Hi so I've had my PC now for about 3 months now and it's finally time to upgrade from the stock cooler. I've been debating on getting the H105 but some people have said that its a tight fight in my case, the Corsair 230t, the Noctua nh-d15 has really good temps but I still can't decide. I have an amd 8320 and I want to overclock it to 4.2. Any advice is greatly appreciated
Both will be a good choice exaly.
The NH-D15 will be a bit more quieter then the Corsair Aio.
The 105 might be a tight fit you won't be getting 4 fans on it for sure, however, in the end it all comes down to price.
The H105 is quite possibly the best 240mm AIO on the market but its thick and heavy.
The NH-D15 will perform at a slightly lower level but, it will fit, is easier to install, and normally is cheaper.
If they are close in price go for the bigger more powerful H105 if not life is easier in your case with a D15
The way I see it, if you can fit the nh-d15 in your case then get it. 240mm aio's give you slightly better temps, but there's one major issue... the pump. The only thing that can fail on an air cooler is the fan, which is pretty unlikley given Noctua's build quality. That's my 2 cents.
Edit: From what I saw you have 165mm clearance for your case, the nh-d15 is 150mm tall, so there shouldn't be a clearance issue.
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I personally would just go for the NH-D 15 if you can fit it comfortably in your case (no ram or motherboard issues, etc.). It should perform similarly to most AIOs (and judging from your overclocking goal you will not actually need the extra 2 or 3 °C less that an AIO would provide) while being more quiet. It's still the best in terms of cooling/noise and you simply can't run into any severe issues while using it normally (the worst case scenario for an AIO, even if it is very unlikely, could still result in fried components at the end of the day).
My opinion on the matter in general, your case doesn't seem to be any different.
I can throw in for the D15 as well. I have a D14 and love it.
AIO do performs maybe a little better but have more points of failure and can be louder too.
They're inherently louder, 2 fans + a pump simply can't be more quiet than just 2 fans. What it comes down to in the end is cooling/noise, and huge air coolers simply have the advantage here.
Just playing it safe. I am aware of water cooling being louder, I just don't have the information to pull up instantly so I erred on the side of caution.
Awseome thanks for the responses! I think I'm leaning more towards the d15 because of size restraints with my case. I know this maybe really stupid but the only problem I have with the d15 is its aesthetics, I know the be quiet coolers look really nice but are they as good as the d15?
Yes the dark rock 3 is a fantastic choice (no pun intended).
There is also Phanteks. There you have a few colour choices.
@robochives
No matter what you get though, I'd suggest also getting Arctic MX-4 thermal paste. The stock paste on those things is terrible.
You can actually fit a NH-D15 or be quiet! Dark Rock Pro in there
You can still fit a dual radiator in there. Sedion 240m or H100i GTX. You can also just get a sedion 120m or a H80i GTX and you won't lose performance.
A simple 4.2 overclock you could actually just get a hyper 212 evo and save yourself 50 bucks in all honesty.