Lets Settle This - Air Coolers vs AIOs

When it comes to choosing the best CPU cooler, the air cooling vs water cooling debate has been raging for years. But now with some of the best 240mm AIO's costing less than the best CPU heatsinks, performance and pricing might actually be in the favor of water cooling. Let's settle this debate once and for all with modern AMD AM5 and Intel LGA1700 CPUs tested in 2024 systems.
Buy the Best CPU Coolers here:
Thermalright Phantom Spirit - geni.us/PS120SE
Thermalright Peerless Assassin - geni.us/PA120W
Corsair A115 - geni.us/CORSAIRA115
Noctua D15 - geni.us/NoctuaD15
Thermalright Frozen Edge - geni.us/FROZENEDGE240
Arctic Freezer III 240 - geni.us/FreezerIII240
DeepCool LT520 - geni.us/LT520
Phanteks T30 AIO - geni.us/T30AIO
EK Nucleus CR240 - geni.us/EKWB240
CHECK OUT THE TOWER 300 (SPONSOR) HERE - geni.us/Tower300
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 - Best Air Coolers vs 240mm AIOs
0:50 - The Intel vs AMD Question
1:26 - CPU Sample to Sample Variance
2:27 - Ryzen GAMING Temperatures & Framerates
3:41 - Ryzen 5 7600X Temperature Testing
4:17 - Ryzen 7 7700X Temperature Testing
4:50 - Ryzen 9 7950X Temperature & Frequency Testing
5:36 - The AMD Cooling Issue
5:55 - Sponsor Spot
6:25 - Intel GAMING Temperatures & Framerates
7:58 - Intel 180W Temperature Testing
8:22 - Intel 253W Temperature Testing
9:56 - Intel No Limits Temperature & Frequency Testing
10:52 - The Eternal Question...Answered?
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SUBSCRIBE ►bit.ly/SubHWC
Review units provided by companies mentioned. This video is sponsored by Thermaltake. As per Hardware Canucks guidelines, no review direction was received from manufacturer. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
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#hardwarecanucks

[@rmking_beats]

Thermalright’s price to performance is insane.

[@petermilian4455]

Probably why Noctua keeps delaying the D15 v2 😂

[@YudaHnK]

It is. Doesn’t make sense to buy D16 coming out. But I’m buying it, omg I’m hype for it!!!

[@Stackali]

yeah it is. thats why i went with one. its half the price of noctua and its pretty close to its performance.

[@sergioadamgeraldi7899]

What thermalright you talking about?

[@ikram2512]

Pearless assassin ​@@sergioadamgeraldi7899

[@emeraldphoenix6331]

The real optimal cool method was the friends we made along the way

[@cjpow]

youre god damn right

[@thecatfish2132]

Based

[@8020Alive]

Cringe 😬

[@GeneralS1mba]

Wait, so if I get a friend I will drop my cpu temps from 79 to 69? I've never had one, I'll see if this works. Cheers.

[@vsm351]

Nah, my temps get high when my friends btch in-game when they can't see their own faults when we're losing!!!!!!

[@MadridistaFrieren]

I love how a decade old noctua stil here in a cooler debate lol. Waiting for the 2nd gen

[@beaureddington4039]

U gonna keep waiting 😂 but me too bro

[@FrodeBergetonNilsen]

It has a horrible fan, and it is rather amazing that even with that fan, it hangs in there.

[@vahvelpoiss]

I remember when I tinkered around with NH-D14 and Thermalright Silver Arrow. I had both of them with lapped contact plates and lapped the CPU aswell, it was i5 2500k. 5.1GHz ez mode lol

[@S0ggyW3tW4t4r]

@@FrodeBergetonNilsenDoesn't Noctua have some of the best performing low noise fans?

[@korg47237]

I ordered my D15 in March 2016, and I'm still using it today eight years later after ~3 CPU upgrades. Very worthwhile investment if you ask me.

[@YungAntoine]

I bought the D15 almost 10 years ago now, and I'll still be sticking with it

[@cheezy2455]

and if you get a new motherboard with a new socket. they will sell you new mounting hardware! this thing is build to last, unlike the water coolers 1-3 years most need maintenance.

[@Ludak021]

@@cheezy2455Arctic will send you new mounting kit for free.

[@JustGaming24]

noctua is just nuts bought a d15 when i built my pc back in 2019 still have it they offer free mounting kits for new mobos and cpus not changing it till the new gen comes out

[@iamthemobey]

Solid investment. Especially impressive in the world of computers where components are redundant far too quickly.

[@21stcg17]

You guys always have amazing thumbnails for cooler reviews

[@HardwareCanucks]

Oh thanks!

[@gabrielcotrim574]

air coolers have a huge advantage when we talk about maintenance and simplicity

[@donkeysunited]

@@morgan3625An AIO is only expected to last 2-3 years and should be replaced after that.

[@craig9365]

​​@@morgan3625realistically none. Maybe replace a fan. Some you can add more water back into it as over time it will permeate through the tubes. And that's overall the biggest issue especially on a sealed aio. Lack of water can mean the pump is now running dry which will kill it, the water no longer gets through the loop anymore. You will never need to replace a high end air cooler (especially a noctua as they will even supply mounting brackets for future upgrades so you don't even have to buy a new cooler. I did it for the new cpus. Showed them proof of the new CPU and I owned their product and they sent me the new mounting kit free)

[@123TheCloop]

@@donkeysunited I mean what AIO? corsair offer minimum 3 years on there older Hydro series which are pretty much outdated now, there current Pro and Capellex stuff are 5 years minimum and the new iCUE Link stuff is 6 years so maybe stop chatting shit out of your ass, ive had AIOs last 4+ years before I changed them due to permeation which is a natural thing btw. If you have to do maintanence on an AIO other than cleaning the fans (which air coolers have to as well) then you either have a faulty product or user error. but air coolers are not exempt from issues, the copper piping they use can burst, leading to improper cooling trasnfer or improper block mounting to the copper pipes on the cold plate (which i do recall some air coolers a few years back having this issue) both are very much equal to maintanence

[@UnderTheIceburg]

@@morgan3625 I've been running AIOs for the last decade and I've had to replace 3 of them over that time due to water pump failures. It's not like it's a horrible failure rate but if I got something like the D15 back then, I'd still be using it today.

[@dvy6660]

@@morgan3625 Algae

[@gabber_]

I've been using D15 for about 8 years. It has been used in many different builds, possibly the best investment I've ever made for my PC. All I had to do was to buy an AMD kit for the new Ryzen. If you can afford one, it wont disappoint, and it has zero percent chance to leak.

[@alisioardiona727]

I have a NHC14 and noctua sent me a free mounting kit when I swapped to lga17000, 8 years into ownership. I didn't even buy the cooler, got it from a friend.

[@ralkros681]

I feel most people do not realize just how nice a quiet pc is. I replaced all the fans, inclduing my aio fans, in my case even adding some with just dirt cheap arctic p12 fans. Not hearing a mini turbine while enjoying content is crucial and highly underrated.

[@ryanreynolds2401]

^ this. In the video they only tested 240mm AIOs. Put a 280 or 360 in there and it would blow the doors off everything in the chart. You likely don't need that thermal headroom, but what it buys you is silence.

[@jesperburns]

If I'm just watching content, I hear no fans, if I start gaming, I put on a headset anyway.

[@cemsengul16]

@@ryanreynolds2401 Yeah seriously a 360 mm aio with an i9 is silent bliss and this video did not cover it.

[@fdimb]

the pwm or the common ones?

[@Adierit]

I run an air cooler and I can't hear my PC fans ever as is. Especially if you have AC, your PC won't run the fans that high if you're in a climate controlled room.

[@66racer]

I am glad you touched on CPU variation. Like there is an overclock silicon lottery, the same happens with temps on some of these CPU within the same generation and model number.

[@bigbrainb4662]

I've recently upgraded from an air cooler to a 420mm Liquid freezer 3 which is absolutely overkill for my 6-core cpu but this way I can play without headphones and not get blasted by the noise.

[@fungalgrowth]

Fantastic video with great data and analysis, definitely looking at Thermalright air cooling for future builds. PS the timer on the sponsor spot is an incredible touch

[@clark9822]

I've built atleast 12 Pc's for myself, friends, and family since 2014. I have OCD and have been through so many rabbit holes in this journey, learned so much, and also learned what not to worry about when building. I have always used air cooling as having water in the case and more parts are variables I preffered not to risk, as small as they are, because when I set my pcs up for other people I know they WILL not know if something is wrong. All my builds have 0 failure and have been 100% excluding my first 6700k when I was tinkering with overclocking ( damn thing did not like pushing ram speeds). The only parts I've had fail were stock case fans or crappy ones and a few psu's (pretty sure I didn't leave enough head room or they were given to me from someone else, so since I use a 20% psu headroom rule no failures). I've updated bios and that can cause some issues and weird ones at that. I don't talk in forums but I sure do observe, and I don't leave reviews. But recently I've been considering throwing an EK nucleus aio in mine just as an experiment but alas I think it's not time. Here's my experience. I run a 13600k on lite load #5, Mobo MSI MAG z790 Tomahawk WIFI, GSKILL trident running at 6400 DDr5, and MSI 3080 3 fan, and a Lian Li 216 I believe (it has the 2 big 160mm infront and a 140 in rear), and 1tb western digital sn850x OS drive with a second 2tb one for gaming. The phantom spirit from thermalright just came out when I built it so I rolled the dice. On hell Divers 2 with ultra settings 1080p I average between 140 and 160 fps. My gpu never breaks 68c, I do run msi afterburner withi a modified custom fan curve that Ive used for years on 6 different gpus with the same temps, never will break 70c. I also run dual monitor (2 sceptre 165 ips 27" panels). The 13600k never breaks 70c, except for 1 core that sometimes gets to 71c. On average it sits in 50c - 65c. I've not ran into any bottlenecking, but if theres any its probably more on my gpu side which i intend on throwing a 4070 super ti in soon. I built an identical system for my nephew but with a 4070 on ddr4 at 3600 (budget issue for him) and mine outperforms that one slightly on the cpu/ram side. The mobo for that one was an asus z790 and the undervolt is not as good, I would 100% recommend the MSI mobo as the lite load settings are a dream and work perfectly. After almost a year on this setup its had 0 issues and has run like a dream. This processor is incredible and I'm still very happy with the 3080s ability to perform well (it was a refurbished one from amazon i got for $640 2 years ago). If anyone wants and fan curve or setting info I will provide it gladly. Most of this stuff is very fresh in my mind as I've build 4 builds this year. 2 13600ks, a 5700x3d for the old lady, and I slapped together a 6700k build for my niece that was lying around. Oh also, on the 13600k's I use the thermalright replacement contact metal frame. Its like $15 and make a difference. Looks neat too. TLDR: Thermalright is the real deal. The temps are incredible as I sit under 70c 98% of the time. My cine-bench 20,23, and 24 temps stay under 75c. DO NOT QUESTION THERMALRIGHT JUST DO IT. The one issue I have with it is that its chunky. It will sit over your ram, my work around was to slightly raise the fans so they would clear the ram. Be precise, take your time, minimize variables, and make the results reproducible. Sure it might take 3x longer than the youtube tutorial you watched, but if you never have to crack the case again, job well done. PS: Oh and that word future proof, in most senses will delude you into spending to much money and more than likely your shit will be obsolete when everyone else's is. These developers will target the largest average of people and if you make an outlier choice with the guise of "future proofing" (unless you have a circumstance where you have unique needs from your pc) your shit will be obsolete faster than everyone elses and get less attention. That's my tree-fiddy on the topic, use it or loose it but hopefully it helps someone. Love you all.

[@TheBrianNova]

I appreciate your in depth comment. What’s your fan curve for the air cooler? What’s your fan curves for your case fans and how many do you have?

[@MSiAventador]

My Arctic Liquid Freezer 240 has been running for 8 years at 2500K@5GHz/8700K@5GHz and still OK. This is a matter of longevity. 😎

[@dustinthomlinson3859]

But we could also implement price in that argument as you could buy three new air coolers at the price of one liquid cooler. I know of air coolers that have been running for 8-10 years. If you're buy a new air cooler every 5 years, your longevity to money spent is much better with air coolers

[@canoeshoe]

this takes a LOT of work to do. Appreciate you guys

[@ResumedPausing]

Curious to see how the next gen Noctua D15 will hold up given it'll have 8 heatpipes instead of 6. Plus it'll be coming with their new 140mm fans

[@deaddis]

I bought my Noctua D15 10 years ago and still use the same one. Don't think a single AIO-cooler could do that, hence why I will probably be getting the D16 when I'm upgrading next time.

[@henry3397]

They make a D16?

[@ritwikbanerjee4968]

The second chart says intel am5, just found it funny so pointed it out. 1:20

[@HardwareCanucks]

Yeah sorry for the misprint.

[@holmiumh]

Reminds me of the days when AMD uses Intel socket, kids nowadays don't know what are they missing.

[@ritwikbanerjee4968]

@@HardwareCanucks no issues, the amount of data required is staggering. On a second note, do you think a contact frame would change these results for intel?

[@datboi8140]

@@HardwareCanucks better watch out for GamersNexus! you're gonna get cancelled!

[@AirGunWeb]

Hey there.. I love these videos that you all do, which clearly show the reality of things. It's so easy to chase a needle to your detriment and waste time and money on something that doesn't matter. I wish I had known more before jumping into 12th gen with a 12900K. I've spent more trying to cool it (unnecessarily so) than the darn chip itself. I finally landed on a 420mm artic liquid freezer II in a massive Thermaltake case. I could have just tossed on a good air cooler and then stopped running r23 chasing "higher" performance that was just a waste of time as I never run that kind of workload. I just thought that I "had" to get the bigger number better going. Anyway, my dad always said that education costs money, and he was certainly right. Thank you for putting in the effort and delivering a dose of "real world" reality for us all. Cheers Rick

[@Lukiel666]

Easy decision for me. Bought TR Peerless Assassin ARGB and used the money I saved to buy a better GPU. It was $42 Canadian. Used Arctic MX-6. Ryzen 5600X. Shout out for Spring weather being here! So tired of the cold.

[@theredpineapple9485]

Very smart decision!

[@Guy_that_exists]

how much did the phantom spirit cost for you?

[@BlazeBullet]

Hey man! What are your temps? I have a Vetroo U6 thinking of getting this if temps are much better.

[@Lukiel666]

@@BlazeBullet My temps will not be your temps unless you have identical hardware. My case is a Mastercase H500 with two 200mm front intake fans. Arctic MX-6 shaves about 3C off as well. Gamers nexus did a great video on this cooler.

[@BlazeBullet]

@@Lukiel666 ok but the temps? I'm curious. Thanks.

[@iamjogun]

I got dual AIOs for no fan noise. It also happened to drop my 3080 temps by 15c but that's just a bonus for me.

[@glmchn]

Answer to that question, Saison 69 Episode 420 : IT DEPENDS ! Wow.

[@Beanlipe]

I wish more videos focused on testing in different ambient temperatures. I wonder in a scenario where its 34C outside on a summer day if the results are different

[@HardwareCanucks]

That's an interesting question.

[@rightwingsafetysquad9872]

The temperature delta from ambient is purely additive. If a CPU is running at 80C in 24C ambient, it will run at 90C in 34C ambient. So in that environment basically everything will thermal throttle on all core loads. I suppose testing would be needed to find how much throttling.

[@aaromtaar]

@@rightwingsafetysquad9872 Well, not quite, if humidity wouldn't be temperature dependent, yes, you could summarize that. Environmental conditions make all the difference in cooling systems and testing.

[@hectamus_]

The other thing to consider with fan coolers is that you also need case fans that add noise to the build, at least for SFF. My Meshlicious (5900x + 4070 Ti) build maxes out under 70C in most occasions while being almost dead silent DURING load. This is accounting for only 2 intake fans in the system which are the radiator fans.

[@Pyroglyphid]

AIOs, my Corsair H100i has seen an intel 4790k, an AMD 2700x and now an AMD 5950x, and its still going! I'm sure I'm lucky in some ways but the fact all those CPUs stay between 60 and 65°c while rendering and summer gaming, inside my Corsair 750D Airflow, for the past 7 years... AIO all the way for me, and I'd recommend it

[@morgan5941]

The only real question is whether your chip thermal throttles or not. Modern CPU's are made to run hot. Who cares whether it runs 5C hotter than the competition if it is still within acceptable temperature range.

[@Pyroglyphid]

@@morgan5941 I've it set to throttle at 85°c 👌

[@IamR3D88]

Yea, I have a corsair H115 on my 8600k that started on a 4760k, both heavily overclocked and always ran cool.

[@jtland4842]

Will you guys be able to test at lower noise levels soon? I primarily value lower noise levels as I play with open-back headphones so lower noise levels are what I shop for

[@valkasolidor6727]

Great report! Your episodes are most often the ones most relevant to me, thanks!

[@Mildly_Amused]

With the Arctic Liquid Freezer III 280mm AIO costing only $86 and the Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360mm AIO $90 US from Amazon I don't know why you didn't include 280mm and 360mm AIOs in this. They are price competitive, especially when you consider the NH-D15 is $109.95-$119.95.

[@Ludak021]

There are also air coolers that outperform D15 and cost half the money. The answer to your question is probably -bias.

[@ACE112ACE112]

maybe not for amd air cooling with thermalright phantom spirit 120se

[@henry3397]

240 AIO is similar surface area to 2X 120 mm coolers and fans, so it’s much more comparable. Could have made a case for 280 but 360 would surely blow any dual tower out of the water (air?)

[@poopoppy]

They don't fit in allot of cabinets.

[@retrorevival1]

cooling solutions are so good across the board (for the most part) that my choice these days is purely an aesthetic one - does the thing look good in my case. simples.

[@joshuasterling2144]

That's why AIO is the way for me. A nice air cooler eats up space in the case and I can't stand the way it looks. To me if your on air you might as well not even have a glass panel. You can't see anything else in the pc case. Not to mention noise benefits and a giant tower cooler putting lateral force on your board along with the giant new GPU's. Last bonus, having an AIO really lets you get into the components of your pc such as the ram and NVME slots with ease which can be huge if you need to swap components. Its just more convenient.

[@chanod4060]

Great video! It helped me. I'm about to do my first build but I think I'm going crazy just by thinking about what cooler to get for my i5 14600k,I already ordered a thermalright frozen magic 360 scenic v2 that I got for about $55 usd but can't stop thinking ln the what if's due to the lack of info, what if it leaks and destroy my pc and things like that... By the other hand I do want and AIO for the looks (that probably no one will see unless I upload some photos to internet), should I stop stressing and go for something like a phantom spirit? Or a different more reviewed AIO?... What should I do? I think I'm going bald just of overthinking hahaha this is the 4th day in a row researching for cooling alternatives non-stop and everything has their pros and cons, their bad experiences and good ones

[@avirtualworld4U]

Helpful thanks. I have always been air cooler and after saving for a year to build my dream I am in a huge pickle over the debate as I want to have only the best for my buck!

[@NGreedia]

AIOs are more about the coolness factor in terms of the aesthetics. It's not for a bang for buck. I have a number of air coolers, but still considering an AIO, possibly thermalright or Arctic in the future.

[@ThunderMS34]

Now same test but with a cpu contact frame. See if theres any significant moves everywhere

[@kasarnfla]

Contact frame can out last year, before that everyone was doing just fine. It helps but not night and day. I rock the thermal grizzly. Thats all Micro Center had at the time.

[@crazyeyecarl]

I picked up a Scythe Fuma 3 on release for a 7800x3D. I kinda wish I would have waited a bit, but I'm still happy.

[@CryptoJordanVR]

Bro what about the TR Frost Spirit and DC Assassin III? I thought those outperformed the Noctua and other Thermalright coolers before in your previous videos?

[@dubboy08]

My Corsair H100i is 10 years old and still working. 🤷‍♂

[@RJ-pb1qx]

Air will always be better. Less moving parts, no pumps to burn out or leak.

[@Ludak021]

That's your opinion.

[@aaromtaar]

@@Ludak021 An objective fact, as it stands. Reminds me of an old test we young engineers use to do - early noughties - driving HVAC flex ducts out of the window in or even in horizontal freezers. The results were staggering and mind you, all on air. The bottom line is that you're exchanging heat and work with the environment, the assumption being that water - having a higher heat capacity - is more 'efficient' in pulling direct heat; but you'll eventually have to discharge that heat in the environment though, which more often than not is, provided all conditions are identical, the only relevant bottleneck. Pair up a decent cooler with a capable high static pressure fan and the results will be better if not negligible - and all that without having to add extraneous thermal mass.

[@Dubulcle]

​​@@aaromtaarNo, it's not. Saying the "pump burning out" or "breaking" is a valid argument against AIO's is like saying an AC exploding is a valid argument against using AC's. And the rest of what you said is irrelevant and doesn't even make sense here.

[@aaromtaar]

@@Dubulcle More components, more mass, higher consumption - ergo higher complexion - more failure points and modes.

[@rodiculous9464]

Idk my gigabyte waterforce 1080 still running strong well into end of life, I'll probably even run it in my new system for a bit while I wait for rnda4/blackwell

[@alisioardiona727]

I'm the third owner of a 12 years old NH-C14. The builds of the first two owners are e-waste but the Noctua cooler is still going strong and silent. And when I built my lga1700 PC Noctua sent me a mounting kit free of charge.

[@ImSiggy]

wow - just bought both the phantom spirit and liquid freezer 3 and can't choose. Thanks for addressing the topic!

[@mister_dzija4161]

Go for 360 LF3

[@j3m638]

That's a lot of wild numbers there, as well as an insane amount of testing to get them. Many thanks for this vital info!

[@feeterican]

Personal rig, I'm using a 14900K for gaming only and a BeQuiet Elite and when pre-loading shaders it caps out at 85C. When in the lobby I'm getting around 60C and when I'm in a map it fluctuates between 65c to 75C. When I ran 3D Mark Time Spy free all P-Cores stayed at 5.7GHz with a max temp of 80C. When running Cinebench R23 it does go right to 100C for a few seconds and then drops down to 92C with a clock speed of 5.3GHz all P-Cores. I know I should be using liquid but I'm gaming on it and I don't want to have to maintain a liquid cooler. With air it pretty much set it and forget it and only maintenance is blowing out the fins and if a fan dies or even both fans the heatsink will keep the CPU in check at idle while I'm not home. I do keep my PC's running 24/7 and for context I'm still using my 4790K on air and it's been on 98% of that time for 10 years. Power outages and upgrades/downgrades is the only reason it was ever turned off.

[@Shadow_Banned_Conservative]

I'm just getting back into PC building after more than 25 years and was quite shocked to see what kind of power and thermal requirements newer Intel CPUs have. What really shocked me is seeing how expensive GPUs have become ($2k for top of the line, really?) and what kind of power requirements they have today. WOW! I picked up an open-box pre-built game system with a 13700KF and an RTX 3070 that came with an AIO. I ended up, upgrading the AIO to an Asus Ryujin III because I wanted the LCD for system info along with latest generation Asetek pump, and I saw it was still running quite hot. I have a smaller case that only came with a thin 240mm aluminum radiator, so I hacked it up and put in another 240mm radiator, but this time a 65mm thick (original was 30mm IIRC), in copper vs aluminum and it does run cooler but will eventually get hot and the CPU I think is throttling, but it takes longer than the stock AIO. I'm thinking about moving to a larger case and adding a second radiator and extra pump because I think low volume for the stock AIO pump might be hindering me. One thing I like about the more expensive AIOs was the tunability in the pump and fan speeds. And I actually found my Ryujin III on Amazon for around $160 on a limited special deal. One thing I can't seem to find is anyone who modifies a stock AIO, everyone tells me just to go all out on a custom system. I think the AIOs have potential, they just need a little help in a bigger, copper radiator to aid in heat transfer and an extra pump for more volume through the CPU block. I haven't run any official tests as I don't have that kind of time to dedicate, but I do know the modified AIO is letting the CPU run under stress testing several minutes longer than the unmolested AIO was able to manage.

[@_DigitalCam]

I’ve been an AIO fan boy for years because I exclusively build mini ITX systems but I build all of my friends PC’s as well. I’ve always selected their components but they usually want mid tower cases. I went with AIO’s for them but I will definitely be trying out some air coolers now. I hadn’t done much side by side comparison research so this definitely helped me!

[@qwormuli77]

Yup, one of the biggest (and IMHO one of the only true) advantages with watercooling is the malleability in radiator placement. If you're looking to build very compact or eccentric shaped systems, the lack of such a static radiator attachment is a godsend.

[@sig3ldunc4nI]

If you need a budget air cooler go for the Arctic freezer 36 black. Is on the same level as a nh-d15 performance for less than 30$ last I checked.

[@SLiX-thatguy11m-]

Question on the set up, since I've seen some tests where a front mount intake had 4-6 degrees better temperature over a top mount exhaust. From the pics they all look like exhaust setups, so wondering if front mount would make it slightly more compeitive in terms of temperature.

[@HardwareCanucks]

Yes its exhaust. I understand how getting fresh air could help AIO's but you also have to remember that kind of setup will also negatively impact the temperature of other components.

[@captainclaw3353]

Great presentation! Phantom Spirit Evo review soon?

[@teanam6496]

My biggest gripe with AiO (or full custom watercooling) is the - - constant - - noise. It doesn't matter when you're gaming, but when you use your PC for anything else like just browsing the web or simply working in silcence, there's - always- the pump. With air cooling you won't be hearing anything in those situations.

[@Dew4lk]

Yeah thats why i hate my own AIO, wish i'd rather had went with air cooling. Will do so the next time around.

[@trulsrohk1]

this really depends on the pump Have a frozen edge 240 and the pump is super quiet. Even at full bore the pump generates less noise then the fans at 50% (which are also pretty quiet at the RPM)

[@LupusAries]

@@trulsrohk1Same I can't hear the pump on my Corsair H170i Elite Capellix (420mm) either. I usually only hear the GPU fans kick in, or when I actually start working the Harddrives or that Blu-Ray Drive that I still keep. (I have a combined Simulation Gaming/Photo workstation pc, so that's why there are still HDDs in there. Aside from storage space for drivers, mods, tools etc. I don't really like to needlessly burn write cycles on my SSDs. And for ye olde Spinny bois, the WD Golds aka rebranded HGST Ultrastars have insane performance.) I the cooling overkill, probably, even with my 5800X3D, but it has another advantage, In the summer I can sometimes do very short, low workload runs without using the fans. Essentially using the liquid to store and slowly move out the heat instead immediately releasing it to the room.

[@petermilian4455]

Could you take a look at how GPU temps compare with Air vs AIO on the CPU? You'd only really need to look at the most popular two top tier options - PS120SE and Arctic Liquid Freezer III? For me the primary benefit of using an AIO is the ability to optimize for CPU *or* GPU temps by leveraging intake / exhaust flexibility. Installing my AIO in the case top and exhausting CPU heat directly out of my case has significantly dropped my GPU temps and improved my GPU frequency while gaming. On the other hand if I wanted to optimize my setup for CPU temps I could move my AIO to the front of the case to ensure it reliably gets the coolest intake air possible (ie. prevent the CPU from eating GPU exhaust while under combined CPU / GPU loads like an air cooler does).

[@Ludak021]

actually, mounting it in front is better for GPU. There are videos testing this here on YT.

[@henry3397]

Good points! I’d like to just see a comparison of GPU temps with an air cooler, vs top mounted AIO. For best longevity of your AIO, it’s important to mount the pump down low, since any air in the system will rise, and air in your pump is the worst place for it to be. That makes top mounting ideal, and front mounting less ideal. If you do mount on the front though, the tube inlet/outlets should be oriented towards the bottom of the case, not the top. Jay two cents has a great video on this if you’re interested

[@johnt.848]

All myth. With a tower air cooler, you can turn it to draw air from the GPU and exhaust out the top.

[@l.i.archer5379]

I've had a Corsair H60 120mm AIO go bad with the coolant becoming contaminated and clogging the pump block. Fortunately, they sent me a new one, but it's still sitting brand new in the box, because I replaced it with Cooler Master's 120mm AIO. I have had zero issues with Cooler Master AIOs (120mm and 240mm) in all of my PC builds.

[@fretingsmiles]

I'd love to see a comparison like this for SFFPCs. Many modern ones these days have limited height for the CPU cooler but will have space for a 240 rad. Would be interesting to see how lower profile coolers stack against the AIOs. I can figure it's probably worse than the tower coolers in this video but I'd be interested in knowing how comparable the performance will be.

[@jasonburnside3626]

No one ever seems to factor in the fact that the AIO coolers basically take care of having 2-3 case exhaust fans for your case and of course are removing the cpu heat from the case so your GPU doesn’t have to deal with the added case heat. Since everything about Air cooling is price to performance no one mentions this side of it

[@hananas2]

Oh yeah right, I guess you get to choose if you want maximum CPU cooling (radiator as intake) or maximum GPU cooling (radiator as exhaust) Even though I don't think I'll ever buy a water cooler, that would be super interesting to see how the CPU and GPU affect eachother in either scenario

[@KonglomeratYT]

If you're inputting enough air to feasibly exhaust that much air, then air pressure will mostly handle that all by itself It's not worth mentioning because of that. CPU air coolers cool things AROUND the CPU too though. And, if you're not inputting enough air, but trying to exhaust several more fans worth of air? Well now your PC is gonna suck dust in through every nook and cranny. So...no...it's not worth mentioning lol.

[@LELnipz]

It also works other way around. I have a GPU with a "Flow Through" cooler and a tower cooler on my CPU. All the hot air my GPU releases, air cooler on my CPU catches. In a GPU stress test my idle CPU reaches 50-55 C. I think new cards with "Flow Through" coolers are desinged with AIO's in mind.

[@snackman94]

Kinda limits your case options a bit, since you’d have to make sure to pick case that can accommodate a 360 radiator either on the top or the bottom so you can avoid either having a negative pressure setup or trying to cool your PC with hot air.

[@Boz1211111]

This is my main reason that i left aio i got with used pc in. New is too expensive to buy but since i got this, i like that it cools case at the same time. My biggest problem with aio is idle noise level, where air cooler can basically passively cool aio has pump running which is noticable even if regulated. If i had to buy now i would probably choose air because of price but otherwise its so hard to decide

[@Rakadis]

Lost a (then) 4000 USD system to a hose fitting that leaked in my system around 2010. The only thing that was not fried in that system was two harddrives. I will never water cool anything ever again.

[@zakkeith1508]

If it was a custom loop that is entirely user error lol

[@donkeysunited]

@@zakkeith1508 Doesn't matter. His PC was destroyed because of water cooling. It's a factor that needs to be considered in deciding which way to go.

[@qwormuli77]

@@zakkeith1508Not necessarily.

[@Rakadis]

@@zakkeith1508 It was an AIO unit that was top mounted in the case. It had been running without issue for 15ish months. No idea how it failed.

[@NinjAsylum]

@@donkeysunited Thats losers mentality. You dont stop doing something just because you had a single bad experience. No one does that.

[@starview7045]

Great video, I just got introduced to TR 360 mm AIO, and I have to admit, its good for both value and temps. Thanks again for the video.

[@MichaelCordeiro]

Have you done a video that shows how to disable the enhanced multicore performance bios settings that let the cpus run max turbo? If not, can you address it? Love the channel.

[@bronstet]

Good summary. I loved liquid AIO coolers -- until the tube in one of mine leaked and fried my B350 motherboard. We all know that's a risk, but we never really think it will happen to any of us until it does.This mishap converted me into a permanent air cooler enthusiast. But honestly to each their own. The sight of a large ungangly heatsink through your tempered glass panel may not appeal to you visually. AIOs definitely have more aesthetic appeal, and when there are no mishaps they work beautifully and look even better. Prior to the mishap, my AIO flawlessly and silently cooled my CPU to below 60 degrees Celsius. Do what's right for you, you can't go wrong with either.

[@HYDRAdude]

Let's not act like tower coolers don't come with their own risks involved, such as warping the motherboard.

[@bronstet]

@HYDRAdude Very fair point. I just bought a Thermalright Assassin, which is a large double heatsink tower cooler in anticipation of my next build, and that is a valid consideration.

[@chanod4060]

Thanks for the horror story, I'm doing my first build and AIO breaking and frying everything it's all I been able to think for the past 4 days... Fk it I'm going with air, it doesn't matter anymore if it covers everything inside

[@chanod4060]

@@HYDRAdude new fear unlocked

[@deyeatdapoopoo7582]

@@chanod4060 Not really. That never actually happens in real life. I used to work selling computer parts and building PCs and sold thousands of air and liquid coolers. Never did someone have this be an "issue" with air coolers.

[@frikkievuiltrens]

The NH-D16 is going to own.

[@HollowTechStuff]

It would be nice to have a video that covers some of the most popular Thermalright market coolers. As right now, Thermalright is kinda in a league of their own with their price-performance rate. I'm saying this as in a previous video you've had Frost Spirit 140 doing wonders on the intel platform, but I have no idea where to place it when I compare it to Phantom Spirit (from the current video). And as prices being so close to each other sometimes, it would be great to have a HW Canucks Thermalright coolers tier list. So we'd know for sure where to place our moneys. PS: Amazing work on the coolers reviews. Really appreciate the effort put in for all these numbers.

[@TheNorwegianDronePilot]

I have a 'Phanteks EVOLV Shift XT' Mini-ITX case where I only have space for a CPU cooler up to 72mm in height. Because of that limitation, I can only get some OK air coolers with that. So, I went from a 'Noctua NH-L9x65' air cooler (65mm high) and over to the 'EK Waterblocks EK-Nucleus AIO CR240 Lux D-RGB'. My clock speed on my 'AMD Ryzen 7 7700' CPU (CPU Core Ratio: 'AI Enhanced' & OC: 'Curve Optimizer' @ -40 & 'PBO2' @ +200 MHz) went up by like 300 MHz under a Cinebench R23 benchmark by going over to this AIO. So, there is basically no point to go for another new air cooler in my case. My plan was originally to get the 'Phanteks Glacier One T30 V2' AIO (the new one), but that one is barely available now, so didn't want to wait for it to arrive in stores that might take forever.

[@simonb.8868]

Air cooler is more than enough if you are not obsessed with temps

[@mrbobgamingmemes9558]

True, unless for some reason you need to run cpu hog apps

[@pituguli5816]

The main attraction of AIO's is being able to exhaust the hot air out of your case when running higher core count higher wattage processors. I was on Air and still am on 2 of my systems but my 7950x since it can run quite hot I had to install a 360mm AIO due to the heat being recirculated around my case which made my GPU run at above 84*c which caused it to thermal throttle down to 1750mhz. The Air cooler was doing the same job keeping my temps under the TJMax I set 85*c but it was recirculating the heat around my case, since swapping to an AIO my GPU sits at 80*c and runs at above 1900mhz. If you are running a 7600x, 7700x, 7800x3D etc then you don't need an AIO since the heat they give off wont effect your GPU temp but running a 14900k or 7950x you need an AIO to exhaust all the heat out of the case unless you are happy with your GPU running at 84*c and thermal throttling. As I said the DRP4 was doing the same job as the 360mm AIO its just the heat was being recirculated around my case. If I put my hand on top of my case I can feel the heat coming off the rad but when I touch the side panel glass its only just warm but with the Air cooler the side panel glass was really hot to the touch. Its the only reason moved to an AIO, that and not having to run my case fans at 80% to exhaust the hot air being recirculated around my case.

[@peterhermina656]

Did you use the contact frame on Intel LGA1700 CPUs ? This alone dropped my temps by 3-5C. And the artic freezer iii forces you to use it.

[@HardwareCanucks]

No, I did not.

[@francescomaspero6152]

Great and explanatory video (as always), but why don't you also test with the 7800x3d?

[@SevereMkII]

Air all day every day. Liquid looks neat, but it's not as reliable as an air cooling solution

[@handlemonium]

Well for some dense/low profile builds, running at a high overclock sustained, or cases designed a particular way a low-profile AIO does have its place. Otherwise 95% of the time air cooled all the way! 🌬️💨👌

[@ALLAHALLAHism]

You're right, they're way more reliable than air coolers. Because that's how physics works.

[@ShaneMcGrath.]

AIO's dump heat into the room, Only as good as the radiator and fans(air cooling) attached to the pump, That's how physics works! Also the biggest problem with both is controlling ambient room temp, Both just dump heat into your room, Air conditioner FTW.

[@ALLAHALLAHism]

@ShaneMcGrath. Right but water is more efficient at removing heat and air coolers don't have the benefit of not only removing heat but also adding a cooling medium to the CPU at the same time.

[@Dubulcle]

Untrue

[@badmoose01]

I wish you also recorded the acoustic performance of each cooler. Would’ve put things much more in perspective.

[@mrbobgamingmemes9558]

I think he mention it on previous video

[@scottr4086]

With the recent issues with EK, would you be recommending any of their products?

[@ComeonmenID10T]

what was the ambient Temperature during those tests ?? try something like 75 to 80F ambient and lets see who's better AIO or Air !

[@greenleaph5145]

This was already settled years ago

[@Dephside]

i agree you want safety and almost zero chance to fck up your system get a air cooler you care more about temps than chances of failure go for aio they all are good these days

[@NethanielMC]

also air coolers are just as good as AIO's now if you're not using a high end intel cpu@@Dephside

[@HardwareCanucks]

No, it wasn't. It used to be settled due to cost. Now we're looking at less expensive AIO's and hella expensive air coolers. So essentially one less factor in favor of air cooling.

[@dragonproductions236]

@@HardwareCanucksWhy did you choose a $200 AIO against the NH-D15 when there was a comparably priced (currently less, same price at msrp) option with the 420mm liquid freezer III? Your argument in the video is price, why overspend for a 240mm when they're limited by design?

[@JetSe77er]

I think Noctua's next gen NH-D15 will change things up a little.

[@hirschkuh1982]

I had the Noctua NH-D15s with two A12x25 ULN on my 5800x3d but i could hear the fans from 700 rpm and higher. Now i have the Alphacool Eisbaer 280 black with two Arctic P14 fans between 400-550 rpm and i cant hear anything and temps are around 5 degree lower.

[@unattributed1641]

Question: what about power usage? Is there enough of a difference between the power usage of AIO's versus air cooling solutions for it to be a factor when considering the TCO of a system?

[@sidewinder86ify]

I prefer Air cooler for silent build, no humming buzzing pump sound.

[@lukesullivan6922]

they are better than they used to be cant hear the pump on my EK at 100% over a sp120 fan at 65%

[@jamesm568]

It varies per brand.

[@Nokamigg]

I had a Kraken X73 for a week and the pump was not audible ever, it's probably just older AiOs that have this issue. Still, I returned the Kraken as the improvement over my DH-15 was not worth the price. I had around 2-3*c difference in favor of the AiO, which is obviously not something to pay €150+ for. But I was still relatively impressed how far AiOs have come, that thing was really silent.

[@mawandaeed]

Aios are not as quiet as people think, only offer a clean look if you into that

[@kirikotone]

AIOs are much quieter than people think.

[@HardwareCanucks]

This is correct. They need to get loud to get significantly better performance over air coolers but they are indeed superior at lower db's as well.

[@mister_dzija4161]

Did you ever used Arctic bro?

[@mawandaeed]

@@mister_dzija4161 bro I bumped into a video and shockingly it was arctic freezer 3 240 Vs thermalright peerless assassin ..was surprised 🙃. Kinda bearable noise , but definitely noticeable from this new Aio.

[@qwormuli77]

@@mister_dzija4161Pump noise is always a variable in favour of aircooling. You often need to go into custom loops with huge radiator arrays on minimal RPM fans for it to override that disadvantage.

[@aiirmax7800]

I used the D14 (D15 previous gen) for 8 years, but for my new rig I wanted to challenge myself and a rig I could feel proud looking at. So I went a D14 to custom hardline WC. Sure it’s more silent and perform a bit better. But man the convenience of the air cooling is sure missed. Not sure I’ll stick with WC for my next rig

[@gdpvk]

Curious if there is a part life cycle issues, impact of 2 fans creating a negative pressure in case vs 2 fans churning air inside the case...assume AIO is best for overall case air flow scenario and if u need access around cpu on ur motherboard...these things should be discussed just saying temp and fps based comparison seems too simple description of what these devices do to the desktop

[@CapnSnackbeard]

Air: quieter, smaller, more convenient, easier to clean, less potential for catestrophic failure. AIO: better potential cooling? Eh. Feels like LARPing at the cutting edge. For most people this is putting a spoiler on their Honda Civic.

[@norkris8729]

AIO: looks better, quieter, can do all CPUs.

[@marcosvictor4935]

Even when AIOs are better, air coolers are still better. (As in cheaper to buy and cheaper to maintain, along with lasting forever and absolutely being enough for any end user)

[@nicholaskunz1]

Great Video. Thank you for all your work. i believe you might have a typo at 1:15 minutes. The header says "Best Intel AM5 Coolers" tho it should be "Best AMD AM5 Coolers", right? :D

[@HardwareCanucks]

Yeah just caught that too LOL

[@todash19]

The problem with this is it is not air coolers vs AIOs, it is air coolers vs 240mm AIOs. The biggest advantage of AIO over air coolers is in the temp soak. They can keep a lower temp for much longer than an air cooler does. I'd love to see you compare the Arctic Freezer III 360mm and other 360 or even 420mm AIOs along with this. I'd wager to guess they would be a good amount better at the full load situations. That said for general use on the vast majority of systems I don't think you can beat the price performance of the TR Phantom Spirit and Peerless Assassin. And while I currently have a 420mm I might move back to air on the next build, we will see.

[@QuintinHowell]

360mm or 280mm AIO. Why waste time with a 240mm?

[@KonglomeratYT]

He answers this literally in the beginning of the video. Wtf is wrong with you?

[@QuintinHowell]

@@KonglomeratYT what is wrong with you? He said he was comparing 240mm to air because the price, well that's a different story. Small aio is a waste of time because air is about the same, air cannot beat large air. Air fanboi much?

[@alias5152]

This is so wrong.... 240mm AIO's .. RGB... Fish Tank cases with screens... i getting old 😔

[@TheRealName7]

Ew, everything I don't like and that is not optimal, vertical gpu mounts on fishtank cases are terrible for GPU airflow, shit will starve your GPU of air

[@YoSpiff]

Just bought the Peerless Assassin for a new Ryzen build. I also considered the Deepcool AK650/500/400, but that was mostly based on looks and not worth almost 2x the price for similar performance.

[@pascal3026]

Noctua NH U12A vs Arctic Liquid Freezer 3 360 with some Phanteks T30 as fans.... what would be better?

[@FrD0804]

Liquid freezer 3 of course I had u12A and replaced it with Liquid Freezer 3 280 temps never go 80 degrees compared to u12A

[@zz7254]

Great video and thanks for all the work you have done on coolers :) I cannot stand pump whine so I've been on air cooling for a while now. I'm running a 7900x and even with a chip as hot as that, I am completely silent at idle with temps in the high 30s. Would be happy to switch to AIO because I actually do prefer them for cooling, but until pump technology reaches a point where they are silent, or at least not operating at a very annoying frequency, I'm sticking with air.

[@joshd108]

Got a $60 slick black aio and was thrilled with how silent it is and that my temps are incredibly low

[@hoseinxxxx9884]

One question, if this test is done in 1 hour instead of 30 minutes, how different will the result be?

[@TheGameBench]

I've been hoping you'd test some more of these smaller coolers. The IS-55 was awesome, but ID-Cooling now has the IS-67-XT and it would be cool to see how it compares, but I can't really find any good testing like yours on it. Plus there's these awesome looking 135mm coolers like the Thermalright Peerless Assassin Mini, the Thermalright Silver Soul 135 and the ID-Cooling SE-207-XT as well as the even smaller dual stack Silver Soul 110.

[@HardwareCanucks]

Yeah I get that but more SFF cooler testing isn't in the cards right now unfortunately.

[@TheGameBench]

@@HardwareCanucks Bummer. Regardless, I appreciate the work you guys do on these videos.

[@Kaesarx]

Funnily enough I was just thinking the same as I've been researching all of those coolers for a mff build.

[@TheGameBench]

@@Kaesarx I have the Silver Soul 135 and the ID-Cooling SE-207-XT, as well as the IS-55 and IS-67-XT. All I need it the Peerless Assassin Mini and Silver Soul 110... but I'm not equipped to do the testing on the level that they do.

[@Kaesarx]

@@TheGameBench I'm looking at the SS135, SS110 or the SI-100. Do you have any opinions from your experience with those? I know the SI-100 is probably better than any of the ID downdraft coolers, but not sure how it compares to the smaller/mini towers.

[@TheIdo14]

I'm thinking of building my first PC and I'm not sure what to get... I live in the middle east and even in the spring it can get to 30-35 C easily, so my thoughts are to get an AIO just to be on the safe side...

[@ecru_dlh8327]

I wanted to build a mini Itx system, cpu cooling is a big limitation especially with air cooling. Since air coolers can’t keep up with all core loads vs Aio’s the difference would be made worse in itx builds, due to smaller heatsinks so going to have to find a way to fit a aio in the build This content is a massive help when researching a build thanks!

[@protator]

SFF builds are fun and all, but a liter or two of additional case volume will spare you a lot of headache. If the system will include a dedicated GPU make sure there's enough space for two intake fans to cool mainboard components. Since all-core boost clocks seems to be important to you, VRM cooling is going to require extra attention, especially with a gfx card dumping all of its heat into the case. IF it's within the budget, a gpu water block and some 3d printed guide vanes or ducts that direct air from a case opening to the VRM and from there to the AiO would solve that.

[@deuswulf6193]

My only issue with this video, is that its largely limited to 240 with the AIO. Having a few 360 thrown in there for contrast would have helped quite a bit in seeing what an AIO can bring to the table once you go above a 240.

[@Exeonz]

Have you tried attaching those T30 fans to air coolers? Could be a huge improvement.

[@furuderika8093]

Whats the latest best intel cpu so far that can be handled by air cooling?

[@jamesdebroy344]

These comparison videos are ridiculously good

[@garricksantos]

Your previous reviews on coolers helped me choose the TR Phantom Spirit for my AMD build. The PS is so consistent on all your tests. Biggest bang for my buck from my experience so far!

[@HardwareCanucks]

Glad you like it!

[@dcymatrix]

I did not see if the AIO's were actually running long enough to reach their saturated water temp. Maybe I missed it, but if not I would be interested in the testing of longer workloads temps. As in will AIO's when the water reach max temp. be the same as an Aircooler? or will they still be able to dissipate the heat faster?

[@professorgamer2084]

For 14700K should I use AIO or Air Cooling? everyone is telling me to use AIO and I am going for Ryujin 3 AIO from Asus!! what do you recommend, Thanks for the video!

[@S0ggyW3tW4t4r]

Did you use a contqct frame for the intel CPUs?

[@102728]

12:12 I've been looking for appropriate phrasing for exactly this argument, thanks I'm stealing it :D

[@OdinHardware]

What will be the results with ambient temp of 30-35 deg 😌

[@onkard.7523]

Requesting a series of videos where all the coolers/fans from any one of the top brand are put against each other, allowing us to choose the best product from that brand. Best of thermalright, deepcool etc. :)

[@shredder3034]

Well done! What about noise differences?

[@Regexion]

Read the graphs.

[@masherjoker25]

during last year's black friday, I got a 12600k in sale to finally replace my 3770 system. I didn't know that unlocked processors don't come with cooler so when the parts arrived i snag a cheap PA 120 SE as a temporary cooler. until now I'm still using it because I don't find the need to replace it. in games it keeps the 12600k well below 60c.

[@TalooshDaBoss]

why not use the liquid freezer iii 420 mm? its only $92 right now too wouldn't it be better

[@diazepamkit]

Sir, you should also cover the maintenance cost also, which one is easier which one is not. More like pros and cons