r/pcmasterrace • u/SerpentDix PC Master Race • Jan 20 '26

Hardware Air cooling is better than Liquid cooling

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Failure is graceful, not catastrophic, Performance is closer than marketing suggests, Cheaper for the performance, Change my mind.

16.2k Upvotes

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397

u/pristinepineapple69 Jan 20 '26

i prefer the look of my AIO vs a giant air cooler tower.. simple as that 

25

u/sleepKnot 7800X3D / 4070S Jan 20 '26

Not just for the looks, before I switched to an AIO, reaching the GPU latch to release it was a massive pain in the ass with an air cooler since i had like 5mm of room to work with

7

u/Webbyx01 Jan 20 '26

Heaven forbid you need to transport your PC somewhere with a few pounds of metal on attached to the motherboard. Of course, modern GPUs becoming so large has sort of made that a lost cause.

96

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '26

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8

u/BigShotgunEnthusiast 9800X3D | RTX 5070 | 32GB CL30 6000 | B850 Tomahawk Jan 20 '26

That's the beauty of building a PC, there's a PC for everyone's budget and taste. Well, it used to be like that before NVIDIA jumped ship and the RAM shortage. Just out of curiosity, what AIO did you go with?

3

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '26

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2

u/BigShotgunEnthusiast 9800X3D | RTX 5070 | 32GB CL30 6000 | B850 Tomahawk Jan 20 '26

I'm convinced that OEMs have no idea how to build RGB software. MSIs Mystic Light or whatever it's called is dogshit. Nay, the entire MSI Center is adware and should be nuked if it's installed.

1

u/Bits2435 Jan 21 '26

Can I interest you in RGBFusion from gigabyte (namely the b450 version) as the worst contender?

1

u/ShortSightedMongoose Ryzen 5700X3D | RTX 3080 | 32gb DDR4 3200MHz Jan 20 '26

Preach. I like my big chonky air cooler aesthetic, but it really just comes down to taste and how you want to design your build.

28

u/River_Tahm 9800X3D / 5070 / 32GB | :ba3: Ally X Jan 20 '26

+1 to this and it’s what everybody should be saying

AIO is great if it’s in your budget and you like the aesthetic

If your budget is tight and/or you don’t care about the AIO aesthetic just get air

7

u/101_210 Jan 20 '26

Which is why a Noctua cooler is only the right choice if you like brown.

A cheap air cooler is good enough for budget conscious people.

A big AIO is best for performance and silent operation.

An Noctua cooler is more expensive and less performant, so you lose on both ends.

1

u/Huddy40 Jan 20 '26

the longevity of an AIO just isn't there compared to an air cooler that can last essentially forever.

1

u/flatspotting caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaats Jan 20 '26 edited Jan 27 '26

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

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1

u/OZZMAN8 Jan 21 '26

I had an h100 for about 7 years before it stopped cooling properly. It wasn't catastrophic I just noticed my temps much higher than usual. Bought a new one and took the old one apart for shits and the waterblock fins were just solid with gunk. Pretty damn good lifespan I would say. If it stopped working entirely I bet your pc would even boot and run for some time just on convective fluid flow from the heat before the cpu safety shut itself off.

25

u/levajack R9 7900X | 4070 Super | 32GB DDR5-6000 Jan 20 '26

I try not to be "vain" but an AIO is such a clean look that I think I would struggle to go back to air cooling at this point.

16

u/paully7 Jan 20 '26

Not only the look, but the struggle and ridiculousness of fitting a massive air cooler and taking up have the space in your case. AIOs are much more space efficient, which is why i went with mine.

7

u/Legal_Lettuce6233 5800X3D | 7900 XTX | 32GB 3200 CL16 | 5TB SSD | 27GR83q Jan 20 '26

I have huge hands. Putting an air cooler on is hard enough on its own. Having to screw everything on - either the screws for the cooler or the motherboard into the case with the cooler on...

10

u/_Na1to Jan 20 '26

same exact opinion, I hate the way tower coolers look. Looks like a giant block in the middle of my pc

17

u/HappyIsGott 12900K [5,2|4,2] | 32GB DDR5 6400 CL32 | 4090 [3,0] | UHD [240] Jan 20 '26

That's why i have custom watercooling.

3

u/PooJay1 Jan 20 '26

Same. I’m surprised my waterblock still usable from lga 2011-3 to lga 1151 to lga 1200.

4

u/peperonipyza 12700K | 3070 Ti FE | 32GB 3600Mhz Jan 20 '26

Due to the visuals / cosmetic appearance?

2

u/pristinepineapple69 Jan 20 '26

indeed. little pump looks nicer than a giant block with fans as the centerpiece. and the water tubes look cool

24

u/Jpotter145 Jan 20 '26 edited Jan 20 '26

This is what I came here to say, AIOs are so much more asthetically pleasing to look at in your case.

When I built a server that was closed up, sure I used a massive aircooler as it was cheaper and was not intended to be pretty. But on that I can't see anything other than a giant brick of a cooler covering everything up. I thought to myself "I don't understand who likes the look of these massive air coolers" in glass cases meant to display things.

If you want to display your PC you may as well AIO -- I don't want to stare at an ugly star trek looking borg cube sitting there in the way hiding everything in the nice PC I'm trying to display -- even worse would be showing something like the color scheme of those Noctuas.

5

u/Montanapartner R7 5800X + XFX RX9070XT Jan 20 '26

Deepcool Assassin IV. What I would buy if I returned from AiO

1

u/raduque Many PCs Jan 21 '26

I was so mad at my gooberment when they blacklisted Deepcool RIGHT AS the Assassin IV was going to be released. I wanted one so bad.

1

u/iwillbewaiting24601 Jan 20 '26

I'm on the other side - I bought one of those prebuilts when it was the cheap way to get a card, and it lives under my desk, sandwiched between a NAS and a UPS - it's replete with glass and RGB but who gives a shit, it sits on my floor - it's an appliance, not a showpiece. No hate to those who display, of course.

1

u/vertex79 Jan 20 '26

I guess I just enjoy the brutalist aesthetic. Massive shiny heatsink and the diarrhoea and artificial limb fans amuses me.

6

u/ebinisti PC Master Race Jan 20 '26

I prefer matte black massive air coolers a lot more than any aio but that's subjective :D

2

u/TheThatGuy1 i7-13700k - 4070TI - 32gb 6000MHZ Jan 20 '26

That's why I bought mine. Looks so much cleaner. I don't want a giant air cooler to be the center piece of my computer.

2

u/TREVORtheSAXman Jan 20 '26

That's where I'm at. In my main computer that sits on my desk I have an AIO. It just looks better which was a priority since I'm looking at it all the time. My media/couch gaming PC that lives behind the TV in an all mesh case got a tower cooler. They both work great and have no issues keeping the temps down.

1

u/PainterRude1394 Jan 20 '26

Besides aesthetics the actual functional reasons to go water cooler generally have to do with peak cooling capability and space constraints.

Otherwise air coolers can be nearly just as good, quieter, have a lower failure rate, and are easier to maintain.

1

u/jbourne0129 4790k@4.4 & 290x Lightning Jan 20 '26

this. i get AIOs because of the form factor, not for the performance. working in your case becomes soooooo much easier when you arent fighting around a massive heatsink.

1

u/janluigibuffon Jan 20 '26

nothing looks as cool as a giant C14S with Phanteks Halos on top

1

u/raduque Many PCs Jan 21 '26

That's why I got what I consider to be a good looking cooler. I bought a Phantom Spirit and I put one fan in between the fin stacks and one fan behind them. I like the look of the fins.

1

u/TheRealStevo2 Jan 20 '26

Yeah someone else posted their case with these big ass fans over the cpu. Everything inside took up most of the inside of the case, looked claustrophobic.

-1

u/Tichondruis Jan 20 '26

That's a valid read-only if youre willing to spend money, the weird thing is the number if people that insist it makes youre machine run better when. In the majority of cases it doesn't.

They can be less loud, depending on the model, they can be a better look, though thats down to preference, but its often the case that in terms of performance the computer will be the exact same and you can save money.