Are closed liquid coolers any good for overclocking? (CPU)

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PCnooberson

PCnooberson

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Dec 2, 2013
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Sorry if im asking so much, but as my name suggests, im a noob and want to learn what i can.

I really dont want to use full loop liquid cooling with reservoirs and all because they seem like such a hassle, and id be afraid of them coming loose or spilling. So its either air cooling, or close loops for me.

Generally, id assume the liquid cooling to be better than air, right? But thats just an assumption.

Are closed loops any better, if not the same as quality air coolers?

If so, what are the best 240mm closed loop coolers?

If not, what are the best air coolers?

And how much can one overclock with these? Like in general, how high would you expect someone to be able to go? 4.5GHz atleast?
 
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Quaddro

Quaddro

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Sep 1, 2010
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liquid cooling better than air cooling in heavy overclocked condition..
performance delta will noticeable..

Corsair H110 is one of the best liquid cooling available in the market..

well, for fx class processor and ivybridge intel processor, this liquid cooling will be able to handle 5Ghz or more..
for intel haswell processor, around 4.7Ghz is possible..
 
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PCnooberson

PCnooberson

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I currently have the i7-3820 but plan to soon get the i7-4930k and overclock that to hopefully atleast 4.5?
 
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PCnooberson

PCnooberson

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Thats extremely re-assuring!
 
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geofelt

geofelt

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I do not much like all in one liquid coolers when a good air cooler can do the job.
A liquid cooler will be expensive, noisy, less reliable, and will not cool any better
in a well ventilated case.
Liquid cooling is really air cooling, it just puts the heat exchange in a different place.
The orientation of the radiator will cause a problem.
If you orient it to take in cool air from the outside, you will cool the cpu better, but the hot air then circulates inside the case heating up the graphics card and motherboard.
If you orient it to exhaust(which I think is better) , then your cpu cooling will be less effective because it uses pre heated case air.
And... I have read too many tales of woe when a liquid cooler leaks.
google "H100 leak"

How high you can overclock is dependent on you luck in getting a golden chip. It varies.
My take is to take what you can get with a conservative oc. That will typically be in the 20% range.

A top end air cooler like the Noctua nh-D14 or phanteks would be my choice, assuming it will fit in your case. Yes, they are large.

 
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4Ryan6

4Ryan6

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From everything you have said this is my suggestion to you.

http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...oduct_info&cPath=46_557_778&products_id=35601

The closed liquid coolers that will best this air cooler are few and more expensive.

If your goal is a 4.5ghz clock, then you really won't need to go to a full water cooling system either.

As some of the 240 rad kits are really no better cooling performance than the higher end air coolers or the closed liquid coolers, they're not worth the setup hassle to cool a 4.5ghz overclock.

Now if you were shooting for a 5ghz overclock my suggestions would be completely different, but you aren't, so there's absolutely no sense spending any more money on your cooling than you need to.



 
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