Need help choosing an AIO cpu cooler

JoeH

I recently built a system with a Ryzen 9 3900X, Gigabyte Aorus Elite, 32G Ram, minimal graphics card and a Lianli 205 case.  The cpu cooler is the air cooled one that came with the cpu.  My computer is used for number crunching, no gaming, no overclocking, with Linux OS.

Please recommend a suitable AIO cooler for my system and, also, a higher performance air cooler.

Thank you,

Joe

TSTonyV

When it comes to air coolers, Noctua is the way to go. The NH-U14S and DH-15 and are both fantastic options and are pretty much the best you can get for air coolers. They're pretty tall though so keep that in mind, I'm not sure if that's an issue for the Lian Li 205 case or not. I believe it shouldn't be an issue. 

For AIO liquid coolers, there are a lot of good options out there. The NZXT Kraken X53, EVGA CLC 240 and Corsair H100i would all be great options. 

JoeH

If I choose one of the Noctua air coolers mentioned above, do I need any other parts to replace the air cooler that came with the Ryzen 9?

Thank you,

Joe

TSTonyV

No, the coolers will come with all the mounting hardware you need. You can just keep the cooler that comes with the Ryzen as a backup. 

JoeH

Thank you for your expertise.  I am inclined to go with one of the 2 air coolers you recommended but I have 2 questions.

Will the noise from the Noctua coolers be less than the noise from the stock Ryzen cooler?  The Noctua coolers have a noise level of 24.6 dBA, I don't know what the dBA is for the stock cooler.

On my Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite, will the cooler block the PCIEX16 slot, the one closest to the CPU?  I have my graphics card in the PCIEX4 slot.

If cost is not an issue, which one of the 2 coolers do you recommend?

Thank you,

Joe

TSTonyV

The AMD stock cooler is rather quiet when idling or at low temps, but will be louder than the Noctua under load. I don't know the exact measurements but if noise is a concern, I'd definitely stick with the Noctua options, they're known for being quiet. The cooler shouldn't block the PCIe slot.

The DH-15 is the more powerful cooler, but it's quite a bit larger. I personally would choose the NH-U14S, as it has more than enough cooling for a 3900X (even if you were overclocking) and is friendlier for internal space. You could use the cost saved for something else and not lose any performance.