CPU Air Cooler or Watercooler

Cael

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Hello,

I'm looking to cool down my computer as I'm running off a aftermarket Rosewill air cooler and am too afraid to game at all because of the temps. So I clearly need an upgrade, but I have a few questions. I know that for air cooling, people recommend Noctua NH-D14 or Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO because they are really good but from what I can tell, you need low profile RAM for almost every air cooler.

I did find that Be Quiet! Dark Rock series is apparently able to handle high profile RAM like Corsair Vengeance (and is also pleasing to me and matches my theme) but I cannot find anything that really supports it. The Noctua NH-D14 doesn't list my mobo as compatible so I'm thinking that one is out? Plus the fans...such an ugly color and from what I read, unable to be replaced? Lastly, does air cooling with products like Noctua, Cooler Master or Be Quiet! damage your motherboard with their weight in the long run? Would lying your computer on the side help to lift some of that weight?

As for water cooling, I was thinking about the Corsair H100i or the H90 but from what I read, the pipes are really weak and if they break and leak on your stuff, its all fried but also that it actually does need to be maintained. How likely, should I pick water cooling, would the leakage be?

Sorry for the novice questions. I did google these things like mad for a week straight and couldn't come up with much.

Thanks!
 
Solution
Their warranty will replace the cooler if it fails. Sadly the warranty will not cover any hardware damaged by a rupture or leak. Any coolant used in a water cooler will damage electronics as it's a conductive liquid. Honestly though I believe the pro's out weight the cons, it frees up space in your system allowing for a cleaner look and better airflow and it will drop your temps way lower than an air cooler will. Corsair is a reputable company and their water coolers are excellent quality. The possibility of wear and damage is there with any water cooler and it's just a risk that must be taken to get the performance gains from one.

Just ensure you follow the installation instructions, use a good quality thermal paste (not what they...
If you have a rather large motherboard (standard ATX or bigger) with something like 4 RAM slots, those air coolers should be fine and not block anything (or anything important at least), since you can always move the RAM to the 2 and 4 slots.

As for the weight, I think the back plates that come with these should take the brunt of the force as to not damage your motherboard, so it should be fine.

not sure about water cooling maintenance, though I would say that the risk of it leaking and ruining your components is about the same as the risk of a large air cooler heatsink falling off and damaging something. Either way, your system will be ruined so there's not much of a difference there.
 

ohyouknow

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With water coolers there is always a chance of failure/leak. Always a risk, small or large. Honestly, if you were to travel a lot then I would definitely advise you from going with the NH-D14.

Most important question. Do you really need that beefy of a cooler in the first place? If you are doing modest overclocks and general gaming etc., a simple and solid tower heatsink will do you just fine. Have a look at the Thermaltake NiC series. They are guaranteed to allow for tall RAM sticks, hence the name non-interference cooling. Cheers.
 

Cael

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Thanks for the answers guys!

Can the fans on the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO be adjusted? If I could move them up then the air cooler would be perfect, or any other air cooler that has that ability.

@lmaonade200

I think my motherboard is ATX; pretty big but not that big I guess. And I would like to fill up all my slots so that I have max RAM in the future so the air coolers would eventually become a problem.

I was thinking the back plates would be taking much of the force off, but I have seen some of the air coolers "bend" downward so it looked real dangerous in my eyes.

Oh, okay. Which risk is more likely to happen than the other though?

@ohyouknow

I don't travel, but I suppose if I ever intended to move I could just take the air cooler off or lay it on its side, right?

As for the beefiness, I'm not sure if I need it. The Haswell CPUs run real hot (I can't keep idle away from 48c) and I would like to keep it as cool as possible. I heard the Be Quiet! Dark Rock 2 (not pro or anything) is real small and really good for standard cooling and low OCing. As for overclocking, I'd like to overclock some but I don't want to push it too far because I don't think I'd ever need anything really, really high. I mostly use Photoshop/similar software and gaming. Plus writing but that never heats up my CPU so I think that doesn't matter.

I just finished looking at the NiC F4/C4, looks nice, especially if the fans can be changed. How well does the NiC perform on the i5-4670k or in comparison to some other air coolers?
 

killakallies

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If your going for keeping the temps down real low and having little to no interference with your memory placement a water cooling kit is the way to go. The H100i is an excellent water cooler and will serve you nicely. It is also handy to have the extra thermal headroom if you decide to push your overclocks higher in the future. After using a CM Hyper 212 Evo and then switching to a water cooler I can say the difference in temps will have you jumping for joy.

The chance of failure is there but so are the chances that your power will go out and fry your board. The best option to avoid such a catastrophic disaster with water coolers is to simply turn off your system when your not using it. This will help reduce wear on the components and reduces the risk of it happening and just dumping all the coolant in your case while your away.
 

Cael

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Hello and thanks for the reply,

I definitely want room to push my CPU further later on, and water cooling allowing that and also allowing me to have extra RAM is really nice. Plus it is such a clean look and I really love Corsair.

The wear down on the pipes worries me, because they seem like cheap plastic from the images and I have seen people's tubes wear down from usage near the joints. But I suppose that since they have a 5yr warranty on the product itself, they would replace it should wear become a problem? Also, do you know what is their warranty on damages caused by their hardware? Or is that nonexistent? If not, is there (probably not though) a coolant or water cooler available that is safe if spilled/leaked on the mobo/hardware?

Thanks again!
 

killakallies

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Their warranty will replace the cooler if it fails. Sadly the warranty will not cover any hardware damaged by a rupture or leak. Any coolant used in a water cooler will damage electronics as it's a conductive liquid. Honestly though I believe the pro's out weight the cons, it frees up space in your system allowing for a cleaner look and better airflow and it will drop your temps way lower than an air cooler will. Corsair is a reputable company and their water coolers are excellent quality. The possibility of wear and damage is there with any water cooler and it's just a risk that must be taken to get the performance gains from one.

Just ensure you follow the installation instructions, use a good quality thermal paste (not what they supply or slap on the cooler), and ensure you closely monitor the system after installation with a rag in hand to watch for any leaks. If after testing the system and there are not leaks and everything appears to be working as it should, you should be good for along time on having to mess with the water cooler. Occasionally checking your case for any and the hoses/fittings for any condensation or drips is a good practice just to be safe but again, pro's outweigh the cons.
 
Solution

Cael

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Hello,

That is certainly a bummer they don't cover things that might get damaged by their product.

Okay, you have given me a lot to think on. I agree, the pros would normally out weight the cons, but this is my first build that has cost quite a lot of money, so my nerves are a little fragile. lol I suppose that since the leaks seem to be rare it shouldn't worry me too much. Hopefully I can find a place selling the product a little cheaper too. :)

What kind of thermal compound would you suggest? I currently use Arctic Silver 5 but I'd like a better solution (best solution if possible) to apply and what kind of application method should I use? I use the pea size method but apparently that is not good for newer CPUs?

Thanks again!
 

killakallies

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Honestly I use Arctic Alumina on all my builds even my water cooled overclocked ones! Arctic Silver 5 is an excellent product and you will see little difference from switching to other products. For application I always follow the manufacturer of the compounds instructions for the specific CPU I'm applying it too. Realize these companies put allot of research into designing both their thermal compound and the methods for application and thus I tend to trust in their R&D.
 

Cael

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I didn't know they had methods for buyers to use! That's really neat! I'll be sure to google it when I get my cooler and the compound. I was looking into compound that wasn't conductive in case I accidentally drop some or put too much on, because it would be safer? Well either way I'll be trying new compound, which is now going to be Arctic Alumina. :)

I do have one more quick question. As I'm waiting for my cooler, will it be safe to do some light gaming or drawing on my computer? I have done 5 minute tests in games just to see what the temps rise to, and they generally stay around 50c with a jump to 63c. Should I just be patient and wait for the cooler to get to me?

Thanks! But for now, I marked the thread solved! :>
 
most the the all in one water coolers do work. the hyper 212 and the nh-d14 are in much different classes when it comes to air. the cooler master is an inexpensive decent bang for buck cooler while the noctua is a near top of the line expensive air cooler. compared to say a h100i, the noctua comes close. if your talking about budget d5 pump and a xspc 240 rad and the parts, lol, nevermind, if your a novice its going to be too much too fast. if your not going for some insane overclocks and your not trying to move your pc around alot, the hyper 212 works very well for all the unlocked amd fx/intel k processors, it offers very decent overclocks.

it really depends on your budget. personally if your thinking the noctua i would skip it and get the phanteks as it is slighly better for the same price(if you search around and wait for the right timing). other than that the hyper 212 is great and for the money it cannot be beat. you should be able to at the very least get 4.3ghz on a 4670k and be well under 80c during intel burn test or prime95. any farther under 75c using those stress tests and i just see more overclocking headroom.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835709004
 

Cael

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Hello!

I am planning on buying two coolers*; one for now and one later on that will be better with a higher budget. I purchased the Cooler Master, or rather is is oddly processing for a long time, and will—was—going to get a Noctua or a Be Quiet! with a budget of about 80-100 USD. I figured I wouldn't overclock like mad, at least not when such a new build, so water cooling could come later. Perhaps when the system is about two or three years old, and I need to push her a bit further. I am a novice but I have handled computers almost all my life, just never got around to building them but water cooling does seem like too much for me at the moment. Afraid of those leakages or any tubing exploding on me! lol

Is that Phanteks the same as this blue one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835709002
I'd like to either get a black or blue one so it matches. But if I can move the fans up or down so I can keep or upgrade my RAM, then I don't think I'll care about the color all that much! lol

*and the purpose of buying two air coolers is because I intend to build my little brother a build (got to find a 1555/Sandy Bridge CPU though) and use one of the coolers in his build once I order all his parts.
 
unless your using all 4 of your ram slots you can move the ram to channel b/a or whatever is farther away from the cooler. one thing about the phanteks is that the plastic shroud on the fans is considerably smaller and rounds off more than on almost all air coolers making the ram issue less of a problem... but not completely.

if your going to buy two and your only trying to cool just the cpu... just get an xpsc rx240 system with a d5 pump. it will last forever as long as you take care of it(change cheap tubes out and clean/flush every now and then), you can get tubes in whatever color you want, and you will get vastly better superior cooling and overclocking headroom and reliability than any simple all in one like an h100i or whatever. with some actual time and trial and error good overclocking technique with an rx240 you can get a 4670k to 4.8-5.0ghz under 80c.

if you want to possibly get a water block for a gpu and cool the cpu and gpu on the same radiator/resevoir, and your not trying to shoot for the moon on an overclock, your going to need a 360mm rad but your case might not support that, let alone two 240mm rads. but you can get a pretty sweet setup on a 360mm rad that will allow a 4670k@4.5 and a gtx780@1.3ghz and keep all of it under 70c and under 40db which is virtually silent and very much silent compared to a hyper212/noctua/phanteks plus a decent air cooled acx/twinfrozr/windforce gpu. not to mention that you dont have a very heavy air cooler bolted to your motherboard.... ive heard horror stories of noctua's breaking motherboards when people move/travel/drive with their computer in a vehicle. water cooling doesn't have this problem... but water does freeze so dont leave it in the car on a freezing night.... lol.

if your going to have money down the road, just get a decent thick 240mm radiator and a good rated pump. it will last you forever, you will learn a lot, down the road you will get a case that allows two 240mm radiators, and you will have an upgraded gpu made for waterblocked overclocking like the kingpin 780ti(capable of 1.5ghz easily). then if you want to upgrade your cpu/gpu, you already know your good as far as cooling, you just need a block if the socket changes.
 

Cael

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I plan to use all my RAM slots in the future, for sure.

How much does custom water cooling cost? I've heard it is around 200$ to get all the parts and decent, strong tubing. Also, is there a coolant/water solution I can find that is safe should it spill/leak? I heard mineral water is a great solution and is safe, but there are so many tutorials/guides out there I don't know which to take and start planning from.

I don't move around at all. The most I do is scoot my case an inch or two around to clean, but if I ever had to move I'd just take the cooler off and reput it back on later, but I can definitely see the dangers. I wouldn't want something that will warp my board... :eek:
 
distilled water is fine, dont use mineral water or your going to get scaling in the rad/pump and will have to clean/descale often. some places sell ionized distilled water and some setups use anti microbial additives and oiling type agents. a nice 240 rad setup is going to cost you about $200-$250 depending on if you piece out the parts your self or buy them in a kit.
 

Cael

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200-250$ doesn't seem that bad I guess. Do you have any recommend tutorials for a novice to follow? I could get a list going and see if it can fit into my budget. :)