Corsair H100i liquid vs. air cooling: which is better?

Hello, a friend of mine is offering me a new Corsair H100i liquid cooler for my $133.. Or should I just put that money toward a high-end air cooler instead? I've read somewhere that liquid cooling might not be the best route if I ever decide to overclock my CPU, and that this particular model from Corsair is sort of on the lower end of their lineup... Though, I don't plan on overclocking right away, maybe down the road.. Still, I'm wondering if I would get a better selection if I spent $133 on an air cooler at a local Best Buy? 🙏

It might be close, though I guess high-quality air coolers can actually outperform entry-level AIOs sometimes... for example:

Or maybe just a tiny bit better:

From what I understand, Cooler Master makes those really solid Gentle Typhoon fans too, don't they? I guess I was also wondering what your take is on the Cooler Master 212 EVO. Do you think it falls significantly behind the Scythe model?

Yeah, it's definitely a bit weaker... I'd say the ranking goes: 212 EVO < Ereboss < Linus Tech Tips

Patrick Stewart97 said:Hey there—a buddy of mine is offering me a brand new Corsair H55 liquid cooler for $133... Or should I just take that cash and pick up an air cooler instead? I've read some things suggesting that liquid cooling isn't exactly the best route if you're planning to overclock, and apparently, this specific model is considered "entry-level" by Corsair standards. Now, I might not dive into overclocking right away—maybe down the road—but I'm curious: would I really get a better selection if I spent that $133 on a decent air cooler from Best Buy? 🙏

Look, without knowing which processor or motherboard you're running, it's hard to be certain—but honestly, whether you go with the H55 or grab a solid air cooler in the $400-$$167 range, you should be able to pull off a pretty respectable overclock. In short, either way should do the job for you. As for whether the H55 is truly "low-end"—well, that's a bit of a debate! It comes with a five-year warranty and it's more than capable of pushing an FX 8350 up to about 4.6 GHz. Not to mention the aesthetics and how well it plays with your RAM clearance... I won't even go there! One thing though—you didn't mention if that H55 still carries its original store warranty, which is actually a huge deal here.

I'm not entirely sure about that... In my opinion, those liquid cooling setups tend to be quite pricey. Plus, I've been reading on other tech forums that the fans included with the Corsair kits aren't exactly top-tier. If you're planning on overclocking, you might actually need a push-pull configuration using much better fans, like maybe some GentleTyphoon ones. So, if you look at the cost of $133the liquid cooler plus two GentleTyphoon fans, you're looking at roughly $67... whereas for $127, I could go with some high-end options from great manufacturers, which is what crimsonstag84 suggested to me. I suspect the temperatures would end up being about the same. On top of that, the PC would probably run quieter since I wouldn't have to deal with so many fans.

http://www.newegg.com/p/products/details/c...ducts_id=14178

Or perhaps I'm just mistaken?

EDIT: What do you guys think of this one? http://www.ebay.com/itm/processors/pro...-listing-8761319

The Mugen 4 seems pretty quiet based on the reviews, though I guess the Scythe Ashura and Ninja3 might actually cool a bit better—they just tend to be louder... so it really comes down to what you value more.

EDIT: So, the new Hyper 612S was priced at $120 🤣
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Honestly, the cooler itself is great—maybe even slightly better than everything else suggested here—but I wouldn't personally shell out more than $100 for it, even with shipping included.

Thanks for the response, friend. Would you mind sharing the link to that Mugen 4 review? I tried searching for it on YouTube, but everything seems to be in German, and I suppose 🤷
I don't quite understand why.

Scythe Mugen 4

The Rajintek Themis seems to be pulling some pretty impressive numbers on this benchmark, especially considering how budget-friendly it is.

Rajintek Themis

I haven't really heard much about that specific cooler, though I suppose the Mugen 4 does seem like a pretty solid choice to me..

Just pick whichever one catches your eye and actually fits in your case. Honestly, benchmarks for coolers aren't much of a gold standard anyway—everyone ends up getting different results depending on their setup...