Question Upgrading to a liquid cooler ?

[ZuluGapurtu]

I had air cooler all my life and decided to move to liquid cooler eventually.
Do I need anything more than just buying the liquid cooler? Like do I need to buy an actual liquid or something or change anything regularly? Or it’s exactly the same way as installing air cooler dan, on cpu.

Also I consider whether buying the Corsair iCUE H60i RGB PRO XT or Asus ROG RYUO 120 RGB. Do you have any recommendation?

 

[sizzling]

An AIO cooler are in most cases sealed and you do nothing apart from install them. No need to top up but after a few years it’s likely it will need replacing.

An AIO is not necessarily an upgrade, it’s just a different approach to cooling and I expect a significant number of people pick it as an option based on how it looks rather than how it performs. An AIO with 120mm radiator cannot keep up with a mid range air cooler, the really should only be used where space is a problem. To match a mid range air cooler you need a 240mm-280mm AIO. I’d also say the warranty is important as it protects the system against leaks and AIO’s can have their pumps die prematurely.

To make a recommendation we need to know what cpu, will you be overclocking and what case you have.

 

[ZuluGapurtu]

What exactly is the all in one means? I want to buy the Corsair iCUE H60i RGB PRO XT, is it “AIO”?
And so air cooler is actually a better choice? My room temp goes as high as 35c-40 during summer time, despite I turn on the AC so it’s about the 30c.
I never overclocked, I got the i7 7700k since it’s release and it runs perfectly.
Also, Noctua NH-U12S chromax.black could be a better choice?
And is it rare for a water cooler to leak?

 

[kaustubbhh]

What exactly is the all in one means? I want to buy the Corsair iCUE H60i RGB PRO XT, is it “AIO”?
And so air cooler is actually a better choice? My room temp goes as high as 35c-40 during summer time, despite I turn on the AC so it’s about the 30c.
I never overclocked, I got the i7 7700k since it’s release and it runs perfectly.
Also, Noctua NH-U12S chromax.black could be a better choice?
And is it rare for a water cooler to leak?

Mid range air coolers like Deepcool AS500 Plus, AK620 would help your CPU to be cool enough for overclocking or else go with Deepcool castle 240 AIO or Cooler Master Illusion 240

 

[geofelt]

What is your objective in buying a liquid cooler?
If it is to get some RGB "bling" then there are better ways.

What is the case you would mount it in?

AIO means "all in one" That is the radiator, tubes, pump are all connected and the tubes are filled with coolant. This is different from a custom loop(expensive) that has a coolant reservoir that can be refilled when needed.
AIO is essentially air cooling, the difference is where the radiator heat exchange is located.
With such as a H60. you mount the radiator and fan somewhere. Usually as a rear exhaust in the case of a 120 size aio. You mount the pump on the cpu in a similar manner to an air cooler.
The pump circulates fluid to the radiator where heat is exchanged.

AIO coolers do not last forever. In time, air will intrude into the system, making it ineffective.
These air bubbles will rise to the top of the system. If the pump is at the top, the pump will no longer circulate fluid.

All coolers start with the ambient temperature. That means the temperature of the air used.
This can be outside air which is room temperature, or it will be the temperature of air inside the case which will be higher. Most any cooler can keep a cpu at 10-15c above the ambient air temperature.
If your room temperature can be 40c(104f.) ouch.! not much will help.

Do a simple test:
Start Hwmonitor. It records the current, minimum and maximum temperatures.
Then run a simple CPU-Z stress test.
After a bit, look at the minimum temperature.
The cpu will monitor it's own temperature.
If it detects a dangerous temperature, it will throttle or slow down to protect itself.
Then, look at the maximum temperature.
If you see a temp in red at 100c, it means that you have throttled.

Noctua maintains a database of suitable coolers for processors.
Here is the list for the i7-7700k:
https://ncc.noctua.at/cpus/model/Intel-Core-i7-7700K-288
On the list, NH-U12s would be ok, but to get the most out of your 7700K, you should go stronger.
I would think such as the H100 would not be strong enough.

To answer your question, aio coolers DO on occasion leak.
Not often though.
But, if they do leak, the consequences are nasty.
A aio vendor may warranty that damage, but it is a mess to recover from.

 

[ZuluGapurtu]

Thank you very much this is helpful