What cooling should I get?
What cooling should I get?
the EK-KIT P240 stands apart from the Corsair model, though it might be a bit expensive—reducing the cost by purchasing components separately could help. I own the EK-XRES 140 Revo D5 PWM (including pump) from that set; it’s a solid part, bought for around £100 recently. You’d find fans still decent but much cheaper than those in the original kit. A 240mm radiator was acquired on eBay for £20, and the CPU block came at £25. Tubing is inexpensive, and the fittings were also cheaply sourced in bulk on eBay. Apart from the pump and combo unit I received brand new, I built a very similar loop to that kit, roughly cutting costs by 65% to around 70%. If you choose this path, adding a quality graphics card would be wise since the pump alone is underutilized in daily use.
Regarding temperatures, I don’t use Prime95 much because everyday stress isn’t that intense. Running the CPU at full load (6600k at 4.7ghz) only reaches about 60°C—though my room temperature stays near 18°C, which I prefer to avoid. The GPU caps at 50°C in my loop compared to 75°C when it ran with the included cooling solution.
Heard that air coolers without overclocking reach 70-80 degrees C
Maybe a $10 Noctua cooler performs similarly to an AIO.
Swiftech H220 or EK Predator 240. Under $140 with solid air cooling works well. AIOs won't significantly improve temperatures compared to a quality air cooler at a lower price. I also have a 6700k on a full water loop. I haven't overclocked it—this chip doesn’t require it. Running in default BIOS, it stays at 4.0ghz and can easily reach 4.2. For better performance, invest in a good air cooler and allocate the extra budget to RAM, SSD, or GPU upgrades instead.
I saw the jayztwocents review about the custom loop kit and thought it was great. I'm considering purchasing one since I'm unsure of the measurements and requirements for the tubing. Have you checked out the watercooling sticky?
JadeGames reviewed the custom loop kit on Jayztwocents. It seemed well-designed. I’m considering purchasing one since I’m unsure about the required dimensions and tubing specifications. The threading is straightforward—most fittings use a 1/4 thread when they screw in. The fitting’s end, where the tubing enters, has both inner and outer diameter measurements that must match the tubing size you obtain. Common choices include 3/8 inch inner with 5/8 inch outer (or 10mm and 16mm in metric) or 4/8 inch inner and 6/8 inch outer (13mm and 18mm in metric).
I'm upgrading my Hyper 212 EVO. I'm concerned about air coolers covering the RAM slots. Closed loops work fine, but I prefer custom loops for a better look.