i prefer liquid, as it means you can move the bulk of the cooling material away from the cpu socket. you don’t have a massive chunk of metal in the way.
the water also absorbs transient spikes a lot better than air which means less variable fan speed.
it’s not simply cooling capacity vs noise for me.
re reliability and noise; i’ve had this corsair AIO in use for 3 plus years (since covid?) across two builds and it isn’t noisy and still works fine.
The problem with many fans is due to the injection molding if the framework has any sharp edges and fan blades clearance is too close you will get air chopping ( such as you would find in an old siren)
2 ways to mitigate it is to slow the fan speed( but that compromizes cooling efficiency)
Or baffles and filters( which will require periodic cleaning)
A third option exists but requires planning and space.
Its called intercooler technology.
In this instance the radiator is immersed in a bucket of fluid that is stirred by a small pump.
( the bucket can actually be in a closet)
Cpu pump itself handles only the fluid in the liquid cooling system itself.
Effective heat transfer is much more efficient than air.
I had a similar problem installing 140mm fans into the front of a Lian Li O11 Air Mini, the case fan mount bracket protruded quite far into the fan air path. Needed some dremel work, and still not perfect with some bracket in the air path, but better.
I got a couple of Noctua 120mm fans and it is much, much better, even with the default fan profile. I will go back to my custom one at some point, but even with the default it is better because they make a whooshing noise when spun up, not a buzzing noise like the Thermaltake ones.
The fans cost more than the Peerless Assassin, including the two fans that came with it.
Only issue now is a slight buzzing from somewhere else. I suspect the case fan, which is the ASUS one I couldn’t hear before. Might also but the PSU or a coil. Will probably ignore it.
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