WavetrexBut no, massive air coolers are a thing of the past. If one needs more than normal TDP, they should go with water.

Ironically, massive air coolers are more likely to fit into small cases.

Also, watercooling today isn't really done in the optimal way and - as a result - large heatsinks aren't that far behind.
And when a really thought-through case comes around (like Corsair One) people are shocked that the cooling solution is so effective. :-)

1.1Kg is a lot of mass hanging off the socket, and it's huge so there's gonna be quite some leverage on that mass too.

Maybe this is better for HTPC-style horizontal cases.

WavetrexSo because one OEM made some bad design decisions, you conclude that AIO's are bad. Kappa.


So one single 12cm fan spinning at insane speeds under load is quieter than 2x14cm spinning at moderate to low speeds?

Again, you have a sample of one, which you had bad luck with. Noisy, clogging, etc.

I'll put my sample of one on the other side of the balance: Corsair H115, which is whisper quiet (I can't even hear the pump at all), cools well, had no issue whatsoever in almost 3 years of 24/7 operation.
Also provides airflow to the case, as it's front mounted, reducing the need for yet more fans.

Nah, the failure rate of that particular line of AIOs is near 100% - Google it. Sure, it's an outlier among modern AIOs, but corrosion and clogging is still a problem - mixing metals is frighteningly common simply due to the price of copper radiators and the difficulty of making a good aluminium cold plate. I'd rather take the 7-10-year life span of a Noctua fan and a single point of failure than a non-serviceable object with the most failure-prone components sealed off, and a mixed-metal design that's a guarantee that it will corrode and clog in time - the question is when, not if. Of course, I have a custom loop, which has... I can't even count how many potential points of failure - but it's also entirely serviceable. No black boxes, nothing sealed off.

As for the NH-U14s, it has a single 140mm fan spinning at up to 1500rpm - I wouldn't call that "insane speeds". And it's far, far quieter than any AIO with an in-block pump, no matter the fan size. In the Corsair 400Q that it lives in, it gives off a gentle whooshing sound at max speed. I'm perfectly fine with that.

Chrispy_1.1Kg is a lot of mass hanging off the socket, and it's huge so there's gonna be quite some leverage on that mass too.

Maybe this is better for HTPC-style horizontal cases.

Time for brace, similar to the ones made for big GPU's ?????

Just another reason to forego da hunk, hahaha