To water cool or not to water cool?

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Tweed

Tweed

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My case is the InWin 805, and the max is 156mm, which misses me out on the top of the line CPU Air coolers like Noctua NH-D15 and Phanteks TC-14PE. With water cooling, the toss over to looks and better cooling is noise. I want my PC to be as silent as possible. If I do go water cooling, I probably will replace the stock fans, but idk really what water coolers to go with, nzxt x61, ekwb predator 240, etc. I'm trying to go for a batman themed build and aio water coolers would look ideal instead of having a giant heatsink block of an air cooler, but it's more reliable. I really don't know what to do. I've watched countless reviews/opinions on cooling and can't make up my mind.
 
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Quiet system? Air cooling.

Much lower chance of a leak (because it's impossible)? Air cooling.

More room for PCIe cards, and tall RAM? Water cooling.

More room in smaller cases? Water cooling.

All of these features, but a cost of over 200 dollars at least? Custom water loop.

I think you got the idea there. Personally, I'd choose air cooling, because it's just more reliable and quieter. But if you don't mind noise, and a small chance of leaking, water may be right for you. Just note though, air cooling usually does better per dollar.
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xXCrossfireXx

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Quiet system? Air cooling.

Much lower chance of a leak (because it's impossible)? Air cooling.

More room for PCIe cards, and tall RAM? Water cooling.

More room in smaller cases? Water cooling.

All of these features, but a cost of over 200 dollars at least? Custom water loop.

I think you got the idea there. Personally, I'd choose air cooling, because it's just more reliable and quieter. But if you don't mind noise, and a small chance of leaking, water may be right for you. Just note though, air cooling usually does better per dollar.
 
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Tweed

Tweed

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Yeah, it's unfortunate that the top end air coolers aren't compatible. Just to make sure we're on the same page, what are your top end air coolers? what i think are phanteks ph-tc14pe and noctua nh-d15. do you have any aio water coolers you recommend? i know of the nzxt x61 kraken and ekwb 240 predator. idk if those are good for me or not. also if there are still high end air coolers under 156mm you recommend...
 
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Ecky

Ecky

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An i7 6700K doesn't produce all that much heat. Intel's 14nm process is not very power hungry at all, and even a mid-level air cooler will easily max out a 6700K in clockspeed with safe temperatures, because you'll run into a voltage wall before the cooler can't keep up.
 
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Tweed

Tweed

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I agree that it doesnt produce that much heat. so what do you recommend for me? i dont think i have any plans of overclocking, but i want to make a safe choice on a cpu cooler that is pretty future proof, silent, and looks good in my case.
 
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xXCrossfireXx

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To be honest, just RMA the case and get a bigger one, then an air cooler. The 6700k's 14nm design makes it less power hungry, and not put out a lot of heat. There's really no reason to go water cooler, it's just louder and more of a chance of leaking.

And if you don't want to go through the RMA process, a low profile cooler like the Thermalright AXP-200R should also do fine though.

But if you really want watercooling, there's no way you're gonna get a quiet one without a custom loop.
 
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