Have AIOs killed custom loops?

[chrcoluk]

I have only ever used AIO once and only briefly, friend of mine sent me a big load of cash to order stuff and build a new system for him which included an AIO, it wasnt cheap but surprised me how easy was to install. I tested basic contact temps, but never did deep analysis of temperatures or performance. The obvious advantage of an AIO even if it doesnt exceed high end air cooler performance is much easier access to the motherboard around the CPU.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

.... not all AIO and not all air coolers are created equal.

By created you mean designed or manufactured? I already bought three Arctic liquid freezers. One had perfectly flat base. The second one had the base seriously bowing thanks to overtightened screws, but I did not mess with it and returned it. The current one had the same problem, but I loosened the screws a bit and it mostly went away, but it is still not as good as the first one.

 

[FoulOnWhite]

Got a lot of experience with custom loops, and yeah they are expensive, but if you want the best cooling and the best looks, they win. AIO's are conveinient way to have "water cooling" as imo they are really no more than a quick fit cooler like a air cooler. I have seen loads of for sale ads where they sale custom water cooling and it's an AIO. Personally i would rather have a good air cooler ie noctua D15 etc than an AIO, but that is just me. I am using a D15s now, having ditched all my custom water cooling stuff. I cba with it anymore, too expensive, can be a big pita, and there is ALWAYS the risk of destroying your hardware.

I do not think AIO's have killed the custom water cooling market. A custom loop can cost 10x the cost of an AIO and not everyone has that kind of money to splash out. Imo it is not really for the novice, as it is easy to make a mistake. There will always be the Custom Loop crowd who love to show off their amazing looking builds in forums.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

Years ago I built a loop with an aquarium pump in the expansion reservoir, ordinary fittings and normal screw hose clamps. It was all pretty cheap. I checked the prices now and they are horrible. I do not see any budget watercooling stuff anymore.

 

[Nordic]

I chose to build an expensive custom loop because I think it is cool, fun, and I get better components. It is a lot of money to to cool only a 7800x3d. I get a marginal 1-3% better cooling than an AIO 1/3 the cost. My overkill cooling is near silent, can be easily added to, and could handle adding even a 4090 without adding more radiator. I see it as somewhat future proof.

I had considered building a far cheaper AIO like this. You don't need a reservoir if you go through extra efforts to remove all air bubbles. The $80 Alphacool Eisbaer LT (Solo) CPU Water Block and Pump is basically an AIO pump you can build custom with. Even then, you would still be spending more than an AIO for similar performance.

If you want modularity or extreme performance you need to spend the money for it.

 

[Deleted member 229121]

Custom loops have always been expensive.

They were never the majority but in more recent years it seems like it's become less and less of a thing.
Primarily because CPUs are being pushed to their limits out of the factory, and cheaper cooling solutions have continued to improve as well.

Customs loops have lost appeal IMO because they are no longer a means to attaining "crazy OCs."
Don't get me wrong the cooling performance is still there if needed, I just think the allure of it has waned in lieu of the above.

 

[redeye]

AIO‘s are for CPU’s, just too difficult to use them on a GPU. have done it with the nxzt GPU bracket, works well, but clearance issues, and GPU board cooling becomes difficult

for GPU cooling, bespoke (custom) watercooling is the way to go, and for a silent GPU while gaming.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
When an aio costs 300.us you've wasted your money
It's way better to just make your own aio with better cpu or gpu blocks and d5 pump reservoir combos and best of all expandable.

 

[ir_cow]

Not even close. The only "AIOs" to come close to killing custom loops are ones that are basically prebuilt custom loops already.

AIOs will always have weaker pumps, crappier materials and lower cooling performance than true custom loops, less longevity too.

Yep. My D5 pump made it past countless AIOs.

 

[Kapone33]

When people complain about AIOs they forget that nothing is perfect. AIOs have been a huge success in the DIY space. It was only Noctua that had the nerve to sell Air coolers for $99. We also cannot forget that the reason cases have even 240MM fan mounts is due to the advent of AIOs. Now people are celebrating 420mm AIOs but those have been around for years, Even most SFF cases support a least 240mm.

Hi,
When an aio costs 300.us you've wasted your money
It's way better to just make your own aio with better cpu or gpu blocks and d5 pump reservoir combos and best of all expandable.

If you spend that much on an AIO, you only have yourself to blame. Of course that is about what EK's AIO sells at.

 

[N/A]

Not at all, different segments. If anything it's becoming more accessible even i could consider water with the 12$ bykssky cpu block and i can slap that on the GPU as well. And for GPUs no aio can beat it. Not mentioning AIOs mixing ALU and cooper. Meh

 

[thesmokingman]

I use AIO for casuals.

 

[dgianstefani]

Yep. My D5 pump made it past countless AIOs.

The longevity counters the cost argument too.

It isn't cheaper if you're replacing your AIO every build/every other build lads.

Meanwhile on custom loops you reuse the CPU block, radiator, tubing, fittings, pump etc.

And if you don't replace the AIO, it will eventually perform worse than an air cooler, with zero or limited options for maintenance.

 

[maxfly]

With what we spend on "gaming" gear (hate using that term). Sure, splurging on a loop is tough up front but if you spend wisely it's nothing in comparison to our gaming rigs. I have been using the same rads, tubing, res and fittings for 3 builds iirc(7 or 8yrs)? And I'll likely use everything but the tubing for 3 or 4 more. The only things I bought new for my latest build were a GPU block $130 and a conversion kit for my Heatkiller CPU block $30. Temps are excellent, it's dead silent while gaming and I spent less than half of what I would have with a new CPU block and bougie GPU block.

The absolute worst way to buy wcing gear is while your in a bigass hurry. You inevitably will piss money away and regret how much you've spent. If you take your time and research every single component until your blue in the face. You WILL make intelligent buys that are performant, save money, and look good at the same time. Unfortunately, most people don't do their due diligence when looking for wcing gear on their first go round.

 

[thesmokingman]

And if you don't replace the AIO, it will eventually perform worse than an air cooler, with zero or limited options for maintenance.

Yea, thanks to evaporation over time, then it becomes a hassle because the user is faced with cutting it up or getting a new one. Cha ching for AIO maker.

 

[AusWolf]

A noob can have their loop up and running in a day if they know what forums to ask questions at, which YouTuber to follow or which manufacturer to buy from.

If he knows all that, then he's not a noob, is he?

Yea, thanks to evaporation over time, then it becomes a hassle because the user is faced with cutting it up or getting a new one. Cha ching for AIO maker.

There are AIOs with fill ports - like it was said before, one needs to know which manufacturer to buy from.

 

[maxfly]

If he knows all that, then he's not a noob, is he?


There are AIOs with fill ports - like it was said before, one needs to know which manufacturer to buy from.

Noobs a noob until he gets his feet wet

 

[BoggledBeagle]

I asked OP how does his new AIO perform, because I thought it is an interesting information. So again, what temps can the AIO maintain at what power draw ???

The best for everybody would be, if OP built the custom loop and then compared the performance to the AIO and concluded, if it was worth it or not.

 

[Assimilator]

Happened to me 2x. One leak and one pump fail, respectively.

That is really bad luck!

Pump, Reservoir, CPU Cooler (Highest Price below 85 €):

• Alphacool Eisbaer (Solo) - 2600rpm - Black
• Alphacool Eisbaer LT (Solo) - Black
• Alphacool Eisbaer Aurora (Solo) - Digital RGB
• Alphacool Eisbaer Pro Aurora (Solo) - Digital RGB
• Alphacool Eisbaer Aurora LT Solo - Black
• Alphacool Eisbaer Pro ES (Solo) Full Black

I didn't talk about full sets. When you add an appropriate radiator of any size, the tubes and liquid you are far below 250€.

Ahhhh, I didn't realise you could get blocks that also contained the pump and res, thanks!

 

[AusWolf]

Noobs a noob until he gets his feet wet

So circa 20 years of PC building experience, knowing which forums to browse for info, which youtube channels to watch, which reviews to read, all of this make me a noob because I never built a custom loop?

Or did I misunderstand your meaning of the word "noob"?

I asked OP how does his new AIO perform, because I thought it is an interesting information. So again, what temps can the AIO maintain at what power draw ???

The best for everybody would be, if OP built the custom loop and then compared the performance to the AIO and concluded, if it was worth it or not.

I can conclude without testing that it's not worth it unless you're an extreme overclocker.

 

[maxfly]

So circa 20 years of PC building experience, knowing which forums to browse for info, which youtube channels to watch, which reviews to read, all of this make me a noob because I never built a custom loop?

Or did I misunderstand your meaning of the word "noob"?

Yes. Until you build a loop you're a wcing noob. Nothing personal, that's just the way it's always been, is and always will be.

Edit- Just to clarify a big misconception I've seen in this thread. Wcing to OC has been dead for at least 10yrs. The primary reason for me personally and for most people these days is silence and component longevity. There inevitably will be some that still like to OC but I doubt it would be any different for them if they were on air (ShrimpBrine comes to mind).

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

To the OP's quandry, no. AIO hasn't killed custom loop.

I ran a custom look on my 3930k. Big ticket, big power, for the time it was big heat. The custom loop let me run the thing with a mild overclock for years...though lord knows it was hot enough to just let it run at stock without a lot of issues.
I experimented with AIO over the years. My opinion, about 90% of it sucks. For 1/5th the price I can get the same performance with a tower cooler. Once you get to the 240 or 280 AIO coolers some outpace the air coolers...but at that point the trouble becomes their design. I can maybe stretch the tubing enough to get it into the top of my case, but there's not a lot of give in some of those coolers. You'd better like that tubing hanging down...and having nothing serviceable on the unit. If not, AIO is not for you.


I'm currently focused on air only. Being fair, I'm also not rocking the latest high end chips. Both Intel and AMD seem to be designing them to need much greater heat dissipation...which personally feels like them hitting a design limitation and instead of innovating a new engine they decided to install two extra cylinders. V12>V10....but at some point you come upon the frustrating conclusion that most people are happy with a V6 that is imminently more affordable and doesn't require a custom cooler to prevent it from melting down.

If you're rocking a 5600x it makes sense to do air. If you're rocking whatever high end Intel and AMD are offering it makes some sense to do an AIO. If you're in the pro market a custom loop makes sense. I think the AIO coolers prevalence is because they used to require water to cover the high end consumer goods...but now it's a cost management decision that makes custom loops silly for all but the extreme end of the scale....which is a shame, but entirely reasonable. It's silly to think about it, but the economy of scale for AIOs just made low end custom loops not viable...for most cases. That doesn't kill them...it just makes them a joke for anything less than the most expensive dosh.

 

[natr0n]

The experience now is putting new fans time to time on your aio to get that custom feeling.

Changing around 6 fans feels like something custom

 

[AusWolf]

Yes. Until you build a loop you're a wcing noob. Nothing personal, that's just the way it's always been, is and always will be.

I see what you mean. Although, to be a noob, I'd have to try building a custom loop first.

I'm not trying to be pedantic here, just my understanding of the word is "newcomer, beginner" (it comes from "newbie"). Using it for people who aren't even trying is kind of inappropriate, in my opinion.

 

[Kapone33]

The longevity counters the cost argument too.

It isn't cheaper if you're replacing your AIO every build/every other build lads.

Meanwhile on custom loops you reuse the CPU block, radiator, tubing, fittings, pump etc.

And if you don't replace the AIO, it will eventually perform worse than an air cooler, with zero or limited options for maintenance.

Well on AM5 I am using the exact same AIO I used on AM4 so there is that. I also still have a Cooler Master Nepton 280 running strong cooling a 5900X.