Liquid cooling vs Air..

[Vuudoo]

I see a lot of users in the Post your computer set up thread using Air cooling. What do you,the users, think is best? I will be using 2 6850s AMD FX 6200.
Coolit ECO 240 vs ThermalTek Frio. I am looking at water, because of the size and I think it makes the overall look of the case better, however I am open to others thoughts and what is best for the machine.

[noteworthynerd]

It depends on your build really, the newer Intel Sandy Bridges cool extremely well on air (even when overclocked to the 4.3-4.5GHz range). Couple that with the fact that the highest quality air coolers (like the Noctua NH-D14) are often cheaper than just decent water coolers, and are also easier to install, and it is normally a no brainer.

I, however, do not have any experience with your specific CPU. I know older AMD chips have a way lower maximum temp threshold than the Intel chips I'm familiar with, so a lot of people choose to liquid cool them. But take my advice with a grain of salt, like I said, I don't know much about that specific chip.

[Vuudoo]

Sorry, 2 AMD Radeon HD 6850 1GB GDDR5 16X PCIe Video Card and the 6200 is a new version of the FX 6100 running at 3.8 and 4.1 turbo mode. Prices are the same for the coolers and was concerned about air flow
with such a large cooling fan.
Thanks for the reply.

[Fuzzykins]

7950? The 8650 is a CPU.

[Ghâzh]

Unless you are making a custom liquid cooling setup, high end air cooling usually bests the closed loop solutions performance wise. Even though asthetics and size are a different matter. Closed loops tend to be more expensive so at the same price point, air cooler is generally going to perform better. If you don't mind paying a bit more and like the idea and looks of water cooling, by no means go for it. Just don't expect it to be radically better than air cooling.