System cooling solution Air vs Water

[zacw]

Hey guys, I have essentially completed my build.. But a week after buying my 770 GTX the price drop came in and I accidently bought a 4670 not the 4670k (overclockable version). Anyway due to this I am sending these parts back and getting the 4670k and a 780 GTX. While I am at it I have the Noctua NH-D14 which fits well except for I had to take the red fins off my G.Skill Trident X and it works fine. I have the CM Storm Stryker case and I was wondering if it would be more beneficial if I also sent back my Noctua Nh-D14 and got say the corsair h100i or a closed loop water cooling system like that. I understand its cooler but it also costs me an additonal $50 because I live in Australia. I have read some forums and it seems there is a great debate on it. With some people suggesting that all in one water cooling systems are bad if your considering the water cooling solution fork out for a real solution of around $300 which I cannot afford.

So to simply sum up my question should I send my Noctuah NH-D14 back and swap it for an all in one cooler for around $50 more or just keep my NH-D14 ? reallyt cant decide due to my lack of expertise and knowledge

 

[Tradesman1]

the Noctua will cool about as well as a H80 easily and near the same as a H100 and is quiter

 

[TheRealShoe]

I would save the money on the h100i and get a custom loop down the line.

 

[zacw]

How much would a custom loop cost? one of my issues with the Noctua i have installed is I had to remove the heat sink fans off my G.Skill Trident X Ram. The second is, though it's quite and cools really well It takes up so much room and I like the aesthetics of my motherboard I have the Asus V1 Formula and I wouldn't mind making use of the inbuilt water cool feature. Just not sure what would be good to go with it and how much relative cost it is. I am going to send back my noctua and get money back to invest to a different cooler.

I had one other question on a side note. The Noctua would essentially cool the whole case acting as an exhaust wouldn't it?. I understand water coolers, cool the CPU but how does it cool the heat on the motherboard etc? benchmarks don't mention this.

 

[TheRealShoe]

A custom loop would run you about $200, but also gives you the option to get different blocks for all components. Example; GPU and HDD. It is really something to look into, if it something that you may consider down the line, it is worth it for you to save the money from the h100i to get it.

This is a kit that I personally would get. (I bought the h100i, and I regret it. Don't get me wrong, it is a great cooler, and I have great temps, but with a custom loop they would be even better.)
http://www.xoxide.com/xspc-raystorm750rx240watercoolingkit.html

 

[mace200200]

Custom loops are pretty cool, I wouldn't get a closed loop for you CPU, they cost more, they don't cool a whole lot better, and they still make about the same amount of noise, plus they like to leak and it's one more thing you have to worry about.

The Noctua coolers are the best air coolers on the market, there's not going to be any difference in case temps between different air coolers just you cpu.

 

[zacw]

Okay so the general consensus is don't get a closed loop. I don't want to run a full loop system at the moment through to all of my hardware just generally want to get more viewing space in my case. I was wondering how I could utilise the v1 maximus thermal cooler feature. Also one of the attractions to the close loop for me was the easy management?, I don't want to be changing the water in my pc every month. How managable can you get a custom loop?

 

[CM-Patrick]

Hello Zacw

Have you looked at our Expandable AIO's?
Eisberg 240L
Glacer 240L

 

[zacw]

They look great, either way I just found out that the two 120 mm fans that came with my Noctua NH- D14 cost $30 each in Australia. If I was to go with any alternative cooling system I would be buying a couple of these fans anyway so I can always dismount them from the Noctua and install them on a open waterloop. I just need to find out more about custom water loops now so I can slowly purchase all the parts required