# Best 120mm AIO for Ci7 8700K



## HuLkY (Feb 23, 2018)

Hi All,

I would like to know your recommendations for the best 120mm AIO for 8700K please, thank you all in advance.


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## Vayra86 (Feb 23, 2018)

A 120mm is pointless, it will cool worse than air. The radiator size and fans you have on it is one of the primary factors in AIOs.


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## HuLkY (Feb 23, 2018)

Vayra86 said:


> A 120mm is pointless, it will cool worse than air. The radiator size and fans you have on it is one of the primary factors in AIOs.



Due to limitaions I am stuck with that option for now, 120mm Rad.


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## Vayra86 (Feb 23, 2018)

HuLkY said:


> Due to limitaions I am stuck with that option for now, 120mm Rad.



Does it have to be water then? Air more reliable, lower in cost and maintenance - and it can also be low profile.


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## HuLkY (Feb 23, 2018)

Vayra86 said:


> Does it have to be water then? Air more reliable, lower in cost and maintenance



My case is Silverstone SG13 so my only option is 120mm AIO.


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## Vayra86 (Feb 23, 2018)

Arctic Liquid Freezer 120 is a decent example I think, provided that the rad will fit, its pretty bulky.


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## newtekie1 (Feb 23, 2018)

You'll want one with a thick radiator if you can fit it.  The Corsair H80i or Arctic Cooling Freezer 120 both use thick radiators, and cool a lot better than the thin 120mm radiators.

But I think the SG13 will fit a 140m rad in the front too, so you might want to look at something like the Corsair H90 or NZXT Kraken X42.  The 140mm coolers perform better than the 120mm ones.


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## jboydgolfer (Feb 23, 2018)

HuLkY said:


> My case is Silverstone SG13 so my only option is 120mm AIO.



i had great luck with a corsair H-75 they sent me, but the PC i was running at the time had a 4690k, i did have it OC'd, but i dont know how that stacks up to your CPU's TDP. fwiw


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## HuLkY (Feb 23, 2018)

After some research I think I can't get the H80 V2 also, too Fat with both fans on it, what do you think guys about this one?
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=35-103-210



newtekie1 said:


> You'll want one with a thick radiator if you can fit it.  The Corsair H80i or Arctic Cooling Freezer 120 both use thick radiators, and cool a lot better than the thin 120mm radiators.
> 
> But I think the SG13 will fit a 140m rad in the front too, so you might want to look at something like the Corsair H90 or NZXT Kraken X42.  The 140mm coolers perform better than the 120mm ones.



I am having already the NZXT X42 but it's blocking the GPU space, I am going with a Titan XP and card is waiting for the new cooler to come :/


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## newtekie1 (Feb 24, 2018)

HuLkY said:


> After some research I think I can't get the H80 V2 also, too Fat with both fans on it, what do you think guys about this one?



Then only put one fan on it, that's how I have mine configured.  It still outperforms any of the thinner 120mm coolers.


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## HuLkY (Feb 24, 2018)

newtekie1 said:


> Then only put one fan on it, that's how I have mine configured.  It still outperforms any of the thinner 120mm coolers.



I am buying it today, would you recommend any other fan for it? or use the one included?


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## Hood (Feb 24, 2018)

Your case will also fit a single 140mm rad, like the Corsair H90, and the NZXT Kraken x42.  If you can fit 2 fans in push/pull, I think one of those would be the best cooling for that SG13 case.  If only one fan will fit, they would still be a little better than any 120mm solution.  More expensive, though ($100-$130).  If that's too much money, I've had good luck with the Corsair H55 (single 120mm, about $60)


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## HuLkY (Feb 24, 2018)

Hood said:


> Your case will also fit a single 140mm rad, like the Corsair H90, and the NZXT Kraken x42.  If you can fit 2 fans in push/pull, I think one of those would be the best cooling for that SG13 case.  If only one fan will fit, they would still be a little better than any 120mm solution.  More expensive, though ($100-$130).  If that's too much money, I've had good luck with the Corsair H55 (single 120mm, about $60)



I already had 140mm solution but it blocked the GPU space, my Titan XP is waiting for the 120mm to rest in there then I will install it, I am going with H80i V2 with one fan installed only.


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## IceShroom (Feb 24, 2018)

Cooler Master ML120L RGB.
Review : https://www.hardocp.com/article/2018/01/17/cooler_master_ml120l_rgb_allinone_cpu_review/


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## Vayra86 (Feb 24, 2018)

IceShroom said:


> Cooler Master ML120L RGB.
> Review : https://www.hardocp.com/article/2018/01/17/cooler_master_ml120l_rgb_allinone_cpu_review/



= shit if you want to cool something efficiently or 'well'. Relevance to this topic seems rather low to me. RGB does not help any fan in either noise or air pressure as it takes energy.


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## IceShroom (Feb 24, 2018)

Vayra86 said:


> = shit if you want to cool something efficiently or 'well'. Relevance to this topic seems rather low to me. RGB does not help any fan in either noise or air pressure as it takes energy.


Read the review.


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## newtekie1 (Feb 24, 2018)

HuLkY said:


> I am buying it today, would you recommend any other fan for it? or use the one included?



The ones includes are pretty good fans, as long as you don't want fancy RGB LED garbage.  They are designed for static pressure and pushing air through radiators.  They are a loud at full speed, but then again so is pretty much any fan when it hits 2400+ RPM.  So tune them using Corsair's software to your liking.


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## RejZoR (Feb 24, 2018)

Vayra86 said:


> A 120mm is pointless, it will cool worse than air. The radiator size and fans you have on it is one of the primary factors in AIOs.



My old 5820K at 4.5GHz feels pretty comfy on a 120mm AiO. And I'm using single intake fan (which is actually a 140mm case intake fan (Silent Wings 3) running at pretty low RPM. I see no reason why newer 14nm CPU couldn't do the same at maybe slightly higher fan RPM in a proper push-pull config and not how I basically just placed a radiator behind a case intake fan and called it a day.

If he uses a good 120mm AiO and maybe liquid metal thermal compound to remove those limits as 8700k still has the crappy toothpaste and he should hit comfy temps. But like I said, channeling air matters. My frontal 140mm intakes are split between upper for CPU AiO and bottom one channeling the air to the graphic card. I even made a ramp from CPU AiO to push the air acrosss graphic card and to the top and rear exhaust using thin transparent plastic from motherboard package covers. Without it, it was blowing hot air from CPU AiO directly to the side of the graphic card which I thought wasn't good.


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## dyonoctis (Feb 24, 2018)

Vayra86 said:


> = shit if you want to cool something efficiently or 'well'. Relevance to this topic seems rather low to me. RGB does not help any fan in either noise or air pressure as it takes energy.


It's always funny to see people throwing a fit at anything "RGB" even if it's a good product. This cooler is very close to a noctua NH-U12s and only cost 60$. And the RGB is working on a separate wire/power source, so it's not going to weaken the fan. And there is also a version without RGB altogether. Hardcop just happened to have the RGB one.
Just because the Bitfenix Enso is a huge piece of shit doesn't that some people can't mix RGB and good product.
But anyway op seems to have already choosen the H80i.


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## HuLkY (Feb 24, 2018)

Just had it guys, thank you tons for the aid.

one note, the screws for the rad and the fans are all the long ones, Corsair didn't include shorter ones to install the rad with one fan and the rad being held to the case holes... weird.

I will try to manage it, if not I would have to put the fan between the rad and the case side, I planned to put it in front of it and the rad being held to the case with the small screws.


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## jboydgolfer (Feb 24, 2018)

HuLkY said:


> Just had it guys, thank you tons for the aid.
> 
> one note, the screws for the rad and the fans are all the long ones, Corsair didn't include shorter ones to install the rad with one fan and the rad being held to the case holes... weird.
> 
> I will try to manage it, if not I would have to put the fan between the rad and the case side, I planned to put it in front of it and the rad being held to the case with the small screws.



Do you mean the screws that are included are  the length for the thickness of two fans and one radiator?

If there's a length for the width of the radiator & a single fan that can work


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## crazyeyesreaper (Feb 24, 2018)

Using an 8700K currently in the cooler review test bench a 120mm based H80i V2 or similar Thick radiator will be fine, However due to FPU loads getting ridiculously hot  thanks to AVX instructions I would likely limit the OC to 4.7.

Looking at my test bench currently many coolers can keep the CPU from thermal throttling but thats in a controlled environment. As such if you plan to OC i would stick with a 4.7 GHz oc on all cores with an AVX offset of 4.5 GHz this will give you enough cooling headroom to keep the CPU working without risking thermal throttle scenarios.


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## newtekie1 (Feb 24, 2018)

HuLkY said:


> Just had it guys, thank you tons for the aid.
> 
> one note, the screws for the rad and the fans are all the long ones, Corsair didn't include shorter ones to install the rad with one fan and the rad being held to the case holes... weird.
> 
> I will try to manage it, if not I would have to put the fan between the rad and the case side, I planned to put it in front of it and the rad being held to the case with the small screws.



I think the threads are standard, at least they were on my H80i V1.  So I just used some extra screws that came with the case to install it. I can't remember if they were the fine or course threads screws though, so gently try both and see which works or look at the long ones for the fans and compare the threads.


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