I'm building a new personal rig after eight years and need some help deciding on a good CPU cooler. I'm mostly interested in 360mm AIO coolers, but I'm also open to air coolers. This computer will be used for work tasks like software engineering, containers, and VMs, as well as gaming. I'm planning to reuse some parts from my old i7-8700k system while adding new components. However, I can't seem to find a solid CPU cooler available here in my country. Popular options like the Arctic Freezer are not sold, and while I've had a Corsair H100i in my current rig for the past eight years without issues, I'm unsure if they are still a good value now. I'm considering a Lian Li case and fans, but I read mixed reviews about their AIOs having pump failure issues. I really want a cooler that won't give me problems since warranty and RMA options might be limited here. Below is a list of cooler brands that are available at a local retailer that I recognize: ASUS, Cooler Master, Corsair, Deepcool, Gigabyte, ID-Cooling, Lian Li, MSI, and Thermalright. Any suggestions?
1 Answer
It seems like you might be overthinking the motherboard choice a bit. Any AM5 board with four or more M.2 slots should do the job fine. For cooling, a 360mm AIO or even a solid dual-tower air cooler would be sufficient for your build. You could check out options from Cooler Master or Deepcool—they've got some reliable products.
I get your point, but having a good motherboard with ample LAN options is crucial for workflow, especially in software development. It all depends on what you're prioritizing!