Silent or near-silent cooler for AMD FX-8320 - liquid or air?

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mossi

mossi

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Hello

I got a dying Corsair H40 AIO liquid cooler and I'm looking to replace it.

I got a strange system currently in my Fractal Design R4 with cable-tied undervolted fans and no metal screws to avoid vibration transmission and although it's been working ok for a number of years I think the pump of the H40 is living through its last days. Currently this is solution is silent (and I mean silent) in terms of fan noise.

I'd like to go yet another silent solution especially in idle. I understand if it's not silent (but audible) during gaming so I'd like to ask the community what do they have to recommend (air or liquid) in terms of a coller for my FX 8320 with a view to overclock it in the future. It's currently on stock speed.

My first choice is the Corsair H90 but if there is anything else cheaper maybe around the same type of money I'd be sure to consider it!

Also I'd like a long year warranty (albeit not necessary) if possible. Corsair have been stellar in RMAs in the past which is also one of the reasons I chose that cooler.

Many thanks in advance!
 
Solution
DonkeyOatie
Weight and torque on the motherboard is a concern, especially if you transport your computer a lot. A properly installed air cooler will assist air flow.

You need to feel good about your decision. Look at the noise readings. You need something in the mid to lower 40s for 'quiet' or high 30s for 'near-silent'

Here's a chart for AOIs in general. http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2747&page=5 They are significantly louder, in general, than air coolers. A downflow cooler, like the C14 I suggested, will have less torque.
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DonkeyOatie

DonkeyOatie

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Air coolers are likely to be quieter than liquid coolers, and there's no pump to add possible noise. The Noctua NH C14S or C14 would cool your chip and be quiet doing it.

This is a cooling comparison for that cooler http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2562&page=5
This is for the H80i http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2745&page=5
This for the H80 http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2664&page=7 (Intel is chosen because of the energy of the FX 83xx which was not available when the original review was done.)

The frostytech.com site in general is very helpful.
 
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mossi

mossi

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My concerns about air cooling are weight of the cooler (will it bend the motherboard and how will I know that?) and also restriction of airflow.

With an liquid AIO cooler there is very little in terms of air flow restriction.

I'll have a look in frostytech.

From air coolers I was thinking about Noctua ones but never owned one and never really owned heavy heatsinks before so I'm a bit reluctant.
 
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DonkeyOatie

DonkeyOatie

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Sep 16, 2014
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Weight and torque on the motherboard is a concern, especially if you transport your computer a lot. A properly installed air cooler will assist air flow.

You need to feel good about your decision. Look at the noise readings. You need something in the mid to lower 40s for 'quiet' or high 30s for 'near-silent'

Here's a chart for AOIs in general. http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2747&page=5 They are significantly louder, in general, than air coolers. A downflow cooler, like the C14 I suggested, will have less torque.
 
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Solution
mossi

mossi

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The Fractal Design R4 is heavy enough so it's a pain to move it from under the desk :), let alone transport it anywhere.

I'm between Noctuas and BeQuiets.

Namely Noctua NH-D15 vs Noctua NH-U14S vs BeQuiet Dark Rock pro 3

Then I'm thinking.. will I run into RAM clearance issues? :D
 
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mossi

mossi

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Got 2 x 4GB Kingston Technology Hyper X 4GB 1600MHz DDR3 Non-ECC CL9 DIMM KHX1600C9D3/4G

Which reminds me I need to update my signature :D

I'm leaning towards the Noctua NH-U14S now.
I keep reading people having the fans on the heatsink as pull/push which I know what it is on a dual radiator but I'm confused as to what it means on the Noctua :s

Any ideas?
 
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mossi

mossi

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I've decided to get the Noctua NH-U14S in the end. 6 years warranty and near-silent operation and in many benchmarks, mostly with Intel CPUs it performs as well as or better than AIO liquid coolers.. which kinda begs the question why do people buy liquid coolers..

I used to own a Thermalright TRUE-120 Black before I switched to the Corsair H40. Not sure that I made the right decision but I had a smaller case back then too and it helped with the airflow.

Any suggestions against it? :D
 
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