150$ Air vs. Water Cooler

lousyworm1480 · Jul 25, 2018

So, I was wondering if I should go for a Air or Water coolers. The coolers that I was thinking about getting were either the "Noctua - NH-L12" or "EKWB EK Fluid Gaming A240 Complete Dual 120mm Water." Now both of these coolers have a pretty high price tag which is why I'm so concerned about getting the right one. For a 150$ air cooler, it seems kind of a lot. Also another thing to add is, is that I've heard cooling i9's is hard as crap to cool. I don't know if that's the same for all i9's but I am trying to cool a i9-7900X. This is the computer that I was thinking about building (obviously instead of the Noctua I would get the water cooler I previously mentioned):http://

I'm just wondering which one I should go with (and if you have any suggestions on the build that would help a lot as well.) Thanks!

P.S. I plan to overclock as much as I possibly can. Thanks again!

rubix_1011 · Jul 25, 2018

I am not seeing where the Noctua cooler is more than $60, but it seems this is a PC Part Picker anomaly?

What is the difference between this: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608025 and this https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NH-L12-Low-profile-Quiet-Cooler/dp/B007C861WO and this https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID= ?

The i9 10-core should be pretty well cooled by any high end air or liquid cooler considering it has a 140w TDP which is the same as the 6-core i7 5930k (140w TDP, stock speeds) that I use for the liquid and air cooling reviews on Tom's Hardware. Of course, it's OC'ed to 4.2Ghz and 1.20v which really stresses all coolers.

TJ Hooker · Jul 25, 2018

As said above, that Noctua is a $60 cooler, not $120. Also, it's a low profile cooler which typically offer worse cooling performance than an equivalently priced tower cooler, so don't get one unless your case demands it.

The noctua NH-D14 is still the go to high-end air cooler AFAIK.

geofelt · Jul 25, 2018

This is a top end build where I suspect budget is not an issue.
I imagine that the main purpose is for gaming since you have dual GTX1080ti cards.
If you need multithreaded batch apps, that is an entirely different proposition.

I have some thoughts:
You will win synthetic fps benchmarks with sli GTX1080ti, but your gaming experience is likely to be better with a single good card.
Dual gpu has some issues with screen tearing stuttering and non support in some games.
I do not think that the 2560 x 1440 monitor really needs dual gpu.

I think I would start with a single EVGA GTX1080ti FTW.
If the rumored GTX1180 arrives within 90 days, you might be able to use the evga step up program for a gtx1180.

For gaming, the higher clock rate of a overclocked I7-8700K is going to be as good as it gets.
More than a max overclock on a 7900x.
Very few games can effectively use more than 2-3 threads so the 12 you get with a 8700K is more than enough.
If you buy a i7-8086k, you will get a guaranteed good bin, but that is mostly not worth it.
For a guarantee, go to silicon lottery, they sell a guaranteed delidded 5.2 8700k for $680
https://siliconlottery.com/collections/coffeelake

A downdraft cooler like the noctua NH-L12 is not very effective.
But your case has 160mm of headroom for an air cooler.
Buy the noctua NH-D15s, there is nothing better.
It will cool just as well as a top end liquid cooler.
In the process, it will be quieter, more reliable and will not leak.
It is designed to clear tall ram heat spreaders like the tridentz and it is also redesigned to clear graphics card backplates.

Love the 970 pro.
Seasonic is also excellent, but even 750w would be ok for sli gtx1080ti cards.
I have no problem overprovisioning a PSU a bit. Say 20%.
It will allow for a stronger future graphics card upgrade.
It will run cooler, quieter, and more efficiently in the middle third of it's range.
A PSU will only use the wattage demanded of it, regardless of it's max capability.

rubix_1011 · Jul 25, 2018

geofelt - excellent contribution...that's very in-depth.

I completely agree with the 2x GPU observation as well as the CPU discussion. Most of this really depends on what the ultimate purpose of the machine will be. I realize that every PC is a multi-tasker, but is this primarily for gaming/entertainment, or is this more of a workstation-first, gaming secondary approach?

I've become very fond of both Noctua and be quiet! air coolers - you really cannot find better build quality between these manufacturers right now.

lousyworm1480 · Jul 25, 2018

geofelt :

Oh my gosh, thank you for your help, it helped out so much. So I got a few questions. First one, you stated that two GPU's would cause some screen tearing. So my question is, is even with the gsync monitor would the screen tearing still occur and if it does not what would I be giving up. Also I am really thinking about the i7-8086k. I looked at the specs and it looks amazing I think I agree with everything you said.

Second question: Should I just get a 1180 over dual 1080 ti. I know nothing about this new graphics card so I have no idea. On top of that, will the 1180 be better than the Titan Xp and IF it is what is the expected price difference.

Also another thing is, is there any risk in a delidded possessor.

So here is my updated part list http:// BTW depending on your response I will put a 1180 in there instead of dual 1080 ti's. Also for the record this computer is supposed to be able to do mostly everything including light programming, play triple A games and 2k 144 fps, and very very very small amount animation.

TJ Hooker · Jul 25, 2018

The 8086K is a waste of money, just get the 8700K.

Nobody knows how the 1180 will perform or what it will cost. I think it's safe to assume it will outperform the 1080 Ti though. If you aren't in a rush to build your PC and don't mind waiting a couple months, it might be a good idea to wait for the 1180 and see what it offers. An 1180 isn't going to perform as well as two 1080 Tis in games that support SLI well, but you'd still be better off with the single more powerful card.

Delidding your CPU voids your warranty. I'd assume there's at least a small amount of risk of damaging your CPU during the delidding process itself if you're not careful.

lousyworm1480 · Jul 25, 2018

TJ Hooker :

Is the 8086k not better? I'm not to worried about the price difference. Also is setting up a air/water cooling system for a delidded CPU different? So my exact question is setting up a cooling system for a delidded CPU different than setting up one without a lid. Thanks

TJ Hooker · Jul 25, 2018

The single core turbo of the 8086K is 300 MHz higher, but in practice you're never going to see the single core turbo, and the multi core turbos are all identical to the 8700K. So stock performance will be virtually identical. The 8086k is binned a bit better, so you might get an extra 100 MHz of overclock headroom on average (although you probably have to delid to take advantage of it). So an overclocked 8086K may be ~2% better than an overclocked 8700K on average.

So it's technically "better", but not in any noticeable way.

I have no personal experience with delidding, but it would depend on whether you replace the heatspreader after replacing the TIM, or whether you keep the heatspreader off (meaning the CPU die is left exposed). If it's the latter then I think you'd need to take precautions when installing the heatsink/waterblock to avoid damaging the die.

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