Swiftech H220 vs. Corsair H100i vs. Noctua NH-L12

T

tenub

Limp Gawd
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Mar 20, 2008
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I will be getting a 4770K and putting it on a ASRock Z87E-ITX motherboard inside a Corsair 250D case. I'm not trying to go balls to the wall on overclocking. I may not even do it if the benefits aren't substantial. My main goal is to have a pretty quiet, small system that packs a punch. If it matters I plan to get an EVGA GTX 780 Ti or possibly a GTX 770.

From the reviews I've read and the information I've gathered the air cooler performs well and is very quiet but I don't know how well it would drive a mediocre overclock (say 4-4.2GHz) along with the ASRock motherboard. The major complaint I've heard about the H100i is that the fans can get extremely loud, which is actually one of the main reasons I am replacing my current system with its custom water cooling loop. I haven't read too much about the H220 though, other than it is superior to the H100i.

Thoughts?
 
Personally i'd say stick to an air cooler. The paranoid part of me says the (albeit likely small) risk of leakage or things going *foom* and leaking coolant over the system just isn't worth it.
Assuming I remember right that Noctua should perform at least as good as (if not better) than the 212 Evo in my desktop and i've got a i5-3<something>k series at a ~1Ghz overclock with no issues. Only one fan to boot, running a Noctua fan on the thing. (quieter than stock)
 
The H100i did extremely well in the Anandtech roundup despite being very slim. The other models don't fit in as many tight spaces I believe. I have the H100i, it works great, but the included fans are noisy as shit at low RPM, motor noise... I replaced them with SP120's I got cheap. I got the cooler itself for like $50 off too so I wasn't as bothered by it.

If you can find a good deal on them they work great and really leave your case clear for controlling the cooling for your other components. If you're paying more for one than you would for a great air cooler I wouldn't bother.
 
Alright guys. Thanks for the responses. It seems I will most likely go back to air for this upcoming build.
 
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