Which AIO CPU cooler is recommended for use with AMD's Ryzen 9 3900X?

What AIO CPU cooler do you suggest to be paired with the AMD Ryzen 9 3900X for optimal performance?

Hi Evan,

As you know the Ryzen 9 3900X is a beast of a CPU offering a 12 core 24 thread design and TDP of 105W. Thankfully past AMD solutions pushed the market to improve cooling with processors like the FX-9590 that had TDP up to 220W, so we have AIO cooling solutions that can easily handle your 105W CPU.

That being said, Asetek controls a large part of the AIO cooling solutions available, so apart from aesthetics and software, many of the trending AIO solutions will perform the same. Steve Burke over at Gamers Nexus has a great article on who makes these AIO solutions broken down by cooler as there are several other players in the market.

A rule of thumb for water cooling is to plan for 120mm of cooling for each component you want to cool. So, a single CPU installation will need at minimum a 120mm AIO, and that grants us about 150W of thermal capacity. You can certainly go with a 140mm if you want to increase capacity for overclocking, etc., but it's generally not needed.

The best coolers we have tested in the AIO category are the 360mm AIOs from Thermaltake with the Liquid Freezer II 280mm and H115i from Corsair right there as well. The best 120/140mm solution we have tested is the aging H80iGT with high-performance air-cooling solutions filling up the gaps in our charts.

My recommendation is going to be for Corsair. I've used their solutions for eight years on many test systems, and it has always been a set it and forget it experience, even if I was overclocking. Something like the H80i or H100i if you have the room for a 240mm+ should fit the bill nicely.

Good luck!

Last updated: Nov 3, 2020 at 07:09 pm CST