Part Recommendations

[mengelag]

I live in a warm climate and my current Liquid Freezer II 280mm AIO isn't cutting it. Unless I'm running AirCon it redlines on any benchmark I run and it's not over-clocked. I'm using a Praxis test-bench case to eliminate the oven effect. I need an upgrade, but I'm on a budget. Looking for some recommendations on something a bit cheaper with high performance and reliability. 

[Axxemann]

Go to a 360 or 420mm Liquid Freezer? According to GN, that's one of the best coolers on the market. Mind you, the coolant doesn't last forever. You might be starting to gunk up.

[mengelag]

Never considered the gunk up. Thought most coolers fixed that after the MSI debacle.

[Axxemann]

It's not that they didn't, it's more of an age thing. The coolant, seals, and hoses all degrade over time. Can they mitigate it entirely? No. Can they bring it down to a  less than 1% fail rate? Yes. But then it's gonna be VERY spendy. Even the custom loop guys service their stuff at regular intervals.

[ghost13]

Eisbaer Aio is a good one

[mengelag]

i'll check it out

[BigAl01]

This one is a good deal on Newegg right now.  It's about $130 USD right now if you hurry.  I have always been impressed with their quality.

be quiet! PURE LOOP 2 FX 360mm AIO CPU Water Cooler | High Performance AIO | 3 Light Wings 120mm PWM high-speed fans | ARGB Hub | Refillable Port | BW015

[mengelag]

that's a good price, be quiet is a good brand

[ajlueke]

Lian Li’s Galahad II Trinity is also a solid option.

[otacon]

Have you considered an air cooler? There are few situations where an AIO water cooler beats out a Noctua D15.

[Axxemann]

Air is so... 1990s.

[mengelag]

ambient temperature where I live is 90 degrees. Do you think the D15 would still cool it?

[Axxemann]

You're gonna need a full custom loop with at least a MoRa3. Better still, a CHILLER.

[mengelag]

Been trying to avoid the custom loop option because of the price. Living on a budget now.

[Axxemann]

And here I thought guys like you could live like kings down there! 🤣

[mengelag]

I just don't have a job anymore lol. Living off what I sold my house for until 55 and then I can access my retirement savings which will have matured by then I can start living like a king. Until then, 1200/month here is the budget, which is still living large, just not large enough for a custom loop unless I save for a few months haha. Knowing that I was coming here, I should have planned ahead and did the loop while I still had a career. Hindsight...

[otacon]

A water cooler will only perform better while the coolant is less than the CPU temperature on most AIO water coolers. To beat an air cooler you would need custom loop with a very large reservoir .

You could try Eco mode (65W) if your CPU offers it as well. The impacts on my CPU aren't noticeable and it runs much cooler 👍

[mengelag]

So in this temperature, it sounds like an air cooler might be better. The custom loop I'd need to save for as they are pretty pricy to do right. I'll give that eco mode a try as well. Thanks for the information. Never even considered water temp in the AIO but that makes sense to me.

[BigAl01]

I think that the higher the ambient temperature, the worse your air cooler will perform.  A higher ambient temperature might require an AIO with more cooling capacity - meaning a larger radiator or more air flow through the radiator with higher speed fans.

[BigAl01]

"To beat an air cooler you would need custom loop with a very large reservoir."  This assessment makes no sense.  There is no direct connection between an air cooler and the need for a very large reservoir.

As for a water cooler only performing better while the coolant is less than the CPU temperature - that is always the case.  Do to the heat transfer loss through the CPU header and the water cooler heatsink, you will never see the coolant reach the temperature of the CPU - unless you stop the water flow through the radiator.  

[Awol]

AIO over air anytime for me. I use a 360MM AIO by EK, swapped out the EK fans for Lian Li Uni SL120. I have a minimal lighting build as im not into the RGB puke. 

My version is no longer available but they still do the EK Nucleus CR360 Dark for around £150

[mengelag]

What's the ambient temperature where you're at? That's the biggest part of my problem. 

[Axxemann]

Gonna guess he's in the UK if he's quoting in pounds for currency.

Figure on weather like the East Coast, but not as snowy in the winter.

Just for you, I'm gonna torture myself for a couple of days over the winter. I'm gonna crank my Thermostat to max and see how hot I can get my ambient air temps before running a couple of stress tests on my loop. While 30C ambient is probably not gonna happen, I can get into the high 20s for sure.

[mengelag]

I'd definitely be curious on your results. I imagine you could get it close to 30c with the thermostat cranked and would only need a few hrs I think for the temp of the water of your AIO to adjust to the new ambient. Then run your tests. I think I'm gonna get the Noctua D15 and have my folks toss it in the box they are shipping. Only it'll take a 1.5 months to get across the ocean to me lol. If that doesn't work, I guess I have to save up for a loop

[Awol]

During the summer it was mid to low 30's and at idle i was getting around 35 degrees C fan speed around 800rpm, when gaming it was peaking around the 51 - 55 degree C mark fan speed 1900rpm.

Have you thought of a push pull config on your current AIO, the increased air flow across the rad will improve your temps quite a bit.

X570 Aorus Elite / Ryzen 9 5900X / Sapphire Nitro+ RX6900 XT SE / 64GB Quad Kit Kingston Fury Black 3600MHZ CL16 / RM1000 X PSU

[mengelag]

I'm running an open-air case. Those are good temps you're getting, but definitely not what I'm getting lol. I'm heading back to Canada here right away and will see what I can find there.

[elpuertorro]

+1 for the EK AIO's

[Farcuen]

Hi, @mengelag.

I have the same CPU you own, and I have a NZXT 360mm AIO, in a NZXT Airflow case with three 14mm fan in the front side, and one 12mm fan rear, the 360mm aio is located in pull which is in the top part of the PC case.

This summer in Italy where I live in Tuscany the temperature is around 31C° and my GPU never reached 65C° during demand tasks.

So I think you could take this one: https://nzxt.com/en-CA/product/kraken-360

It is a good AIO to be honest, and I was really satisfied with it, of course if you run a benchmark to stress and see the load, the CPU stay under the 89C° close around 83C° (so the performance are amazing).

Kind regards,

Farcuen

[mengelag]

I'm idling at about 60-65 right now. I picked up the Noctua D15 as a try it and see what a good air cooler does. Still waiting on the delivery, but If the performance isn't good, I'll return it and give this a solid look at.

[lowteck · Accepted solution]

Have you tried re-pasting it?

[mengelag]

There's the solution hahah, and the comment of the week goes too....