Do you prefer an air cooler or an AIO?

[gwwak]

Air for me. They are cheaper and perhaps the most important, it fits my case. My case is old and it doesn't support an AIO larger than 120mm.

[Greenie]

I have only used Air coolers for the last 20 years, I switched to an AIO last year, I noticed no drop in temps, but what I did notice is my temps stayed more stable. i9 12900kf

It's all about Ambient Room temp, if your room stays cool so will your CPU

[smokerob79]

Messaggio originale di Greenie:

I have only used Air coolers for the last 20 years, I switched to an AIO last year, I noticed no drop in temps, but what I did notice is my temps stayed more stable. i9 12900kf

It's all about Ambient Room temp, if your room stays cool so will your CPU

yeah not really a factor.....if you go past the 7 series from ether maker you need to be on a 360mm AIO or bigger....with the power limits of most i9's you should be on a 420mm if you want boost clocks for all cores and not single core highest boost....

[C1REX]

I don’t mind either.
One of my PC has a big Noctua air cooler and my other PC has a big 420mm AIO.

Air Cooler is less likely to fail but makes upgrades of CPU and GPU (yes, ironically) more difficult. AIO is usually a tiny bit better at cooling CPU but also making the airflow better for GPU, RAM, VRM.

So I have a small preference for AIO for my main rig but air cooling for builds I don’t plan to upgrade.

[Trout]

there's just too many points of failure in an AIO cooler, i refuse to install that in my PC

[Ghost Robertson]

Do you prefer an air cooler or an AIO?

Well you see i don't believe in super fast, boiling hot CPU's or GPU's.

When picking something for myself i look at things like TDP and check an air coolers ability to cool it.

So yes i like air coolers but I'm not going for an i9 at 99Ghz.

[gwwak]

Messaggio originale di Ghost Robertson:

Do you prefer an air cooler or an AIO?

Well you see i don't believe in super fast, boiling hot CPU's or GPU's.

When picking something for myself i look at things like TDP and check an air coolers ability to cool it.

So yes i like air coolers but I'm not going for an i9 at 99Ghz.

I am cooling a Ryzen 9 with a single tower air cooler lol. Granted, I don't intend to overclock, so it has been sufficient so far.

[Haruspex]

Air all the way.

First, air can be quieter. I'm using Noctua fans on a Thermaltake Peerless Assassin, and with larger fans and the right fan curve, I barely hear it unless it really gets going. An AIO has fans, but also has a pump making noise. It's a negligible amount of noise, but it's still more noise than a decent air cooler.

Second, air has fewer points of failure, making it more reliable. It's literally just the fans. If a fan goes out, replace it. An AIO has fans, the pump, and if it springs a leak you now have literal liquid leaking into your computer, which is never a problem I have to worry about, ever. I know the chances of an AIO springing a leak are low, but a chance is still a chance.

Third, I really don't care what my PC looks like inside. I have a Fractal North XL in black and walnut with the mesh side panel. No RGB anywhere. I can't see in there anyway, and the biggest reason to use an AIO besides the moderately better cooling performance vs a decent air cooler (and I'm not overclocking anyway so meh) is that it looks cool. The inside of my PC is a nightmare of black components and brown/beige Noctua fans. It's there to work, not to impress anyone.

[skOsH♥]

I have been using water AIO for a while now, and I have found that, yes, what other have mentioned here already, which is you won't find a difference until you get to 360mm AIO, but, it is a nice cooling option for the cpu since you will get temps below 70C on full load. Sometimes my temps reach maybe 68C. When I first got the AIO I am sure I got slightly cooler temps, but it shouldn't be a big deal to buy another one when I need to.

This is just on the cpu though. I don't do any custom cooling for my gpu since it cannot be overclocked any more than it is, and its already built to run like it.

[D. Flame]

After having used both, I prefer Air coolers.

AIOs keep the CPU slightly cooler, but not by much. Then when they go out, you have to replace the entire unit, which can cost hundreds of dollars. When a fan locks up on an air cooler, you can just keep the same heat sink and replace the fan alone, which usually only costs like $10 to $20 at most.

[Tiberius]

Air cooler. Games rarely utilize all cores at full load. I also only do a lil bit of photo/video editing and data compression so my pc doesnt need that much cooling

[Karumati]

nothing beats custom water loop

[spicy little monkey]

Messaggio originale di Karumati:

nothing beats custom water loop

Prone to leaks, very expensive, and not worth the effort.

[Karumati]

Messaggio originale di spicy little monkey:

Messaggio originale di Karumati:

nothing beats custom water loop

Prone to leaks, very expensive, and not worth the effort.

looks great, temps lower.
in my opinion totally worth it.

[D. Flame]

Messaggio originale di Karumati:

Messaggio originale di spicy little monkey:

Prone to leaks, very expensive, and not worth the effort.

looks great, temps lower.
in my opinion totally worth it.

Looks worse 99.999% of the time. There are a very few people who are really good at it that make some amazing looking ones, but at that point, it become more of an art piece than a practical choice.

[C1REX]

I've got a 420mm AIO on a 7800x3D and Noctua NH-D15chromax on my old Ryzen 9 3950x.
Both temps are very similar at about 70C at max load during all cores Cinebench test after more than 15 min.

But my Arctic Freezer 420mm is less noisy than Noctua at full speed. Sure, 7800x3D consumes much less power than 16 cores Ryzen 9 but it's the 3D chip that has higher TDP. 7800x3D = 120w TDP when 3950x = 105w TDP.
(TDP is not power consumption)