Is it a good idea to swap a case fan for a 120mm AiO cooler?
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TechieGamer42
I'm considering upgrading my CPU cooler for my 7600 and I'm thinking about replacing one of my case fans with a 120mm AiO cooler. Right now, I have a micro tower case that has five fans total – two exhaust fans at the back, one at the top over the CPU, and three intake fans in the front. Would using an AiO in place of a case fan be a bad idea?
Answers
It really depends on the tower cooler you already have. Some tower coolers, like the Endorfy Spartan 5 Max, can actually outperform a 120mm AiO. If your current cooler is managing decent temps, you might want to stick with it instead of switching to an AiO, which doesn’t typically provide the best value for cooling performance.
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120mm AIOs often don't deliver compared to decent air coolers. I've got a 7700k and swapping to a 120mm AIO didn't help much with temps at all. In fact, I had to configure mine in a push/pull setup just to keep it manageable. A solid air cooler usually keeps things cooler, especially for modern CPUs with higher thread counts. You might want to reconsider if you think the AiO will cool better.
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ChillTechMaster: Thanks for sharing your experience! I definitely didn't realize they were that ineffective at cooling. Might just stick with air cooling after all.