Air vs Liquid Cooling

[iLikeMudkipz]

Could someone please help me decide on whether i should get liquid cooling or air cooling, I've heard both pros and cons for both and they seem about the same to me. Here's my rig if it helps:

Intel BX80637I73770K i7-3770K 3.5/3.9GHz LGA1155 IVY Bridge Boxed CPU Cores 4/8MB

ASUS SABERTOOTH-Z77 ATX Motherboard

Corsair Vengeance 8GB Kit(4GBx2) DDR3-2133 CMZ8GX3M2A2133C11B

ASUS GTX670-DC2-2GD5 2GB GTX670 PCI-E VGA Card

Case is the Thermaltake Armor Revo Full tower case. Also this rig will probably used for gaming and i do plan on overclocking.

Thanks in advance

Edit: suggestions on which cooler i should get would also be nice

 

[Ballantin]

If you are not confident enought to make a custom watercooling loop, your best option is something like the Corsair H100 or the new H100i.
They perform very well and people seems to be very happy with them.

Of course, the performance of the cooling system is less than a custom loop, but the isnstallation is almost as simple as an air cooler, but with better results.

 

[lazyboy947]

i heard good from the thermaltake water 2.0 extreme, but on the air cooling side the noctua nh d14 is considered the best air cooler, prob slightly better than the h100. Also Teksyndicate reviewed the Xigmatek Dark Knight II in push pull, and it is very similar or better than the h100 and it costs like $40

 

[cmi86]

I will probably catch crap for saying this but it's the truth so whatever. More times than not closed loop manufactured water coolers are a total waste of money Vs. quality air coolers. Take a Hyper 212 Evo, It's a $30 cooler add another $10 fan and a $7 tube of thermal paste and it has been shown to cool better than closed loop system costing 2X as much.

 

[lazyboy947]

nah, i think most of forums would agree that majority of air coolers are a better choice over a closed loop cooler just as the cost of the better closed loop coolers are way to much to get the performance from the cost.

 

[8350rocks]

nah, i think most of forums would agree that majority of air coolers are a better choice over a closed loop cooler just as the cost of the better closed loop coolers are way to much to get the performance from the cost.

+1

 

[Ballantin]

nah, i think most of forums would agree that majority of air coolers are a better choice over a closed loop cooler just as the cost of the better closed loop coolers are way to much to get the performance from the cost.

I too agree on this statement, but some people preffer to pay an extra to get one of the good closed loops (like the H100) and are not confident or want to mess with a custom loop. Closed loops are expensive, but simple and effective (at some point).

 

[manofchalk]

nah, i think most of forums would agree that majority of air coolers are a better choice over a closed loop cooler just as the cost of the better closed loop coolers are way to much to get the performance from the cost.

+3

CLC coolers like the H100i at best perform on par with big air-coolers like the NH-D14, at a significantly higher price point.
IMO, if you want water go the whole way and get a custom loop. The price difference between a H100i and low end Custom kit (Raystorm RS240 for instance) isnt that much, but the performance difference definitely is.

 

[Ballantin]

nah, i think most of forums would agree that majority of air coolers are a better choice over a closed loop cooler just as the cost of the better closed loop coolers are way to much to get the performance from the cost.

+3

CLC coolers like the H100i at best perform on par with big air-coolers like the NH-D14, at a significantly higher price point.
IMO, if you want water go the whole way and get a custom loop. The price difference between a H100i and low end Custom kit (Raystorm RS240 for instance) isnt that much, but the performance difference definitely is.

As well as the difficulty to mount it for someone without any experience, or even building his/her first custom rig. Also, people used to be affraid of putting liquid into enlectronics, and a sealed kit from a well know brand used to convince they.

You know, if something is selling it is because there is market for it!!!

Personally, I think that this kits can make some sense for specific applications.

 

[manofchalk]

As well as the difficulty to mount it for someone without any experience, or even building his/her first custom rig. Also, people used to be afraid of putting liquid into electronics

It does take a special brand of crazy doesn't it :lol:.
I mean, its only the most electrically active machine in the whole house .

I can understand the difficulty part, and I never recommend custom water-cooling for first time builders.. Its just an added layer of complexity to what I already know is a confusing thing for a first timer.
Though the idea of using CLC coolers as a baby step into water-cooling doesn't sit right with me, the most people will learn from CLC's (except maybe with the Swiftech H220) is how to screw in a rad.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

I have a system with the Corsair H100 here that I resently build and the closed loop cooler do work well. The biggest issue with many of them is finding the space to mount them but a cooler like the H80/90 can fit in a mounting spot for a 120mm fan at the back of the case.

 

[durtyzerg]

Honestly you would only need a water cooling setup if your planning on OCing to high temps..and even then there are some air coolers on the market that compete against liquid coolers, i would even go as far to say that if you built your rig entirely based on air cooling you could probably achieve better temps across the board, there are some really impressive cases out there these days that have amazing airflow setups.

If your planning on OCing to the max I would say liquid cooling given your willing to take a risk as eventually it will start leaking somewhere..lets not forget water is the most powerful force on the planet and will corrode even metal pipes away over time, but you can spend the same amount or a little more into a custom side panel that has multiple fans and not have that risk and achieve the same or better cooling, I wish I could find a picture of this one I saw recently..this guy custom made a side panel for his gaming PC that had 12-15 80MM fans..literally the entire door was fans, was impressive.

My personal opinion is air cooling is better when done right, combined with a good case that supports multiple 120MM's (front top back) can achieve the same or better as liquid. It depends on how much your willing to spend really, as with anything.