Where did all the CPU air coolers go?

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Szaki

Member
I'm trying to build an intel PC and when it comes to CPU cooling, there are a bazillion water coolers to chose from, but not a single air cooler available. There are a few cheap PCS air coolers listed, but even those are out of stock and Cooler Master or Noctua is not even in the list. I am wondering why that is. I would have a strong preference for air cooling over liquid - its simpler, cheaper, and tends to do the job just fine even on a 12600k in prime z690 board. Also, just look at this Noctua NH-U12A and tell me it doesn't look amazing: https://noctua.at/en/nh-u12a
Please stock these coolers PCS, they are great!

Of course a very likely explanation is that I am completely missing something here, and liquid coolers are just that much better. In that case, could anyone educate me why air coolers went out of fashion?
 
steaky360

steaky360

Moderator
Moderator
PCS offer several air coolers but mostly what I've seen recommended here are the Corsair AIOs. There's no denying a good air cooler can look the part though.

An air cooler that performs as well as a descent AIO won't be cheap though, its certainly arguably 'simpler' (it doesn't have a pump for example) but given an AIO isn't a serviceable component and requires no maintenance (beyond cleaning fans etc.), from the users point of view, there's no difference between the two in my opinion.

AIOs are very different to a liquid cooled PC though, a full loop system requires a great deal of maintenance and compared to an AIO is far more likely to leak/experience some kind of issue during its life. Whereas AIOs are (almost) bulletproof now, requiring no maintenance beyond general PC maintenance and often having excellent warranties to back everything up.
 
steaky360

steaky360

Moderator
Moderator
Szaki said:
Thank you for the helpful reply. It seems air coolers did go out of fashion. Will have to read up on AIOs then.
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They are phenomenally safe these days, don't be put off by any scare tactics suggesting they're prone to leaks etc. They simply are not.
 
T

TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Would it also be dependent on what CPU/MB has been put into the config, as I believe some coolers don't have the right mounting kits for the 12th gen Intel CPUs?
 
S

Szaki

Member
I am more concerned with failure and replacement. I work with pumps sometimes (not in a PC setting) and no matter the quality, they require frequent maintenance and in complex systems they are usually the first part that needs replacing. In addition, for AIOs, if the pump fails, the whole unit needs to be scrapped apparently. Also, its harder to detect early signs of pump failure, even if you monitor water flow carefully.

Whereas with an air cooler fans tend to go on for long without needing repairs. If a fan does fail its easy to detect, and you can replace a single fan while leaving the rest of the cooling unit in place.

In terms of price I don't see a huge difference. The Noctua UH12a costs about £90, while a nice Corsair hydro x100 AIO with dual fans costs £70.

Then again, the pumps I am familiar with pump seawater so they operate in much more harsh conditions than an AIO. I'll get used to them I am sure.
 
steaky360

steaky360

Moderator
Moderator
I can only speak from my experience but AIOs are extremely robust and require zero maintenance, the pumps/etc. are not user serviceable in any way so there is no maintenance that can be done to them.

The AIO on my original PC (Corsair H100) is still going strong after 10 years of abuse! Obviously that's just my experience.

You're correct in that if something did fail, the entire unit needs to be replaced though.
 
Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
Szaki said:
I'm trying to build an intel PC and when it comes to CPU cooling, there are a bazillion water coolers to chose from, but not a single air cooler available. There are a few cheap PCS air coolers listed, but even those are out of stock and Cooler Master or Noctua is not even in the list. I am wondering why that is. I would have a strong preference for air cooling over liquid - its simpler, cheaper, and tends to do the job just fine even on a 12600k in prime z690 board. Also, just look at this Noctua NH-U12A and tell me it doesn't look amazing: https://noctua.at/en/nh-u12a
Please stock these coolers PCS, they are great!

Of course a very likely explanation is that I am completely missing something here, and liquid coolers are just that much better. In that case, could anyone educate me why air coolers went out of fashion?
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Air coolers only ever look good on a desk IMO. In actual use they are very ugly to me. Actual real world use, there's no comparison. To get a decent air cooler you need to spend AIO money so it's a no brainer imo.

All the issues mentioned are the same old folklore from 1998 being reimagined by nay-sayers. People always want to argue what they have and justify it with whatever reasoning they can find, ancient... inaccurate... or otherwise :D

PS..... not pretty. Looks like a 70s bathroom :p

rh8e9ahmshk61.jpg



Vs living in 2030:

images
 
Martinr36

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Scott said:
Air coolers only ever look good on a desk IMO. In actual use they are very ugly to me. Actual real world use, there's no comparison. To get a decent air cooler you need to spend AIO money so it's a no brainer imo.

All the issues mentioned are the same old folklore from 1998 being reimagined by nay-sayers. People always want to argue what they have and justify it with whatever reasoning they can find, ancient... inaccurate... or otherwise :D

PS..... not pretty. Looks like a 70s bathroom :p

rh8e9ahmshk61.jpg



Vs living in 2030:

images
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The colour of those fans on that great chunk of metal is enough to put anyone off surely
 
B4zookaw

B4zookaw

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Martinr36 said:
The colour of those fans on that great chunk of metal is enough to put anyone off surely
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Agree, as much as the Noctua fans are well rated from thermal and noise perspective, I could never get my head around the colour of them. Probably fine in a sealed case, but in the days of glass panels, it just looks weird.
 
G

Grombrindal

Member
I posed the same question with my spec. I was advised by forum members to go Corsair AIO not PCS air cooler for the i5-12600K because it's better for cooling. I wanted a Noctua because of concerns regarding spillage, noise and I've never had an AIO. I've gone with the Corsair H115i Pro XT front fitted. My spec is in pre-production so see how it works out with my first AIO.

Many posters have mentioned appearance. I always buy closed cases as I don't like RGB. I'd like to see Arctic Freezer products, they've gotten great reviews.

Edit - noticed I didn't answer the actual question. Here's a video from JayTwoCents, a well known PC expert on YouTube, Air Coolers vs Liquid. It seems AIO technology has improved and prices are now similar to that of air coolers. You can also place liquid coolers on top in the front or at the bottom of the case (generally not advised) depending on your needs. You can also get large radiators and fans which reduce noise (this is what I'm hoping for).
 
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S

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
The 212 Hyper is a fine piece of kit but I wouldn't use it on say the 12600K. It's fairly low powered so I don't think it would cope well with that CPU as it runs pretty hot
 
Martinr36

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Steveyg said:
The 212 Hyper is a fine piece of kit but I wouldn't use it on say the 12600K. It's fairly low powered so I don't think it would cope well with that CPU as it runs pretty hot
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It was on an Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor i7-8700 (3.2GHz) 12MB Cache Please forgive me i didn't know better at the time
 
S

Szaki

Member
Thank you for all the replies, you convinced me to go with the Corsair H100x.
Looks like a 70s bathroom
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I think you nailed it. I probably like it because its so different from the general rainbow LED panels and cartoony plastic flaps present on almost every modern PC component these days. I know many people love that sort of stuff, but its just not for me. Incidentally, the Corsair H100x is one of the two coolers in the whole PCS lineup (out of 14) that does NOT have LED lights on it.
 
Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
Szaki said:
Thank you for all the replies, you convinced me to go with the Corsair H100x.

I think you nailed it. I probably like it because its so different from the general rainbow LED panels and cartoony plastic flaps present on almost every modern PC component these days. I know many people love that sort of stuff, but its just not for me. Incidentally, the Corsair H100x is one of the two coolers in the whole PCS lineup (out of 14) that does NOT have LED lights on it.
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That's because it's old. I would actually recommend going for one of the more modern options as Corsair changed the cooling plate and it gave a good boost to the cooling performance. Also, the modern coolers come with ML fans (Magnetic levitation). They are effectively silent at normal operation and even at full choke they are as quiet as a Noctua.

The H100x.... not quite so quiet, but excellent performers.
 
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