower cooler isn't optimal for every situation. Those that move their cases frequently probably don't want such a large weight hanging from their motherboard, and many don't have the clearance for something like a D15, but reviews show you can get the same cooling with less noise at a lower price if it will fit and you don't have concerns about moving it.

On the other hand, I ran several custom loops for over a decade and over that time period, had two pumps fail (at about 4 years each), which is not a concern for air coolers. Additionally, while it's unlikely, there's also a chance of leaks.