Same, I guess in many respects I build my system based off what I wanted in a case, both size and looks.
Looks nice and I think Fractal Designs is a good case
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Looks nice and I think Fractal Designs is a good case
I guess I fall in the spectrum of this thread myself, more towards overthinking things than buying. Haven't been a serious windows user since 7 about the time that "genuine advantage" stuff rolled out. Frustrations for upgrading the hardware due to its age I looked another direction. Eventually got a 2011(?) MBP. Used it kind of, but was lost. Couldn't get into it but. A few years later I ended up building a fresh windows 10 box. It's barely been used. Around the time I put the box together, I built a low end rig to try Linux on. Been occasionally powering up the windows 10 box, think I went about a month straight with it after Linux frustrated me so bad I disconnected everything and put the box in storage for a while.
Thought I'd try Linux again, from scratch with a very popular distro and found that same wall.
Since windows 7 and trying these other systems my reasons for having a computer has suffered. Mostly photography. Guess adobe had a hand in that too with their rent ware. Sigh operating systems are NOT what they used to be
Once again I'm on the verge of dumping my Linux box (mint 20) unsure if I want to power up the Windows 10 box (it irks me) or try a M1 mac
Sigh.
Windows 10 has the support for basically everything I need and it's the logical choice. Just don't like the account issue. It's also got some weirdness where it takes a bit for the clock to sync (even with fast boot up it seems to not tell time when it's off, still makes a system image and the time is when it shut off) also have the "there was a problem with your account click here to fix" and the fix don't stick. It might be trying to access my email that I don't want it to access that's tied to the ms account I don't want. My rig is a little larger than I'd like, also stuffed a way to small m.2 drive in the system for programs resorted to a slightly larger ssd for games and other programs. And a larger internal HDD for storage which I fear for with browser highjacking and other garbage worming its way into the pc (potentially). Guess this is why a couple boxes in case one gets jacked up.
Linux has the privacy and seems more secure but very limited support for what I need from a photography standpoint. It's also a frustrating time sink because I really don't know what or how to do a lot of stuff. You wanna do this? "You need libxb3kblablabla" but you have to make install but other stuff on the system needs something else and if it works it fails somewhere else. Light gaming is possible with it however. Web surfing feels more secure and it doesn't feel intrusive like windows 10. But the OS feels very behind times.
MacOS even though it's a modified bsd system at least it has more software support and seems a bit cleaner then windows. Not quite as clean as a Linux box and still prefer you to have an Apple account. It's also very locked down right to the screws.
Sigh.
Still seems windows is the best all around choice that should do everything I need. At least the software I'd need to use is there. It's just intrusive and irksome. It's also probably not the best time to attempt another PC build. I had thoughts of using the current windows 10 box, trying Linux on it and doing a fresh build for windows. But not sure.
Thought I'd try Linux again, from scratch with a very popular distro and found that same wall.
Since windows 7 and trying these other systems my reasons for having a computer has suffered. Mostly photography. Guess adobe had a hand in that too with their rent ware. Sigh operating systems are NOT what they used to be
Once again I'm on the verge of dumping my Linux box (mint 20) unsure if I want to power up the Windows 10 box (it irks me) or try a M1 mac
Sigh.
Windows 10 has the support for basically everything I need and it's the logical choice. Just don't like the account issue. It's also got some weirdness where it takes a bit for the clock to sync (even with fast boot up it seems to not tell time when it's off, still makes a system image and the time is when it shut off) also have the "there was a problem with your account click here to fix" and the fix don't stick. It might be trying to access my email that I don't want it to access that's tied to the ms account I don't want. My rig is a little larger than I'd like, also stuffed a way to small m.2 drive in the system for programs resorted to a slightly larger ssd for games and other programs. And a larger internal HDD for storage which I fear for with browser highjacking and other garbage worming its way into the pc (potentially). Guess this is why a couple boxes in case one gets jacked up.
Linux has the privacy and seems more secure but very limited support for what I need from a photography standpoint. It's also a frustrating time sink because I really don't know what or how to do a lot of stuff. You wanna do this? "You need libxb3kblablabla" but you have to make install but other stuff on the system needs something else and if it works it fails somewhere else. Light gaming is possible with it however. Web surfing feels more secure and it doesn't feel intrusive like windows 10. But the OS feels very behind times.
MacOS even though it's a modified bsd system at least it has more software support and seems a bit cleaner then windows. Not quite as clean as a Linux box and still prefer you to have an Apple account. It's also very locked down right to the screws.
Sigh.
Still seems windows is the best all around choice that should do everything I need. At least the software I'd need to use is there. It's just intrusive and irksome. It's also probably not the best time to attempt another PC build. I had thoughts of using the current windows 10 box, trying Linux on it and doing a fresh build for windows. But not sure.
"There was a problem with your account click here to fix" - I get this on my Parallels W10 instance, my work provided PC and my other work provided PC (all Windows 10). I thought it was just me. It's annoying but can be ignored so I've been ignoring it. I tried clicking on it to fix but it never sticks. Interesting.
I too tried to dive into Linux but spent so much time trying to learn that it became too much of a time sync. I settled on Mac OS just because of convenience at the cost of $. Windows is acceptable but the convenience factor of having an Apple ecosystem just wins it for me.
I love Linux, and I became a big fan of PopOS.
But if I was in photography, I wouldn't use Linux. At all.
There is no Adobe apps. At all. They are industry standard.
And there is also no Affinity Designer or Photo. For some basic stuff that I need, I tend to use Affinity. Way faster and better for my limited usage than Adobe. And cheaper.
Linux isn't for photographers and designers. This OS lacks high quality apps for that kind of work. And those apps do exist, but only on Windows and MacOS.
So while I love to recommend Linux to people, I would stay away from it if I were in your shoes. Linux has its upsides, but also has downsides. For your needs, Linux simply shouldn't even be considered.
Linux is a geek/hacker/experimenter's playground. It's a lot of fun exploring various areas but I use Windows or macOS for polished software to get real work done.
That's pretty accurateThat's like saying MacOS is for Starbucks, and Windows is for gamers
I have been enjoying my PC once again. As usual though there has been a little bit of swapping and changing of parts to get it setup as I want. The first change I made was after noticing some damage to the white paint on my case that must have been there from factory, together with the release of the new Fractal Meshify 2 Compact, I changed cases.
I then changed to Noctua NF A12x25, arguably the best fans on the market. These fans are exceptionally good.
Last, the monitor. I had wanted for the longest time a high refresh rate 4k monitor, but stock has been terrible. Yesterday I was able to get hold of the LG 27GN950, a 4K 144hz nano IPS monitor. That will come tomorrow and if all looks good (I ordered 2 so I can make sure I get a good one), the Dell will be returned. 1440p is ok at the distance I sit from the monitor, but it's still not quite there in terms of text clarity, and I spend all day looking at text. It will be harder to drive in games, but if I can get hold of a 3080 at a reasonable price I will probably swap the 3070 out.
![DSCF9425.jpg]( "DSCF9425.jpg")
Honestly Fractal make the best cases.
I then changed to Noctua NF A12x25, arguably the best fans on the market. These fans are exceptionally good.
Last, the monitor. I had wanted for the longest time a high refresh rate 4k monitor, but stock has been terrible. Yesterday I was able to get hold of the LG 27GN950, a 4K 144hz nano IPS monitor. That will come tomorrow and if all looks good (I ordered 2 so I can make sure I get a good one), the Dell will be returned. 1440p is ok at the distance I sit from the monitor, but it's still not quite there in terms of text clarity, and I spend all day looking at text. It will be harder to drive in games, but if I can get hold of a 3080 at a reasonable price I will probably swap the 3070 out.
Honestly Fractal make the best cases.
Swapping cases...ugh. But nice job.
What do you consider a reasonable price for a 3080 and where would you get one?
I've done so many builds it's a piece of cake, this case is especially easy to. It's not like a sub 10 litre ITX build
Probably looking at £900 for a 3080 at the moment. I paid £695 for my 3070 and will be able to easily sell it for what I paid. I have discord open in a stock bot channel.
I know you are very sensitive to noise so I suggest you consider a different fan.
The Noctua NF-A12x25 is a great all-around fan. However it is not their best fan for case cooling.
Of the Noctua product line:
Noctua
Noctua's premium fans are internationally renowned for their superb quietness, exceptional performance and thoroughgoing quality.
noctua.at
you should seriously consider the airflow-optimized 'S' series, either the NF-S12A (either classic beige or chroma.black.swap) or the NF-S12B redux-1200 in grey.
Look at the fan specifications:
- NF-A12x25 (beige): 2000 rpm, 22.6 dB/A, 102.1 m3/h
- NF-S12A (beige or black): 1200 rpm, 17.8 dB/A, 107.5 m3/h
- NF-S12B redux-1200 (grey): 1200 rpm, 18.1 dB/A, 100.6 m3/h
At full speed, they all move about the same amount of air, ~102 cubic meters per hour.
However the 'S' series fans do it at lower rotational speeds and more importantly at lower noise levels. Remember the dB/A is a logarithmic scale and a +3 dB/A increase is basically twice the noise.
The A12x25 has much higher static pressure but that's largely irrelevant for a PC case exhaust fan.
Judging by the photo it looks like you are using a AIO cooler for the CPU. Again the NF-A12x25 is a good all-around fan but the 'F' series design is optimized for high static pressure which is important for radiator cooling.
- NF-A12x25 (beige): 2000 rpm, 22.6 dB/A, 102.1 m3/h, 2.34 mm H2O
- NF-F12 (beige or black): 1500 rpm, 22.4 dB/A, 93.4 m3/h, 2.61 mm H2O
Note that the 'F' series fan provides more static pressure at lower rotational speed than the A12x25.
Noctua focused their task-optimized designs largely for their 120mm product family.
Thus I am using Noctua 'F' series fans on my AIO radiators and 'S' series fans for exhaust.
Sadly there is no 'S' series for their 140mm product family since it looks like the top of your case can accommodate 140mm fans. You could stick in NF-A14 or NF-P14s fans and just limit the max speed via the motherboard's BIOS settings since the larger diameter fan does move a little more air.
I highly recommend you put a Noctua NF-S12A rear exhaust fan in your new Fractal Designs case. That would help promote proper airflow (intake via the front panel, exhaust via the case top and rear panel). Hot air naturally rises which is why the rear fan vent is typically at the top of the case. Since the rear of the case is usually the farthest from the user, this fan's noise is even more muted than the others.
You can put a Phanteks Halo fan ring on it if you want addressable RGB bling.
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You and your tidy, tiny, rainbow unicorn builds. Behold - unlimited powhaahhh !!!
3090 Kingpin + 5900x
![IMG_0407(2).JPEG]( "IMG_0407(2).JPEG")
Ok, I have some RGB, didn't figure out yet how to turn off the pump light, and the GPU has a fricking OLED screen with animations. But it is far away from my desk, don't see it at all.
3090 Kingpin + 5900x
Ok, I have some RGB, didn't figure out yet how to turn off the pump light, and the GPU has a fricking OLED screen with animations. But it is far away from my desk, don't see it at all.
That was before I even turned it on, power cables not attached yet, but when powered on the only lit thing is the CPU pump logo. I'm disappointed in the kingpin pump noise though, may RMA it, it is the loudest thing by far.
And here is my decidedly sickly looking build:
![pc-green.jpg]( "pc-green.jpg")
Originally I had a CoolerMaster 240mm AIO CLC on the Ryzen CPU a bit of an overkill for the 65W TDP processor.
The EVGA 120mm AIO cooler was on the GPU. That was one of the NZXT sanctioned configurations. After a short time I noticed that the G12 bracket really required a certain Asetek cooling block design, the one with the bayonet mount that is used to adapt the cooling block for Intel or AMD CPU mounting hardware. Many of these AIO coolers are being discontinued but I looked carefully at the 240mm EVGA cooler and it appeared to be using the bayonet mount Asetek block.
I ordered the EVGA 240mm AIO cooler and when it arrived I understood why it was not a recommended cooler for the NZXT Kraken G12 bracket. The cowling on the cooling block was too big and partly obscured the mounting holes for the regular knurled screws. So I got creative, found some alternate screws, and decided to clip part of the cowling away to provide access to the screw holes (I knew this would void the AIO cooler's warranty and make it unreturnable).
Normally the PCB is left bare after the NZXT Kraken G12 mod but I was able to cobble together enough hardware (including some M.16 watchmakers screws and nuts) to secure the original Nvidia backplate onto the PCB for a cleaner look, hopefully a little more heat dissipation, and some physical protection to the PCB.
The NZXT Kraken G12 still a bit kludgy. A cleaner solution is an Alphacool Eisbaer AIO kit. I really should have done this from the start but I had no idea of its existence six months ago. The Alphacool GPU cooler is also thinner (2 PCI slots) so the modded card could fit into something like my NZXT H210 case.
But in the end it all works.
Since the 2070 FE card doesn't have its original cooler, the card cannot control the AIO pump and its fans. This MSI motherboard does allow me to key the GPU AIO and VRM fans to the MOS temperature sensor. In practice this works splendidly. The MOS temperature is heavily correlated with GPU load.
The mobo has five fan headers. I used them all up so I put the GPU AIO pump header on a lead from the PSU. It runs full speed all the time. That's fine.
The CPU and motherboard temp sensors are around 35 °C at idle. The GPU idles at 25 °C.
If I run a CPU-Z stress test the CPU will max out at74 68 °C (and I'm not even running the CPU AIO fan at full speed, maybe 1000 rpm). In real life usage, it never sees sustained loads like that, even during the infrequent Handbrake encode.
[Edit 20 Mar 2021: reapplied thermal paste for CPU, now using new Arctic MX-5, max temp dropped 5 °C]
During a Unigine Heaven benchmark loop, the GPU might get to 45 °C. That is pretty darned good and I'm glad I put the GPU on the bigger AIO cooler because that's the component that's going to have the heaviest load.
- MSI MAG B550-M Mortar mobo
- AMD Ryzen 5 5600X (65W TDP)
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER Founders Edition (heavily modded)
- SilverStone PS15B micro-ATX case
- Seasonic Focus Gold 650W PSU
- Team Group T-Force DDR4 32GB (2x16GB) 3600MHz CAS 18
- Sabrent Rocket m.2 NVMe PCIe Gen4 1TB (boot)
- Sabrent Rocket m.2 NVMe PCIe Gen3 4TB (auxiliary #1)
- SiliconPower A55 2.5" SATA-6 SSD 2TB (auxiliary #2)
- CPU AIO: EVGA CLC CL11 120mm AIO cooler with Noctua NF-F12 replacement fan, Phanteks Halo aRGB LED fan light
- GPU AIO: EVGA CLC CL24 240mm AIO cooler with 2x Noctua NF-F12 fans, 1x Noctua NF-A9 92mm fan (for VRM, replaces NZXT fan) on NZXT Kraken G12 GPU bracket
- Case fans: 2x Noctua NF-S12A fans
Originally I had a CoolerMaster 240mm AIO CLC on the Ryzen CPU a bit of an overkill for the 65W TDP processor.
The EVGA 120mm AIO cooler was on the GPU. That was one of the NZXT sanctioned configurations. After a short time I noticed that the G12 bracket really required a certain Asetek cooling block design, the one with the bayonet mount that is used to adapt the cooling block for Intel or AMD CPU mounting hardware. Many of these AIO coolers are being discontinued but I looked carefully at the 240mm EVGA cooler and it appeared to be using the bayonet mount Asetek block.
I ordered the EVGA 240mm AIO cooler and when it arrived I understood why it was not a recommended cooler for the NZXT Kraken G12 bracket. The cowling on the cooling block was too big and partly obscured the mounting holes for the regular knurled screws. So I got creative, found some alternate screws, and decided to clip part of the cowling away to provide access to the screw holes (I knew this would void the AIO cooler's warranty and make it unreturnable).
Normally the PCB is left bare after the NZXT Kraken G12 mod but I was able to cobble together enough hardware (including some M.16 watchmakers screws and nuts) to secure the original Nvidia backplate onto the PCB for a cleaner look, hopefully a little more heat dissipation, and some physical protection to the PCB.
The NZXT Kraken G12 still a bit kludgy. A cleaner solution is an Alphacool Eisbaer AIO kit. I really should have done this from the start but I had no idea of its existence six months ago. The Alphacool GPU cooler is also thinner (2 PCI slots) so the modded card could fit into something like my NZXT H210 case.
But in the end it all works.
Since the 2070 FE card doesn't have its original cooler, the card cannot control the AIO pump and its fans. This MSI motherboard does allow me to key the GPU AIO and VRM fans to the MOS temperature sensor. In practice this works splendidly. The MOS temperature is heavily correlated with GPU load.
The mobo has five fan headers. I used them all up so I put the GPU AIO pump header on a lead from the PSU. It runs full speed all the time. That's fine.
The CPU and motherboard temp sensors are around 35 °C at idle. The GPU idles at 25 °C.
If I run a CPU-Z stress test the CPU will max out at
[Edit 20 Mar 2021: reapplied thermal paste for CPU, now using new Arctic MX-5, max temp dropped 5 °C]
During a Unigine Heaven benchmark loop, the GPU might get to 45 °C. That is pretty darned good and I'm glad I put the GPU on the bigger AIO cooler because that's the component that's going to have the heaviest load.
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Somehow the color really looks nice. From what I can tell based on the dark photo, the build looks nice also.
My color scheme inspiration was the first two movies from the Alien franchise (the bad moments). It's actually even greener in real life. It looks decidedly unhealthy.
My NZXT H1 is red. That case is not designed for aRGB LED lighting so it is quite dark, like a submarine control room.
I have a work-in-progress NZXT H210 build with white LED lighting. That will be the nicest looking light scheme although it still might be a little dark for most people. I don't want Broadway stage lights in my PC case. They all sit on the floor underneath my desk anyhow.
I had to move the green-lit SilverStone case off its normal mounting tray for the above photo.
This green SilverStone build still has a rat's nest of cables in front of the PSU (where a drive cage used to reside until I drilled it out). I'm not sure there's much I can do about that but removing the drive cage did allow me to install the 240mm AIO radiator with the hose couplings on the bottom.
I am also a heavy user of wire loom tubing to clean things up:
Alex Tech 10ft - 1/4 inch Cord Protector Wire Loom Tubing Cable Sleeve Split Sleeving for USB Power Audio Video – Protect Cat from Chewing Cords Black
The Alex Tech split sleeving is made from Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET). It's split and easy to load wires, no need to consider the size of wire connector plug. Wires can go out at any position in the sleeving. Our wiring loom is used in wire wrap wire protection of a wide assortment of wires ...
www.amazon.com
I have 1/8", 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" tubing. This is far better looking then wrapping wires with black electricians tape.
The SilverStone case itself has fair number of shortcomings, some of which are only evident during the build, some are more visible. See the fan cable connector in the upper left of the photo? In a bigger case, one would rotate the AIO fan 90 degrees clockwise so its connector is adjacent to the motherboard. This case is so tight there's no room to do that.
There are likely 20 workarounds I had to devise because of this case's shortcomings and the general challenges of an SFF build.
Even the LED strip lighting. The typical aRGB LED computer case strip light is about 16" long, too lengthy for this particular case. So I'm using cheap non-programmable green LED lights.
The fans on the case top? Too close to the motherboard to install Phanteks Halo RGB fan lights, not enough clearance. Stuff like that. You can't see it in the photo but if you roll up your sleeves and start screwing in components, you'll quickly find these.
The SilverStone PS15 is not a premium enthusiast's case. However by building in this, I learned a lot. It's sort of like cooking a nice dinner in an ordinary apartment kitchen with entry level appliances and cheap cookware.
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This is an interesting comment to me since I was looking at some of the EVGA hybrid water-cooled GeForce cards when Ampere was first announced. Today, I'm not so sure about this.
I'm leaning toward picking up a Founders Edition card when they are finally available and adding an Alphacool watercooling solution. They even have an AIO kit for the 3080 FE. The big plus for the Founders Edition 30 models are the extremely small PCBs.
Thanks for this.
My 6900XT is radiating too much heat onto my 980 Pro, controller temp is too high. Think I will switch out the A12x25 ULN (1200rpm, 32.8cfm, 12.1dba) for the S12A.
Maxed out the A12's as they were on a fan curve which has helped a few degrees. Still too high for my liking.
Edit: Update, the 980 Pro SSD has a double heatsink on it, just found a Reddit thread where someone took off the second layer and dropped temps, did the same and saw a decent drop. Think I will be able to keep the A12 fans now.
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I'm a fan of air cooling, so I am a bit biased, but as I was researching my build (and quietness was a major must have), pump noise was one of the knocks of AIOs. I can't say your AIO is defective and its sound maybe out of line with others.
Your build does look nice, very good job, i love the black look
So I have the LG 27GN950 and I'm happy. I ordered 2, 1 had a stuck pixel and will be returned, unless my friend wants it (they are very hard to buy right now). 4K, 144hz, nano IPS, amazing. I've tested the few games I play and the RTX 3070 can handle them fine. WoW still maintains 130fps with a few settings tweaked and Black Ops Cold War runs 120+ fps with DLSS enabled.
The monitor is one of the cleanest minimal designs I've ever seen from the front. Zero branding and the bottom chin is very thin and matches into the sides seamlessly. The RGB on the back is actually good for once, strong enough that I can have it provide a nice glow to reduce eye strain. I have it set to white now.
![DSCF9440.jpg]( "DSCF9440.jpg")
The monitor is one of the cleanest minimal designs I've ever seen from the front. Zero branding and the bottom chin is very thin and matches into the sides seamlessly. The RGB on the back is actually good for once, strong enough that I can have it provide a nice glow to reduce eye strain. I have it set to white now.
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Re liquid cooling, I'm a fan of silent PCs. An old PC of mine had this ridiculous Ruby Orb cooler. I skipped case fans completely, and had a blow hold in the side of the case that the CPU fan would blow hot air out of. I had a fanless PSU and fanless GPU, so ultimately the entire PC was cooled via the single CPU cooler fan sucking cool air in the back of the computer and out the side.
My current PC is, if anything, even quieter. It has a single front case fan that's always on, a rear PWM fan that is blowing onto the CPU, and a CPU fan. If I'm not gaming, it's almost inaudible under my desk.
Liquid cooling is cool, I get it, but sometimes it just ends up being impractical compared to good ol airflow
Of course I'm still rocking the latest GPU I can get my hands on for under $1000, a 7770HD, ghz edition, so YYMV
My current PC is, if anything, even quieter. It has a single front case fan that's always on, a rear PWM fan that is blowing onto the CPU, and a CPU fan. If I'm not gaming, it's almost inaudible under my desk.
Liquid cooling is cool, I get it, but sometimes it just ends up being impractical compared to good ol airflow
Of course I'm still rocking the latest GPU I can get my hands on for under $1000, a 7770HD, ghz edition, so YYMV
Like all mechanical devices fans have a sweet spot in performance. Typically this is not maxxed out. My guess is that the typical computer fan's sweet spot is in the 60-80% window of its total range.
The NF-A12x25 ULN is apparently a PWM with a resistor added in front of the motor to limit input power and input current (see the fan specs). But it's still an A12 in design.
Look carefully at the photos of the Noctua 'A', 'F', and 'S' series. These are remarkably different.
The A12x25 have a nine-bladed design with a big sweep to the blades.
The F12 and S12 are seven-bladed designs but that's their only similarity.
The S12 has relatively short and narrow blades with plenty of gap between the blades and very little sweep. The four support struts on housing are relatively unobtrusive with no aerodynamic features. The blades themselves have some special features.
The F12 has very wide blades with little gap between them. There are eleven support struts on the housing that are sharply angled and clearly designed to help direct airflow. The F12 struts have clear aerodynamic features. I presume that the wide blades help promote high static pressure.
Clearly these fans aren't being designed by some snot-nosed kid who can fire up AutoCAD. These fan designs are very conscientiously designed, probably by 20+ year veterans with Ph.D.s in Aeronautical Engineering. It's not like they just added or subtracted a fan blade and gave it a different model number.
You should still consider the S12A and use the motherboard's BIOS to back off from the maximums. Still being winter, this is likely not the optimal time to decide your fan curves. I tweaked my fan curves on the two hottest days of the year back in August 2020.
It's worth pointing out that AIO radiator pumps are a different beast. Some are designed to run optimally at full speed.
I know some people here prefer air coolers but water-cooling technology is overall superior. That's why it's in your car and other internal combustion engines for over a century. Due to its unusual physical properties, water is a vastly superior fluid for cooling over air.
I'm not familiar with a "double SSD heatsink". I have a m.2 Samsung 970 EVO Plus in one of my cases and don't recall any special heatsink.
Some m.2 sticks include a flimsy stick-on heatsink (a couple of my ADATA XPGs included these). This is intended for notebook computers, it's not a secondary heatsink. Most people should use their motherboard's built-in SSD heatsink for an ordinary drive (like Gen3 which don't generate huge amounts of heat).
If you have a performance drive, you might think of a more robust m.2 heatsink. I use these:
M.2 SSD Heatsink
Designed for desktop computers. Winning combination of copper and aluminum for maximum performance. Compatible with single- and double-sided M.2 2280 SSDs. Easy to install. Thermal tape, screws, and screwdriver included.
on my system drives (Gen4). SSD heat is mostly generated from write operations not read operations.
My auxiliary m.2 drives (Gen3) are primarily for videogame storage (i.e., overwhelmingly read operations) so I don't have to worry so much about heat dissipation. It use these:
for my auxiliary m.2 drives. All of my m.2 hover around 40 °C which is quite fine.
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I'm a fan of simple designs and having good air flow and some quiet fans, that's a lot simpler then having a rad, fans and a pump. My main concern is of course failure and having the liquid shorting the system. I'm sure that's a rarity but not out of the realm of possibility.Liquid cooling is cool, I get it, but sometimes it just ends up being impractical compared to good ol airflow
My current build is very quiet (not silent but quiet) and very fast. I can admit when I'm wrong and the Ryzen CPU that I have allows for a cooler running system which in turn means a quiet PC
It's worth pointing out that if you have a dual-fan air cooler on your CPU, we both have the same number of motors. You have two fan motors, I have one fan motor and one pump motor. Granted a failure in either component renders my cooling system useless while yours might be able to limp along on one fan.
However since my 120mm AIO radiator is bolted to the rear exhaust vent, the CPU AIO radiator fan doubles as an exhaust fan. If you have an additional case fan in addition to the two CPU cooler fans, then you have three mechanical items.
If you look at any of the CPU cooler performance reviews (Tom's Hardware, AnandTech, whatever), the top of the list is always water-cooled systems. It is superior cooling technology. It comes down to physics not "personal preference."
As for reliability, the typical warranty for a modern AIO CLC radiator is five years; manufacturers stand by their product. 10-15 years ago there were some reliability problems when some manufacturers didn't prioritize reliability and QC. Those days are long over.
The International Space Station uses liquid ammonia in radiators for heat dissipation. Liquid cooling is good enough for NASA. The Hubble has a cryogenic radiator system. Even your refrigerator uses a radiator.
Note that water's physical cooling properties are so good that millions of years of human evolution have proven the validity of the eccrine sweat gland.
Amongst the AIO CLC coolers, these are basically tied to radiator size. Bigger radiator = more cooling potential = slower fans = quieter operation.
That's why I swapped AIO coolers. 65W TDP processor on the 120mm AIO cooler. 215W TDP graphics card on the 240mm AIO cooler.
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