Your cooling setup and why did you choose/go that route?

[Tomgang]

I have been thinking about the pro's and cons about air vs. Aio vs. Custom water cooling vs. Face cooling. I don't think I will take dry ice or ln2 in this thread as that is extreme cooling and not very usable for every day use.

So to simply sum it up. This thread is to discuss what cooling you have and why you choose that.

I Will off cause start out.

I use aircooled and have all ways used it. I use it do to price that's cheaper than custom loops and a big aircooler is just as good as a reasonable aio, less maintenance over customs water cooling and less things to go wrong means more reliable. Also because even throw custom water give greater headroom for overclock, with big ass air coolers like the noctua nh-d15 chromax.black i use, I have not been disappointed with the overclock results I got from it. Rather surprised by how far I could take my Ryzen 9 5950X (manuel all core oc to 4.65 ghz on all 16 cores and actually beating out several aio and custom loops) or for that matter the i7 980x (oc to 4.75 ghz all core at its best) I had before. Another reason I chose Air cooling for my current system was to be different. All the dual systems out there I cut find on the internet or on YouTube. Where all ways stuffed with custom water loops. So I wanted to do it differently with air cooling in stead.

Con's for aircooling is that it is more noisy than a oversized custom loop that can run either passive or fans at very low rpm even with a power hungry cpu and gpu in the loop. Not all like to have a big aluminum block in the pc case and I will admit that a custom loop can look seriously nice in a pc and better than a big aircooler at times. But it doesn't bother me throw. Another downside of aircooling specially for us that use big dual tower coolers, can be limited to what memory we can use do to heatsink high on memory.

So my cooling setup is as followed in my dual system.

For my atx machine I use noctua nh-d15 chromax.black with thermal grizzly kryonaut extreme and swapped stock fans out with 1 120 mm and 1 140 mm noctua industrial 3000 RPM fan. 120 mm is do to ram modules high on my 5950X cpu.

Gpu is stock cooler on my rtx 3080.

For the mini-itx system I use a Noctua nh-l9x65 se-am4 low profile cooler again with thermal grizzly kryonaut extreme paste and the stock fan swapped out with a ditto in there chromax.black line out on my 5600X cpu.

Gpu is a gtx 1650 with a stock low profile cooler.

This is how it looks

 

[P4-630]

I went from a i7 6700K using a Noctua NH-U12A to a Z690 platform with a i7 12700K with re-using my Noctua NH-U12A,
max temp I've seen was 71c while running Cinebench R23 multi core for 10 minutes, that's good enough for me!
So I'm in no need of replacing my CPU cooler for something else.

 

[AsRock]

Air cooling, less to go wrong and if a fan does fail very easy to replace.

 

[Tomgang]

I went from a i7 6700K using a Noctua NH-U12A to a Z690 platform with a i7 12700K with re-using my Noctua NH-U12A,
max temp I've seen was 71c while running Cinebench R23 multi core for 10 minutes, that's good enough for me!
So I'm in no need of replacing my CPU cooler for something else.

One of the good things is that noctua tend to provide a new socket brackets for free if you can show a invoice of buying a Noctua cooler. A great way to prolong a cooler and investment.

With my 5950X at stock i se all core being around 55C and boost up around 68 C for single core boost that means around 5 ghz. With pbo all core is around 76 C while single core boost up to 5.2 ghz is 72 C. The manuel 4.65 ghz all core oc peaked at 86 C so that's the limit I can go as thermal throttle point for 5950X is 90 C.

So no need to replace my cooler.

Air cooling, less to go wrong and if a fan does fail very easy to replace.

Exactly my point for why I go air. Only maintenence is a paste change and dust off at times. Maybe replace a dead fan. Else air cooling just keeps going.

 

[AleXXX666]

I have been thinking about the pro's and cons about air vs. Aio vs. Custom water cooling vs. Face cooling. I don't think I will take dry ice or ln2 in this thread as that is extreme cooling and not very usable for every day use.

So to simply sum it up. This thread is to discuss what cooling you have and why you choose that.

I Will off cause start out.

I use aircooled and have all ways used it. I use it do to price that's cheaper than custom loops and a big aircooler is just as good as a reasonable aio, less maintenance over customs water cooling and less things to go wrong means more reliable. Also because even throw custom water give greater headroom for overclock, with big ass air coolers like the noctua nh-d15 chromax.black i use, I have not been disappointed with the overclock results I got from it. Rather surprised by how far I could take my Ryzen 9 5950X (manuel all core oc to 4.65 ghz on all 16 cores and actually beating out several aio and custom loops) or for that matter the i7 980x (oc to 4.75 ghz all core at its best) I had before. Another reason I chose Air cooling for my current system was to be different. All the dual systems out there I cut find on the internet or on YouTube. Where all ways stuffed with custom water loops. So I wanted to do it differently with air cooling in stead.

Con's for aircooling is that it is more noisy than a oversized custom loop that can run either passive or fans at very low rpm even with a power hungry cpu and gpu in the loop. Not all like to have a big aluminum block in the pc case and I will admit that a custom loop can look seriously nice in a pc and better than a big aircooler at times. But it doesn't bother me throw. Another downside of aircooling specially for us that use big dual tower coolers, can be limited to what memory we can use do to heatsink high on memory.

So my cooling setup is as followed in my dual system.

For my atx machine I use noctua nh-d15 chromax.black with thermal grizzly kryonaut extreme and swapped stock fans out with 1 120 mm and 1 140 mm noctua industrial 3000 RPM fan. 120 mm is do to ram modules high on my 5950X cpu.

Gpu is stock cooler on my rtx 3080.

For the mini-itx system I use a Noctua nh-l9x65 se-am4 low profile cooler again with thermal grizzly kryonaut extreme paste and the stock fan swapped out with a ditto in there chromax.black line out on my 5600X cpu.

Gpu is a gtx 1650 with a stock low profile cooler.

This is how it looks

what is that monster SLI/CROSSFIRE case?

my current cooling:
beQuiet! Dark Rock 4. Changed with friend for my purchased Dark Rock Pro 4 because I'm tired of bulky size. Currently using it on i5-11400F. Previously it was silent and good with i7-10700K.
beQuiet! provided me LGA1700 mounting for free too, i don't know if it was temporary campaign or perpetual.

Previously I've used Corsair H100 AIO, but it started to be noisy but I wanted silence for BARGAIN price. Yeah, that's me, I don't like overpriced products, I am a person who likes to understand actually for what I'm paying exactly this sum of $$$. So, got Dark Rock Pro 4 even I thought it was overpriceproduct, but comparing to AIO it was pretty cheap lol

 

[Blaeza]

I got a Vetroo V5 as I've got a low power CPU and after seeing it recommended by JayzTwoCents. I also don't trust water in my computer, no matter what people say! Air cooling is much less of a risk.

 

[Tomgang]

what is that monster SLI/CROSSFIRE case?

my current cooling:
beQuiet! Dark Rock 4. Changed with friend for my purchased Dark Rock Pro 4 because I'm tired of bulky size. Currently using it on i5-11400F. Previously it was silent and good with i7-10700K.
beQuiet! provided me LGA1700 mounting for free too, i don't know if it was temporary campaign or perpetual.

Previously I've used Corsair H100 AIO, but it started to be noisy but I wanted silence for BARGAIN price. Yeah, that's me, I don't like overpriced products, I am a person who likes to understand actually for what I'm paying exactly this sum of $$$. So, got Dark Rock Pro 4 even I thought it was overpriceproduct, but comparing to AIO it was pretty cheap lol

The case itself is a Phanteks Enthoo 719, but can in some countries also be known as Phanteks Luxe 2.

A good little bugget system you have. I am however the opposite. I like the high end stuff, but keep it for as long as possible. I plan to keep my current for 8 years means I will have to get 7 years more out of it. Well I was on X58 for 12 years so...

About aio. I is my opinion that aio hold for 3 to 5 years then need replacement. Do to failure. Either pump, to little water left, cooler head is clogged up or something like that. Aircooled keeps going and unless you brake it, hold up the entire pc lifespan and then some more.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Worst thing about air cooling is the cooler normally blocks memory and some electrical connections
Otherwise great.

AIO is to offer access to everything an air cooler blocks.

Custom water loops mostly more money than sense

Right now I have one build all air and two on custom loops.

 

[Tomgang]

I got a Vetroo V5 as I've got a low power CPU and after seeing it recommended by JayzTwoCents. I also don't trust water in my computer, no matter what people say! Air cooling is much less of a risk.

The same do I neither. I am not fund of having water in my computer or close to any electric equipment for that matter. Not that I dislike water. As I mentioned custom water loop can look really nice. All throw there are none conductive water for this purpose. But still, not something I will put in a pc.

There are just more stuff to go wrong and leaks, uff I don't like to think of leaks, specially as I have my pc running at times with out being home. There I simply more trust aircooling.

 

[Sithaer]

Budget air cooling here.

I'm not an overclocker and mainly use low power CPUs that can get by with 25-35$ air coolers just fine.
Had a Be Quiet pure rock slim on my previous 1600x and currently I have a ID-Cooling SE 224 XT ARGB V3 on my i3 12100F which keeps it cool and dead silent.

Tho I kinda like the look of AIOs since I'm also not a big fan of a big block of metal in my PC but an AIO would be a complete overkill/expensive for my needs.
Also like the look of top down 'downdraft' air coolers but there is just none for LGA 1700 in my budget range so I ended up with this tower cooler. 'at least its still not oversized and I kinda like the design'

 

[Bones]

I always use air with my daily, I have a few high end air coolers that do well but depending on what I'm running at the time it can vary - I use my Icegiant on my AM4 stuff and I recently modded it to work with my AM3 stuff too.
What I'm running ATM is using a Zalman 92mm all copper cooler with my 7700K and it works but I have other coolers I could use, including my monster Scythe Susanoo cooler if I want.
TBH I've had enough time by now to buy and have all the coolers I'll ever need, stock or otherwise.

 

[Awwwyeahhhbaby]

I've been custom building since the 90's, started all air-cooling because that was basically mainstream and any watercooling was largely DIY. As watercooling advanced I stuck with air cooling until CPUs started pushing well over 200w and then air coolers and AIOs started to show their limits. I finally moved to custom loop watercooling for all my personal builds solely due to keeping temps in check while keeping sound to a minimum. I run most of my PCs 24/7 for gaming, mining and work and tend to overclock the CPU and GPU to their max.

Realistically, air cooling has been perfectly fine for 95% of what people do, once you start pushing higher voltages/wattages or are looking for the beauty of silence you run into limitations with air coolers and many AIOs. For pushing a system hard but not getting into highly specialized cooling like LN or chillers, watercooling has been my go-to although it costs a lot for a nice custom loop, most of the parts are able to be reused for new builds which is nice.

Right now my builds all have D5 pumps, PETG tubing, full GPU blocks and monoblocks for the CPU/VRMs and I have had zero issues just like air coolers, just better thermal management.

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

Probably 15 years ago I went with an external water-cooling solution and have never went back. Radiators, pump, reservoir with quick disconnect hoses in an external case. I haven't needed to upgrade it for a looong time. Best investment in cooling ever. Only needed new blocks for different chipsets and GPU's. I recently just moved all my components into a newer case. More cost upfront, especially for quality parts, but much lower lifetime costs for top of the line cooling and overclocking. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C71Q8PA/ref=twister_B07RQ2SWM7

Also it wasn't that expensive. Don't buy "water-cooling" hoses. Just go to homedepot and get it for like .33 a foot. Don't use "Water-cooling" fittings go to a hardware store. My reservior is custom made from PVC pipe, it's inside a box why do I care how it looks? Don't buy "water-cooling" additives. Use Distilled water with a little distilled vinegar. And finally make sure you are not mixing metals. Always get nickel plated or copper blocks.

 

[Space Lynx]

air only and air forever... mainly cause every time I come close to doing water of any kind I get scared of leaks.

just not worth the risk, however small, to do water imo

 

[Shrek]

Use Distilled water with a little distilled vinegar.

Vinegar is acetic acid and will eat at metals.

Con's for aircooling is that it is more noisy than ...

I moved one of my CPU fans to a Noctua to keep things quite.

 

[Tomgang]

Vinegar is acetic acid and will eat at metals.




I moved one of my CPU fans to a Noctua to keep things quite.

Coolers and cooler fans are from noctua. However case fans are not. They are lian li uni fan SL120 in black. They are more noisy than I thought at first. Unfortunately noctua doesn't make any RGB fans.

 

[P4-630]

Unfortunately noctua doesn't make any RGB fans.

It doesn't make your system faster anyway...

I rather have a quiet system without RGB fans than other way around.

 

[ThrashZone]

Vinegar is acetic acid and will eat at metals.

Hi,
Nickel plating yes
Copper or brass wouldn't care.

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

Vinegar is acetic acid and will eat at metals.




I moved one of my CPU fans to a Noctua to keep things quite.

Yes it is, but you only use 3-5 drops in a 32floz of distilled water. Also why it's important to use metals that are friendly towards each other. haha. Also the internals of my radiators look excellent for being nearly 7 years old.

 

[maxfly]

After wcing for 20+ years its just what I do at this point. I value silence and low temps above all else and of course there's the added bonus of, it just looks so much cooler than anything else. I've mastered both silence and low temps with water and I enjoy the process. So I'll continue to wc until It becomes so overly commercialized that I cant stand it anymore.

I use heatsinks as well. Mostly when I'm feeling lazy or haven't got alot of time (always hehe). I sometimes use a hsf in a back up rig if I'm testing a new model. They are the standard with 99% of my client builds. Mostly because I hate in home calls these days. Wced rigs always require more attention (people generally aren't very smart).The older I get the less free time I seem to have, funny how that works.

Aios? Never used one and probably never will. Being that I'm not a very trusting person, I cant see myself ever using a mass produced aluminum radded hunka chunka that some overseas minimum wager put together while dreaming of their next smart phone app fix. I'll go ahead and build my own ;D

That's my story and I'm stickin to it!

 

[tabascosauz]

For the first few months this year I had a loop going. Honestly 3 separate loops, since it distinctly changed 3 times (CPU only in Cerberus, CPU+GPU in Cerberus X, CPU+GPU in Core P3).

I went back to air only with the old NH-C14S, to accommodate the new GPU. Core P3 wouldn't fit the GPU length-wise, didn't like the 3070 Ti WBs, and didn't want to take the card apart after the RMA nightmare.

Water was nice, the cooling perf for both 5900X and GPU were unparalleled. Less noise was great too. But it was really tedious to put together/make small adjustments/maintain. My hands were raw, cut or peeling after every loop/major adjustment. And CPU performance really isn't any different in actuality despite the great temps.

The loop is actually still together as a whole. I haven't found the time to drain and disassemble it yet. If everything cleans up nicely, I might consider making a simple CPU-only loop with a pump block, in my next case. Hate having to plan where reservoir goes in a small case. Never would consider an AIO.

 

[Shrek]

Copper or brass wouldn't care.

I beg to differ.

 

[freeagent]

I like air because it’s simple, and effective. I had an AIO once and thought it was good too until permeation set in. Then it was just a waste of money. I will probably try water cooling at some point..

 

[ThrashZone]

I beg to differ.

Hi,
Never seen any copper or brass damaged by vinegar personally
No need to beg man just post up some source showing damage you claim will do.

 

[eidairaman1]

Air, simplicity, to prove that I didn't need 220W chip with AIO to reach 5GHz in 2014. I did it with a 125W chip on a thinner unit as well