Should i upgrade to an AiO?

[damianuhrich.bewerbung]

Hello community, i currently own a Be Quiet Dark Rock 3 Pro, which i got for free from a good friend of mine (he upgraded to an AiO).

Now i've been thinking about getting a cool AiO aswell, but i don't really know if it's worth it. What do you guys think / What would you guys do?

(PS: The CPU that is being cooled is a not-delidded i7-8700k)

 

[theonerm2]

I'd just get a Noctua NH-D15 instead. It cools plenty good enough and it will last forever. Of course you'll have to replace fans over the years but it'll last forever. The AIO's have pumps that wear out over time.

 

[norcalsc]

I wouldn't spend the money just to do it if your current one is working fine... Wait, yes. Yes, I would, get it.

I love mine, as mentioned above, something will eventually wear out.

 

[CaptainCretin]

I bought a cheap corsair AIO a couple of years back (£35), it was so much quieter, and kept my cpu so much cooler than the huge, expensive (£55), heatsink cooler, I would never look back.

I overclocked the cpu by over 1GHz, and the max temp with the AIO was still lower than stock using the Hyper 212 cooler.

The only thing to be aware of with water cooling is that the cpu fans also cool the power DACs around the socket, so you need to make sure there is good airflow over them after you take the cpu fan cooler away.
In my old case, that meant fitting an extra, internal fan, but in my Phantek rebuild, the case has much better airflow and it wasnt needed.