I've got four overclocked PCs within 15 feet of my Flight Sim throne here...a 10900K with a custom water loop (2x360mm deep radiators), an 8086K with a custom water loop (2x240mm rads), a 7700K with a Corsair H100i AIO (single 240mm rad), and a 9900K with a Noctua NH-D15 air cooler.  All four machines run with HT off and no AVX offset.  The water loops cool the CPUs only...the big 2x360mm loop was originally built for a machine with dual SLI water-cooled GPUs, but today I run an air-cooled RTX3090 on that box.

The D15 really does a respectable job, better than I would have imagined, but I cannot run a full Prime95 stress test on it with all 8 cores of the 9900K at 5.0 GHz, as it will ring the bell on CPU temp at 100 deg C if I let it go that far.  The two custom water loops will keep their CPUs in the 70s with P95 running at 5.2 GHz.  The AIO on my 7700K is pretty much maxxed out with the CPU clocked at 4.8GHz...it'll barely keep up as long as I use a custom fan curve that ramps the fans up fast and early.

My opinion, based on over a decade of experience with water cooling, is that the real choice is between a good air cooler like the NH-D15 or a custom loop--the AIO loops do not provide a significant advantage in cooling over a good air cooler in a case with good airflow.  Now there are other considerations--mainly the ability to fit high profile memory DIMMs alongside a water block, a situation where even the NH-D15S version might be challenged.

I use the NH-D15 in a portable machine built in a "LAN party" style box (Coolermaster HAF XB EVO) with the fairly big and heavy cooler mounted atop the flat-mounted (horizontally oriented) mobo. It'll just keep up with the 9900K at 5.0 GHz on a run of a less aggressive but more typical of real world load stress test like RealBench.  It has never blue-screened on me running P3Dv4.5 at settings that also pass the RealBench test.

I wouldn't even consider trying the D15 on my 10900K unless I dialed the voltages and clocks back.

 

I switched to water cooling on my next build for a reason not mentioned in this thread yet. It used to be that you could buy cases with 200mm and larger fans on the side door that would blow cool air directly onto your motherboard, RAM memory, and VRMs. Those practical cases are no longer available and have been replaced with cases that have glass/clear plastic side doors to show off the latest disco lightshow hardware. To keep the inside of the case as cool as possible I will be installing a 3 fan AIO CPU cooler mounted on the top wall which exhausts all the CPU heat out the top of the case. My GPU is an EVGA hybrid water/air cooled 1080ti which exhausts all of the GPU generated heat out the back of the case. The only heat generated in the case will be by the drives, RAM, and motherboard. As a last resort, if the case flow through ventilation is not enough to keep the motherboards temperatures low I have a metal side panel that I can install side fans into.

Most of the video cards these days just regurgitate the heat inside the case like the early 1970s auto emissions controls that piped a portion of the exhaust back into the carburetor. Likewise with the CPU air coolers. Then you need a wind tunnel case fan setup to get that hot air out of the case otherwise you are trying to cool everything with heated air. Even so the hot exhaust air from your CPU air cooler is still blowing directly on your RAM and VRMs. This doesn't seem like good engineering practice to me.

Just another thing to consider when deciding between water vs. air.

Ted

@Ted Striker--there are still a few cases with 200mm+ side-mount fans, like this full-size ATX case from Rosewill:

https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16811147053

 

49 minutes ago, Ted Striker said:

the hot exhaust air from your CPU air cooler is still blowing directly on your RAM and VRMs. This doesn't seem like good engineering practice to me.

Nor I. I use a Corsair H 80i, it's been at work since 2018, replacing the one I bought in 2011 that failed only because its then power supply blew it up. I therefore see no reliability problems. The fact that the two fans suck the air from the case and blow it out of the back helps disperse any heat from the GPU and motherboard, minimising the number of addition fans required. In fact in the original 2011 installation, there were no additional fans.

Edited December 31, 20205 yr by Reader

3 hours ago, w6kd said:

My opinion, based on over a decade of experience with water cooling, is that the real choice is between a good air cooler like the NH-D15 or a custom loop--the AIO loops do not provide a significant advantage in cooling over a good air cooler in a case with good airflow. 

 

Yep, 100% agree. If I go water, I would go straight to a custom loop. 

2 hours ago, Ted Striker said:

 

 Likewise with the CPU air coolers. Then you need a wind tunnel case fan setup to get that hot air out of the case otherwise you are trying to cool everything with heated air. Even so the hot exhaust air from your CPU air cooler is still blowing directly on your RAM and VRMs. This doesn't seem like good engineering practice to me.

Just another thing to consider when deciding between water vs. air.

Ted

 

I don't think the situation is as bad a you think Ted. I've never used side fans ever, and that's with very overclocked CPU's. As long as you have reasonable air flow through the case you're good to go. And The D15 of course has an oversized fan that protrudes  toward the motherboard. This is by design, as it blows lots of air over the VRM's. With a rear fan too, most of the heat from your D15 or equivalent is vented outside. I've never had excessive enclosure temps to be honest, even with open shroud graphics cards. Ram is usually on the right, so an air cooler doesn't blow onto the RAM. 

The point is, its not just about the enclosure temperature air being somewhat warm, what you require is airflow over the surfaces. If you measure your internal enclosure temps with a standard case fan set up, its not really that warm. 

1 hour ago, Rob_Ainscough said:

 

There is no case where Air only is a better option than water except in money spent ... and I know you know that. 🙂

 

Cheers, Rob.

 

 

Well there is when we're talking about AIO's. which we were. Custom loops are superior. We know that. But as Bob said, AIO's often don't provide a significate enough advantage. 

4 hours ago, w6kd said:

there are still a few cases with 200mm+ side-mount fans, like this full-size ATX case from Rosewill:

Thanks Bob, I considered that one but I wasn't sure that I could fit my 360 radiator in the top. That is the problem with my current Antec P193, which isn't made anymore. I ended up purchasing this new 7 XL model from Fractal Design:

https://www.newegg.com/black-fractal-design-define-7-xl-atx-full-tower/p/N82E16811352118?Item=N82E16811352118

Now, if I can just find some time to assemble it......

Ted

Something that's often not considered when comparing AIO's and air coolers, is the limitations of the CPU's thermal interface. If the  CPU has Intel's less than desirable thick layer of paste between the IHS and die, then there's a limit to what an AIO or air cooler can do. After a point, the heat just builds up quicker than it can be disipated. 

Better to test with a delidded CPU or one with a soldered interface. May well be that the AIO then moves ahead.

2 hours ago, martin-w said:

As long as you have reasonable air flow through the case you're good to go.

Is that 4 intake and 4 exhaust fans all at 2400 rpm? I'm just jesting with you now. I think we are both comfortable with what we have used in the past and both cooling designs work. If you look at my current system I do have a Noctua that has served me very well but I also have a large side fan in the case. I built and overclocked my current system, including the RAM, back in 2013. It is still running perfectly and I have never had to lower the voltages or overclocks. I hope I have the same luck with my new build.

(3) Lian Li Galahad AIO 360 & 240 Review vs. Arctic Liquid Freezer, EK AIO, Noctua CPU Coolers - YouTube

Air at the bottom on temps and new AIO`s are coming.

10 hours ago, Rob_Ainscough said:

Agree, some AIOs can be a wee bit weedy and their fittings even more weedy.

Cheers, Rob.

 

That was in reference to the top of the range air cooler, and the top of the range AIO, having little difference between them when noise is considered. Not sub par AIO's. 

5 hours ago, G-RFRY said:

(3) Lian Li Galahad AIO 360 & 240 Review vs. Arctic Liquid Freezer, EK AIO, Noctua CPU Coolers - YouTube

Air at the bottom on temps and new AIO`s are coming.

 

Its usually about 4 or 5 degrees. The new 360 AIO's are pushing ahead though, up to 8 degrees. It varies dependant on who's review you watch. As said previously, it depends if you regard 4 to 8 degrees as worth it. Is 4  degrees, or up to 8 degrees with a whopping 360 rad, worth the extra cost, small chance of leaks, pump failure, permeation, case compatibility. For some it will be, for some it won't. 

What interests me is the new Intel TEC coolers. Currently very expensive, from Coolermaster or EK. Intel have said that its just the first bash and will be developed further, so it will be interesting to see what transpires. 

13 hours ago, Ted Striker said:

Is that 4 intake and 4 exhaust fans all at 2400 rpm? I'm just jesting with you now.

 

😁

I have the parts for a new build. But my current rig is an 8700K delidded, with the D15S. Graphics is 980Ti. Case is the Evolv TG, infamous for minimal airflow due to the hefty aluminium panel at the front. Despite that, it will run at 5.2 GHz on all cores, totally stable. That's with one Noctua Chromax 140 fan at the front and one at the back. Although after a month or two I added one more 140 fan at the front, with a fan curve that keeps them at low RPM and very quiet, primarily to attain my favoured positive pressure.

 

Quote

I think we are both comfortable with what we have used in the past and both cooling designs work.

 

True enough. 🙂

I'll probably opt for the Evolv X for my new build. Phanteks listened to customers and the complaints about air flow, primarily with rad's, and made significant changes. Far bigger vents at front and top now. 

Edited January 1, 20215 yr by martin-w

I am hallucinating about the new Noctua passive CPU cooler, but with two 14cm fans added. I am fantasizing that a passive CPU cooler forms a solid base and becomes a beast with the two fans.