I'm planning to build a gaming PC and I'm trying to decide between using a 9800X3D AIO cooler or a Phantom Spirit SE air cooler. I live in a place where room temperatures run around 26-27°C, and I'm curious if the Phantom Spirit SE would be sufficient for my setup. What do you think?
5 Answers
Yeah, the Phantom Spirit SE should be perfectly fine for your needs!
Good air coolers are usually adequate for most setups. AIOs are really more for extreme cooling when pushing limits or for looks. Personally, I'm running a 360mm frozen prism and during load, I'm around 60°C with PBO enabled. I might even try to push the maximum PBO soon!
You'll be just fine! I actually have an overclocked setup running under a Peerless Assassin, which isn’t quite as powerful as the Phantom Spirit, and I never hit throttling temperatures. I don’t even max out my fan speeds, and as long as you're staying below 95°C, you're golden.
If you're not too concerned about having flashy looks, I’d recommend sticking with air cooling like the Phantom Spirit. It's generally more reliable with fewer points for potential failure.
I've hit a top 1% Cinebench score with my setup using the Phantom Spirit SE and the 9800X3D, so it definitely performs!
Yeah, I'm with you on that! A good air cooler is usually enough. AIOs are for when you really wanna squeeze every bit of performance or just want a cleaner look.