Which is better, a cheap air cooler or a cheap AIO cooler?

Mar 31, 2018
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Right now I have a kind of bad CPU air heatsink. It is an ID-Cooling 902X. I bought it for about 10 dollars. The problem I have with this is the fan clicks and the insanely loud fan noise when playing games like Fortnite, CSGO, GTA V- is it normal for it to be so loud? It sounds like it's over 65db!

I am thinking of getting a Cooler Master Masterliquid 120 LITE. It is about 40 dollars or more in price. I am on a tight budget btw. I am aware that an AIO can be louder than an air heatsink, however, since the cooling on an AIO is slightly better than an air one, maybe it will require less work to cool my CPU? Or maybe my cpu heatsink is really bad and that's why it has to put so much work to cool my CPU. An answer would be highly appreciated, thanks.
 

fry178

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Dec 14, 2015
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I had one and returned it. Even that the corsairs are based on the same (asetek) design, they offer 5y warranty for all parts that get damaged in case it fails.
The H60 with the upgraded (bigger) rubber hoses would be the best deal, and allows for setting it up as "exhaust" and will remove the heat from the cpu and dump it outside the case, lowering temps in the case a bit something air cooler will not do.
 

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator


A good air cooler is better than a 120mm liquid.
And at a $40 budget....air cooler is what you want.
 
Mar 31, 2018
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How about the CM Seidon 120V V3? Is that just as good as the H60? Or even better?
 

fry178

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Dec 14, 2015
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Air cooler isnt really "better", really depends on use and what you want to archive.
I can have a 240 or 280 aio on silent with temps 30 to 40C below max temp, air coller will most likely be louder under full load.
The fact that no one covers any hardware that gets damaged when the cooler fails (no matter if its water or air), but corsair.
Since almost all aio are based on the same (problematic asetek design that has the risk of potential pump failure) besides stuff like EK or Alphacool, corsair would be the "best" one if you want to go non-custom liquid cooler..

for a value air cooler, look at the arctic freezer 13 or 33 are pretty good for the money, and pretty silent for the temps it can do.

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/99DwrH/arctic-cooling-cpu-cooler-acfz13
 
Mar 31, 2018
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MERGED QUESTION
Question from izzulgamer : "CM Seidon 120V V3 or CM Seidon 240P?"

I really want an answer for which is better between the two in terms of noise and performance.

Also, please DO NOT suggest mean air cooler. I want a suggestion between the two coolers I have asked.

Both of them are the same price from where I am buying it at. The 240P had a discount of like 25 ud or so. So the prices won't concern me considering that they are almost the same price. However, the 240P is blue and my whole build is Red/Black. The 120V V3 is red but only has one rad fan.

Does a 240mm radiator differ a lot from a 120mm radiator? If I take the seidon 240P will it be any better than the 120V V3? Or is the difference very minimal. because I am thinking of just getting the 120mm one because I am not overclocking my cpu whatsoever. So will the Seidon 240P make a huge difference compared to just buying the Seidon 120V V3?