Can Huge Air Coolers Beat Liquid Cooling?

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[@pedrobastos8132]

Have been using the same NH-D14 for more than a whole decade, only needing to swap fans, and when Ryzen launched Noctua sent me the am4 bracket for free, the thing is performing just as well as day one. Silence, performance, no pump failure, no leak risk, hassle free installation, AND it helps cool down any nvme installed close to the cpu and the mobo's VRM.

[@LudovicLorant]

Same here, still have a use for my NH-U12P bought in 2008 or 2009.

[@DrearierSpider1]

Air cooling only having one point of failure really is a huge advantage. AIO's not only have leak risk, but are more prove to physical wear and tear, and potentially need to be cleaned out of you're going to keep them for a really long time.

[@pedrobastos8132]

Yeah, and with Ryzen CPUs being thermally efficient as they are, you don't really need an expensive dual tower or AIO to keep them cool. Any decent single tower cooler should be enough nowadays

[@pedrobastos8132]

Other advantage of air coolers is that you don't have to choose where to put the radiator, let me elaborate When you put the radiator on the case as intake, the rest of the pc is going to take hot air, which will mean lower cpu temperatures but higher ones everywhere else. On the other hand, if you install the radiator as exhaust, your overall temperature is going to lower, but your cpu will get hotter. With an air cooled tower, there's no such thing, every component will get cool air from the case intake.

[@nguyentu2561]

@@DrearierSpider1 Also it is easier to notice when the fan is dead than the pump. If the fan is broken there are case fan so it won't hurt cooling perf much, and it is easy to swap a new fan If the aio pump is dead, blue screen and the whole aio is a bunch of garbage

[@CapitanDePlai]

Almost 6 years with NH-D15, 0 problems and fans still functioning perfectly

[@nicholasgrogan856]

Noctua is all I buy for fans and cpu coolers.

[@ancientslav4863]

I tried like 10 different coolers in my maybe 20 different gaming PC over the past 10 years...Just one AIO, all other air coolers. Both intel and AMD, especially Ryzen series since the very first Ryzen 1000. I learned which paste to use and how to apply it. and I also learned that unless you get a really good (or expensive) AIO, you may face several issues like leakage, pump noise, water noise, corrosion. Sure, the tech of AIOs has moved forward too, but I still prefer the reliability and 0 issues of an air cooler. You basically only need to swap the fans after few years. Thats like 10$ NH-D15, DRP4, but even budget options by Thermalright, Arctic, or DeepCool are BRILLIANT. Rn I'm looking at the TR peerless assassin and the DeepCool AK620 as a replacement for my trusty Arctic 34 duo - perfect for sub 150W, no nonsense, cheap (used to be, 35$, now over 65$ in my country). Thus, the much beefier AK620 for just 64$ here is a top choice for many.

[@wisdoom9153]

I'm still amazed by your camera work even after all this years, simply amazing...

[@franciscodeaguirre1754]

This channel it's getting better and better, superb quality. I'd love to see more reviews of other stuff like cases of aliexpress due the prices and that we can't even buy this cases in other countries, but in aliexpress it's worldwide. I saw there is a sentry 2.0 CLONE in taobao ... but no reviews of this. I'd love to watch even smaller than mini itx builds, like the mini-stx motherboards or mini pc with ryzen cpu like the Chatreey S1.

[@zaaajac]

Exactly, many 500k+ channels have worse quality and this one is stunning 🤩

[@jimmyjango5213]

I wish I was but I cant tell. 144p here :-(

[@AndrewTSq]

I dont care about camera work at all actually. Well, I used to be amazed at Top gear in the early 2010, they had great camera work, but they also had fun content.

[@memespeech]

it's more the clean studio presentation + warm camera colors.. but really it represents like under 10% of what matters, they, along with ltt and others, are competing for like these 10% in this sense. but return doesn't scale with effort when it comes to content.

[@urangtuai5583]

Using noctua fans are blessing for quiet system.

[@NERDLYFE-es9ef]

Urang Tuai FACTS!

[@saysbadman]

I bought the industrial 120mm noctua fan that runs at 3k rpm. It is not so quiet, but it does the job with gusto! I had an 8700k and now a 9900k that are very power hungry. To get an all core clock of 4.9ghz I need to run the vcore at 1.35v or else it will bsod. I could have been unlucky with both chips, but more likely my mobo doesn’t send as clean a voltage as needed (msi z370 a pro). I use the fuma 2 with the industrial noctua in the middle and the smaller included fuma 2 fan in front. During a handbrake job of 8-10 hours temps will peak around 88c, but average around 82-85c. Tis loud, but easy to talk over. I will try a run with a bigger fan in front with the industrial 3k noctua remaining in the middle. That noctua is quiet when running 1.6k rpm.

[@urangtuai5583]

when loud, noctua does not produce a irritated 'whiny' sound as compare to let say the cooler master fans.. i am very sensitive to the whiny sound of the fans.

[@Cerus98]

saysbadman - That’s actually terrible performance even for an air cooler. You’re also not supposed to run different fans like that. They won’t be in sync with each other and the Noctua is probably over-speeding the smaller fan. Use a couple of high pressure fans to help or get an AIO to knock 10-20c off those temps.

[@saysbadman]

@@Cerus98 I would be concerned if it was just a turbo and low voltage, but running at 1.35 vcore 4.9 all core seems like others are getting around those temps as well. I am not just playing games. I am 100% all cores and threads for hours with handbrake. As for over running the other fan, I also dont think that is an issue as there is not a closed system where the higher volume fan only scavenges from the front fan. Heck, the stock skinny front fan only maxes at 33.86 cfm while the stock middle fan does 51.17 cfm while the noctua I have pushes 109 cfm max. I have since swapped the stock "middle" 51.17 cfm fan to the front instead of the slim 33.86 cfm fan. My old air cooler was ramping up to 97c. I had to stop my work until I got my fuma 2 in. The hardware monitor shows that my noctua is reaching its 3k limit without issue ~2990 rpm. So there is no issue with power delivery. With both large fans combined they are rated at less than .5 amp so (0.5a * 12v= 6w) or less. Thank you for your concern, but I am ok. I probably would be better off with a beafier mobo as I think I could run the vcore lower with more stable power delivery, I'm guessing. I will just run what I have, and I won't throw the baby out with the bath water. I could even try to using high end thermal paste, but I wont expect miracles from modern thermal paste

[@RR185]

From what understand your test conditions were on a benchtable. I would consider doing this test again in a closed case, as this would be a realistic condition. Thermals and noise levels may vary more here.

[@Alzorath]

And would result in less wasted airflow (and would allow you to establish a positive air pressure, where an open test bench automatically works as a negative air pressure)

[@Cerus98]

Alzorath - That’s only mildly beneficial for dust control.

[@Alzorath]

@@Cerus98 positive air pressure does indeed help with dust, but it also impacts airflow over the fins , especially when you are dealing with open designs like these

[@Cerus98]

Alzorath - Again - it’s not relevant. The difference will be the same whether it’s in a case or test bench. It’s a comparison between coolers. You can either conduct the test in case or in a test bench. An air cooler isn’t going to suddenly perform better in case or AIO worse. Positive pressure is also irrelevant and has no bearing on the comparison. Positive pressure is simply more intake than exhaust. It doesn’t cool better or worse than negative. I think you’re confusing pressure ratings of fans which isn’t the same as positive pressure in a case. You can have extremely high or low pressure fans and still have positive or negative air pressure. It’s merely the ratio of air coming in vs air going out.

[@Alzorath]

@@Cerus98 Positive pressure (done properly) results in a case feeding fresh air over the components more frequently, this includes the cooler itself. Hell, there's plenty of videos demonstrating the effect (a fairly basic example can be found by searching "Tech YES City Case Temperatures TESTED" - where he tests open case w/ basic cpu/graphics card coolers) - Replacing the air is important, and on an open test bench you don't replace it nearly as much as you would think (more than just an "open case" but still significant) and a LOT of airflow is wasted over the fins (worth noting, that due to how the AIOs are designed - the fans are much more sealed off against the radiator). The environment of the cooler can drastically impact the efficacy of the cooler (orientation can effect it greatly too - and there are air coolers that would benefit more from an open test bench than other air coolers)

[@David-kt7yt]

Thank you for talking about pump noise. Most reviewers do not mention pump noise, which which is a significant shortcoming of AIO and custom watercooled setups. While many users claim to never hear their pumps, my ears are extremely sensitive the hum of pumps,even at low RPMs.

[@fajaradi1223]

Nice soothing voice, no shitty background music, beautiful shot, camera work, and editing, good benchmark, great work mate!

[@MrRav1]

Dude your videos are such a pleasure to watch. Amazing production, no sponsor messages, straight to the point and you have such a calm demeanour which is so rare in KZbin. I was planning an ATX build but after watching your videos am totally sold on ITX, thanks for the awesome work you put into this channel.

[@user-vu8fm5vb4n]

"can huge air coolers beat liquid cooler?" noctua: mate you got your title other way around

[@Cerus98]

Um no. Air coolers can’t even beat AIOs when it comes to max overclocking.

[@AG.Floats]

And yet they lost lol

[@MqKosmos]

@@Cerus98 yes they can. Heatpipes got an upgrade, so that they won't reach the state of total evaporation. Just hit the market. Sorry that I don't have the actual name but Linus tech covered it

[@MqKosmos]

@@Cerus98 and that's only for the 0.0001% that pump 400+ watts into their CPU.

[@syth-1]

Cerus98 welp, this testing is imo limited, id like to see the results over an hour instead of half an hour, I have a rough feeling the water could get even warmer than what the radiator cools, Maybe the 360 will give constant temp, but that's about it - of course this is speculation on my part, and I may very well be wrong. . . .

[@MrMW2nd]

All I can hear is steve from gn saying "noise normalized thermals"

[@SuperSuperka]

The first thing is to test inside a case, not on open bench.

[@somerandomperson8282]

@@SuperSuperka Yes, this.

[@jalapaeno]

One use case for air is near silence at idle. I also use my gaming rig for hi fi playback in my living room and really appreciate how quiet is it during music and movies without headphones. Great vid.

[@raphaelrocha18]

Hey Ali, i'm a huge fan of your work. In Brazil, the most channels uses click bait and poor information about everything. I love your seriousness and objectivity to talk and the great quality of your videos. Keep creating content like this and you will go far.

[@teknoman117]

The thing I've always been worried about with the big air coolers is how much weight you're hanging off what is essentially a thin fiberglass sheet. It would be neat to have some kind of mechanism to put the mass load on the case rather than the motherboard.

[@S7tronic]

8:51 the sound of those A12x25's is very relaxing..

[@dralord1307]

The sound part of the video the 1st 2 didnt bother me but the X52 and D15 sound did bother me. I guess because im used to the bit louder fans i tune them out easier. The wind tunnel sound those 2 coolers gave bugs me more

[@S7tronic]

@@dralord1307 After years of AIO's, including two corsair H80's with pump issues, a Kraken with an airlock, I went with a Noctua NH-C14S CPU Cooler/NF-A14 on my current build (9700K at stock & 1080ti in a Streacom DA2), and could not be happier; almost silent when browsing, office etc. no pump noise, no concern about leaks, air all the way for me...

[@dralord1307]

@@S7tronic So far I have always done air cooling "like to max the number of case fans" So over the 15+ years I have gotten used to the sound. In general ppl tend to tune things out over time. But high pitched sounds is what i use for my alarms. So anything with a high pitched sound or wind tunnel type sound tends to irritate me more. But I totaly get what your saying

[@hypnoticlizard9693]

Why don't noctua ship the A12s with the D15?

[@user-bm4gb6lr8d]

What is that custom fan called

[@anderswanlin8022]

The Be Quite Dark Rock Pro4 is a famous beefy air cooler as well, is around the same price as the Noctua one, and comes head to head with it in terms of thermals and noise level

[@robertadrianwayne]

It also looks far more sexier than the Noctua's Chromax.

[@tomkocur]

@@robertadrianwayne especially with a single fan (inside).

[@michaelmichaelagnew8503]

Its also allot harder to install, and the warranty isn't that great compared to a Noctua NH-D15 chromax. Both are black so it makes it a little harder to want to by the Dark Rock Pro4. Both what I hear are about the same when it comes to performance.

[@mrsmilescam1550]

Michael Michaelagnew I installed the dark rock pro 4 with my motherboard in the case after tearing out my AIO. Zero issues.

[@ishaanchauhan8525]

@@michaelmichaelagnew8503 I actually recently installed a dark rock pro4, and honestly it was a really simple install, assuming you're building outside of the case. Only struggle was the size, but that's a little hard to avoid...

[@idefyu23]

Noctua NH-D15 Rules...Would like to have seen prices included in the test.

[@beniburek]

@Nick V True dat, looking that mini beast for my next build it looks super sexy and it is super efficient.

[@Maisonier]

What's the smallest case you can put the Noctua Nh-d15 ?? that Lian li t150 ?

[@tilla77]

@@Maisonier Probably. I have one and the clearance to the side is only a millimetre or so.

[@Maisonier]

@Nick V Dude, Corsair 400q IT'S GIANT. I'm talking about MINI-ITX BUILDS, like the Lian Li t150.

[@abdulhkeem.alhadhrami]

@Nick V can't complain it cooled my i7 6700k better than my h100i v1 ever did, it's a beast!

[@Oixmq]

Pretty surprise at SCYTHE FUMA2's thermal result and noise level

[@dorientjewoller113]

I am not, Scythe is well known in Europe for bringing the best price/performance air coolers on the table. They never fail me to surprise. Sadly they don't marketing their products like other brands or lucky so they can keep the price down.

[@Oixmq]

@@dorientjewoller113 In Korea, almost everyone know only NINJA series also there's many people doesn't know SCYTHE I agree they don't marketing their product

[@bwellington3001]

@@dorientjewoller113 They make great coolers, but i have some issue with Ninja 5 i tried to resolve with their support - they would not even give an answer, it's been like 4 months already and i checked a few times if i actually written to correct adress. Cryorig, on the other hand, sent me a free AM4 kit from Taiwan to Moscow and it arrived in 10 days. They answered imidiately even though they oficially stopped sending those kits in 2018. It was because when i bought it recently i have recieved an old box without am4 bracket and it was too much of a hussle to send it back for replacement and i couldnt find am4 kits sold here as well. SCYTHE should really pay more attention to their support, they are obviously still alive as company because they managed to send their every recent coolers for reviews.

[@dorientjewoller113]

@@bwellington3001 I believe they have a new management, coz suddenly they are removing or placing at a lower volume their other brand Reeven in the US while they are pushing the name Scythe. Had also an issue with my Scythe Mugen 5 Rev. B PCGH Edition in my file server: base plate was misformed. Handled it with my retailer and got a new one within 10 minutes.

[@clint7247]

I've seen other thermal testing where the the Fuma 2 is a lot closer to the NH-D15 in performance and, in some cases, even surpassing it. This gap in performance is actually the largest I've seen. Something else that should've been mentioned about the Fuma 2 is its design, allowing for full access to your RAM with its offset design and thin outer fan.

[@joh2805]

Glad I've picked the Fuma 2 for my build. Amazing this relatively affordable CPU cooler can hold a 9900k OC'd to 5gHz in a sane temperature, and stay quiet. A real great product.

[@giorgionegro5750]

You should do noise normalised test

[@dabj9546]

Why would he normalize the noise than there wouldn't be a difference

[@giorgionegro5750]

@@dabj9546 with noise normalised test you can see the true efficiency of the cooler and the difference will be in temperature, so you can't be top of the chart just by setting fan speed to 2000 rpm for example

[@WatchMysh]

Yes. That's missing. For example a "fixed 38db" run would have been really interesting, because thin 280mm+ radiators have great performance at low to mid rpm. I'd also really like to see how the fat Noctua compares at let's say 500 and 800 rpm.

[@cilindrox]

This. The tests might differ significantly by normalizing noise levels. AIOs might be fine, but they are loud, if you want to have something quiet, you’ll probably land an air cooler

[@WatchMysh]

@@cilindrox differs from product to product. As there are loud and silent pumps there are loud and silent air coolers. It's not 2012 anymore when most AIOs came with cheap, loud fans and fixed speed pumps.

[@Stagmuffins]

This was great comparison though I do think you missed a couple things. 1) You mentioned that routing the WC wires is a pain but didn't mention how much easier it is to work with components around the CPU socket whereas with a large HSF you pretty much have to remove it to do anything even in large cases. 2) I've never had a failure from it but there are some horror stories out there from heavy HSF setups damaging the motherboard due to all of the weight hanging off of the socket.

[@AndrewTSq]

I dont understand why we dont get back to the horizontal case-pcs. No more GPU-sagging, no more troubles with heatsinks.. and all the heat goes up instead of up over your cpu heatsink, and vrm. You could have fans all over the topcase that just blows air up, which takes all the hot air away from the chassie directly.

[@Just_Call_Me_Tim]

@@AndrewTSq I'm using the Fractal design 202 (with added fans below the gpu), and leave it on its side. I drive a truck for a living and have it strapped to the top of my refrigerator. That said, the sade I had before was a bigger one from Cooler Master, and even then kept it on its side (granted air was forced horizontally across the case), and my next case (need a bit more room for airflow since some upgrades to parts) will at least travel on its side. Its just safer all around for the components given how much these rigs bounce, shake and rock.

[@potatopilot1699]

@@Just_Call_Me_Tim that’s awesome

[@pedrosoares7273]

that scythe cooler is extremely impressive for a 120mm fan cooler!

[@subaila]

Scythe Fuma 2 is very underrated cooler

[@Tomaszt-se6uf]

Great value. 50 euro and close to NH-D15 but in Scythe you get lower noise(I think with swap fan difference will be ~1-2C). I have Scythe Ninja 5 :-).

[@dorientjewoller113]

@@Tomaszt-se6uf Has the Fuma 2. Even at full speed, it's silent. And if you hear it (aka, no other fans on) it's a nice pleasant noise of air rushing through the fins.

[@Polmansol]

Ridiculously easy to install, comes with everything needed, has respectable cooling performance and is very quiet. And then there's the price, it's a no-brainer.

[@thierrybo6304]

I have one and frankly you have to pay attention to not mount one fan in the wrong side for air flow.

[@SquarePenix.]

Hey I know you might not see this but your channel has finally pushed me into making a tech channel. I’m unemployed (by choice) at the moment and can’t see myself doing anything else. I’m a former software engineer who was making amazing money, but tech journalism has always been my passion. Would you say it’s impossible to grow to make a living off KZbin these days in the tech space? Thanks and keep up the great work.

[@meowmeow2759]

Should have ran some longer tests, it takes a bit for the water coolers to heat up since its water

[@fajaradi1223]

30 minutes blender not long enough?

[@ghostcell030]

No

[@roboknopp]

But the temp graph is pretty stable in the plot. It should at least incline slightly constantly if you were correct. AIOs do not contain that much water anyway. Custom loops should take longer to settle, but you still would see a constant move towards the final temp.

[@meowmeow2759]

I just noticed that his was modified, wonder if that made the difference because from other reviews and my personal experience I've gotten same temps stock for stock with all in ones and big boi coolers

[@010falcon]

I ve had different results after swapping with my friend (AIO vs NH D15) The NH D15 was 5C lower then the 280mm AIO

[@gamingfish6773]

This test was on a open air test bench! You get different results depending on your case etc.

[@warp00009]

After I lost my last system when the OEM's cheap liquid cooler sprung a leak, I'm preparing to replace my 4 year old brand name liquid cooler with a high end air cooler instead. I don't ever want to repeat having to replace "everything" inside my case if and when a liquid cooler fails again.

[@mryellow6918]

That's why you should build your pcs or at least make sure it's using quality parts.

[@warp00009]

My new NH-D15 has been installed for several weeks now, and to my surprise significantly out performs the old, brand name liquid cooling system (240mm radiator, two 120mm fans). After running a "100% CPU on all cores (real and virtual) for over an hour" video rendering workload on my 140w TDP i7-5820k, the new air cooler consistently keeps the max temperatures a whopping 15C cooler than the liquid cooler did! Now I must mention that I did use Thermal Grizzly thermal paste with the new air cooler too, to get the best heat transfer that I could as I've seen reviews that indicate it beats other thermal pastes by an additional 50% as measured by its thermal transfer coefficient. As I was expecting a loss in performance with the air cooler, the actual performance is amazing to me!

[@Miguel-jm2pf]

@@warp00009 The only real advantage water cooling has I think is thermal capacity, so actually dissipating the heat shouldn’t be different. The pump noise in AIO is also a difference maker, my 240mm cooler is infuriating at idle, I can constantly hear the buzz of the water pump. I’m planning on getting a be quiet! Dark Rock 4 and strapping an extra Silent Wings 3 fan on it. 200W rated, with whisper quiet fans. Can’t beat that.

[@warp00009]

@@Miguel-jm2pf Since I wrote my original post, I replaced my liquid cooler with a Noctua NH-D15 (admittedly with upgraded Thermal Grizzly thermal paste) - which totally surprised me when it blew away the performance that my liquid cooler had provided by a significant margin! Now my CPU temperature after running 100% load on all threads and physical cores for over an hour is a whopping 15C less than the liquid cooler could muster - and as you mention it is a lot quieter than the water pump too. With air cooled performance like that, I'm never going back to the risks and concerns of a liquid cooler again! Stay safe and well my friend!

[@Miguel-jm2pf]

@@warp00009 Great to hear. And thanks you too 🙏

[@Mahm00dM0hanad]

Noctua nh-d15 the black edition with Lian lie t150 is my favorite combo for 3950x small workstation.

[@shiyourin4846]

Hey do you know if the 140mm fan fits in the back where the I/O cover is? I was thinking of getting it but according to ram clearance my ram is too tall for it to be at the front. And only the double fan version is sold where I live.

[@Mahm00dM0hanad]

Cyberno if you use noctua nh-15 yes you can just clip the fan offset a little to the top. If you use other air cooler some of them don’t allowed you to offset the fans so be carful.

[@RONOKXY]

@@shiyourin4846 It is shown at 3:50

[@Maisonier]

What's the smallest case you can put the Noctua Nh-d15 ?? that Lian li t150 ?

[@Mahm00dM0hanad]

Maisonier I guess yes lian li is the smallest possible case

[@vintage0x]

I've been rocking my NH-D15 on my 6700K (at 4.6Ghz) running passively (i.e. no fans attached to it) but with 5 case fans on low (~400RPM) for YEARS now. it's a wonderful setup and I can only recommend. The new black version is a beautiful chunk of metal....! The idle noise is inaudible to my ears, and idle temps are at 22C, so the noise of an AIO pump would definitely annoy anyone who has a pretty quiet room. I get the aesthetic reasons for getting an AIO but other than that, noctua and be quiet air coolers are just brilliant, reliable, easy to use cooling components.

[@Athasin]

frumpy I wonder if it’ll still works when you finally upgrade your CPU.

[@vintage0x]

Athasin yeah me too! probably gonna get a 10700K or whatever they end up naming it when that’s out. it would surprise me if idle temps are anywhere below 30C.

[@filetsteak5677]

imagine not having headphones

[@vintage0x]

@@filetsteak5677 sweetie, when I'm in my extremely quiet room in the dead of the night working on something that requires extreme concentration, the last thing I want to do is put on headphones and listen to something, bc it will ultimately distract me. I'm jealous of you people who can work and listen to music. very jealous. I love love love my quiet noctua case fans and the process of tuning the fan speeds.

[@zeronin4696]

More important question: does the tower cooler fit in your case😂

[@BlizzarDofBabyloN]

I would love to see a fully air-cooled relatively SFF build for extreme gaming using the chromax NH-D15. Balancing between looks as well as performance and compactness.

[@ThePipeFox]

I'd like to throw in my 2 cents given as I've actually recently switched from a Kraken X52 to the Noctua NH-D15. The NH-D15 is a total beast that keeps my Ryzen 3950X below 70 degrees (at stock speeds) in a fairly limited airflow case (Fractal Design Define R6) with two Noctua NF-A14 intake fans and one Noctua NF-A14 exhaust and it does it while remaining almost inaudible. Overall I'd say I prefer it to the Kraken and I actually kinda like the beefy understated look. That said, the video didn't touch upon one thing you might consider when deciding between liquid vs air cooling and that's that the video card temperature will not affect your CPU temperature when using an AIO whereas it will almost certainly do so with an air cooler (at least if we're talking about a non-blower style, average dual fan card) since some of the heat dissipated from the card's backplate will find it's way to the CPU cooler. Long story short, you can't go wrong with the NH-D15 if your case can fit it, it's slightly cheaper that a decent AIO, close enough in thermal performance and same or better noise-wise.

[@WarriorsPhoto]

Memory clearance is one of the reasons I have stayed with AIOs. But other than that I always preferred air cooling as I felt they were quieter. Good video and work. Thank you.

[@kimnice]

Well I would simply stay away from 10cm/5inch tall memory modules? Is there any point with those tall heat sinks? I mean that one stick consumes what 3 watts at worst. There's memory kits up to DDR4-4700 that will fit below (for example) Noctua NH-D15 without adjusting front fan.

[@WarriorsPhoto]

@@kimnice Oh now this is really good to know. I would like clearance for my memory modules. Thank you.

[@rafifsetyo4505]

Very underrated channel, u deserve more subs.

[@PavelSekerka]

THIS!

[@deliriumcode]

You can always share his videos on social networks. ;) He deserves that!

[@Fidelb33r]

Yea...At least 500K

[@CaveyMoth]

I want a CPU heatsink that is off-center to mount directly to a PC's rear fan slot. That would be neat.

[@chrisji947]

Cavey Möth would have to be on a case by case basis but if SIs that actually cared about their products existed, they would probably be able to do that

[@rubyvolt]

I have a DeepCool dual tower. I had one fan, Antec RGB 120mm, in the middle and Prime95 got to 70C. I put the two others on for three and it only got to 60C. The CPU a 9600KF not OC. Love the simplicity of air cooling.

[@Cupillac]

It’s like -40celsius here, I just put my rig next to the window and everything keeps cool lol

[@gvegito0]

LMAOOO

[@Ouaueaio]

Nice to have another test comparing nh d15 with a 360mm AIO. Most videos out there compare only with a 240mm AIO. Also, it would be awesome, although tricky, if you could do the same tests but with direct die.

[@StudioHM]

Great video and information. Thanks a lot! I went with the Kraken X62

[@angryPolish]

0:16 It's nice to see a low angle shot like this that shows the nh-d15 with the 2nd fan mounted at the back instead of where the ram is. I wanted to see if it was possible without compromising side panel clearance by being forced to raise the fan up due to the IO height. Looks like its not affected so that's good. This was the one thing I struggled to find anywhere and you got an instant like for that alone.

[@AkshaySinghJamwal]

Thorough and thoughtful as usual.. The mouse clicking during the sound test to give people a baseline reference was great thinking.

[@UnknownUser-fg3fs]

The NH-D15 Chromax Black is the best cooler out right now. Looks so good and performs so well. My next build will definitely feature one. Corsair's 2020 CES cooler is a joke compared to this beauty.

[@shadowguardian3612]

If you are running more than 8 cores or are overclocking i wouldn't recommend it

[@UnknownUser-fg3fs]

@@shadowguardian3612 what would you recommend?

[@alexpetree2038]

@@shadowguardian3612 the 9900k is an 8 core 16 threaded processor lmao

[@kimnice]

Really? I mean many reviewers used NH-D15 when they tested AMD Ryzen 9 3950x, a 16 core CPU. They managed nice overclock-results with it.

[@kimnice]

@@alexpetree2038 Funny enough: There were temperature test where they used Noctua NH-D15 with various processors. Intel Core i9 9900KS ran almost 20c hotter than AMD Ryzen 9 3950x..despite latter having twice as many cores. Since Noctua NH-D15 was good enough for 9900KS, it most certainly is enough for 3950x.

[@angrysal2355]

After having 2 corsair h115i die on me 1-2 years apart. system was on 24/7 and pump speed was set to full speed in software( i read online its better for the pump to stay at one speed vs fluctuate) The first unit.. pump just gave out on a overclocked 8350 @ 5ghz 1.45 volts.. sold it on ebay for 45$ for parts.. Bought the 2nd unit at retail price, The pump also gave out but sounded like sand and temps would jump over 90c in a matter of seconds.. corsair was nice enough to give me a full refund after the warranty ended almost 5 months later...upgraded to a ryzen 3600x and purchased the Scythe Ninja 5. never going back to aio.. just my 2 cents

[@MainelyElectrons]

8 years of continuous use for my NH-U14S and have had zero issues. Just brought it over from the AMD FX4350 build it was running on, to a 5900x. I’ve watched numerous videos trying to convince myself it’s time to “upgrade” and came to conclusion that the U14S is still plenty for my needs. I added another fan to make it push/pull and saw a huge improvement in temps. I have the cooler mounted so it blows the hot air up and out of the case. Moving the fan from the case to on top of the radiator made the biggest difference. I have barely been able to get the CPU above 80c during any workload, blender included.

[@J0ermungand]

If you think about it, heatpipes are sort water coolers.They do use water (albeit by transitioning its phase from liquid to gas and back) to transfer heat away from the CPU and into the "radiator". So I do wonder if further improvements in heatpipe technology could eventually lead to them outperforming "traditional" water coolers.

[@TheSaival]

water cooling is actually air cooling because you just blow fan through the radiator air cooling is actually water cooling because they use water in the evaporation chambers I dont know what to believe anymore.

[@taith2]

I got myself AIO 8 years ago, that was mistake. I mainly sit on idle at night and never using headphones. Pump noise is killing me. Next build going to be completely passive.

[@veduci22]

Completely passive build is unnecessary - I used various 120mm Noctua and Be Quiet Silent Wings fans @500rpm and I can't tell whether PC is powered on or not.

[@taith2]

@@veduci22 thing is: I want to? Design will be tight

[@Stefan50326]

Have fun downclocking your system for 60W TDP

[@JirayD]

@@Stefan50326 Dude, Ryzen 3k runs awesome at 65W. Octacore at 3.6 GHz.

[@Stefan50326]

@@JirayD Which one exactly?

[@ViperDent]

That Scythe cooler is so damn impressive compared to it's competition for the price.

[@TokaTakao]

the water inside an AIO will warm up significantly after an hour or two and will take some time for it to drop the temperature. Aircooler can maintain the temperature for long period of time and able to drop the temperature quickly, its a good benefit i'd say.

[@Koeras16]

That the funny thing about those benchmarks. They only take into account the short burst of temperature rising. Though AOI do heat up quite a bit overtime. After a long session of gaming it might take a good hour before your AOI gets back to "normal" temperature.

[@valdius85]

@@Koeras16 He did it for 30 min. That should be enough time for the AIO temp to stabilize ;)

[@Koeras16]

@@valdius85 Thank you. Seems I missed that part. Being to hasty once again.

[@luc_official]

4:23 The way you visually showed what you were talking about, just by switching the lighting. Amazing!

[@P8qzxnxfP85xZ2H3wDRV]

Why does almost every tech channel have such a high noise floor? My noise floor is around 26 dB(A).

[@snipe3045]

No Be quit dark rock 4 cooler?

[@37Kilo2]

I just installed this on my 1950x because I retired my custom loop; sick of biocides not doing their job and then me having to flush/clean everything. Anyways, the Dark Rock 4 is amazing! So quiet, and keeps my Threadripper under 70c (~68c) during stress testing.

[@livebig6414]

IC Sniper sad, was looking for this one as I am planning to buy one...

[@livebig6414]

Erin The Pira nearly? how close? for example 5 degrees would be a lot for me, also in terms of sound which would be quiter, I’ve heard that a14 fans have whoosh sound, unlike a12’s which are dead silent. Never had be quite silent wings I wonder how different they sound compared with a14 fan.

[@snipe3045]

@@37Kilo2 I have it too on my 1950x it amazing

[@hwstar9416]

that's one hunk of a cooler

[@kcfish4862]

For an ITX build, I wonder if AIO will have advantage such as less load on the MOBO (when moving) than the Air cooling

[@Magnulus76]

Get a smaller cooler and cap the boost in Windows -200 MHz (editing power management settings using QuickPC or use Eco Mode or something similar). Then you won't need a heavy cooler. Performance loss should be minimal and it will cost alot less and be completely safe to move.

[@floris9572]

You should review the lazer 3d lz7 xtd (its a larger version of lz7, which you already reviewed)

[@extectic]

Just built a Ryzen 5900x, Radeon 6800 XT system. Went 100% air cooling, because of the reliability and simplicity reasons. Keeping the CPU cool with a Noctua NH-D15 chromax is not hard, to say the least, especially using your other excellent video that you made after this discussing undervolting the Ryzen. If anything, the GPU is what needs better cooling - oh, it stays cool but it spins the fans up high and spews a ton of heat into the case because there's no air exiting the case where it sits. But, I don't want pump noise, failure risks and I certainly never sit looking at my system when I use it. Heck, I bought an opaque case, even.

[@stobe187]

Using and loving a Chromax NH-D15 now, used to have a regular D15 but wanted the all black looks to work with the aesthetics I was going for. Super happy with Chromax version:: superb build quality (even the fan clips are matte black), low noise (and more importantly, the pitch of the noise is low) and fantastic looks..

[@Grena567]

Finally someone using the fuma2!

[@KennethRathburn]

Anyone else hear a higher-pitch ring from the Noctua in this?

[@ando1016]

i have 3 chromax 140mm fans on a 360mm aio and right around 50% speed they whine just like in the video. super annoying tinny sound

[@Vegemeister1]

It's a harmonic of the blade passing frequency, 163 Hz (1400 RPM * 7 blades). The usual cause is an obstruction close to the intake or exhaust side of the fan. You can make pretty much any fan do it by holding a pencil right in front of the intake.

[@themissinglink2163]

Nobody ever tests air coolers in a high airflow case. i have proven the superiority of aircoolers because of the impessive drop in temperature from great case cooling. The best way to acheive this is to buy a SL600M case and configure it to top down airflow feeding a Noctua NH-DH15. (Screw the convection effect, the closer your input fans to the CPU cooler the better. Also top down stops your case sucking in floor dust) Vertical mount the Noctua NH-DH15 and custom mount your graphics card to the right of the motherboard near the PSU using a PCI-E cable to allow all components fresh air. Having a twin 200mm fan push pull case will provide the maximum airfow through your case. This configuration will run very quietly and outperform any AIO 480mm water cooling in both temperature and sound whilst keeping all components nice and cool with vey little expense. BTW your graphics card will love all that fresh air and outperform liquid cooling.

[@45eno]

For quiet performance remember to always opt for push / push configs. Any pull fan should be gapped 1-3mm to avoid noise from having the suction side being too close to the heatsink. U14S includes thicker corner pads to gap the suction fan away from the heatsink. I think many people introduce this noise and not even realize it is avoidable. I have 3x 140mm fans on my D15 and use the U14S thicker pads for the 3rd fan in a pull config. Silent 3 fan setup.

[@xmetal280]

Great timing as I was just researching this last night! I’m leaning toward the Noctua solutions, just need to work out measurements and make sure all my planned components will fit nicely. I love the look of that blacked out heat pipe setup...

[@ToBeSimplyMe]

It's a great comparison but I would have like to seen it done in a close case not an open test bench, ya i know its a ton of work, but it might alter certain things in the test

[@Bob_Smith19]

You can simply mount the fan higher up on the NH-D15 to clear RAM. You don’t have to move it to the rear of the case. This assumes you have the clearance in your case, which I did.

[@P8qzxnxfP85xZ2H3wDRV]

I'm a total silence enthusiast and have been trying to bridge the gap between SFF and low noise for years. I can barely stomach the noise of a D5 pump as a trade-off, but any of the other pumps, I just can't endure. For a high-powered computer, I think a D5 pump and a total of 4x 120 mm radiators is the minimum you need. If you also want to overclock, you'll need a total of 6x 120 mm radiators. My noise floor is 24 dB(A) though and 30 dB(A) is my pain threshold for idle usage.

[@zoomzabba452]

I'll take lower performance and fan noise over pump noise. Reminds me of the air pump for a fish tank when I was a kid.

[@MrEliwankenobi]

Watching this as I am taking my Chromax NH-D15 from the Amazon box

[@Dionyzos]

Aren't air coolers way more dependent on the case design compared to liquid aios? Does testing this on an open bench really yield representative results?

[@NZ_Lexus_IS-F]

I'm thinking the same thing! I used to use a Noctua U12S and that outperformed my Kraken x62 in OC stability and maximum temps!

[@csanaderdodi7446]

People: Ohh no, pump so loud, I think I may die😫 Me: *Laughs in gaming laptop when opening a single chrome tab*

[@af252]

Wow this seems to be the only video on KZbin that I’ve ever come across that actually takes the time to consider pump noise at idle. It seems like most reviews are only interested in the raw maxed out performance but give so little attention to noise especially that from the pump. I am especially sensitive to any sort of noise coming from my system at idle and in that regard most air coolers immediately trump liquid coolers.

[@austinmiggins4642]

lol i love how a testbench is used when we all have actual computer cases.

[@sexyyoda7567]

Just add maybe 5° C When taking a single processor test. If you calculate the ratio between any two processors then the result will be the same. Because...... You know why

[@jamesm568]

I find a test bench catches more people's attention than a fancy tower.

[@albundy7718]

No Be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4?

[@NaNekoRx10]

Also no arctics, those things have the Best price benefit ratio

[@Saigonas]

Arctic Freezer 34 duo is almost the same as DRP4 for just 35$ and it comes with Arctic thermal paste too. Super good deal

[@Robin-sf3gk]

Thermalright Le Grand Macho RT all day

[@Danko_HS]

@@Saigonas Yeah, keep dreaming buddy! A 4 heatpipes cooler performing almost the same as a dual-tower 7 heatpipes beast? The Freezer 34 can't even beat the regular DR4, let alone the PRO. Maybe it comes close when used on a stock CPU, but a 9900k at 5Ghz? Be ready for the mother of all throttlings.

[@Saigonas]

@@Danko_HS you wouldn't even use 40$ cooler on 9900K at 5GHz. Even DRP4 in some instances isn't enough for overclocked 9900k.

[@TheRitualChannel]

Nice work here. Thanks for giving a nod to the air cooler guys that watch your channel.

[@Grumpy_Wolf]

I recently switched to air cooling for a 3950x because the case I got didn't support a radiator if you wanted to use hard drive bays. I picked up the coolermaster MA620M. It has nice looking RGB on it and is all black. It performs very similar to my previous EVGA clc 240.

[@gazzola41]

Very happy with my Thermalright LeGrand Macho RT!!!

[@floridaman3823]

IT'S SO BIIIIG!

[@chesshooligan1282]

I'd buy that cooler just for the name.

[@jamesaron1967]

Thermalright was always my favorite cooler manufacturer but not many reviews feature their products.

[@EnnTomi1]

ill pick air cooler anyday if i got the space. its so much quiter, and install-forget-it makes it my ultimate choice. better off going cheap waterloop than AIO even with soft tubing.

[@Lackari]

and the reliability, having a pump add chance to have failure, while a air cooler can't broke.

[@intech7863]

The problem with aio is after few monts get noisy

[@EnnTomi1]

AIO is such rip off, after knowing how much cost to manufacture all those low quality rads +pumps even today 99% AIO out there still uses the pumps desigin coming from 2000s......

[@intech7863]

@@EnnTomi1 i never try aio, im with noctua nh d15 se its massive but temps are just wow snow to cpu and mobo even my gpu get fresh air from this cooler

[@currentlykent4593]

Cheap water loop!?! I’ve been researching custom loops. Best I can find hovers around $600 USD. Am I looking at the wrong stuff?

[@uranumbnuts]

No Thermosiphon? That thing is a true beast in air cooling! 🤣

[@DrearierSpider1]

Got a black NH-D15 for Christmas, and I'm a huge fan. Easy to install, keeps my 3700X cool while being damn near silent, and should last at least a decade.

[@zoomzabba452]

This is why I am confident going to a SFF with a 3700X. Currently running a FX8350 4.7GHz all-core with a D15S

[@FanPhys]

Excellent video production and fantastic job on the subject coverage. I've done extensive testing of coolers over the years and I see quite a big gap between the cooling *capacity* of air vs AIO. People are very hung up about noise levels these days but I wanted raw performance because I was benchmarking, so I regularly used fans at 4,000rpm and above. With an apples-to-apples comparison like this, AIO coolers would be several degrees lower than the very best air coolers. Interestingly enough, the Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E is on par with the NH-D15, but Thermalright seem to have lost their publicity footing of late.

[@int_i]

Nice video, but it would be nice to see prices as well and that stand at 8:27 tho

[@tonkatoytruck]

Prices in the description.

[@sarfaraz.hosseini]

The single 140mm cooler size like the Noctua U14S are seldom mentioned, but stonking good value, with excellent DIMM clearance.

[@DekarNL]

If you don't like pump noise mount the radiator at the top of your case such that the pump isn't running dry. And if mounted vertically tubes at the bottom.

[@GMMReviews]

Damn, so you'd get a bigger difference delidding your CPU, than using a super expensive liquid cooler.

[@pedrobastos8132]

Isn't the 9900k soldered?

[@speedzaa]

@@pedrobastos8132 Yes, it is

[@PureRushXevus]

You'd also void your warranty, risk completely killing the CPU, need expensive liquid metal + delidding tool.. And of course, it'd only be for *that* CPU. meanwhile an expensive air cooler would be almost a lifetime upgrade, since you could most likely just swap out the mounting brackets.

[@adamsrealm]

@@PureRushXevus that's assuming the aio will last longer than a year. Most aio's are cheaply built overpriced trash that build up copper salts to critical levels in under a year.

[@justvid366]

You don't need to delid Ryzen or Intel 9th gen K-series.

[@Ch40zz]

Im not sure if 30 minutes is enough to properly heat up all the water which is therefore an unfair advantage for the liquid cooling. You should let it run for 2 hours atleast to compare results. Also it would be great to normalize the temperatures with the noise, if you do that you will see that the NHD-15 outperforms any non custom AIO you can buy. I'd also say that you should inform the people about push and pull setups and what their strengths and weaknesses are (either cool cpu or gpu properly but both isnt possible with a radiator). They will notice that having a radiator may be nice for the CPU, but it def isnt nice for the GPU if its a pull setup. This of course doesnt take any full custom waterloops into account which are always superior to any of the here presented solutions :D

[@CashmereSky]

Upgrade my NH-D14 a couple years back to a D15S w/ Chromax plates and fans. Couldn't be happier. Looks great, near watercooling performance, super silent, great thermals on my 9940X, though I don't do huge overclocking since it's primarily a workstation machine, hence I opt for air cooling every time for the reliability.

[@TTB630]

Built my first pc with a Scythe Mugen 4 and the stock water cooling of the 295x2, man that 295x2 was LOUD! Tweakers once lent my 295x2 for a review and I've got the HD7990 as a replacement, which was a godsend! So quiet! Shortly the 295x2 was bailed out, and a 980Ti came in. Nowadays my 6700K is cooled with an Scythe Shuriken rev 2b with 120mm Noctua 15mm thick and a 1060 3gb is coupled with an Raijintek Morpheus 2 with also dual 120mm Noctua's full thickness. Won't ever be using water cooling again, pumps are loud, it induces a risk, whereas cooling towers are cool looking by their bulkiness. Who cares about lights in your system!? I prefer the pixels on my screen way more! *And the sweet sound from my stereo!

[@RoryMag]

I actually think the Dark Rock Pro 4, is the nicest looking air cooler on the market

[@filetsteak5677]

yeah

[@Arivald_]

120s? You didn't let the liquid to warm up, it was clear win for aio in that case :v. If you'd let it get some heat it could be way different

[@RAGW00]

Arivald yeah true, linus tested this before. He let it run for a few hours. His results were aircoolers performed better in the long run.

[@2arx992]

It says for 30 minutes in the bottom right corner

[@EarthAmbassador]

Installing my nh-d15 was the most frustrating experience. In my mid tower there was no room to maneuver/install fans or plug in fan headers, took like 45 min to get it all set.

[@Kerdtress]

I love Custom Watercooling. It is a lot of Fun but you can also go Full Overkill and get a Silent System under Full Load with no restrictions, Undervolting or whatever.

[@firsl9467]

How long was the AIO stress test being run? Has it reach a stable state from the huge water thermal capacity? I'm very surprised that the AIO is 4 degrees lower...

[@hentosama]

this

[@dodge8802]

I mean he did run them for 30 minutes so they should have maxed out

[@JesusMeza3]

@@dodge8802 thought they maxed out after like 70 minutes

[@jhereylle]

what about the beQuite Dark Rock Pro 4?

[@NC7491]

It should be a degree hotter than the noctua and a decibel quieter.

[@saltedllama2759]

When air coolers have a problem, it's only a fan. Those are cheap and easy to replace, and you still get some passive cooling from the massive heatsink while you troubleshoot. When liquid coolers have a problem, it can be any number of issues resulting in permanent damage to the components in your system, and you have to replace the entire cooling solution (and potentially other parts that were damaged).

[@axi6ne8us]

Always enjoy your videos. Very informative and educational.

[@Saaaaab]

Are you sure 30 minutes was enough for the liquid in the liquid coolers to reach proper temps though?

[@brinkshows2720]

Plot twist. Water cooling systems are also air cooling systems. :)

[@tonkatoytruck]

Agreed. They can exhaust hot air or intake cool air. Air coolers do neither and that heat is released into the case.

[@brinkshows2720]

@@tonkatoytruck Well. Yes and no. In normal tower cases they always blow the hot air directly to the back out of the case. Sometimes it has a top fan which will pull hot air out too. So it doesn't really make a difference if the heat is released in the case or on the edges. For small form factor builds yes hot air will stay longer in the case before exhausted, but air coolers have direct heat to air contact so they should in theory be way more efficiënt. Water coolers have from source to water to air. Which is a extra step more, but the advantage is that the surface area of the radiator can be made bigger than a air cooler.

[@tonkatoytruck]

@@brinkshows2720 Water is denser and can carry off more heat. Your theory is flawed.

[@brinkshows2720]

@@tonkatoytruck If you think that is the only factor. Then you don't understand the basics of thermaldynamics. XD

[@tonkatoytruck]

@@brinkshows2720 As an engineer, I have forgotten more than you will ever understand. Your argument holds no water.

[@Shepard7]

I have the Noctua NH-C14S since 2013, funcion perfectly without any problems. My next cooler will be Noctua NH-D15 or NH-U12A.

[@gamergearguide1]

I got the NH D15 a couple days ago but I had to return it as it did not fit my case (phanteks p400 ecplipse) :( saddest day of my life, However I went for the NH U12A which I am still waiting for :) ...I just love the fact of having Noctua's products in my builds

[@Disarmedaxe1]

Dude you are getting like, 1k subs a day lol. I checked a couple days back and you were at 187 lmao

[@Gilfar]

Well, looking at LC performance in relative to almost twice the price of AC, it doesn't look that good for LC.

[@halistinejenkins5289]

good job and thank you. i've been waiting for a reputable channel to do this.

[@SomeTechGuy666]

Great video. I wonder how running them on an open air chassis might have skewed the results. The biggest problem I see with air coolers is that you need more fanage because the cooler doesn't have access to cool air in the case and you have to move the air twice with an air cooler - first through the CPU cooler and then in and out of the case. With a radiator the radiator fans move air through the case.

[@chandrasajana3848]

Noctua all the way 🤘

[@BySoulKillers]

they sure make a hunk of a cooler

[@wisdoom9153]

@@BySoulKillers and quiet one.

[@patrickdergroenr1247]

The Thermalright hr-02 macho rev. b is the better price/performance choice though.