# Building a PC, need help with watercooler?



## DarylJones92 (Mar 5, 2012)

Hey guys, so I am looking to, upgrade really/rebuild a pc.

The motherboard of choice is here > Asus CROSSHAIR V FORMULA-Z 990X Socket AM3+ 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard - Ebuyer

The processor of choice is here > AMD FX 9590 4.7GHz Socket AM3+ 8MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor - Ebuyer

I am wondering really what would be the best water cooler to go for as people say there are problems with heating on that particular processor?


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

Swiftech H320 Quiet Power PLUG-AND-PLAY Liquid Cooling System - NCIXUS.com


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Personally, I'd avoid water coolers. They don't offer any advantage and can leak, ruining any system. Plus they are typically louder.

Look for a air cooler like a NH-D15 from Noctua. Cooler Master also makes great CPU coolers.


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

The high power draw (and thus high level of generated heat) pretty well demands a high end liquid cooling solution. Few air, and many lower end liquid coolers, will not provide adequate cooling for this proc. If you ignore the probable clearance issues, a dual fan NH-D15 would most likely be sufficient, but IMO that is a huge chunk of metal to hang off your motherboard.

The advantages liquid coolers offer are higher efficiency cooling at reduced noise levels. Leakage? Show me an example. 

"Typically louder"? Granted, a 240mm radiator with doubled up fans running at near full RPM can get uncomfortably loud, but it is generally not necessary to run them anywhere near to full RPM. Crank up your Noctua and see if it doesn't rattle your fillings.


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## DarylJones92 (Mar 5, 2012)

After asking around a few places, the H320 was linked a couple of times. Seems that's the one I shall go for, cheers guys! Could anyone recommend a good case to buy at a logical price? One that could fit that motherboard, and that watercooler in no problems? All cases look big to me on pictures......


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

Was reading on the Swiftech product pages. The H320 has a known compatibility issue with your motherboard

Asus Crosshair V Formula-Z AMD 990FX Motherboard - Interference with VR Heatsinks


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

all in ones very rarely leak but custom water cooling can, although I always use air cooling.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

gcavan said:


> The high power draw (and thus high level of generated heat) pretty well demands a high end liquid cooling solution. Few air, and many lower end liquid coolers, will not provide adequate cooling for this proc. If you ignore the probable clearance issues, a dual fan NH-D15 would most likely be sufficient, but IMO that is a huge chunk of metal to hang off your motherboard.


The NH-D15 is only an example used. There are smaller coolers if you prefer.

However, the NH-D15 will fit well inside any Mid ATX case and not a just a huge chuck of metal.

Since when is the NH-D15 a lower end cooler?



> The advantages liquid coolers offer are higher efficiency cooling at reduced noise levels. Leakage? Show me an example.


The thing is, is that I do not need to provide any examples. It can happen, and it is a risk. Air provides a clean safe way to cool the system.



> "Typically louder"? Granted, a 240mm radiator with doubled up fans running at near full RPM can get uncomfortably loud, but it is generally not necessary to run them anywhere near to full RPM. Crank up your Noctua and see if it doesn't rattle your fillings.


It doesn't even have to be a 240mm rad. You still have the noise from the pump and a single fan on a 120mm rad.

The Noctua stays quiet even at high RPMs. You're thought of it sounding like a jet engine is incorrect.



DarylJones92 said:


> After asking around a few places, the H320 was linked a couple of times. Seems that's the one I shall go for, cheers guys! Could anyone recommend a good case to buy at a logical price? One that could fit that motherboard, and that watercooler in no problems? All cases look big to me on pictures......


I'm a huge fan of the H440 by NZXT.

Look for brands like Cooler Master, NZXT, and Corsair.


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## DarylJones92 (Mar 5, 2012)

I am intrigued by this back and forth about the coolers, although I was banking on a solid answer agreed upon by all you expertos out there! Not good news. I shall have to look into liquid coolers vs air comparisons elsewhere what with this raging back and forth! 

The H440 is super nice.


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

If chosen correctly, either will provide adequate cooling. The cooler has to be specced to handle a processor TDP of at least 220w. Most air coolers and some low end liquid are not capable of this.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

DarylJones92 said:


> I am intrigued by this back and forth about the coolers, although I was banking on a solid answer agreed upon by all you expertos out there! Not good news. I shall have to look into liquid coolers vs air comparisons elsewhere what with this raging back and forth!
> 
> The H440 is super nice.


Its not arguing it's just difference of opinion. The fact is many people will say water cooling is better than air when in fact it isn't apart from it will be quieter. Also back when all in one water coolers came out they did sometimes leak and back then it was water so if there was a leak it would damage components.

Now it is like anti freeze so it doesn't damage components but water coolers can fail and sometimes you don't notice until it is too late and you get overheating issues.

Air coolers are noisy but they do the job intended and you can tell when an air cooler fails because the fan fails and you wont hear it making a noise. Where as water coolers usually you just hear a bit of a bubbly sound coming from the cooler and the fans on the radiator.You usually have to stop the rad fans to hear if the water cooler is doing its job.

Proper water cooling setups are good but with these you have to replace the coolant in intervals and sometimes you have to also change the tubes but more often than not these do the best job out of water cooling setups.

Like I said noise doesn't bother me and I prefer less hassle so I use air cooling.


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## DarylJones92 (Mar 5, 2012)

I don't mind about noise too much as I am ALWAYS wearing my headphones with volume up. I have to say, I REALLY like having a quiet PC, but I had a noisy one for a while before my current one and I dealt with it fine. I hear some air coolers can be quiet in general and only loud if you are putting them under heavy load when gaming. So I am in a pickle currently. 

I read that the D15 tends to block PCIE x16 slots on a LOT of motherboards, but the D14 tends to block RAM with extended height and/or width from heatsinks. Is the D14 as good as the D15 in terms of cooling power?

So I am looking at the D15/D14 for Air cooling > Noctua NH-D14-2011 Dual Radiator Cooler with PWM fans LGA2011 only - Ebuyer

OR 

The Corsair liquid cooler listed here > Corsair Hydro Series H110 280mm High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler - Ebuyer

My case doesn't have a radiator on the top of it though, so I would definitely need to find a case with the mounting space for the Corsair Liquid cooler?


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## DarylJones92 (Mar 5, 2012)

This video was super interesting to me........... The Cooler Master 212 EVO did amazing?  

Air vs. water cooling - Noctua NH-D15, Corsair H105, Hyper 212 EVO in NZXT H440 - YouTube


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## DarylJones92 (Mar 5, 2012)

Oh, the DH14 is LGA2011 only, buggar.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

The NH-D14 is not LGA 2011 only.

Anyways, get the newest NH-D15:

Noctua NH-D15 Dual Radiator Quiet CPU Cooler with two NH-A15 Fans - Ebuyer


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## DarylJones92 (Mar 5, 2012)

Will be grabbing the D15 for sure, although I am struggling to find a case atm with a depth over 160mm for it to actually fit in >.>


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## DarylJones92 (Mar 5, 2012)

Son of a *****, I've been looking at Depth of the computer cases and confusing the crap out of myself. So the H440 has a WIDTH of 284mm. So the D15 being 161mm with Fan, is a fine fit?


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## DarylJones92 (Mar 5, 2012)

What an idiot I've been. Ok ok, so last but not least, best Case to go for that's up to £100 ($156.31)? Highly considering the H440


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

DarylJones92 said:


> Son of a *****, I've been looking at Depth of the computer cases and confusing the crap out of myself. So the H440 has a WIDTH of 284mm. So the D15 being 161mm with Fan, is a fine fit?





DarylJones92 said:


> What an idiot I've been. Ok ok, so last but not least, best Case to go for that's up to £100 ($156.31)? Highly considering the H440


 
I can let you know next week as I am going to be installing my NH-D15 into my H440 :grin:.


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## DarylJones92 (Mar 5, 2012)

Masterchiefxx17 said:


> I can let you know next week as I am going to be installing my NH-D15 into my H440 :grin:.



Ah awesome, be cool to get some feedback.

Also, the H440 doesn't have a DvD Tray? I burn Blu-Rays a lot among other things, are a lot of modern towers now without disc trays? Slots for drives? o.0


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## DarylJones92 (Mar 5, 2012)

Looks like I am hard pressed to find an AMAZING tower but actually with an optical drive. I am cream crackered. I always enjoyed the freedom of throwing in an installation CD when you buy something instead of scouting online for the drivers etc. So when I get a new motherboard, it'll need all the LAN drivers and display drivers installed, if I usually use the installation CD for that, what the fooz am I gonna do?


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## DarylJones92 (Mar 5, 2012)

Literally have like 8 tabs open right now, all of REALLY nice cases that I like. How do I even begin to decide, time for some process of elimination


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

If you do use a DVD drive then the H440 is not for you.

You may want to look into the Corsair 450D.


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