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I like buying air coolers that don't fit most cases.NH-D15 is one of the best but there are many that cool as well at similar noise levels costing less. Good example is Thermalright TRUE Spirit 140 Power cooling a few degrees better and costing about $50 while D15 costs about $90. Le Grand Macho RT, all 8x 6mm heatpipe Silver Arrow varients, Frost Spirit 140, Cryorig R1, Phanteks PH-TC14PE, Scythe Fuma 2, and the list goes on and on of cooler that cool as well and as quiet as D15.
but without knowing case, motherboard and RAM being used we don't know what will fit.
So what do you like for an AIO water cooler? I used to think I would build my own loop, but (1) too expensive, and (2) I don't want the headache of rebuilding the loop every year, and (3) I'm concerned about the extra weight of a custom loop in a heavy metal case that already holds 4 3 1/2" HDDs. I'm not exactly the youngest guy in this forum and I have to be careful about my back.I like buying air coolers that don't fit most cases.
It's the only reason I kept my Fractal case.
If you play games that spike the hell out of your temps like COD, then an aio or open loop is a good idea.
+1Noctua DH-15 is the best.
So what do you like for an AIO water cooler? I used to think I would build my own loop, but (1) too expensive, and (2) I don't want the headache of rebuilding the loop every year, and (3) I'm concerned about the extra weight of a custom loop in a heavy metal case that already holds 4 3 1/2" HDDs. I'm not exactly the youngest guy in this forum and I have to be careful about my back.
My guess is you either had a bad mount or didn't setup case airflow to supply cooler with cool air. Also Dark Rock TF being a flat cooler means it dumps it's own heated air in all directions making it very hard (if not impossible) to be supplied with room ambient air unless case has side vent same size as cooler with duct to cooler.I tried the BeQuiet Dark Rock TF on an AMD 3950x and would say a big NO (even at stock speed). Tried the BeQuiet 280 AIO and it worked great even at 4.3 All core.
I notice, but again my personal cooling needs are driven by games that'll thermal shutdown my pc on start or I'll get 100fps instead of 120fps on a day that's over 100f ambient.My guess is you either had a bad mount or didn't setup case airflow to supply cooler with cool air. Also Dark Rock TF being a flat cooler means it dumps it's own heated air in all directions making it very hard (if not impossible) to be supplied with room ambient air unless case has side vent same size as cooler with duct to cooler.
Many users don't seem to realize air coolers intake air temp to component temp is almost 1:1 ratio. If air entering cooler is 10c hotter than room air than component will also run 10c hotter (at same load & fan speed). Air entering coolers is usually a couple degrees warmer than room in a case with good airflow, but many stock cases can have 15c, 20c, even 30c higher temp air entering cooler than room when CPU and GPU are working hard, If 22c warmer than room and 85c CPU temp, good case airflow lowering it to 2c means CPU will then be 65c instead of 85c.
Not true. In any case since the op is asking for air then i won't comment anything elseAIOs (most are really CLCs) are only marginally better than top tier air cooling when new. But in a couple years are not better, often not near as good as top tier air cooling.
So what do you like for an AIO water cooler? I used to think I would build my own loop, but (1) too expensive, and (2) I don't want the headache of rebuilding the loop every year, and (3) I'm concerned about the extra weight of a custom loop in a heavy metal case that already holds 4 3 1/2" HDDs. I'm not exactly the youngest guy in this forum and I have to be careful about my back.
"It cools slightly better and the price is relatively decent." So what is the problem here?The Arctic Liquid Freezer II is the latest fad because the radiator is thicker, it cools slightly better (and the price is relatively decent). I have a mITX NR200 and it would be an extremely tight fit.
"It cools slightly better and the price is relatively decent." So what is the problem here?
I'm still rocking a Corsair 800D case.It's larger than most.
I'm still rocking a Corsair 800D case.
What I posted is very true, and I posted it because so many others posted about AIOs/CLCs. If you have any data refuting what I said, please post it .. possibly in a new thread.Not true. In any case since the op is asking for air then i won't comment anything else
Add a 2nd fan and u14s #s aren’t far off a dh15.I teste NH-U14S years ago and found unable to keep up with top tier coolers like D14, R1, PH-TC14PE, TRUE Spirit 140 Power, Le Grand Macho, Silver Arrow IB-E to name a few.
The biggest difference between top tier and lower coolers is top tier cool better so run much quieter, especially on lower wattage CPUs.If people don’t care about cpu thermal headroom to accommodate bursty temps, a few C diff btw air coolers isn’t going to warrant the spend on optimal case fans, or upgrading cooler fans.
Ambient temps are a major contributor to temp curve and noise.
Im truly in the idgaf air cooling camp in that the room my pc sits in can swing from freezing to 108f bc primarily I’m relying on an aio cooled gpu to keep itself under thermal shutdown when gaming.
Current builds of the games I’m playing reinforce idgaf bc they’re unstable under anything but stock boost tables.
your environment may vary.
You agree ambient temp makes a big difference, then argue air temp entering cooler doesn't. Only difference is where temp is monitored, so if higher temp ambient makes a huge difference so does higher temp entering cooler. Only difference is air in room isn't getting hotter near as fans as air inside of case with poor airflow.No, the big difference is throttle ceiling and overall capacity.
Fan quality isn't it.
Heatpipe position matters, whether gapped or side by side.
Finstack size and density expressed in fan size matters.
Cold plate now matters with distributed chiplet design.
What I do with a gaming box doesn't matter.
What I do with my Thinkpad does.
That's a problem with many 120mm fanned coolers as well.Problem with the Big Macho is the same as any 140mm Noctua or Be Quiet cooler is overall height of its era clashing with the skinny jeans mid tower design ethic.
Start having to look at the 120mm coolers and those give up capability for compatibility. Yes mesh front panels are coming back ala the HAF era, they still sit on skinny cases.