PC Peripherals High end CPU Air cooler OR cheaper Liquid cooler

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vaibhav_1979

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I am looking for a quality processor cooler as i am planning to run my i7 rig for 24x7 , i have a Full tower cabinet with 3 intake and 3 out exhaust (1 top x 1 bottom x1 back). can see expensive Noctua NH-U12S DX-3647 120mm CPU Cooler for 12K OR in 6K range i have Deepcool AK620 Zero Dark , Deepcool AK620 Digital Air Cooler White (R-AK620-WHADMN-G) ,Noctua NH-U9 TR4-SP3 CPU Cooler etc . at the same time i am seeing cheap liquid coolers for fraction of that amount like DeepCool LE300 All-in-one Liquid CPU Cooler , MSI MAG CoreLiquid B120 120mm Liquid Cooler, Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML120L V2 RGB Cooler etc.

Previously i was using Contac 9 CPU with Arctic MX-4 4g for my previous Q9550 rig and was very much happy as temps never crossed 95c at peak load.

So what makes more sense buy a high end air cooler Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 or DeepCool LE300 All-in-one Liquid CPU Cooler , MSI MAG CoreLiquid B120 120mm Liquid Cooler, Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML120L V2 RGB Cooler etc.
 
Deepcool AK620 series are great for 12th/13th/14th gen i5/i7 intel processors and more than enough to keep it cool when running in stock clock settings. For i3, AK400 is sufficient. Hope it helps
 
vaibhav_1979 said:
I am looking for a quality processor cooler as i am planning to run my i7 rig for 24x7 , i have a Full tower cabinet with 3 intake and 3 out exhaust (1 top x 1 bottom x1 back). can see expensive Noctua NH-U12S DX-3647 120mm CPU Cooler for 12K OR in 6K range i have Deepcool AK620 Zero Dark , Deepcool AK620 Digital Air Cooler White (R-AK620-WHADMN-G) ,Noctua NH-U9 TR4-SP3 CPU Cooler etc . at the same time i am seeing cheap liquid coolers for fraction of that amount like DeepCool LE300 All-in-one Liquid CPU Cooler , MSI MAG CoreLiquid B120 120mm Liquid Cooler, Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML120L V2 RGB Cooler etc.

Previously i was using Contac 9 CPU with Arctic MX-4 4g for my previous Q9550 rig and was very much happy as temps never crossed 95c at peak load.

So what makes more sense buy a high end air cooler Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 or DeepCool LE300 All-in-one Liquid CPU Cooler , MSI MAG CoreLiquid B120 120mm Liquid Cooler, Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML120L V2 RGB Cooler etc.
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Noctua NH-D15 ;)
 
In my experience, 120mm liquid coolers will perform similar to air cooler with 4 heat pipes.
The bulky air coolers with 6 heat pipes will perform better and last longer than most liquid coolers.
 
All i'm going to say is my 13700KF thermal throttled on a Deepcool LT720 360MM AIO in cinebench r23.. and in most games was fine, but battlefield 2042 sometimes had it upto 85 ish C at stock and 95 C when i had it oc'ed.

they are designed in a way that they will keep consuming more power and votlages as long as they have thermal headroom to run faster.
 
Thank you every one for their valuable input, every thing is ARGB so keeping the flashy part aside but my basic question remains same are liquid coolers better than Air coolers ...
chungus said:
air coolers will last forever as long as fan spins
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isnt the case same for liquid coolers, you cant replace fans for them??
 
vaibhav_1979 said:
isnt the case same for liquid coolers, you cant replace fans for them??
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Liquid cooling has a pump as well, if that fails, you have to replace the entire AIO. Fans are cheap and easy to replace, and is the only moving part in air coolers.

More importantly, rubber/plastic parts breakdown over time and cause the coolant to leak out. If it falls on your components, you have lost not only the AIO, but your PC as well. The question is not IF an AIO will fail, it's a matter of WHEN an AIO will fail.

That AK620 works as good as some 240mm AIOs.
 
IMO AK620 with Thermalright contact frame should be good. Can go for NH D15 or Deepcool Assassin IV for a higher price. Check Gamers Nexus & Hardware Canucks for cooler reviews.


Do mention your CPU? The i7 12700K is much easier to cool than 13700K or 14700K.

For airflow, make sure the case has negative airflow pressure for optimum cooling & helpful against dust build up. Maybe use 4x intakes with bottom intake.

AIOs are consumables and usually fail within 3-5 years. 2 friends had it, and it failed after 3 years or so for both. One was in warranty, so got replaced. Other guy bought a new air cooler. Both bought it around 2018-19, newer ones might be more reliable as many more AIOs come with 5 year warranty now.
 
n1r0 said:
Liquid cooling has a pump as well, if that fails, you have to replace the entire AIO. Fans are cheap and easy to replace, and is the only moving part in air coolers.

More importantly, rubber/plastic parts breakdown over time and cause the coolant to leak out. If it falls on your components, you have lost not only the AIO, but your PC as well. The question is not IF an AIO will fail, it's a matter of WHEN an AIO will fail.

That AK620 works as good as some 240mm AIOs.
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Actually been through this scenario when my friends dog knocked over glass of water while playing, its a nightmare for any gaming enthusiast. 1 second you are doling out headshots and next second. boom everything gone ......for ever o_O:inpain:
 
Personally don't see the need for water cooling unless you just want it for the sake of having it or for the look or if you really like overclocking, in the last case maybe AIOs are not the best choice opposed to custom as some people suggest that good air coolers can keep up with AIOs. So you really need to ask yourself what you want. If you just want to run a system at stock 24x7 then a good air cooler will do just fine. To add to what was said, the risk of a leak is real with water cooling and something to keep in mind. Just my humble opinion.
 
You absolutely need a 360mm AIO to extract MAX performance from a 13th or 14th gen i7.. idk what u guys are on about.. these chips take 250Watts+ during rendering workloads or something like a cinebench run.. i just said in my post i even saw games getting my i7 upto 90 C with a 360mm aio, why would you buy a processor for 40k and have it not run at its top potential?

Please tell me what air cooler can cool 250Watts+ without thermal throttling?

Also if you are buying a i7 13th/14th gen.. half the fun is buying it with a Z790 board and overclocking it, you can get the same level of i9 stock clocks with overclocking. Why leave performance from a tier up on the table when u can get it for about the same price.. AIO's have 5 years warranties now.. even if you have to replace it once every 3 years under warranty.. its still a no brainer.

I would much rather buy an AIO and have my i7 run like a i9 with overclocking and not have to worry about underclocking and limiting my performance just because i cheaped out on my cooler.
 
Bro chill (pun intended). Read OP's question first. (Hint: click on the links and check prices) Nowhere has he mentioned it's a 13th/14th gen which gets insanely hot. Every other i7 is sub 200W and an air cooler is more than enough.

i7 power consumption ove the generations :
screenshot_20231027044016.png


enc0dex264 said:
Please tell me what air cooler can cool 250Watts+ without thermal throttling?
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1698362514902.png

Source

Performance loss due to air cooler vs AIO on a 13900k = ~2%
1698362727813.png


enc0dex264 said:
I would much rather buy an AIO and have my i7 run like a i9 with overclocking and not have to worry about underclocking and limiting my performance just because i cheaped out on my cooler.
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Basically, a thermally throttled/power limited/under volted 13900k on its worst day can outperform your
OC'd 13700k + expensive AIO (which might leak and destroy your PC at any time)
Care to post your OC'd 13700k's score? You were so focussed on not cheaping out on the cooler that you cheaped out on the CPU.
And to achieve a stable OC you would have to spend hours testing stability, else you're at the risk of crashing/data corruption.

Current prices:
13900k + AG620 air cooler (same as AK but without the plastic casing) = 52 + 4.5 = 56.5k
13700k + LT320 AIO = 38 + 11 = 49k
For an extra 7.5k, you can get an extra 8000 (20%) points in Cinebench r23. (@Fenix have a look at these nos. this is what I was telling you)

Also if you are buying a i7 13th/14th gen.. half the fun is buying it with a Z790 board and overclocking it, you can get the same level of i9 stock clocks with overclocking. Why leave performance from a tier up on the table when u can get it for about the same price.. AIO's have 5 years warranties now.. even if you have to replace it once every 3 years under warranty.. its still a no brainer.
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If OC'ing is fun for you, by all means go ahead. Heck use liquid nitrogen for even crazier clocks. Not everyone has the budget and time to play and test the OC for stability.
Slapping an AIO that costs 25% of the CPU is a "no" brainer move indeed, when that amount can give you a more powerful CPU.

I blame the numerous tech tubers for this trend of spending money on things that don't actually give performance and instead on "cool toys" like expensive motherboards with PCIe 5.0 slots that no GPU can use, RGB on everything, glass panel cabinets, .... Now put that AIO on a 13900k to reach new heights, since there's no 13950k that can outclass it.

And there's one part you totally forgot: power limiting does NOT impact single core performance, which is more important for games.

OTOH One advantage of AIOs I miss is that they are usually quieter than air coolers since the fans need to spin slower to exhaust the same amount of heat.
 
vaibhav_1979 said:
I am looking for a quality processor cooler as i am planning to run my i7 rig for 24x7 , i have a Full tower cabinet with 3 intake and 3 out exhaust (1 top x 1 bottom x1 back). can see expensive Noctua NH-U12S DX-3647 120mm CPU Cooler for 12K OR in 6K range i have Deepcool AK620 Zero Dark , Deepcool AK620 Digital Air Cooler White (R-AK620-WHADMN-G) ,Noctua NH-U9 TR4-SP3 CPU Cooler etc . at the same time i am seeing cheap liquid coolers for fraction of that amount like DeepCool LE300 All-in-one Liquid CPU Cooler , MSI MAG CoreLiquid B120 120mm Liquid Cooler, Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML120L V2 RGB Cooler etc.

Previously i was using Contac 9 CPU with Arctic MX-4 4g for my previous Q9550 rig and was very much happy as temps never crossed 95c at peak load.

So what makes more sense buy a high end air cooler Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 or DeepCool LE300 All-in-one Liquid CPU Cooler , MSI MAG CoreLiquid B120 120mm Liquid Cooler, Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML120L V2 RGB Cooler etc.
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I am using my 11 year old Noctua NH-C14 :cool: on my 13600K for the past 8 months and it's performance is fantastic.

BUT - I had to remove it's lower fan :arghh: as it was interfering with the height of my 4 ram sticks!

Of course the suggested AG620 is also good (although I have never used Deepcool).
 
enc0dex264 said:
You absolutely need a 360mm AIO to extract MAX performance from a 13th or 14th gen i7.. idk what u guys are on about.. these chips take 250Watts+ during rendering workloads or something like a cinebench run.. i just said in my post i even saw games getting my i7 upto 90 C with a 360mm aio, why would you buy a processor for 40k and have it not run at its top potential?

Please tell me what air cooler can cool 250Watts+ without thermal throttling?

Also if you are buying a i7 13th/14th gen.. half the fun is buying it with a Z790 board and overclocking it, you can get the same level of i9 stock clocks with overclocking. Why leave performance from a tier up on the table when u can get it for about the same price.. AIO's have 5 years warranties now.. even if you have to replace it once every 3 years under warranty.. its still a no brainer.

I would much rather buy an AIO and have my i7 run like a i9 with overclocking and not have to worry about underclocking and limiting my performance just because i cheaped out on my cooler.
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I agree with other guy that i9 13900K + UV + power limits on air cooler will outperform OC'd 13700K + expensive cooling. You can get 10-15% extra performance at best with serious OC. OC is usually not worth it for most, especially on Intel i7 & i9 as the cooling requirement for stock cooling w/o 125W TDP limit is very high already. You might bring up R23 score for 13700K to 33k with UV & OC, but with UV & power limits, you can keep 13900K at 35k R23 points relatively easily at under 90C temps on AK620 IMO.

Honestly, if someone is building a new top of the line productivity rig, R9 7950X + UV + air cooler is the way IMO as it is more efficient.


1698378343801.png

1698378409058.png

IMO 200W will be a sweet spot for the power limit. 12900KS is equivalent to 13700K. Those are w/o UV. He discusses UV in the video as well. Just speculating but with UV, you might get 240-260W like performance at 200W.

Watch this for more info:
 
enc0dex264 said:
You absolutely need a 360mm AIO to extract MAX performance from a 13th or 14th gen i7.. idk what u guys are on about.. these chips take 250Watts+ during rendering workloads or something like a cinebench run.. i just said in my post i even saw games getting my i7 upto 90 C with a 360mm aio, why would you buy a processor for 40k and have it not run at its top potential?

Please tell me what air cooler can cool 250Watts+ without thermal throttling?

Also if you are buying a i7 13th/14th gen.. half the fun is buying it with a Z790 board and overclocking it, you can get the same level of i9 stock clocks with overclocking. Why leave performance from a tier up on the table when u can get it for about the same price.. AIO's have 5 years warranties now.. even if you have to replace it once every 3 years under warranty.. its still a no brainer.

I would much rather buy an AIO and have my i7 run like a i9 with overclocking and not have to worry about underclocking and limiting my performance just because i cheaped out on my cooler.
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We're all enthusiasts here (well, most).

OC'ing is something I've done myself ever since I started building my own computers. P3s, P4s, numerous Athlons, Core 2 Duo/Quads/Phenoms. Performance boosts those days were worth the effort and investment.

Today, essentially every good CPU is self-overclocking. Manual OC'ing hardly reaps any benefits nowadays, with the exception of breaking world records and the fact that you like seeing a "higher number"

Gone are the days where you can "overclock an i5 to match an i7". The gap is much smaller, due to the aforementioned self-overclocking feature nowadays.

This makes buying a top-shelf chipset ROG motherboard even more redundant today. Decent mid-range boards have 99% of everything that you actually need, including a robust VRM system and enough M.2 slots.

That's why I bought a good B650 with my 7800X3D, instead of an X670/E. The money saved bought me a better CPU. Also, in this case X3D chips cannot be manually overclocked, in the traditional sense, no matter the chipset you have. Also, after much research, an expensive 360mm AIO does not cool it leaps and bounds better than my D15S, probably 5-7C better. But for looks and nerdiness, an AIO is baller for sure.
 
Yes lets buy a processor worth 50k and not have it run to its full potential by cheaping out on the cooler and further more putting power limits on it and undervolts so that it can run a tier lower? Instead of having it run a tier up by spending slightly more on the cooler. :D

My 13700KF ran 5.6ghz p-core and 4.4 e-core (i dont have it anymore since i moved to AMD now otherwise would have gladly ran some tests for you), which is the same as a 13900K at stock. Now this doesnt mean i was able to get the same CB scores as a 13900K? but any additional frames a 13900K was providing during gaming? i had them with a processor which was 15K cheaper.

OC'ing is not even that hard anymore.. all i had to do was set the all core rations and set adaptive voltage to 1.39V.

Agree to disagree.. i rest my case.
 
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