Water cooling good for normal temps?

My canned rant on liquid cooling:
------------------------start of rant-------------------
You buy a liquid cooler to be able to extract an extra multiplier or two out of your OC.
How much do you really need?
I do not much like all in one liquid coolers when a good air cooler like a Noctua or phanteks can do the job just as well.
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"
-----------------------end of rant--------------------------

Your pc will be quieter, more reliable, and will be cooled equally well with a decent air cooler.

If you are not overclocking and not in it for the looks then get your self an air cooler such as the Noctua D14 or D15 or a CoolerMaster Hyper 212 and call it a day.

Water cooling is more expensive than air, it is about the same noise as air, and the AIO on the market lasts about 5 years before things start going south like failed pumps, failed fan controllers, leaks, etc.

Now if you are going to LANs then you want water-cooling as transporting a tower with a massive heat sync is only asking for trouble unless you lay the PC on the side where the motherboard sits horizontal and the CPU cooler is vertical.

The water coolers tend to have crappy fans that need to be replaced if you want quiet. The cost goes up quick.

The Noctua D15 is quiet and reliable. If a fan fails, you still have one running (which is enough). Heatsinks cant leak either. The only downside is it is huge and heavy but its not a problem as long as you dont move your PC around violently.


There is a smaller quiet option, I cant remember the part number but its a Phanteks heatsink with dual 120mm fans. Not nearly as heavy but is high performance and quiet.

CLC Type liquid cooling is a complete waste of time and money. A decent air cooler will do the same job for less money, better cooling and less noise. However, it most be noted that a "great budget cooler" like the $25 Hyper 212 is not the same thing as a "great cooler". A Phanteks PH-TC14PE, Noctua NH-F14 / D15, Cryprih R1 for example will get you 7-10C cooler than a Hyper 212.

CLC Weaknesses:

Weak Pumps (inadequate flow)
Aluminum Radiators
Mixed Metals
Extremely Noisy
Not Expandable
Can't be Maintained

Because of the weak pumps and aluminum radiators, they must use high speed fans to overcome these deficiencies. Many will suggest changing the fans but that's kinda akin taking the 8 cylinder engine out of your sports car, putting in a 4 cylinder to get better mileage and expecting it to perform the same. Your thermal performance drops in proportion to fan rpm ... so when noise goes down, heat goes up.

Here you can see The Cryorig and Noctua coolers up against the Corsair H100i. As you can see the H100i loses the performance battle by 3c while being 12 times as loud. Slow down the fans and that 3C grows ... fast.



In this radiator test we see the UT60 deliver 326 watts of cooling at 2200 rpm (500 rpm less than the h100i). At just 1800 rpm, only 400 rpm slower, we are down to 82% of thermal performance. At 1400 rpm, we are down to 64% of thermal performance. At 1000 rpm, where we are still well within the audible range, we are down to just 46% of thermal performance

https://martinsliquidlab.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/alphacool-nexxxos-ut60-360-radiator/4/

if ya want to get an idea of just what a H100i sounds like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTf0Vq1j4Ec

As soon as it hits 55% CPU load (1:15 mark) , I would wanna to leave the room. But yes, you can fix the noise problem with slower fans, but you're already 3C below an air cooler, getting down to 1400 rpm or so, you can expect about 50% thermal performance.

If ya wanna see why using mixed metals (copper blocks / aluminum rads) read and see the pics here:

https://martinsliquidlab.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/corrosion-explored/

If a custom loop seems daunting, I'd suggest an OLC type All-in-One like the Swiftech H220-X or H240-X. There is nothing that is easier to install and while they won't be quite as quiet as an air cooler, as you can see in the above image, they are 1/6th as loud as the H100i while being &c cooler. That's the advantage of copper rads and capable pumps. Wit ht he OLC's you can also expand the loop and add water cooling to your MoBo, GFX cards whatever any time you like. Read the reviews here:

http://www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/cooling/liquid/40870-swiftech-h220-x-open-loop-240mm-cpu-cooler-review?showall=&start=3
http://www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/cooling/liquid/42047-swiftech-h240-x-open-loop-280mm-cpu-cooler-review?showall=&start=3

Installation of the H220X was very easy, probably the easiest liquid cooler I have ever done.

In terms of performance, well….we could simply leave it at the fact that the H220X is simply the best performing out-of-the-box cooler you can buy today. Period. It slightly betters its predecessor, the H220, as well as the Glacer 240L that is equipped with far more powerful and louder fans. The NZXT X60/61 comes close in terms of performance, but at the expense of far more noise and far less compatibility. 240mm CLCs can’t touch the H220X in all out performance, and at tolerable noise levels the H220X flat out embarrasses them .... To sum it up; the H220X offers better performance, lower noise, better aesthetics, flawless design and build, better components and the option of expandability when compared to a CLC. Putting it gently, choosing any CLC over the H220X would be doing yourself a huge disservice.

I had stated in my review that the H220-X makes CLCs a non-factor, and the H240-X follows that pattern, but putting even more possibilities on the table. For the novice or CPU only user, the H240-X is simply the best performing cooler you can buy that is ready for install out of the box, and it accomplishes this with incredible quiet.

Whether you are making your initial foray into liquid cooling, are looking for an upgrade from CLC or are an experienced user doing a small loop, the Swiftech X Series should be planted firmly at the top of your “must have” list, and the H240-X is the biggest, baddest member of the series. The H220-X and H240-X are game changers, plain and simple, and are the biggest advance in cooling that we have seen in years.

Click to expand...

The EK predator series is a worthy competitor but a lot more expensive.

The other advantage of OLCs is that if a part breaks, unlike CLCs, you replace the part only. Also after a number of years if you wish to flush out the system and change the cooling, again unlike CLCs, you can do that.