Quote:
Originally Posted by photon
All reviews I've ever read of water cooling have the water cooling being nosier. You can get a quiet fan, but the pump will still make noise (unless they've managed to make silent pumps now).
Plus it's added complexity for no gain, a air supercooler will let you overclock quite a bit while keeping your CPU cool an still remain quiet.
The review I linked uses a Core i7 3.33GHz OCed to 4.41GHz for their tests, and both the Noctua and Thermalright keep the CPU at or below 80 degrees while being near silent.
|
If you are paying $80-90 for an air-cooled solution, it is my opinion that you might as well get an all in one water-cooling solution (such as the Antec Kuhler 920 mentioned in the first post in this thread).
I have found it's actually less complex and makes mounting CPUs easier and it takes stress away from the board because you don't have a large weight hanging off of it.
It's Apples vs Oranges but I greatly prefer my Kuhler to the giant Thermalright 120 coolers I was using previously.
The pump is pretty much silent unless I have my head in the case. I'm about 10° cooler at load and it can run hotter for much longer with slower fan speeds. One reason this works well is also because radiators normally mount to your case and intake or exhaust directly to the outside while most air coolers will recycle air from inside your case.