Liquid cooling worth the risk?

xUntamedInferno

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Right no I have the NH-u12s from noctua and I was wondering if it would be a good idea to upgrade to something like the corsair h105? Also are there many risks with an AIO cooler like the h105? Is there and other liquid coolers that may be better? I have even looked into a custom look kit. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
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Nightman

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As far as performance, an AIO will be a bit better than the noctua, but noisier. There is very little risk of it leaking, and on the off chance it does, corsair will pay for the damages. Is your cpu too hot with the noctua? If not, then I see no reason to fix something that isn't broken.
 

xUntamedInferno

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I would like my CPU temperatures to be cooler than what they are right now. And originally when I built my computer I was going to go with liquid but I heard how some of them leak so I was nervous about it. Also I was worried about my case temperatures getting too hot.
 

Nightman

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The noctua nh-d14 will cool about as well as most closed loop coolers, plus it will be quieter. If you want water, then something like a corsair h100i or h110 would be good, depending on what will fit in your case. If you want the best cooling and super low temperatures, then a custom loop is the way to go, but that could be overkill. What kind of temperatures are you seeing?
 

xUntamedInferno

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As Nightman said, an AIO is a good option. They are warranted against defects. If one springs a leak you should be covered as long as it is installed properly.

As for noise/performance, just go with custom fans or a custom fan curve.

For dual 120mm mount points, I have an H100i and ditched the stock fans and default fan curve. Many people put Noctua NF-12 fans on the H100i and have good performance results while still being quiet. I went with 2 SP120 fans and a custom fan curve and also got very good performance and it is still fairly quiet.

*IF* you have dual 140mm mounting points for a radiator, I recently tried an H110, and the stock fans on it are fairly quiet as well. And the NZXT X60 is also a good performer, but a little loiuder than the H110.

Of all of these mentioned so far, I think the H110 is my favorite. It offers an excellent performance-to-noise ratio with the stock fans, provided you have the dual 140mm fan mount points (* Note: need a 20mm gap between mount hole centerlines in the middle for proper fitment. Like this: O <- 140mm fan -> O <20mm> O <- 140mm fan -> O )
 

xUntamedInferno

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I am seeing temperatures at idle of 32 degrees C. I would like to see temps around 27 degrees C.
 

xUntamedInferno

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I would go with the h100i but I've heard that the corsair link software is terrible with windows 8 and 8.1. That is the main reason I was looking at the h105 instead.
 

Nightman

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I think either of those should give you the 5º change that you want. If you don't want to deal with the corsair software, then the h105 or h110 would both be good choices. Just get the biggest one that will fit in your case.
 
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