Water or Air cooling...i7 OC

Which one should I get?

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I

il_napoletano

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Joined
Oct 25, 2012
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Ok...
I have a i7 950 and I'm planning on overclocking it...
but should I go custom watercooling or High end air cooler

if I go WC'ing I was thinking of getting a 360mm rad and then a cpu block(as I already have a pump, res, and compression fittings)

or should I go for a Noctua NH D14 or a Phantek which will cost about $25 less

how high would I be able to go on air?

and would the WC temp difference be worth the price?

and I would like to keep this rig as quiet as possible


thanks in advance
 
I've tried many high-end air coolers including Phanteks and Silver Arrow and it was actually not much difference compared with a 360 rad, except that WC'ing is much more costly.

I'd say save up and stick to these high-end air coolers.
 
Slightly on and off topic, get a good air cooler, or a H60/H80 type cooler (closed water loop) if you want, there is not a massive difference in price, and put the money saved over a seperate WC system into a SSD :) I had Raptor 74 and 150, but they do not compare to any good SSD :)
 
If it's just $25 more, I would go for watercooling. But only under these conditions:
You're willing to put in the work and time to make sure it functions correctly.
You think you might actually enjoy putting the things together.
You want the self-satisfaction of knowing you put a watercooling loop together.
 
Ok...I already have a Samsung 830 128gb SSD on the way...so I don't need to save up for it...

and I used to have a custom WC'ing loop on my 775 rig..but I sold most of it...but I've still have compression fittings, pump, tube, antikink, and res...

@Tsumi
Yes to all three.. :D
I already know what custom WC'ing maintenance is like...and I'm prepared to do it again...
 
If you have the time, money, and will, water is the way to go. :cool:
 
i did both with my i7 2.13 (920?)

and it overclocked just fine to 3.8 with air and water. Currently on water. Water allowed me to keep my CPU overclock the same and get my video cards overclocked quite a bit.

it is pretty expensive to do though. I think I spent like 500 bucks to do it
 
I vote water-cooling only if you're ready and willing to keep up with it...
If you don't feel like doing a tare down and loop clean once or twice (worst case) a year then go with air-cooling.
 
I've got an older i7 930 and i'm running at 4.32 GHz on air. Never see over 65c or so. I don't think I could go much higher with water. I'm at 1.375v currently.
 
I think it comes down to your personality,

If you want to get every ounce of performance out of your system and don't care about the $$, then a custom loop is the way to go.

If you are fine with going with more of a best bang for your buck type of deal, then go with a really nice HSF or go with an AIO.

I personally went with an AIO because I like how simple it is. With only one low rpm (silent) fan on an h60 I have my 2500k at 4.5 and it never hits 70C. With two good fans and a H80, you could easily keep it under 50-60. After all, how many FPS are we talking about between a 5.0 OC and a 4.5OC. Chances are, whatever the difference, it is not going to make a big enough difference to justify the cost.
 
This is [H] go for the WC route. I did on mine and I love it. Great investment for your future upgrades too.
 
Wingless92 said:
This is [H] go for the WC route. I did on mine and I love it. Great investment for your future upgrades too.
Click to expand...

Eh, most people that go water cooled get "the fever" when it comes upgrade time so not much from the old loop gets salvaged in favor of higher preforming parts; I mean who can resist shaving off 7C with newer Rad(s) and block(s)!? This is [H]!!

Edit: I was going to go custom water for my current i7 950 rig when I got it, but when I was finished cherry picking parts it would have cost nearly $700 USD. So I decided to opt for "budget" high-end air with the Cogage True Spirit and San Ace 9S1212H4011 fan combo; currently running that rig 24/7 @ 4.2GHz (200x21), never saw temps surpass 73C during Linpack testing either.
 
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