edit 2: He has bought the air cooler!
He will be running the 9800X3D, which I don’t think gets hot enough to require an AIO. We are choosing between Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 (AIO) and the Peerless Assassin 120 (air cooler)
Benefits of choosing an AIO (Arctic Liquid Freezer III) is better temperatures, nicer aesthetic. Downside of going with AIO is the possibility that it will leak/wear out over time, shorter lifespan compared to air cooler (which can pretty much last forever)
He will be getting a Lian Li case (the O11 Vision Compact) with the RGB fans set, meaning he could go with the cheaper 5 fan set instead of 8 if he decides on AIO. Combined with a decent sale on the AIO in my region, the price difference isn’t that large.
What do you guys think?
edit: Mmm the internet people seem to disagree with each other
Unless he’s building a custom loop because he’s really into building custom pcs, then liquid cooling isn’t worth it.
A decent heat sink on the CPU and several fans blowing correctly in the case will do just as good. The only real drawback is that they’re not as quiet under high load.
As for AIOs, it’s been a while but I doubt rather a lot that they re on par as far as price goes, and you’re going to be better off buying better (read: noctua) fans.
More/larger fans also can be ran at lower rpm’s for the same cooling and get even quieter. (And have that much more under high load.)
To the edit: you’re gonna find that there’s little more decisive than liquid vs air when it comes to building pcs. I like my liquid rig. But also, I realize most people won’t enjoy changing coolant every month.