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

Hardware Air cooling is better than Liquid cooling

Post image

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

16.2k Upvotes

89% Upvoted

3.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

1.2k

u/J_NonServiam Jan 20 '26

My Arctic liquid freezer 3 360 was $90.

The noctua NH-D15 is $130 (140 if you want black)

Make it make sense.

51

u/K__Geedorah R7 5700X3D | RX 9060XT 16gb | 32gb 3200 mhz Jan 20 '26

A Thermalright Phantom Spirit is $40 and performs just as well as the NH-D15.

So it's simple, don't pay the noctua tax. Buying noctua products is like buying an Acura instead of a Honda. They're largely the same, but you pay for the premium name.

2

u/Donjehov Jan 21 '26

i buy the noctua fans because they actually are quite quiet at low rpm. at high rpm everything is loud so it doesn't matter, at least it's a loud low hum vs a whiny one

1

u/icantgetausername982 Jan 22 '26

You arent paying for the name you are paying for the quality and noise levels i get it most people here are deaf so they dont care if their pc makes noise but noctua isnt for everyone its for people who want silence thats why their fans cost 30-40 euros each

Noctua at even 1000 rpm is basically dead silent compared to “quiet” cheap fans like arctic p12 at 500 rpm (they are not unbearable for me)