PC upgrade and CPU cooler choosing

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Onyxacek

Onyxacek

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Hello, I'm gonna upgrade my current PC.

I'm planning on buying i7-7700k with MSI Gaming Pro Carbon Z270.
Corsair Vengeance RGB LED 16 Gb and NZXT S340 case.
My current setup should be listed under this thread. And I'm keeping PSU, GPU, SSD and HDD.
I'm storing money for it and it will take me whole holidays + I've got 18th birthday in October, so I'm hoping I might get some money too, yaay :).
It's so damn expensive, but I want to make it futureproof, so I'm picking the best choices I can think of and which I like design-vise.
My question is, are these good choices or am I terribly wrong somewhere ?
And also I don't know which AIO water cooling to choose. I'm stuck in between Coolermaster MasterLiquid Pro 240 which I found quiet good, but some people told me it sucks and I'd better get NZXT Kraken X62. I'm stuck coz I don't have any experience with water cooling so I don't know which one is better performance-vise. But I know for sure I prefer NZXT's design. I've got RGB strips everywhere, so it would fit better, but sadly it's so much more expensive I'm not sure if it's worth it. I'm looking for water cooling for 3 reasons. I like how it looks, I think that good water is better than air, and also it should be more silent in my opinion. (I know it's not water there lol)

I believe more in this forum than people in my local area, because they know nothing and what they say is questionable.
Thanks for suggestions and answers :).
 
Solution
Barty1884
Just as an FYI, if you're having to pay 4,250 Czech Koruna (~$182 USD) for an X62, then it's an even tougher choice compared to similar(ish) performing air coolers.

For example, the Noctua NH-D15 is 2,499 (~$100)
https://www.alza.cz/search.htm?exps=nh-d15

Now, unfortunately that won't fit in an S340 case.... but the NH-14 will, and it's even cheaper.
https://www.alza.cz/search.htm?exps=nh-d14

1800 Czech / $77 USD

With the included Noctua fans, it'll be nearly as silent as a good AIO, with upgraded fans in most cases.

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mcnumpty23

mcnumpty23

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personally if i had to pick an AIO

theres only 2 i would choose from--though they may be more expensive

1--ek predator--ek have tons of watercooling experience so you get quality components

2--my number 1 choice as its by far the best looking AIO in my opinion--also has high quality pump/cpu block has leds etc

and the advantage its expandable with standard watercooling fittings

the swiftech x2 series
 
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Barty1884

Barty1884

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It's a tough one to answer, as it depends on your needs. For gaming, your existing i5-3470 can pair well with stronger GPUs than your current 970.

Personally, for the price (Assuming you are dead set on upgrading), I'd actually look to Ryzen.
Something like a Ryzen 5 1600 (6 core/12 thread) and an ASRock Fatal1ty board can be paired together for less than the cost of a 7700K alone. Would require some overclocking, but even so - I feel it's a much better option.

As for the cooler, that's totally your call. I prefer air myself. Water is not necessairly 'better' than air. Comparable high end air coolers (like the Noctua NH-D15) will rival almost any AIO liquid cooler. Noise is very much dependent on the fans installed.
 
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Sedivy

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This site does have a list of best aio cpu coolers:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-cpu-coolers,4181-2.html
(select aio from the dropdown menu)
I think x52 was slightly better than masterliquid pro 240 on full load and x62 is supposed to be better than x52. So yes I'd say kraken probably does better but it's also a matter of price/performance value. Check out the link above and see if the temps on kraken are what you're expecting.

Liquid is cooler yes, on average about 5 degrees difference from what I can tell from reviews. However, you're exchanging 5-10 year warranty on air coolers to 1-2 year warranty on aio and likely pump failure in the future. Sound wise it's a toss-up. Having 2-3 fans on a radiator vs one fan on a cpu air cooler can be cooler or noisier depending on a setup. If money is not pressing, and you're not afraid to change things a year or two down the road cooler wise, go for liquid cooling, why not.
 
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Sedivy

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That's not bad at all. Considering turnaround in rigs nowadays, 3 years is pretty decent for 5 degree or more under load difference in temperature. It all comes down to price. If money was never an issue, I'd always go liquid cooling too, why not. They're better looking, cooler running and don't hang a giant metal weight on a very slim motherboard. I choose air cause of performance per price and practical maintenance, not looks or top scores on cooling.
 
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mcnumpty23

mcnumpty23

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yes watercooling isnt for every one

i understand the arguments for both sides air/water

its a personal choice really

though i dont use what i would call lower quality watercooling--ie corsair AIO etc

not saying they are bad per se

but the quality of the components is way lower than the 2 i mentioned

 
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Onyxacek

Onyxacek

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Thanks for suggesting, but I don't feel like building DYI watercooling yet. And that one you suggested is sadly not available in my country.
I think I'm going for NZXT Kraken x62. It's expensive and costs $182 which sucks. But I guess there is not better choice if I love it's design and I want it to be silent and keep it for long time.
Just so you know, this whole upgrade is in Czech Crowns which equals 1083 US Dollars. So it will take me full 2 months to save enough money :(

For those who wonder I play demanding games like GTA 5, Witcher 3, Hitman etc.. I also make videos in Premiere which is quiet CPU intensive and it sucks when everything lags. In GTA 5 I've got like 60% usage on GPU and 100% usage on CPU which really needs upgrade.
Anyway thanks again for answers.
 
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Barty1884

Barty1884

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Just as an FYI, if you're having to pay 4,250 Czech Koruna (~$182 USD) for an X62, then it's an even tougher choice compared to similar(ish) performing air coolers.

For example, the Noctua NH-D15 is 2,499 (~$100)
https://www.alza.cz/search.htm?exps=nh-d15

Now, unfortunately that won't fit in an S340 case.... but the NH-14 will, and it's even cheaper.
https://www.alza.cz/search.htm?exps=nh-d14

1800 Czech / $77 USD

With the included Noctua fans, it'll be nearly as silent as a good AIO, with upgraded fans in most cases.

 
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Solution
Onyxacek

Onyxacek

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Jun 6, 2017
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If you want exact pricing of everything, here it goes :
https://www.czc.cz/2i2j0hruoqg3vbt1mj76footc4/seznam
Everything is so darn expensive I know. But that's fact. And I know about those Noctua brownish-beige fans which I absolutly can't stand. And since I'm about to make this build look appealing to my eyes, it's not what I want. I know this is kinda bad opinion, since these ugly Noctua's are best performing coolers in air category, but I personaly just hate brown and beige color, so it sucks so much :(. I might swap fans, but then I could very well use my current EVO 212+ which I had to buy coz my stock cooler broke.
 
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Onyxacek

Onyxacek

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I just placed all those stuff I planned on to buy and on Amazon it takes $257 less than from CZC shop. That is so bad :( . On Newegg it takes 889.95 usd for whole cart. Which is still pretty good. I want that water cooling pretty bad, but those prices are so much off. I'm messed up. I wonder if there is a way to ship these things to czech republic, but it's so much money to be spent for first international order :/. I think I'll just make a lot of money and consider paying full price for now :/. I am pretty pissed of finding out that I paid for my 970 as much as for 980 ti on Amazon.

Thanks for answers everyone, I'll keep air cooling in equation, but I want to move on to water cooling.
 
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Sedivy

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Do not ship, it'll cost you an arm and a leg. The only option is if you know someone in US or Canada that's coming over during the summer and can bring one for you in their luggage. As they are hefty in weight, make sure they're not like packing for a 3 months trip and need every kg of allowance allowed on the plane for themselves, but otherwise, that would be a much preferable option as most in canada and US can ship it to themselves for free (as coolers are over $50).
I say this cause I do this all the time for friends/relatives when I go to visit them overseas and they always ask me to order stuff from amazon and bring it to them for exact same reasons you list.
 
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mcnumpty23

mcnumpty23

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its same idea here in the uk

the parts are much cheaper in the usa

but once you add shipping ,vat,and the import duty

it actually ends up more expensive to buy from the usa

which is why i can never understand newegg having a uk and a European website

as unless the parts were shipped from a warehouse here not in the usa you would be silly to buy from them



 
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Onyxacek

Onyxacek

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Jun 6, 2017
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Well I've talked about it with a friend from school and we found out none of us have a way to acomplish this. Sadly I am out of ideas, so o guess I'm spending like for one i5 price more than I would in US.
Thanks for idea, I should make some friends in America
 
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Onyxacek

Onyxacek

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You're right, I noticed it while reading some articles about shopping to Czech. It sucks. There is probably no other way than through friend which I don't have :/
 
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