Can anyone recommend me a good closed loop CPU cooling set?

Shiminay

Simple enough, there's a fan powered CPU in my machine that I think is making far too much noise, and so I thought now's as good a time as any to consider one of those closed loop CPU liquid cooler things.

I've got a Nanoxia DS2 case which has space for a 2 or even 3 X 120 radiator (but I think that might be overkill ).

It'll be cooling an Intel 2500k which I might just finally overclock if I'm getting improved cooling.

Thank you for your wisdom folks

Serephucus

Budget and desired noise profile?

(i.e. would you prefer it to be the same really quiet noise all the time, or silent normally, and mostly quiet under load, for example?)

Shiminay

Budget isn't too much of a concern, quiet under load would be nice, but I can compromise on that since generally speaking, if the machine's under load, it means I'm playing a game and therefore the noise is drowning any rattles from the machine out

Serephucus

Well, then I'd probably recommend a good air cooler, to be honest.

(This is coming from someone who's use custom water in a couple of builds, and AIOs in others)

I have an NH-D15 (Noctua) in my rig currently, and the only reason I don't have the fan turned off when idle is because the board won't let me. :P I have it set to ramp up to around 800RPM past about 65°C, but other than that it's a 140mm fan spinning at around 300RPM, and I can't hear it at all. That's the only fan spinning in my system under normal conditions.

You could of course go the AIO route - and to be honest I haven't looked into those in years, so I don't know what the current best ones are, though I imagine it's somewhat like the SSD market: Totally saturated and basically all the same - but you'll end up with slightly higher noise at idle because of the pump.

Now, it depends what the rest of your system is doing as to how much all of this matters - if there's nothing else making noise, then think carefully, etc. but if you've got other case fans and things that are noisy, then go water, as you'll have more OC headroom.

salamanca22

I have ordered this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003P1QLVI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Seems to have a good reputation around the net.

Shiminay

I'm not terribly pushed about needing AiO etc if air cooling is gonna be as good and as quiet potentially - it was more the "oooh shiny" aspect that attracted me The Noctua D15 does look pretty swish, should fit the case too without too much of a problem.

There are 3 case fans, supplied as standard, all very, very quiet.

There's a stock 970 too that's not making a peep unless asked to.

There's also the PSU that's due to be replaced (I have the replacement sitting there, just too lazy to pull everything apart and install it :P)

Serephucus

What case (fans) have you got?

When you say "stock" 970, do you mean a reference one, or just one you haven't overclocked? ('cause I find the reference ones pretty annoying noise-wise, though only under load, admittedly)

Shiminay

Sorry, it's a reference 970, yea. The case fans are the ones that Nanoxia supply with the case. They're thankfully not messing around with them and they don't make a peep.

Serephucus

Yeah I was pretty impressed with the ones in my DS1 as well, though I had a couple that were buzzing. Email to Nanoxia and they had replacements in the post the same day. They're by far the easiest company I've dealt with for support.

It's a toss-up then, with your current hardware. I'd be leaning slightly towards water. I'd stay away from the Corsair ones, unless you were planning on replacing the fans. Corsair fans aren't that great (in my experience). I think Fractal Design do some really nice ones. Kelvin, I think?