Difference in noise between AIO and C14s ?

[strawhatpcx]

Hello

I have purchased an NCASE M1 v6.1 - vented panels all around. My proposed build will include an AMD 3600, B450 mobo, 16 gb trident ram, and RTX 2060 Super card of somesort. Noctuah fans on bottom as intake, and for all CPU cooling options.

My question is regarding the CPU cooling. I am torn between U9s, C14s, and an AIO such as Kraken x52.

The U9s looks the coolest if I were to do a glass panel in the future. No plans as of now (out of stock).
The C14s, from what I hear, is the best cooling option for air.
The AIO would mean no glass panel for me.

But forgetting about the glass panel, I am more interested in a silent build.

Which of the 3 would be the most quiet on idle and on load playing games (Apex Legends) on 1440p 60 fps?

 

[AlexTSG]

For a Ryzen 5 3600 the Noctua U9S would be a good option. It will provide ample cooling, fit easily, and should be close to silent. Especially when you're doing low intensity tasks like web browsing or watching videos, as the fan speed can drop to low RPM.

I've read about, and seen pictures of the C14S, and with some motherboards it looks like it can be a tight fit and get in the way of some cabling, and you shouldn't need the extra cooling performance.

Similarly, an AiO is probably overkill, and if you get air bubbles into the loop the pump can get noisy. Although having the radiator mounted higher than the CPU block like it is in the M1 should reduce the chances of this, as the air bubbles should stay in the radiator.

 

[strawhatpcx]

@AlexTSG If I were to get the U9s, could I change the fans it comes with to Noctua NF-A9 PWM chromax.Black.swap ?
Furthermore, what orientation should the fans be on the U9s considering a vented panel build ?

 

[AlexTSG]

@AlexTSG If I were to get the U9s, could I change the fans it comes with to Noctua NF-A9 PWM chromax.Black.swap ?
Furthermore, what orientation should the fans be on the U9s considering a vented panel build ?

You can use the Chromax.black fans, they're the same spec. Nice if you do go with a glass panel!

Also, here's a Ncase with the U9S installed and this is on a higher TDP CPU than you're planning to use. Fans blow through the heatsink and exhaust at the rear.

 

[HyperActive]

Here is my build. I have a 3700x (information in the link) with c14s. With undervolt on cpu and gpu and custom fan curves my build is barely audible while gaming at max load. The a9 in the rear spins at max 38% since it makes a irritating high pitch noise. The a14 on the c14s makes more of a low buzzing noise which doesn't distract and is less audible. For silence, especially with your somewhat lower hardware than my build, a c14s is almost as if it were idling. Just make sure you undervolt and custom fan curve the gpu and cpu.

With undervolt a c14s can easily run a 3950x on 50-60% fan speed from what I have heard.

An AIO has pump noise and this is way worse on even idle than the noise my system makes on game Load.

 

[Xenogear74]

I would say just go for the c14s to be future proof. who knows what the 4000 chips will be like but with a c14s it will cover the gambit.