Cooling

H

HipHopSocks

Member
I see a lot of people here recommended the Noctua over the Liquid Processor cooling, is this because the Noctua peforms better or just because the Noctua performs very well for the price?

I am looking at building a new computer and if cooling was free which would you go for the Noctua or the Liquid options such as H110i.

Another question if you went with the H110i would there be any effort refilling this or it is all self contained.

Thanks.
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
and if cooling was free
Click to expand...
That's a "that depends" answer. The H100i or H110i are both more effective than the Noctua cooler. However, the Noctua cooler is more than sufficient in many cases, including OCed CPUs, and will be quieter (certainly vs the stock liquid cooler fans).

If they were free I'd likely go for the Noctua as its cooling is fine even with an OC, and a system with it should be quieter especially for cases where it doesn't involve removing panels, like the Fractal R5 or the Corsair 460X I believe. Removing those panels would also increase the amount of dust that gets in. So for me the Noctua does the job and doesn't have the (arguably minor) downsides of the AIOs (AIO, all in one liquid cooler).

But if you want lower temps because you're loading up your 7700k a lot, or you're buying an overclocked Skylake-X, then the higher end AIOs are definitely worth looking at. I'd probably say essential with something like an OCed 7900k...

All of the liquid coolers like the Corsair H55, H110, etc are sealed units, so no refills needed.

I believe the H110i may be quieter than the H100i, at least stock-fan vs stock-fan, as it has 140mm rather than 120mm fans (which I think spin slower, using their size rather than speed for cooling - the trade-off being fewer cases fit one).

I think the PCS quiet fans for the coolers are Akasa Apache Blacks, which they also use for their custom loop liquid systems. You can google reviews of those vs the Corsair SPs (or whatever the default is) to see whether them being quieter would be likely to have a meaningful effect on temps. I don't think I've seen anyone on the forums complain about the temps of one of the H100i coolers with the PCS quiet fans though.
 
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steaky360

steaky360

Moderator
Moderator
The H110i is an AIO (all in one) liquid cooler, it doesn't require any maintenance in terms of filling/draining the liquid. Only thing it would require every now and then is a dust through the radiator grills.

I'm not sure whether the noctua performs better then the H110i but its certainly one of the best air coolers out there 'bang for buck'.

I would expect the PCS silent fans may not be optimised for 'static pressure' which is ideal for blowing air through a radiator (could be wrong) and therefore the cooling system may not work as well with those installed. Of course the difference could be negligible for most uses too. Depends how hard you're going to push your CPU.

EDIT - too late.... probably should have just said "what Oussebon said"
 
H

HipHopSocks

Member
I think I will go with the noctua just for the minimal risk of leaking that comes with the water option, thank you for all your advice. Next thing on my list is a case I am looking at the FRACTAL DEFINE R5 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE but not sure airflow is going to be the best with the front cover. Really like minimal looking cases.
 
H

HipHopSocks

Member
Brilliant, thank you for all your help. Now the long wait for Intels new processor and waiting for my house to sell and the new computer is being built!
 
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