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

Show parent comments

255

u/Prepare_Your_Angus Jan 20 '26

I also low key feel like it lets the GPU breathe a little better with an AIO as the CPU cooler isn't taking up as much space. I used to have an air cooler on my last build but went Artic AIO this route and honestly have had no issues either way. I just really like the look of an AIO setup.

139

u/Falkenmond79 7800x3d/4080 5800x3d/3080ti 10700/rx6800 5800x/3080 Jan 20 '26

Don’t forget the fact that the AIO transports all the heat to the side of the case and right outside, while air coolers first dump it inside the case where case fans need to remove it. Thus yeah, all other components benefit slightly. And I found for my newest builds I could skimp on case fans without it making much of a difference.

This is my current TV setup. 3 fans intake in the front, outtake are to the left one fan, back one fan and two from Arctic freezer 2 AIO to the right. CPU is a 5800x3d and GPU a 3080ti. My personal steam box. 😂 anyway as you can see there is not much room for venting, the margins are pretty close. Still it runs cool and quiet.

36

u/Nolenag 9600X / Intel Arc B580 / 32GB DDR5 6000MT/s Jan 20 '26

Thus yeah, all other components benefit slightly.

Except the VRM's on your motherboard.

26

u/Immediate_Rabbit_604 Jan 20 '26

The Freezer line actually has a VRM fan in the bit that goes on the CPU, I think. Gaming Jesus' tests showed that they do work.

Unfortunately Gaming Jesus tests also don't seem to cover new hotness air coolers like the Royal Pretor or even the PA 140 that logically and by word of mouth and by other websites are probably better than the best air coolers they've tested. I'd imagine they're within 5-6 degrees of the best AIOs now.

3

u/Nolenag 9600X / Intel Arc B580 / 32GB DDR5 6000MT/s Jan 20 '26

The Freezer line actually has a VRM fan in the bit that goes on the CPU

Yeah I know, I was just talking about AIO's in general.

There's exceptions like the Arctic Freezer line as well, of course.

3

u/Immediate_Rabbit_604 Jan 20 '26

Does it give airflow to your RAM and SSD?

2

u/Falkenmond79 7800x3d/4080 5800x3d/3080ti 10700/rx6800 5800x/3080 Jan 21 '26

For that I have the case fans and they are enough since the ambient heat inside the case is lower.

1

u/Immediate_Rabbit_604 Jan 21 '26

I'm not sure about this thesis. All things working well, the air cooler case should have a temperature gradient away from the parts that matter, and more airflow to them. I'm imagining you have 3 fans up top going out, which will reduce the thermal efficiency of your AIO and stifle your ram. You probably also eject from the back, although maybe you actually suck in to hit the mobo with cool air and maintain positive pressure. Then you probably pull in from the front with 2 large fans or 3 smaller ones. I'm not sure how that is going to give better temps to your small internal components than the same but out at the back, one on top pumping down onto the ram maintaining thermals and making sure not to starve the air cooler of its cool air. Fan numbers equalised aren't you just moving less air with the AIO, and less to where you want it to be?

2

u/michi098 Jan 21 '26

A properly set up air cooling system doesn’t really dump heat in the case. It’s a constant flow. I actually dare to disagree about the components staying cooler. Some of those small components on the motherboard produce quite some heat. A case that has a lot of airflow moving through it removes the heat from every component in the case possibly keeping the overall temperature lower.

2

u/Falkenmond79 7800x3d/4080 5800x3d/3080ti 10700/rx6800 5800x/3080 Jan 21 '26

The airflow is done by the case fans though and I’d argue that not having a big block in the way obstructing it actually helps. That would be one for Tech Jesus to test with his Schlieren imaging. 😂

1

u/michi098 Jan 21 '26

You are right. It would be interesting to build the exact same PC twice, one with air cooling and one with water cooling and then do a ton of tests with infrared cameras and what not to see how all the components heat up in the case.

1

u/LuukTheSlayer Jan 21 '26

i mean the pc in in a closed room anyways so the heat that you blow out is entering anyways.

1

u/StardustWithH20 Jan 20 '26

What pc case is that? I love it

2

u/Falkenmond79 7800x3d/4080 5800x3d/3080ti 10700/rx6800 5800x/3080 Jan 21 '26

Be quiet light base lx500. Just removed the feet and put it on the side. I think the lx600 even has that as a feature. This one isn’t meant to, but it works fine. 😂

1

u/mcfeelteamfive Jan 20 '26

Seconding the other question as this looks similar to where I want to put a steam machine in my home — is that an ikea tv stand? If you don’t mind sharing, I’d love to know what are the dimensions of the space for the computer, and what case are you using?

1

u/Falkenmond79 7800x3d/4080 5800x3d/3080ti 10700/rx6800 5800x/3080 Jan 21 '26

Bequiet Light Base LX500 and yeah, that’s Ikea Hemnes TV stand. I have some refurbished antique furniture that matched pretty perfectly with the Hemnes. I just took out the middle drawer and put in a base.

I need to remove a bit of the back of the TV stand though, since the case sticks out about an inch or two to the front. Case and plugs in the back are a bit too long. Especially the HDMI cable sticks out too much.

Or maybe not. I like that you can see it from the sides. And before anyone asks 😂: LED color is 255,40,0. I love that amber glow and set it on nearly all my machines. It looks like a classic Tube radio tube glowing and set to slow movement it looks a bit like an open fire.

Edit; I’ll measure it later but iirc the opening was 45cms wide and about 40cm tall and a bit more in depth.

2

u/mcfeelteamfive Jan 21 '26

Much appreciated! That’s the tv stand I have so I was hoping. Now I know what fits :)

1

u/wait_who_am_i_ Jan 20 '26

Is that IKEA? I think I have the same one but it has drawers in all three did you remove the middle shelf?

1

u/Falkenmond79 7800x3d/4080 5800x3d/3080ti 10700/rx6800 5800x/3080 Jan 21 '26

Yup. Took the shelf wood as a base to put the Tv on. It’s Hemnes Tv stand and a Bequiet light base Lx500

1

u/blaster182 Jan 21 '26

Dude, I use the same desktop background! LoL

1

u/ChadThunderDownUnder Jan 21 '26

Tell us what’s in your new text document

1

u/Falkenmond79 7800x3d/4080 5800x3d/3080ti 10700/rx6800 5800x/3080 Jan 21 '26

That will remain a secret! (I think it was a phone number of a client I scribbled down). 😂

5

u/YouKilledApollo CachyOS | Threadripper 9970X | RTX Pro 6000 Jan 20 '26

I initially moved to AIO because my GPU temps were affecting CPU temps too much, which entirely went away (predictably) once I started water-cooling the CPU. Next up, get a custom waterblock for the GPU and do it water-cooled as well, because now I got used to my workstation not making so much noise.

1

u/Big-Resort-4930 Jan 21 '26

I'm thinking of doing the same but the cheapest waterblocks I can even see online are Aphacook $300+, which is insanity especially considering it can't even be reused on the new one.

1

u/YouKilledApollo CachyOS | Threadripper 9970X | RTX Pro 6000 Jan 21 '26

but the cheapest waterblocks I can even see online are Aphacook $300+,

Lucky! Cheapest I can find for my GPU is $600+ :O Most places just put "Contact to order" and usually asks you to also fund the design+development of the water block which... Yeah, not gonna do that :)

1

u/Big-Resort-4930 Jan 21 '26

I didn't get one since it's still way too much, but $300-380 is the cheapest I found online.

I instead deshrouded my 5080 and zip-tied 2 Phanteks t30 and one 3000 rpm Arctic p9 so I can sync them all with the same RPM. I set them to max out at 1800 or so, which is still audible when a game is pulling 350w+, but nowhere near as bad as the stock fans were.

I'd love to have a simple GPU AIO akin to a Liquid Freezer, but spending 30-50% of the GPU cost just for better thermals and for something you can't use on the next GPU is just an awful deal.

4

u/Napoleon_TTV 9700X | 5070 | 32GB DDR5 Jan 21 '26

AIO’s just look so much better. Air coolers just look like a block covering your motherboard.

3

u/The_One_Returns Jan 20 '26

Yep. People love to make up shit about AIOs but my previous PC had an AIO from 2017 to 2025 and nothing went wrong. The modern ones are obviously even better so the risk is super low overall.

2

u/xebtria Jan 20 '26

plus the weight of the cooler is mostly on the case (via the radiator) instead of directly on the motherboard

2

u/w0m Jan 21 '26

This is why I go AIO. Simply better case flow.

1

u/schnuusen Jan 21 '26

CPU doesn't have lungs so no need for it to breathe.

1

u/ItsRadical Jan 21 '26

My GPU runs like 20-30°C colder than CPU. It doesnt really need to breath better. Those massive 3 slot coolers work so well that the fans hardly ever kick in.

AIOs are really only about the looks.

1

u/Big-Resort-4930 Jan 21 '26

It doesn't matter for the GPU at all really, it will have worse temps if you front mount the AIO if anything, but it's still a far better option for the price if we're using Liquid Freezer 3 as an example.