Air or Water cooling? Help i7 3770k

[lnandez]

I am currently buying parts for my build and already have some, but i still need to buy aftermarket cooling for my cpu. I can't decide whether to get an Corsair h100, cooler master hyper 212 evo or a more high end air cooler (Phanteks PH-TC14PE 140mm UFB or Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 140mm and 120mm SSO) I'm up for suggestions. My build right now is for college and video editing, but i built it so, later I'd buy a video card for gaming,something like a Radeon HD 7950 or 7970; waiting for the prices drop. I will be doing some light overclocking ( 4 to 4.5 max) just because that's the beauty of building your own PC especially with a K processor. So i am aware i need good cooling. But I'm guessing i won't be stressing the cpu as much since I'm not going to be doing any intensive gaming right away, even the video editing i will be doing, will not be nothing too demanding since i just started. so i really need advice on something that will be reasonable for my build and purpose. Budget is not an issue but i obviously don't want spend extra money on something that won't be within reason.

i7 3770k
asrock z77 extreme 4
2 x 8GB corsair vengeance LP 1600 MHz
NZXT Tempest 410 elite
Seasonic 650x PSU
128GB SSD samsung 830 series
1 TB HD WD caviar black

 

[Conumdrum]

Keep it to 4.2ish, get a good air cooler. Done. The diff in processing time etc is small, and you don'r have to deal with fannage noise.

 

[Knufire]

There's stuff in between like a TRUE Spirit 120, TRUE original (Thermalright Ultra Extreme), Prolimatech Megahalems, Venomous-X, etc.

 

[freeagent]

The NH-D14 is very quiet, and should soak up most of the heat from that cpu. You could run with the H100 if you have the accomodations for it. My D14 loses its grip on my Xeon after around 4ghz, so you should be able to run you'res at around 4.2-4.6 give or take.

I wouldnt even consider the 212, and havent heard of phanteks until recently..

 

[EarthDog]

Keep it to 4.2ish, get a good air cooler. Done. The diff in processing time etc is small, and you don'r have to deal with fannage noise.

this. Hyper 212 evo. Done.

 

[GoD_tattoo]

If you go to 4.2, I agree. Grab the 212 Evo and you will be fine. As for the Megahalems, I found they didn't do so well on the newer quads. For the price of them, there are much much better coolers.

If I remember correctly, the Phanteks beat out the D14 by a little bit.

 

[lnandez]

Alright, so i'll go hyper 212 evo. I will also install 2x 140mm fans at the top of the case. I'm assuming that having them push air out is the best configuration? The NZXT tempest 410 elite also has 2x 120 fans at the front and one 120mm exhaust fan at the rear. It has space for 1x 120mm fan at the bottom by the psu, should i also get a 120 fan to go there, if so, how should install, pushing air out or pulling air in?

 

[EarthDog]

Dont worry about the bottom fan..

top/rear = exhaust
front/sides = intake

 

[lnandez]

My intention is not to go back and forth, but would the stock cpu cooler on the i7 suffice 4.3 or is the hyper 212 the best route for my cpu.

 

[GoD_tattoo]

Hyper 212. The stock won't give you much if any at all. Stock is fine if you plan to run it stock. If not, you need something better.

 

[lnandez]

Got it.